Democrats are Already Seeing Huge Dividends from Last Month's Blame-Shifting Conference

Last month's inaugural Blame-Shifting Conference (BlameCon2020) is already showing very positive political returns for the Democrats. Many people were reluctant to make much of the conference, which went on as planned despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, but due to recent circumstances opinions have quickly began to change.

Case in point, earlier this week House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, came under significant fire for her decision to break San Francisco's COVID-19 rules, by getting her hair done indoors without a mask. In most cases, this would have come with a significant cost to her political stature. However, due to her attendance at this year's BlameCon event, Speaker Pelosi and her team were able to quickly come up with a plan-of-attack that not only cleared her of any wrong-doing but also pushed the blame onto the small business owner who "set her up" when all she was attempting to do was get a simple blow-out.

"That's the entire point of BlameCon," said Tina Ambani, one of the organizers of the event. "Nobody should ever be left in a position where they are forced to take personal responsibility for any of their actions or words, especially when an opportunity exists for them to point the finger elsewhere. We seek to equip people to not only recognize these opportunities to circumnavigate moral culpability, but also to do so in a way that builds their personal and political collateral."

When asked about the wisdom of hosting this year's event during a global pandemic, Tina Ambani was ready with an answer. "Look, we didn't create this pandemic. Donald Trump did! Certainly hosting an event with thousands of attendees might be viewed by some as problematic, especially since the majority of those in attendance were not wearing masks or any other forms of PPE. However, we saw this as an unprecedented opportunity to literally showcase the importance of BlameCon, as our organization shifts the blame for any fallout from our event, onto others."

We reached out to Jussie Smollett, one of the keynote speakers at this year's event, who helped set the tone and a trajectory of success for those in attendance. "I know I'm a young man and Speaker Pelosi is a lot older than me. I mean a lot older than me! What is she, like 98 or something like that? But anyway, I still view her as a bit of a protégé, and it was an honor to see how well she handled herself in the trying circumstance she found herself in earlier this week.  One thing I really tried to help people see, at BlameCon, is that the only limits on blaming others are the limits we put on ourselves. Most people assume they can only blame people for random circumstances that occur in their lives, but why stop there? What my life and my story show, is that with enough conviction and foresight, you don't have to wait for opportunities to present themselves to you...you can create them!"

Tina Ambani also expressed similar jubilation for Speaker Pelosi's response to this week's challenge. "We're really proud of her. We knew she had it in her all along, but most people just need a bit of reassurance and self-confidence. We stand by our 'Six Rules of Blamegagement' as we've come to call them, which are:
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1. Stick to One Story (regardless how ridiculous or unbelievable it may be)
2. Sell it with Emotion (anger and crying always help)
3. Only Blame People You Won't Need in the Future (disposable/expendable)
4. Use Your Protected Class Status (race, sexual-orientation, age, religion etc)
5. Demand an Immediate Apology From Your Accuser
6. Always Blame Donald Trump (And His Republican Cronies and Supporters)

These rules have consistently helped people shift blame away from themselves and on to others. It was wonderful to see Speaker Pelosi put them into practice this week. Hopefully it will encourage others to sign-up for BlameCon2021."

Though it is still too early to tell how Speaker Pelosi's situation will play out in the long run, what we can see with some clarity is that the tactic of pushing the blame onto someone else has at least helped bring the initial fire down to a smolder.
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TIMOTHY ANDERSON-HOLMES 

Washington, D.C - Politics & Policy