It's like "Saturday Night Live." Hard to believe I'm not watching a comic actor.

a snippet from Katie Britt's overly dramatic rebuttal. i will say that she is the best Alabama senator. pic.twitter.com/9Fm8h4yUA8

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 8, 2024

I think that may be how young people talk these days. I think it's learned from TikTok! It doesn't sound natural to me, but it may be the new reality as young people spend so much time watching videos. It may be contagious — like creaky voice and Valley Girl uptalk.

I'm not saying Katie Britt is doing "Valley speak," only that she seems to have caught a speech virus... or she's taking acting instruction.

ADDED: In "A lot of moms can’t see themselves in Katie Britt’s kitchen/The Alabama senator’s performance seemed aimed at suburban women whom Republicans have done little to win back" (WaPo), Monica Hesse writes:

Before Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.) had even begun her State of the Union rebuttal on Thursday night, an ally reportedly had already sent around a helpful list of talking points that conservative pundits could use to describe her – again, as-yet undelivered – speech. They should make comparisons to Ronald Reagan, according to the New York Times, which reported the memo. They should say that Britt came across as “America’s mom.”

When Britt did appear, it became clear she’d gone balls-to-the-wall with the mom theme, broadcasting solo from her Alabama kitchen in such a way that, if you were watching with the volume down, you would have assumed you had stumbled upon a commercial for either stain remover or Il Makiage. Turn the volume up and there was Britt opening by saying that her proudest role was being a “wife and mother,” before segueing into describing a violent gang rape, before calling Biden “dithering and diminished,” and explaining that we were all “steeped in the blood of patriots,” which, ladies — if that’s a menstruation euphemism I hadn’t heard it before. Somehow she wrapped up by talking about how America put a man on the moon....

Hmm. I'm thinking the reaction to Katie Britt is the score on some kind of misogyny test. 

In that light, consider this other Monica Hesse column, published only yesterday: "Kyrsten Sinema’s mystique was a dead end/Giving up the search for meaning in Washington’s maverick pixie dream senator."

In May 2021, Congress was considering folding a minimum-wage hike into a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The Arizona senator wasn’t the only Democrat to oppose the increase — she was one of eight, including two other women — but she was the only one to get spotted back-slapping Republican leader Mitch McConnell on her way to the Senate floor, and then, upon reaching it, to exaggeratedly jut out her hip while delivering a thumbs-down that can frankly only be described as sassy. In terms of gravitas, it read as though she was declining an ice cream topping rather than denying millions of Americans a chance at higher wages. The gesture was made more visible by her attire at the time: a short (pleated?) skirt, knee-high black boots, an oversize bag slung over one shoulder. The outfit was conservative by Sinema’s own fashion standards but still far more schoolgirl than senator, as if the vote was something she had to do before getting dropped off at the mall.... 

She was the first publicly bisexual person elected to the Senate. She wore pastel wigs. She wore a fringed minidress. She went to brunch wearing a ring that read “F--- Off.” She presided over the Senate in a neon-pink top that read “Dangerous Creature.” Have you ever seen an episode of one of those NCIS-type shows where the in-house hacker character dresses like the intersection of rockabilly, Hot Topic and librarian? It was that....