Expel idea of expelling politicians

In 2007, former U.S.

Sen. Larry Craig, a Republican, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge, prompting Senate colleagues to demand his immediate resignation, an illustration that perceived partisan advantage was more important than the will of the people.

Ten years later, then-Pennsylvania state Sen. Daylin Leach (a Democrat) was accused of harassment. Despite scant evidence, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf and other pols demanded Mr. Leach step down, ignoring the fact that he worked for the people, and not party bosses. He was subsequently exonerated, but the damage was done, and he lost re-election.

Just this week, Democrat legislators in Arizona called for the expulsion of a Republican lawmaker who attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington. If you’re waiting for the rest of the damning evidence that merits expelling him, you’ll be sorely disappointed. There is none. According to state Rep. Mark Finchem, he attended the rally, was granted permission to speak at a sanctioned event, and didn’t come within 500 yards of the Capitol. End of story — or at least it should be.

But extremist Democrats never let pesky little details — like the First Amendment — get in the way of political theatrics designed to “cancel” a person’s livelihood and reputation.

Attending a rally and advocating a controversial position should not be just cause to destroy a person and jettison the will of the people by depriving them of the representative whom they chose.

Ironically, advocating for elected officials to be removed is, unequivocally, the real “threat to national security,” and a brazen assault on “the very future of our democracy.”

Garnering the most headlines are calls by some Democrats to expel newly elected Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene for her views. It’s bad enough that they trampled on precedent by kicking Ms. Greene off her committees, as such assignments are traditionally reserved for, and determined by, each party’s leadership. But to even think about booting someone from Congress simply because of her beliefs is horrific. Doing so is the very antithesis of freedom, and reeks of authoritarianism right out of George Orwell’s “1984.”

Politicians should never call on elected officials to resign, for two critically important reasons:

— It is not their place. Sure, what they perceive as political baggage may hurt their party, but politics should be irrelevant. A lawmaker is accountable to only one entity: The electorate. And it is they, not political leaders, who decide whether an elected official is fit for office.

— Unfounded theories and bad judgment, while not desirable, never should rise to the occasion of expulsion. The Founding Fathers came up with an ingenuous mechanism for removing officials from office: elections — where voters decide whether leaders have earned a return ticket. It’s high time that self-righteous politicians relearn their Civics 101 and stop usurping power from the people.

So … “what about” Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar? We have calls for expelling Rep. Greene for nothing more than bizarre conspiracy theories, yet there was no such demand when Ms.

Omar made what many considered to be anti-Semitic statements. In fact, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the entire Democratic leadership team issued the following statement during the Omar kerfuffle: “Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive. We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments.”

Great, except that it was all for naught, since Speaker Pelosi promptly endorsed Rep. Omar for re-election.

But if you strive for consistency, you can’t then demonize a political opponent and entertain calls for her removal — especially after she backed away from her theories — for views far less-hurtful than “anti-Semitic tropes.”

The P.C. police are trying to play God, arrogantly believing that they, and only they, are perfect enough to judge whose legacy survives, and whose gets flushed down the toilet. Yet the left’s selectivity in whom they ravage — crush the Republicans but conveniently give a free pass to the Dems who fulfil their agenda — has destroyed whatever credibility they had.

Instead of living in a glass house, Speaker Pelosi would be better off fighting the left in her hometown of San Francisco. The city’s school board just stripped Democratic California Sen. Diane Feinstein’s name from an elementary school because she replaced a damaged confederate monument while mayor — in 1984. Along with canceling the legacies of 43 others, from Abraham Lincoln to Paul Revere, the re-naming process will likely top $1 million.

Calculated inaction on issues like that makes every cancel culturist … green with envy.