The Hypocrisy of Partisanship
The other day I wrote an article about the importance of language in our national conversation. Over the course of that article, I pointed to examples from both Rep. Omar and President Trump. One of the comments pointed out that I was biased against the President because I gave Rep. Omar the benefit of the doubt regarding intent, while I did not do so for the President.
Let me say this very clearly: he was absolutely right. And here is why I’m biased: President Trump has been name-calling political opponents, demeaning any one who disagrees with him, misrepresenting entire people groups, and has simply spread misinformation for several years, even before becoming a candidate for president.
In all this time, never, not even once, can I recall him issuing an apology for the words that he has said.
There is no reason to give the benefit of the doubt to somebody who has displayed this kind of behavior. And now that the story has unfolded even more in the last couple of days, there is even less reason to do so.
Both President Trump and Vice President Pence have called for Rep. Omar’s resignation. Folks, this is nothing more than grandstanding and cold, hard partisan baloney. There is very good reason to believe that neither Trump nor Pence are sincere in their outrage regarding Rep. Omar’s statements (for which she has apologized and clarified her intent). Why do I say that?
Take just a minute to look back a little more than a month ago when Iowa Rep. Steve King said in an interview, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — when did that language become offensive?” This was merely the cherry on top of a series of racist comments that Rep. King has made through the years (and yet, somehow manages to keep getting re-elected).
Several of his own GOP colleagues called him out for his comments. In fact, there were calls for his resignation from his GOP colleagues as well as some of his own constituents. Eventually, Rep. King was stripped of his committee assignments, as leaders in his own party knew that something needed to be done. Well, by most of the leaders of his own party anyway. Do you know who said nothing during this time? Vice President Pence and President Trump.
Imagine that.
Pence and Trump decline to ask for the resignation of a white, male, Republican for his blatantly racist comments, but barely wait two days to call for the resignation of a Muslim, female, Democrat for comments that while insensitive, were taken in a way that was not intended, for which she has apologized and clarified her meaning.
If you ever wondered about the definition of hypocrisy, that’s it.
VP Pence has stood off to the side, listening to President Trump’s ridiculous, indecent comments since he accepted the invitation to be a running mate, and has never said a word publicly. In fact, Pence has had some of his own questionable comments (comparing Trump to MLK, Jr.? Seriously? I won’t necessarily say racist, but it definitely idiotic.)
And, look, I get it. You have to protect the people on your team. There’s a reason why pitchers throw at batters in retaliation. There’s a reason the bullpens empty during a benches-clearing altercation on the diamond. You have to stand with your people, even when they are idiots. But I feel like the arena of American politics should be beyond this kind of petty back and forth.
I get annoyed by people on my own softball team sometimes, and have no problem telling them to shut it during the game. It shouldn’t be that hard. Even Democrats called Rep. Omar out on what she said. If the GOP wants to be the party of the moral high ground, which so many people seem to think they are, then it is times like this that show one’s true self.
I understand that we have a two-party system in American politics. I just wish they would realize that they are not two different teams. Everybody wins when everybody works together. Sure, we lose out on a little, but so do “they”. It’s called compromise, and apparently it’s a lost art in our hypocritical partisan system.
