REPUBLICAN PATRIOTS: WHERE ARE YOU?
Republican Patriots: Where are you?
That entreaty was made Monday by a career CIA man who has served under presidents from both the Republican and the Democratic parties.
Former CIA director John Brennan said he watched the Helsinki news conference where President Donald Trump — on the air in front of the world — chose not to condemn Russia for its cyber operation to meddle in our elections, and chose instead to condemn the FBI for investigating it. Then Brennan tweeted:
“Donald Trump’s press conference performance in Helsinki rises to & exceeds the threshold of ‘high crimes & misdemeanors. It was nothing short of treasonous. Not only were Trump’s comments imbecilic, he is wholly in the pocket of Putin. Republican Patriots: Where are you???” Where, indeed?
In the hours afterward, 17 Republicans — far more than the usual suspects — piled on to call out Trump. Another 32 jumped to publicly proclaim that Russia is clearly our foe — not just another world “competitor,” as Trump claimed as a compliment.
By late afternoon Tuesday, Trump was back-tracking, claiming to have misspoken about whether he thought Russia meddled. He said he should have used “wouldn’t” instead of “would” in this sentence: “I don’t see any reason why it would be” [Russia that meddled].
The president didn’t take back his rants about the FBI or the Russia probe or any number of other condemning comments about an election he can’t seem to get over. Nor did he take back his fawning behavior toward Putin.
Most watchers, Congress included, know what they saw and heard, not just in Helsinki but for months now.
“No prior president has ever abased himself more abjectly before a tyrant,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said.
Speaker of the House Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., with milquetoast in his mouth, said “The president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally.”
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and chairman of the U.S. Foreign Affairs Committee, said Trump gave Putin “a public approval by the greatest nation on earth towards him. … I would guess [Putin]’s having caviar right now.”
Sen. Jeff Flake called Trump’s words and actions “shameful.” Sen. Susan Collins called Trump’s position “untenable.” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said, “This is bizarre and flat-out wrong.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said, “[W]hat I saw today was not ‘America First,’ it was simply a sad diminishment of our great nation.”
The 32 who made what The New York Times called “tempered” remarks included Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who nonetheless made a strong defense of the FBI’s special counsel probe:
“There is no doubt that Russia interfered in our 2016 presidential election. On July 3, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released a bipartisan report that agreed with the conclusions of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in our 2016 presidential election. Last week, the Trump administration’s Justice Department indicted 12 Russian military intelligence agents for interfering in our 2016 presidential election. That makes it even more important that the bipartisan Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation and the Mueller investigation continue until they are complete. Congress can then decide what to do about both.”
Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson tweeted: “Russia does not deserve our trust or special treatment, and my view remains unchanged after today’s mtg.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R- Ky., said tersely: “The Russians are not our friends. I’ve said that repeatedly, I say it again today. And I have complete confidence in our intelligence community and the findings that they have announced.”
Ditto came the comments of other Republicans such as Rep. Trey Gowdy, of South Carolina; Sens. Tom Cotton and John Boozman, both of Arkansas; Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina; Sen John Cornyn, of Texas; Sen. Roy Blount of Missouri; and others.
Only Rand Paul came to the president’s defense. Conspicuously absent were Reps. Chuck Fleischmann and Marsha Blackburn, both of Tennessee.
The list is something of a landslide for Republicans — people rarely interested in publicly reminding their own president that Russia is not our ally, let alone inclined toward specifically criticizing him.
But it’s not enough.
Most of those Republican comments are window dressing, much like the toothless, non-binding 88-11 vote in the Senate last week to give Congress a role — not really — in Trump’s decisions to impose tariffs for national security reasons. The lawmakers “don’t want to poke the bear,” as Corker put it so passionately last month when he tried unsuccessfully to get a straight-up vote on the tariffs question.
The non-binding vote shows us how the Senate feels for American workers and consumers who will bear the brunt of the tariffs, but it also shows us where their backbones are: They don’t have any.
Alas, the same appears true about whether we elect our politicians or Russia does.
In Congress on Tuesday, Ryan and Cornyn mumbled about passing more sanctions on Russia.
Seriously? How about some sanctions on President Trump and Russia?
Meanwhile, Democrats rightly called the Republicans’ vague reactions “a stunning abdication of leadership” and began talk of condemning Trump’s Helsinki remarks, affirming the findings of American intelligence agencies and, most importantly, increasing funding for states to enhance the security of their voting systems.
And by the way, the GOP appropriations package now eliminates those secure voting funds.
Republican patriots: Find your backbones.