Katie Britt

I assume by now you saw her strange SOTU response — or the version on Saturday Night Live. I thought Reed Galen hit it on the nose:

Britt represents a long, unhealthy tradition of staffers running for their boss’s old seat. They come not with beliefs but an ingrained sense of how to ‘play the game.’ She was an aide and then chief of staff for retired Alabama Senator Richard Shelby.

This is not new in American (or human) history, but that doesn’t make it better. It allows someone like Britt to achieve an incredible amount of power and prestige powered not by belief and conviction, but timing, fundraising, and connections. They now sit on the other side of the desk, and along with their staff and bevy of consultants, triangulate every issue, every vote, and every press release based on what’s best for their career. She represents not the people of Alabama, but her own ambition.

I’m just happy she got caught lying.