In the days since Trump's controversial press conference on the Charlottesville tragedy in which he said there was "blame on both sides," Republicans have been tripping over one another to distance themselves from the White House. Apparently the mere suggestion that Antifa, a Leftist group that has repeatedly incited violence at protests around the country, was anything more than an innocent bystander was grounds for impeachment, at least according to CNN, and just not something that Republicans in Congress were willing to touch.
One such Republican that has been noticeably silent on the Antifa movement is none other than House Speaker Paul Ryan...that is until Nancy Pelosi took a stand and gave him the courage to actually express his own opinion...well, through a spokeswoman anyway. Finally, after days of being heavily criticized for a failure to condemn violent Antifa attacks at Berkeley, Ryan's staff issued the following statement to the Daily Caller last night:
"Speaker Ryan believes, as is obvious, these individuals are left-wing thugs, and those who are committing violence need to be arrested and prosecuted. Antifa is a scourge on our country."
Of course, the statement sets a somewhat different tone when compared to Paul Ryan's Facebook post from last week, entitled "Let There Be No Confusion," which was clearly a shot at Trump.
I still firmly believe this hate exists only on the fringes. But so long as it exists, we need to talk about it. We need to call it what it is. And so long as it is weaponized for fear and terror, we need to confront it and defeat it.
That is why we all need to make clear there is no moral relativism when it comes to neo-Nazis. We cannot allow the slightest ambiguity on such a fundamental question.
This is a test of our moral clarity. The words we use and the attitudes we carry matter. Yes, this has been a disheartening setback in our fight to eliminate hate. But it is not the end of the story. We can and must do better. We owe it to Heather Heyer, and to all our children.
So why the sudden change of heart for Pual Ryan?
Maybe it's related to the fact that his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, managed to muster the political courage to denounce the hate group some 24 hours before him? Per the Washington Times, Pelosi released the following statement on Antifa earlier this week:
"Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts. The violent actions of people calling themselves antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted."
Then again, maybe it was the main stream media's cover that allowed Ryan the strength to acutally speak his mind...The Washington Post recently unleashed this shocking headline...
That was quickly followed by The Los Angeles Times...
Then, The Atlantic...
And, liberalist of them all, Bloomberg...
It seems as though America's politicians learned nothing from the 2016 presidential election. If nothing else, Trump's campaign should have taught our pandering politicos that sometimes people actually like it when you speak your mind...apparently they're slow learners.
Alas, it does however seem as though Obama's "lead from behind" strategy sunk in...so maybe politicians just learn lessons on a multi-year lag?