Drain the Swamp?

Let’s just say it: The Senate confirmation hearing for acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was absurd. The former lobbyist for the oil, gas, and agriculture industries has barely tried to cover up the fact that he’s spent his tenure at the Department of the Interior working in the sole interest of his former clients.

Just this week, news broke that he'd not only kept oil and gas permits flowing for his former clients during the recent 35-day government shutdown, but also risked the fate of over 1,200 endangered species by suppressing a scientific report that could have been detrimental to the pesticide industry. Yet Republican Senators at the hearing fell over themselves to laud Bernhardt as a model of ethical behavior.

Heck, Colorado Senator Cory Gardner (who's taken $47,000 in campaign donations from Bernhardt's former lobbying firm), even apologized to the acting secretary after Oregon Senator Ron Wyden asked the nominee if he could explain the above as anything other than flagrant corruption.
As far as swamps go, the hearing was basically knee deep in muddy water.

So, when three audience members donned rubber swamp monster masks and sat behind Bernhardt in silent protest, the absurdity felt fitting.