I read a short note on Facebook a few days ago. It was written by a conservative Republican who used to be a representative for South Carolina in the US House of Representatives, Bob Inglis. I was never an Inglis fan. (I have never been a fan of ANY conservative Republican.)
He spoke to a number of politically interested people at Furman University a few years ago. (Yes, I was among them.) He stated publicly that he thought President Obama loved our country and was working hard for it. He got huge pushback on that from area Republicans, who wanted no public concessions made to Obama EVER. Inglis did note that he didn’t agree with any of Obama’s initiatives, but he did believe that Obama was doing what he thought best for this country.
I was stuck by it because it is precisely the kind of honest appraisal we almost never hear from any Republican. (In my book, their credibility would be greater for it.) It is also a major reason that he was defeated by Trey Gowdy (of all people) in a Republican primary runoff in 2010. His acceptance of the science of climate change was a major reason he was primaried. He simply was not ‘pure’ enough for them.
(Inglis was a firm believer in term limits. When he ended his first terms in Congress, he was replaced by Jim DeMint, the second time by Trey Gowdy, so you can see how virulent the environment here can be.)
More below.
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The subject of his posting on FB was 45’s buIIshit and capricious attack on nearly a million Dreamers, throwing their lives and their futures into jeopardy just because he could. His cowardly ‘out’ is, Congress could ‘fix’ it and restore those futures, though this Republican Congress has not shown any ability at making anything better, much less solving anything.
Inglis said as much, quite explicitly.
A six month grace period for Congress to act will be about as effective at avoiding a crucifixion of the Dreamers as Pontius Pilate's punt to the people of his day. Why? Because the voices chanting "Lock her up!" and "Build the wall!" and "No more DACA!" are the voices that congressional Rs fear the most. Those loud voices will show up at R primaries and vote against any R daring to show compassion. The result? No action will be taken by Congress, and DACA will end six months from now.
He ponders what might be if 45 did the right thing
That crowd could be quieted if President Trump would summon the courage to show compassion, to explain the dilemma to his supporters, to help them see the question of humanity here. We all tend to want to inflict justice on other people and to reserve grace for ourselves. But when we hear the stories of the "other," when we look into their eyes and into their lives, we tend to find compassion. That's why I voted for the DREAM Act in December of 2010. There were only 8 of us Rs who did.
There is no compassion there, Mr. Inglis. There never was, outside of the 8 Rs you mentioned. And how many of those remain in office?
In looking into this a bit further, I was interested to note information posted in the wikipedia article on Inglis, referring to his opposition to 45.
Commenting on Trump's campaign after the election, Inglis said: "It's one thing to represent people and give a voice to their fears. It is quite another to amplify those fears — that is surely the worst possible kind of leadership. It's demagoguery. The real sadness for me is that we knew it, and yet we voted for it. In a very real sense, the whole country has lost this election."
I agree without any reservation. And the loss went well beyond the presidential contest, Mr. Inglis, even if you did not say that.
Then (again from the wikipedia article) …
Six months later, after House Speaker Paul Ryan accused Democrats of partisan bias in calling for Trump's impeachment over firing of FBI director James Comey, then investigating possible links between Trump's campaign and Russia, Inglis chastised Ryan on Twitter, saying, "you know this isn't true" since Republicans would have had, in his opinion, ample grounds for considering impeachment if a Democratic president had done the things Trump was accused of.[39] Reminded that he had, as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, voted to impeach President Bill Clinton in 1998, he said that was "for matters less serious than the ones before us now."
What have we come to when a man like Bob Inglis acts and speaks heroically in this land? I am still no great fan, but the honesty is a breath of fresh air in today’s radioactive politics. I appreciate it, particularly from a South Carolina Republican. I hope more will have the courage to speak out, honestly. We need that.
On to tonight’s comments! Formatted by brillig!
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From brillig:
I have to nominate this comment by mspicata, which generated an entire thread, from Mark Sumner‘s diary Donald Trump took $107 million promised to charities ... and kept it. Be warned… the image it creates can not be uncreated…
From BeninSC:
In this comment, Otteray Scribe apologized for ‘dominating Top Comments’ last night, from his heartbreaking diary about his beloved daughter. I don’t recall anyone ever apologizing for this, but, in any case, we can’t accept the apology. Bless you, dear man, and your daughter’s fine memory.
Highlighted by Silent Spring:
Is this comment by 123practical, with a quick take on Hillary’s book, along with a note about its significance, that I am quoting: “She really does want to help the next woman who tries, and if we tell her to shut up and don’t try to understand what happened, it won’t be one bit easier the next time.”
Highlighted by skippysmooth:
Is this hilarious graphic by dmhlt 66 on the ‘Bowling Green Massacre, and the ‘babyman with tiny hands!’
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