It was some of the dramatic moments of the hotly-contested 2008 presidential marketing campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain. Bear in mind?
A lady stood up at a McCain marketing campaign rally and stated, “I can’t belief Obama. I’ve examine him, and he’s not, he’s not — he’s an Arab.” Earlier than she may proceed, McCain instantly reached out, took the microphone from her, shook his head, and said: “No, ma’am. He’s an honest household man, a citizen that I simply occur to have disagreements with on elementary points, and that’s what this marketing campaign is all about.”
It was a magic second. Sadly, it’s additionally a uncommon second nowadays — when a politician demonstrates not solely braveness, but additionally decency, civility and respect for a fellow politician, no matter celebration. And it’s simply that sense of decency, civility and respect that was so woefully missing final week within the silence of Republican senators after the violent therapy of fellow Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) in a Los Angeles federal constructing.
First, let’s be clear about what occurred and what didn’t. Watch the video. Padilla didn’t, as alleged, “cost” Homeland Safety Secretary Kristi Noem. Padilla didn’t “lunge” on the secretary. Padilla didn’t resist arrest. Nor did he fail to determine himself. He did so verbally, and the polo shirt he wore stated “United States Senate.”
In a gathering with federal brokers, the senator was knowledgeable that Noem was holding a information convention, at that very hour, in the identical constructing. He was escorted to the briefing by a Nationwide Guard officer and an FBI agent. For a number of minutes, Padilla stood silently behind the room. However when the secretary stated she was in Los Angeles “to liberate this metropolis from the socialist and burdensome management that this governor and this mayor have positioned on this nation,” Padilla felt obliged to reply.
He stepped ahead, raised his voice, and stated loudly and clearly: “I’m Sen. Alex Padilla, and I’ve questions for the secretary.” At which level, FBI brokers tackled the senator at the same time as he continued to determine himself, threw him to the bottom, handcuffed him, and dragged him out of the room.
You’d suppose anybody with a way of decency would agree, regardless of any variations over coverage, that this was an unpleasant, appalling and unnecessarily violent technique to deal with any sitting U.S. senator. You understand John McCain would have condemned such an abuse of power. However not Noem. And, worse but, solely considered one of Padilla’s Republican colleagues had the courtesy to take action.
Even after it was clear that the person handcuffed and dragged out of the room was a senator, Noem nonetheless defended the way in which he was roughed up and — look ahead to it — insisted she didn’t even know who he was.
That in itself is appalling: {that a} Cupboard secretary didn’t acknowledge a U.S. senator, particularly when she is talking in his state about immigration there and he’s the rating Democrat on the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration.
Much more appalling was the response from Republicans in Congress. Democrats rushed to sentence the way in which Padilla was handled. However solely two Republican senators had something destructive to say about it in any respect. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) known as the incident “horrible” and “shocking at every level.” She continued: “It’s not the America I do know.” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), though she didn’t go as far as to explicitly condemn the violent therapy of Padilla, known as it “very disturbing.”
However different Republicans both refused to remark and even applauded Padilla’s therapy. Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) accused Padilla of “making a spectacle of himself.” Home Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) went as far as to say Padilla should be censured by the Senate. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) sniffed that Padilla “got what he wanted, he’s on TV.”
And the response from the overwhelming majority of Republican representatives and senators was: crickets. What a shameful lack of frequent courtesy and decency and braveness. In spite of everything, how troublesome would it not be for members of Congress to face collectively and say: “We might disagree with our mates throughout the aisle on many points, however on this all of us agree: Each member of Congress, Republican, Democrat, and Unbiased, deserves to be handled with the utmost respect. Particularly when she or he has dedicated no crime, and is just doing their job.”
It wasn’t so way back when individuals used to make enjoyable of senators for being so well mannered towards each other, utilizing phrases like “My good buddy from Tennessee,” or “the distinguished senator from Ohio,” however not.
The place’s John McCain after we want him?
Bill Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He’s the writer of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”