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Just one question, Mr. Amodei

Guest Contributor
Guest Contributor
Opinion
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The U.S. Capitol

By Edmund L. Andrews

Call me naïve, but I have a question for Rep. Mark Amodei: Just because you’re a conservative Republican, do you have to go along with President Trump’s blatantly racist comments?

Amodei, who represents my Northern Nevada district, prides himself on having at least a bit of an independent streak. He rarely breaks party ranks when he votes, but at least he occasionally speaks his own mind. 

Two years ago, he publicly blasted GOP House leaders for crafting an Obamacare-repeal bill in secret. As he complained at the time: “How can I have a serious discussion about health care when I can’t go back to any record whatsoever?” 

Why, then, is Amodei too scared to call out Trump for in-your-face bigotry after the president told four Democratic members of Congress to “go back” to the “crime-infested countries” they came from? 

Leave aside the fact that three out of those four lawmakers were born in the United States and two of them — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley — are not even of foreign ancestry. (Reminder to Trump: Puerto Rico, where AOC’s parents came from, is part of the United States.)  

Telling people to “go back to the country you came from” is much more than some dog-whistle phrase, like “states’ rights,” that Republicans used back in the day to court southern segregationists.

Trump was invoking one of the most familiar clichés of bigotry and xenophobia we have. It’s been used against members of virtually every ethnic minority in the United States, including African Americans who were the descendants of slaves brought here in chains. 

The very familiarity of the phrase amplifies its ugliness. Worse, it sends an utterly un-American message that people descended from immigrants can never be real Americans and have no right to criticize their own nation. 

As former Republican senator Jeff Flake tweeted, “There are times when the President's comments are so vile and offensive that it is incumbent on Republicans to respond and condemn.”

Obviously, Mark Amodei isn’t alone in staring at the ceiling. On Tuesday, he joined all but four House Republicans in voting against a Democratic resolution to condemn Trump’s comments. It’s been clear for a long time now that almost all elected Republicans will go along with whatever grotesquerie Trump serves up – pussy-grabbing, “very fine” Nazis in Charlottesville, migrant children in puke-inducing prisons. 

But why be so craven on this? It’s not like you’re supporting impeachment, or even jeopardizing a piece of legislation. In fact, Republicans just rolled over House Democrats to get what they wanted on funding for immigration enforcement. If it’s too “disloyal” to vote for the Democrats’ tut-tut resolution, you could denounce the race-baiting on your own. Who knows? A lot of your voters might be impressed.

The crime here is that not speaking out will encourage even more overt racism and more dangerous hate-mongering. Every country has its streaks of hatred and ugliness. What separates the good countries is the willingness of their leaders to stand up for what’s right when it counts. If Republicans like Amodei won’t do that, we are all in trouble.

Edmund L. Andrews is a former reporter for the New York Times who lives in Zephyr Cove, NV. 

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