To the editor:
I am writing this letter in regard to Missouri U.S. Rep. Jason Smith's response — or really, lack of a response — to the NBC journalist Ryan Nobles' query about the evidence the GOP is now proclaiming to link President Joe Biden to Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings (Ed. Note: The query was made on Wednesday during a U.S. House Ways and Means Committee News conference regarding IRS whistleblower evidence; Smith is the chair of the committee.)
Ryan Nobles was really following the motto of Rep. Smith's home state of Missouri, which is "Show Me.” Rep. Jason Smith could not even come up with a plausible response. Even the young boy who wasn't too bright when asked by his teacher about his missing homework, was able to come off in a better light by responding with, "My dog ate it."
Rep. Smith is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, but his fellow GOP lawmakers should do everything in their power to prevent him from getting in front of a podium to address the press.
The motto "Show Me" has been linked to comments that a Missouri U.S. Congressman, Willard Duncan Vandiver, coined in 1899. During a speech in Philadelphia, he said "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."
Rep. Smith, your reaction to Ryan Nobles' question was not even frothy eloquence. Rather it was an embarrassment for the state of Missouri. It made you look as if not only would you have drank the Kool-Aid, you would have volunteered to bring the cups.
