Lauren Boebert鈥檚 roaming hands
Lauren Opal Boebert is a Republican firebrand with a never-ending appetite for attention.
She represents Colorado鈥檚 3rd Congressional District, with no shortage of provocative political views.
Last February, Boebert, and her fellow troubled congressman, George Santos of New York, were among the chief co-sponsors of a bill that would鈥檝e designated the AR-15 style rifle 鈥淭he National Gun of the United States.鈥�
I suspect I may know what you鈥檙e thinking: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a 鈥楴ational Gun of the United States.'鈥�
You鈥檙e right.
There won鈥檛 be one either. Boebert and company鈥檚 鈥淣ational Gun of the United States鈥� bill went nowhere.
Co-sponsoring a dead-on-arrival gun-related bill is still a good Republican resume-builder.
Boebert also engages in the latest Republican deceit: taking credit for stuff she鈥檇 voted against.
She once submitted a press release that alerted her constituents that she鈥檇 been behind a $5 million grant for a rural health center that was part of a spending package that (here goes) she鈥檇 voted against.
If she鈥檇 restrict her inconsistencies to press releases, hardly anybody outside of her Colorado congressional district would know who Lauren Boebert is.
She鈥檇 never do that.
Hers are the kinds of whiplash-causing spectacles that raise her national profile, and, simultaneously, derision.
That brings me to the evening of Sept. 10, when the folks at the Buell Theatre in Denver saw two shows.
They got the chance to see the national touring company of the musical 鈥淏eetlejuice.鈥�
And they were treated to the show that took place in the theater seats 鈥� starring Boebert and her date, Quinn Gallagher.
Ticket-buyers for the onstage production were given the following advisory: 鈥淐ontains strong language, mature reference, and a lot of the crazy, inappropriate stuff you would expect from a deranged demon.鈥�
It turns out, that advisory also applied to the performance Boebert and Gallagher put on in the seats 鈥� and beyond.
WARNING: If you鈥檙e in the public eye 鈥� beware! There are cameras everywhere these days that can capture your every indiscretion. And there鈥檚 no shortage of television networks willing to broadcast those indiscretions.
The Buell Theatre cameras caught Boebert and her date vamping, vaping, and engaging in some rather unseemly conduct in full view of the other members of the audience.
The cameras also showed a member of the theater staff asking Boebert to tone down her behavior 鈥� then, asking her and her date to leave.
It was also reported that on her way out of the theatre, Boebert asked that most petty of rookie celebrity questions, 鈥淒o you know who I am?鈥�
She had no idea that her words and actions that night would haunt her.
When she was informed that her expulsion from the theater had been made public, she took to social media to explain that she was 鈥済uilty to laughing and singing too loud!鈥�
Most people don鈥檛 usually get kicked out of public places for 鈥渓aughing and singing too loud.鈥�
Unless their laughter and singing are mighty disruptive.
Hers was.
Next, she had to make a course correction on that explanation after an extensive surveillance video was revealed.
Boebert subsequently apologized. She claimed that her actions fell 鈥渟hort of her values.鈥�
Her Republican colleagues have been noticeably quiet about Boebert鈥檚 Denver theater exploits.
They know that with a razor-thin Republican majority in the U.S. House (221 Republicans, 212 Democrats), it鈥檚 best to avoid any further complications.
But there is one more complication.
Boebert鈥檚 date had something of a past. Quinn Gallagher is the co-owner of a bar in Aspen, Colorado.
Boebert didn鈥檛 know much about him before she went on that first date with him.
Gallagher鈥檚 bar 鈥� the Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar 鈥� is known as a place where they鈥檝e staged Burlesque and drag shows, which is among the activities that Boebert firmly disagrees with.
There鈥檚 more.
Boebert didn鈥檛 know Gallagher was a Democrat.
When she found that out, she announced, 鈥淎ll future date nights have been canceled and I learned to check party affiliations before you go on a date.鈥�
It鈥檚 too late now.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.