American citizens don’t kiss feet

OPINION:

Lara Trump, current Fox News host and former Republican National Committee co-chair, went on Sean Hannity’s show and said that Elon Musk and President Donald Trump were doing such a great job identifying government waste and shrinking spending, especially in the face of massive leftist resistance, that “people ought to be kissing [their] feet.”

Umm. No. American citizens don’t kiss feet. If anyone should be kissing feet, it’s those who were lucky enough to be elected by the American citizens to serve the nation.

In America, it’s the taxpaying citizens who matter more than the tax-paid politicians and political appointees. In America, it’s the taxpaying citizens who are boss; the tax-paid politicians and political appointees, the employees.

But the concept of humble service to the people has been so far removed from America’s system of governance that politicians regularly forget their proper role and feel entitled to behave more like bosses — more like authority figures — more like authoritarians — than the Constitution allows.

Put on the face mask, take the shot — it’s for the safety of all. Don’t ask questions, just obey.

Stop building that shed, quit paving that driveway — it’s for the environment, dontcha know; the government-drawn floodplain maps prohibit any construction and there’s no such thing as privately owned property.

Don’t dare refer to that boy who identifies as a girl as a “he” — it’s her right to identify as she sees fit; failing to respect her choice is discriminatory and unlawful.

See the myriad ways government has instilled itself as arbiter of truth; as lord of the land?

Lara Trump, in speaking of Musk’s steadfastness in cost-cutting waste and corrupt spending from government agencies, said this: “They’re attacking his character. They called him a Nazi. They’re going after his businesses. They’re vandalizing property. They’re doing any- and everything they can to this man, and it’s really horrific to see because — what is Elon getting for all of this? This guy is losing money because of what he’s doing, but he understands the importance of this moment. We cannot continue in perpetuity spending the way we are. We cannot survive as a country. So people ought to be kissing the feet of Elon Musk and Donald Trump for being the two people to actually do this,” she said, The Hill reported.

She probably wasn’t speaking literally.

She probably didn’t even realize her remark would be seen as controversial because she probably just intended it more as a sort of summary of how great a job Musk and President Trump are doing and less a labeling of the American citizenry as the subordinate class.

But that doesn’t make the remark any less eyebrow-raising or problematic.

In this country, citizens are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are the rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, and moreover, governments are instituted among the citizens solely as a means of preserving and protecting the liberties and rights granted them at birth, by God.

Citizens possess.

Politicians secure what citizens already possess.

In that system, it’s the politicians who are subservient. So if anyone should be kissing feet, it’s the servant class.

• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on X @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.