Last week, Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX) voted against reopening the government and avoiding a cataclysmic default. He did so alongside every one of his Republican colleagues from Texas in the House and Senate.
However, that vote wasn't the most absurd, or offensive of his actions. No, that came when he opened his mouth to justify such a vote.
In a television interview with NBC's Corpus Christi affiliate, Farenthold was asked how he could justify such a vote to people, such as retired veterans at risk of losing their disability checks due to the shutdown. This was his response:
"I feel like my mandate when I was elected was to go reduce the size of government, lower taxes, and increase freedom, and freedom isn't free, and sometimes you have to make a small sacrifice to move forward with what you're after."
Freedom isn't free. I'm sure Farenthold, who has never served in the military, knows much about the costs of this so-called 'freedom.' After all, as he said, sometimes you must make small sacrifices, such as losing your disability check or access to life-saving clinical trials.
All for the sake of a Tea-Party-induced political tantrum which acted out the GOP's fundamentalist fantasies.
Yes, freedom isn't free. At least, not for Farenthold's constituents.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.