LEADERSHIP MEANS LEAD

It doesn't mean Wimp Out to Get Along

The recent unanimous support of Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy by the Republican caucus is both gratifying and worrisome. The revelation of the minority leader’s comments made following the January 6, 2021 protest of the 2020 election process were unfortunate. That’s right, the thousands of mostly Republicans who showed up at the Capitol on that fateful day were not there to storm the Capitol building. They were there to watch the Republican leadership object to the election process and to hear from then President Trump.

The process was hijacked by a militant minority. That minority was subversive and warrants investigation. But the majority of the protestors were within their Constitutional rights, even those who entered the Capitol building. It was The People’s House at the time. Perhaps after the 2022 mid-term elections, the Capitol will once again be open to the Nation’s citizens and friendly visitors. However, that is not a certainty.

The Republican leadership needs to backtrack on its condemnation of those innocents caught up in the protests, in particular, those who were incarcerated for months without charges whose only “crime” was trespassing on their own property. And those suffering from misguided and illegal prosecution by the DOJ, such as retired Naval Lt. Commander Thomas Caldwell and his wife, need robust Republican vocal support not hidden acquiescence to the Democrat-led prosecution.

The position of the minority whip, Steve Scalise is understandable. He was nearly killed by a deranged Democrat in a prior election protest. But on January 6th, the only actual casualty was a single protestor, Ashli Babbitt, innocent or not. We just don’t know.  And that is what McCarthy, Scalise as well as Senators Cruz and Graham need to investigate. If they don’t, they don’t represent the majority of Republicans in the American Heartland.