Last Thursday the House passed H. Res. 183 by a vote of 407-23-1-1. The resolution condemned hate speech and intolerance. I think that this was a no-brainer to vote for and it should have passed unanimously. Evidentially for two dozen Republicans this was complicated. Let’s explore.
Let me start by breaking down the final tally. The 407 aye votes included all 234 Democrats present and 173 Republicans. All 23 nays came from Republicans. Steve King of Iowa voted present – thanks for showing up for work Steve. Democrat Lacy Clay of Missouri was absent.
Steve King is one of the most racist, xenophobic, homophobic and bigoted members of the House. It really is little wonder that he didn’t know how to vote. Had he voted aye he would have not only contradicted his record, he would have alienated most of his supporters. Had he voted nay it would have required courage; something his type lacks.
Here are the 23 nay voters: Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar of Arizona, Mo Brooks, and Mike Rogers of Alabama, Ken Buck of Colorado, Ted Budd and Mark Walker of North Carolina, Michael Burgess, Michael Conaway, Louie Gohmert and Chip Roy of Texas, Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Chris Collins, Pete King and Lee Zeldin of New York, Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Hunter Duncan and Doug LaMalfa of California, Sam Graves of Georgia, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Steve Palazzo of Mississippi, Pete Steube of Minnesota along with Ted Yoho of Florida.
Roll Call did a nice job of reporting on this vote. There were plenty of late votes and several switches; so don’t let anyone fool you that they were distracted or pressed the wrong button in error. The decisions of the 24 were well considered. I read or heard a lot of the excuses/reasons and I reject all of them. Particularly in Congress you can’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The resolution was panned as both too inclusive and not inclusive enough. It can’t simultaneously be both.
If you look at some of the Teapublican nut cases who were smart enough to vote in the affirmative you see how easy a vote this was. A few apparently still “didn’t get the memo”. Among them are Mo Brooks, Louie Gohmert, Paul Gosar, Thomas Massie and Ted Yoho. Will someone please point out the very stable genius among them?
Currently there are two sitting members of Congress who are under felony indictment: Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California. They both voted nay. Liz Cheney is currently the number three ranking Republican in the House and a member of leadership. What kind of leadership did she display with this vote? Note, both Hunter and Cheney are members of the political chapter of the Lucky Sperm Cell Club.
I will conclude by giving these 24 the moniker of the Too Stupid Two Dozen. They obviously lack the intelligence to be in the United States House of Representatives and I have to question what America they are part of. It is certainly none that I recognize as an early 21st century version.
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