by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with two major political parties as well as a rat's nest of political allegiances and alliances which make it very difficult to classify someone as completely within the political philosophy of one party or another. The result is that both parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, must occasionally struggle to keep their members in line.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House and a Democrat, got into a tussle last week with four members of the House Democratic Caucus who had repeatedly sinned against the party by saying what they thought when they thought it needed to be said. Pelosi tried to paint the four, all minority women, as being insignificant in the grand scheme of things when she referred to them as a "squad" who had nothing in the way of support other than a following on social media.
Pelosi, in attacking these four very bright congresswomen, erred on two fronts. First she gave them a good deal of national attention and stirred new support for the four within their own party as well as across social media - and the reference of them being a "squad" caught on with the media and enhanced the collective image of the four.
But, more importantly, Pelosi's blunder, and it was a blunder, opened the door for Trump to bully his way into the conversation. Trump, who has reason to hate Pelosi, was somehow smart enough not to attack the Speaker, but instead he agreed with her, only with far more vitriol. Trump painted the four congresswomen as being un-American, anti-US military, and anti-Israel. Then the US leader, a man who has seldom done anything positive for US troops or veterans, implied that the four were immigrants and suggested they go back to the disadvantaged and deplorable countries from which they came.
(All four members of the "squad" are American citizens, and only one was born abroad.. Two of Trump's three wives were immigrants.)
Trump's pivot to thwart the congresswomen put Pelosi in the uncomfortable position of having to defend those whom she had been attacking just days before. Trump effectively tied Pelosi and the four together.
Democrats were quick to point out that Trump's remarks were blatantly racist, and Republicans, through their silence, seemed to concur.
Yesterday the House of Representatives held a vote on a formal condemnation of Trump for "racist" remarks. The final vote was 240-187 in favor of the motion, with four House Republicans and one Independent voting with the majority Democrats.
The four Republicans exhibiting the courage to do what was right included Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, and Susan Brooks of Indiana. Rep. Jason Amash, who left the Republican Party to become an Independent just last week, also voted in the majority.
Could these four maverick Republicans - Hurd, Fitzpatrick, Upton, and Brooks - be the right's version of the "squad," a group of errant congressmen who are tough to corral and have a grating habit of speaking their own minds? They had best be careful, because when it comes to free speech, the Republicans in Congress are even less tolerant than Speaker Pelosi.
Donald Trump, for his part, did not appreciate being condemned. He angrily declared that he does not have a racist bone in his body. Apparently no one has told our genius from the stable that the "skull" is a bone!
Citizen Journalist
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with two major political parties as well as a rat's nest of political allegiances and alliances which make it very difficult to classify someone as completely within the political philosophy of one party or another. The result is that both parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, must occasionally struggle to keep their members in line.
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House and a Democrat, got into a tussle last week with four members of the House Democratic Caucus who had repeatedly sinned against the party by saying what they thought when they thought it needed to be said. Pelosi tried to paint the four, all minority women, as being insignificant in the grand scheme of things when she referred to them as a "squad" who had nothing in the way of support other than a following on social media.
Pelosi, in attacking these four very bright congresswomen, erred on two fronts. First she gave them a good deal of national attention and stirred new support for the four within their own party as well as across social media - and the reference of them being a "squad" caught on with the media and enhanced the collective image of the four.
But, more importantly, Pelosi's blunder, and it was a blunder, opened the door for Trump to bully his way into the conversation. Trump, who has reason to hate Pelosi, was somehow smart enough not to attack the Speaker, but instead he agreed with her, only with far more vitriol. Trump painted the four congresswomen as being un-American, anti-US military, and anti-Israel. Then the US leader, a man who has seldom done anything positive for US troops or veterans, implied that the four were immigrants and suggested they go back to the disadvantaged and deplorable countries from which they came.
(All four members of the "squad" are American citizens, and only one was born abroad.. Two of Trump's three wives were immigrants.)
Trump's pivot to thwart the congresswomen put Pelosi in the uncomfortable position of having to defend those whom she had been attacking just days before. Trump effectively tied Pelosi and the four together.
Democrats were quick to point out that Trump's remarks were blatantly racist, and Republicans, through their silence, seemed to concur.
Yesterday the House of Representatives held a vote on a formal condemnation of Trump for "racist" remarks. The final vote was 240-187 in favor of the motion, with four House Republicans and one Independent voting with the majority Democrats.
The four Republicans exhibiting the courage to do what was right included Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Fred Upton of Michigan, and Susan Brooks of Indiana. Rep. Jason Amash, who left the Republican Party to become an Independent just last week, also voted in the majority.
Could these four maverick Republicans - Hurd, Fitzpatrick, Upton, and Brooks - be the right's version of the "squad," a group of errant congressmen who are tough to corral and have a grating habit of speaking their own minds? They had best be careful, because when it comes to free speech, the Republicans in Congress are even less tolerant than Speaker Pelosi.
Donald Trump, for his part, did not appreciate being condemned. He angrily declared that he does not have a racist bone in his body. Apparently no one has told our genius from the stable that the "skull" is a bone!
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