I’ve never been a Trekkie. But one doesn’t have to love Star Trek to appreciate Ricardo Montalban going toe to scenery-chewing, over-acting toe with William Shatner in 1982’s Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Shatner as James T. Kirk spent decades over-playing a caricature of himself. Montalban in “Wrath” over-played a caricature of The Movie Bad Guy™. The combination was hysterical in its clownish awfulness.
Politics, they say, is show business for ugly people. I am not casting any cosmetic aspersions upon today’s subject – Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan. But Ms. Khan does, in fact, possess immense wrath. Not towards Shatner’s Kirk – but towards the Constitution and its processes and procedures. None of which she seems to think apply to her.
And while DC is these days as unserious as is Hollywood? The consequences of DC’s un-seriousness are deadly serious.
Putting someone as hateful of our system as is Joe Biden’s Khan in charge of the FTC? Is like making Montalban’s Khan president of the Captain Kirk Fan Club.
One of the endlessly many incorrect DC tropes is: A President is entitled to his nominees.
He is absolutely not so uniformly entitled. Not if his nominees are in open defiance of the Constitution and our laws. Bureaucrats can’t eviscerate the system just because their boss won an election. Neither can their boss, for that matter. Darn that pesky Oath of Office.
More than a little too late to the game, Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio recently announced he’s placed a committee hold on seven exceedingly awful Biden nominees.
Rubio and his colleagues should have started doing this a long time ago. An excellent candidate for previous blockage – would have been Lina Khan.
It’s not like we didn’t see what we’ve seen coming.
For starters, what has Khan doing when Biden chose her to lead the Commission? Teaching law at the exceedingly awful Columbia Law School. So you know with moral certitude she knows nothing about the law and its proper implementation.
Those of us who, you know, like the law and its proper implementation? Were waving red flags about Khan until our arms fell off.
Republicans Should Reject Liberal Academic Lina Khan for FTC Commissioner
Republicans Owe It to Limited Government and Free Markets to Stop Lina Khan
Why Free Thinkers Need to Block Lina Khan’s FTC Nomination
Undaunted, more than a dozen Senate Republicans voted on June 15, 2021 to confirm her:
“Senators approved her nomination in a 69-28 vote….Although progressives rallied behind boosting Khan for the spot, she has also earned support from some Republicans. The Senate voted 72-25 Monday night to end debate on her nomination.”
Huge Win for Progressives as Lina Khan Takes Helm at FTC
When Progressives win – the nation loses. Quickly.
Less than one month later….
FTC Meeting Signals Aggressive and Novel Enforcement to Come:
“In just over two weeks as chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or ‘Commission’), Lina Khan already appears to be making significant changes at the agency. As one of her first acts, Chair Khan called for a Commission meeting on Thursday, July 1, 2021 to consider and vote on several important changes to agency rules and procedures….”
Except Executive Branch bureaucrats can not unilaterally make “significant changes” at their agencies. Congress has to pass law that makes those “significant changes” – which the bureaucrats then implement.
Less than three months after that….
‘Radical And Partisan’: Republican Concern Is Growing Over Lina Khan’s FTC Overhaul
No one on Planet Earth was surprised by Khan’s radical partisanship – except for the Senate Republicans who had just helped confirm her.
Later that same month….
Lina Khan Isn’t Worried About Going Too Far:
“The new FTC boss says corporations abuse their power. To fight them, she’s consolidating some of her own.”
Again: Executive Branch bureaucrats can not unilaterally consolidate their power. Congress has to pass law that consolidates their power for them.
But why would Khan care a whit about that?
Lina Khan Acts as Though Congress Doesn’t Exist, Which Is a Problem
It is, in fact, a bit of a problem.
Playing a Dangerous ‘Khan’ Game: FTC Chair Is a ‘Threat’ to Free Markets
So, too, is that a bit of a problem. So is this….
Lina Khan’s Unfair and Deceptive Approach to Antitrust:
“Congress never envisioned the FTC to serve as the morality police over the market. Lina Khan thinks otherwise.”
Khan REALLY doesn’t care about Congress – and its proper place OVER her gig.
Things have only continued to get worse. And worse. And worse. And….
The Many Abuses of Lina Khan’s FTC
Socialist FTC Chair Lina Khan Wants to Enact ‘Paradigm Shift’ Using Antitrust
FTC’s New Stance: Litigate, Don’t Negotiate
FTC Commissioners Lina Khan, Rebecca Slaughter Pander to Far Left at Marxist-Linked Conference
Khan is a Leftist. Leftists never like Reality – because Reality never comports or complies with their worldview.
Lina Khan Is Hiding From the Facts About Her FTC Oversight
The FTC’s rank-and-file – are not liking very much the Age of Khan.
Low Morale at the FTC Is Directly Related to Lina Khan’s Reign of Error:
“It is no coincidence that the decline in the FTC’s ratings coincide with Lina Khan’s tenure. The low morale of the agency is directly related to Khan’s personal crusade to expand government’s control over the economy.…”
Low FTC morale ain’t just amongst the rank-and-file. Republican FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson – recently announced her intention to become an ex-FTC Commissioner….
Why I’m Resigning as an FTC Commissioner:
“Lina Khan’s disregard for the rule of law and due process make it impossible for me to continue serving….
“Since Ms. Khan’s confirmation in 2021, my staff and I have spent countless hours seeking to uncover her abuses of government power. That task has become increasingly difficult as she has consolidated power within the Office of the Chairman, breaking decades of bipartisan precedent and undermining the commission structure that Congress wrote into law.”
Khan REALLY doesn’t care about Congress – and its proper place OVER her gig:
“I have sought to provide transparency and facilitate accountability through speeches and statements, but I face constraints on the information I can disclose—many legitimate, but some manufactured by Ms. Khan and the Democratic majority to avoid embarrassment….
“I refuse to give their endeavor any further hint of legitimacy by remaining. Accordingly, I will soon resign as an FTC commissioner.”
Wilson’s departure was not missed by her fellow DC Republicans….
GOP Uproar Over FTC’s Khan Mounts as Lone Republican Calls It Quits:
“Republican resistance to Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan’s aggressive enforcement agenda reached a fever pitch Tuesday as a GOP member of the agency announced plans to resign in protest.”
So, it’s WAY past time for Republicans to go through the Constitutional motions – and attempt to rid us of Khan via the process of impeachment.
House Republican Files Articles of Impeachment Against DHS Sec. Mayorkas
Impeachment would only be a visual aide exercise. But sometimes those can be more important than they are impactful. It would be so here.
We must highlight out-of-control bureaucrats. Even if we can’t actually do anything about them.
I only wish impeachment of out-of-control bureaucrats mattered more. From a practicality standpoint – it does not.
A simple House Republican majority could officially impeach Khan. But you then need 67 Senate votes to convict and actually remove her. In today’s hyper partisan freak show environment – that ain’t happening.
And even if you somehow managed to convict and remove Khan? Biden gets to nominate her successor – and it ain’t like he’s suffering from a dearth of Socialist law professors from whom to choose. Or many, MANY other Socialists…..
Well, at least then Senate Republicans could block that one – rather than voting for him/her.
If they would learn the recent Rubio lesson….