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January 26, 2024

Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), the frequently embattled 2nd District congressman, has spent much of his political career redefining what it means to be an independent leader representing a “purple district” in otherwise deep red Nebraska.

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What Bacon calls leadership, however, many of his Republican constituents believe more closely resembles spinelessness, or worse, the conduct of a man compromised.

Bacon has proven himself unreliable. Despite routinely wearing his military service like a beauty pageant sash — a circumstance that hilariously backfired during the most recent of Bacon’s frequent betrayals of his conservative Republican base — Bacon’s flag-waving barely stirs a breeze anymore.

During the battle over ditching Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, Bacon aligned himself foursquare behind McCarthy, and when his side lost, he grew petulant, refusing to support the elevation of Rep. Jim Jordan — not because Jordan was a bad guy, or some other understandable reason, but rather because he wanted to put his thumb in the eye of those who voted out his hero, McCarthy.

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Hopelessly out of sync with his constituents and the conservative movement that put him into office in the first place, Bacon grew more stridently opposed to Jordan, prompting him to trot out his military bona fides in a tweet he would soon regret.

Now, as a veteran myself, I respect Bacon’s service and recognize the sacrifices both he and his family made throughout his career.  Military life is not an easy path, even in peacetime.

However, General Bacon wasn’t exactly trampling knee-deep through guts and gore during his Mid-East deployments, as reality decorated Marine combat vet turned national political analyst Jesse Kelly helpfully pointed out in a devastating tweet in direct reply to Bacon’s chest-thumping.

Reminiscent of Mafia don John Gotti’s famous bon mot, “Everybody’s a gangster ’til a real gangster walks in the room,” Bacon’s machismo evaporated in the face of Kelly’s hilarious, entirely accurate riposte.

But did that sway Don Bacon?  Did such a public humiliation cause him to engage in a little self-reflection and acquiesce to his constituent’s overwhelming desire for a Jordan speakership?

Nope.