This Jewish Congressman’s Tweet About North Korea And Marijuana…Oy.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — On Wednesday, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif, attended a classified briefing with Vice President Mike Pence on the North Korea nuclear threat.
By the next day, he’d become a target of Twitter snark, for a hypothetical challenge that sounded like something out of a Seth Rogen-James Franco movie.
Sherman, who comes from what he will tell you is the best-named city in the world, Sherman Oaks, California, was not reassured by his meeting with Pence. “At classified briefing @VP urged members to ‘convey the Administration’s level of resolve to confront N. Korea,’” Sherman reported Thursday on Twitter. “That resolve is weak, phony.”
And so, Sherman explained his anxieties to Pence.
“I raised two issues: No. Korea could smuggle nuke into U.S. rather than use ICBM. Could smuggle inside a bale of marijuana, and might sell nukes to Iran, which has billions of hard currency. Waiting for answers…”
I raised two issues: No. Korea could smuggle nuke into U.S. rather than use ICBM. Could smuggle inside a bale of marijuana….(1/2)
— Rep. Brad Sherman (@BradSherman) April 27, 2017
Sherman got answers, stat, but not from Pence — as far as we know.
No, Twitterworld liked Sherman’s idea — lots — but also mocked the lawmaker for what might one day be optioned as “Brad and Kumar go to the DMZ.”
@BradSherman What about invisibility cloaks? Of course a simple spell could take care of that. But a counter-spell would overturn it. DM to join my club.
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) April 27, 2017
@BradSherman Hi Rep. Sherman. I’m writing a story about people holding elected office despite having the IQ of a houseplant. May I use this tweet?
— Aaron ⭐️? (@AaronCampeau) April 27, 2017
@BradSherman Any idiot knows they would smuggle a nuke in a box marked “Acme!”
— Palmetto Progress (@PalmettoProgres) April 27, 2017
By Thursday’s end, Sherman tried to explain that he didn’t really think one could smuggle a nuke into the United States packed in weed, but that he was trying to make a point. “I don’t believe that NK is likely to send a bomb in weed,” he said. “People sneak things into the U.S. every day. Can’t rely solely on missile defense.”
Too late.
@BradSherman Likely? No. AWESOME plot for that “Rep. Chad Terman: American Superspy” novel you’ve been working on? Yes!
— Ben Hooper (@BenHooperWrites) April 28, 2017
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
