In the first Harry Potter movie, points were awarded to the young boy who stood up to his friends saying what you are doing is wrong. We should reflect on his courage.
Representative Justin Amash used Independence Day to announce his independence from rhe Republican Party. He cited the hyper-partisan nature of both parties. This follows his lone voice in the Republican caucus saying the president has committee impeachable offenses. No one else in the House or Senate GOP caucus joined him.
His courage should be applauded. He knew he would get a huge push back from a vindictive president and his sycophants. After his announcement yesterday, true to form, the president called him the “dumbest” member of Congress and said good riddance.
Setting aside the president’s typical childish and fact-starved retorts, let’s focus on four points.
– First, Amash is an attorney. People may not care for attorneys, but calling them dumb is not a good defense.
– Second, Amash read rhe Mueller Report. That makes him an outlier, in general, and from this president, who is renowned for not having the patience to study anything.
Third, of many offenses, Amash points to the president ordering White Counsel Don McGahn to alter the record to show the president did not order the firing of Robert Mueller. That is clear obstruction of justice among several others and Amash said it showed deceit.
– Fourth, he felt Attorney General William Barr’s whitewashing of the report is a disservice to Americans.
It should be noted two significant groups of people agree. Republicans for the Rule of Law feel there are grounds for impeachment and have forwarded each member of Congress a highlighted copy of the Mueller Report. Also, over 1,000 former federal prosecutors have signed a letter calling for the same.
The president’s followers tout his toughness. I believe they are mistaking his false bravado for toughness. Lack of accountabilty, lack of truthfulness, lack of decency and lack of courage to fire someone to their face are all evidence to support my contention. When I think of this president, toughness or character are not top of mind.
Amash is standing up against a fervent base of people. His fellow Republican lawmakers should be ashamed for their sycophancy. They know Amash is right, with many saying so privately, but are too scared to publicly agree. Some will even abet the president’s crime by trying to vilify Mueller when he testifies later in the month. Members of both parties applauded Mueller when he was appointed as a man of integrity – please keep that in mind.
Ending with another movie, “The Post,” about The Washington Post publishing the Pentagon Papers after The New York Times was barred from doing so, Katherine Graham is cautioned by a friend who worked for the then president not to run afoul of Richard Nixon. He used the term “ruthless” among more colorful metaphors. Amash knows Trump is ruthless, so his courage is not unlike Ms. Graham’s. Please let your Senators and Congressional representatives know how much you admire Amash’s courage. It is rare.
musingsofanoldfart 
I so agree…doing the right thing should always prevail, but as we see, it doesn’t, especially in politics.
Mary, so true. “What makes me look good,” is too often the political motivation. Keith
Justin Amash, like Senator John McCain before him, is a man of honour and integrity. I don’t agree with many of his stances, but I applaud his courage, I fully believe he puts the best interest of the nation before politics, and that is a rarity today, especially in the GOP, but on the other side as well. I hadn’t thought to do so, but your idea to let our representatives and senators know how much we admire Amash is a good one, and I will do so.
Jill, many thanks. I appreciate your more detailed post as well. I think by letting them know how much we admire his courage, it will help them think about their own reticence. It also allows you to mention the Republicans for the Rule of Law. This is well beyond party, as this person in the White House is a clear and present danger. But, we both know sycophants like Rep. Jim Jordan will continue to carry water for the president.
It disappointed me when Senator Romney wrote his piece about Amash and them whiffed at the plate. That is why they call it courage, as it is so rare, especially with this spineless crew of GOP members of Congress. Keith
Note to Readers: Courage is Elliott Richardson and William Ruckelshaus resigning when Nixon told them to fire Archibald Cox, the Robert Mueller of the Watergate investigation. Don McGahn showed courage not to follow through with Trump’s request and did resign, but it would have been good if he made it public. Trump, of course, denies all of this and is supported by his sycophants on Fox News. What frustrates me about the sycophants is the “tribe” of most importance should be the one supported by the US Constitution, not the GOP.
Note to Readers: Jill’s mentioning former Senator and Vietnam War Hero John McCain reminds of one of his final public acts and two of his most memorable. Two of his most memorable are his withstanding the torture of his captors in Vietnam and then returning years later with former Senator John Kerry to help restore economic ties bewteen the US and Vietnam – that is courage, forgiveness and statesmanship. One of his final acts was to admonish the current US president for his acquiesence to Vladimir Putin in Helsinki. Like many, he was offended the US president would side with the Russian president over the counsel of his intelligence people. It should be noted McCain was hated by Russians, while Trump is loved – why is that? My strong feeling is Putin has a begrudging respect for McCain and sees Trump as a patsy.