(talking to the GOP) President Trump is on trial. But in a very real sense, so are you. And so is the political party to which we belong.
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My simple test for all of us: What if President Barack Obama had engaged in precisely the same behavior? I know the answer to that question with certainty, and so do you. You would have understood with striking clarity the threat it posed, and you would have known exactly what to do.
What amazes me is how unwilling the liberal side is to take Flake in as an ally. He voted for Kavanaugh. He voted with the GOP 93% of the time. But his comments here aren't about ideology. They're about the nature of this particular POTUS and these particular GOP leaders.
He made enemies on the left for his vote against ACA and his vote for Kavanaugh. I get that. He made enemies on the right for his stance against Trump. Also understandable. But claims that he "ran away," are factually incorrect. He would have never, ever won re-election. Yet in my opinion, he's the type of conservative congressman we need. I don't agree with his stances on most things, but I do agree with him here, and I do think he wouldn't have shut down any conversation coming from the other side of the aisle.
My 2c!
Posts: 35428 | Location: West: North and South! | Registered: 20 April 2005
My colleagues, the danger of an untruthful president is compounded when an equal branch follows that president off the cliff, into the abyss of unreality and untruth.
Call it the founders’ blind spot: They simply could not have envisioned the Article I branch abetting and enabling such dangerous behavior in the Article II branch. And when we are complicit, we cede our constitutional responsibilities, we forever redefine the relationship between Congress and the White House, and we set the most dangerous of precedents.
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But what is indefensible is echoing House Republicans who say that the president has not done anything wrong. He has.
The willingness of House Republicans to bend to the president’s will by attempting to shift blame with the promotion of bizarre and debunked conspiracy theories has been an appalling spectacle. It will have long-term ramifications for the country and the party, to say nothing of individual reputations.
Nearly all of you condemned the president’s behavior during the 2016 campaign. Nearly all of you refused to campaign with him. You knew then that doing so would be wrong — would be a stain on your reputation and the standing of the Republican Party, and would do lasting damage to the conservative cause.
Ask yourself today: Has the president changed his behavior? Has he grown in office? Has the mantle of the presidency altered his conduct? The answer is obvious. In fact, if the president’s political rally in Michigan on Wednesday is any measure, his language has only become more vulgar, his performance cruder, his behavior more boorish and unstable.
Next, ask yourself: If the president’s conduct hasn’t changed, has mine? Before President Trump came on the scene, would I have stood at a rally and cheered while supporters shouted “lock her up” or “send them back”? Would I have laughed along while the president demeaned and ridiculed my colleagues? Would I have ever thought to warm up the crowd for the president by saying of the House speaker: “It must suck to be that dumb”?
As I said above, I don’t envy you. You’re on a big stage now. Please don’t accept an alternate reality that would have us believe in things that obviously are not true, in the service of executive behavior that we never would have encouraged and a theory of executive power that we have always found abhorrent.
If there ever was a time to put country over party, it is now. And by putting country over party, you might just save the Grand Old Party before it’s too late.
Heartened to see there are people on the other side willing to acknowledge publicly that the emperor has no clothes. This isn't about policy; it's far more fundamental and, I think, more important.
-------------------------------- When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
Posts: 38223 | Location: Somewhere in the middle | Registered: 19 January 2010
