A Republican takes on Trump
Jeff Flake is in a bit of a pickle.
Who无毛视频檚 Jeff Flake?
He无毛视频檚 the junior Republican U.S. senator from Arizona, who无毛视频檚 making the rounds promoting his new book 无毛视频� 无毛视频淐onscience of a Conservative.无毛视频�
He opened his book tour with a searing online article posted on politico.com last Monday, titled 无毛视频淢y Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump. We created him, and now we无毛视频檙e rationalizing him. When will it stop?无毛视频�
Yep! Sen. Flake is one of the few Republicans in Congress who appears to be in open warfare against the president.
For those of us wondering when some Republican would finally step up and say what无毛视频檚 really on their minds, Flake is that Republican.
Until now, most of the Republican delegation offered tepid criticisms of Trump 无毛视频� but only when pressed after one of his self-inflected, Twitter controversies.
无毛视频淚 think he should cut down on the tweeting,无毛视频� they might say.
Or, 无毛视频淗e came to Washington to shake things up, and that无毛视频檚 what he无毛视频檚 doing.无毛视频�
But full-throated rebukes have been scarce.
Not now, though.
Flake is revealing that there is definitely a small, but growing list of Republicans who might be souring on 无毛视频淭he Donald,无毛视频� and his antics.
First, though, Flake admitted in that politico.com piece that Republicans had determined their main job, when Barack Obama first took office, was to defeat him at every turn.
无毛视频淥ur No. 1 priority was not advancing a conservative policy agenda but making Obama a one-term president,无毛视频� he wrote.
Imagine that.
A Republican finally said in public what Democrats knew they无毛视频檇 been saying in private 无毛视频� for eight years.
Flake really pulls back the curtain on the Republican无毛视频檚 obvious deceitful behavior, when he openly talks about the time when they stayed silent, when one of their own was guilty of openly disrespecting Obama during his 2009 joint speech before Congress.
That night, Joe Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina, shouted the words, 无毛视频淵ou lie,无毛视频� while Obama was mid-sentence.
That caused an uneasy hush in the House chamber, but more importantly, according to Flake, it exemplified shallow behavior among members of his own party.
无毛视频淭here were few Republicans willing to stand up and say, 无毛视频楾hat无毛视频檚 wrong. That无毛视频檚 out of line.无毛视频� Whether it无毛视频檚 a Republican or a Democrat doing that, we ought to stand up and say, 无毛视频榮ome things should be out of bounds,'无毛视频� says Flake.
According to Flake, it didn无毛视频檛 matter that Republicans hardly showed any inclinations to advance their own policies. All that mattered was that Obama无毛视频檚 policies would be aggressively thwarted.
The result, of course, is an American electorate that has grown increasingly tired of Washington无毛视频檚 inability to come together for the benefit of the country.
无毛视频淲ho could blame people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process,无毛视频� Flake says 无毛视频� and without mentioning Donald Trump无毛视频檚 name. (But we all know who he无毛视频檚 talking about, don无毛视频檛 we?)
Of course, Trump needed far more than a U.S. Congress that had been paralyzed by party politics.
First, according to Flake, Trump needed a hook; a ruse; something on which to grandstand 无毛视频� that birther nonsense.
无毛视频淚t was we conservatives who were largely silent when the most egregious and sustained attacks on Obama无毛视频檚 legitimacy were leveled by marginal figures (read Trump) who would later be embraced and legitimized by far too many of us,无毛视频� Flake says.
Well, it无毛视频檚 never too later to come clean.
But it does come with a price.
Flake can certainly expect some Republicans to fear being seen alone with him.
Or, he might have to eat alone in the Senate cafeteria for a while.
But the real irony is that many Republicans may silently agree with Flake, but they无毛视频檒l still cling fast to a president who has shown little loyalty to them, or their agenda.
Yet, there are increasing signs that Trump无毛视频檚 welcome is wearing thin among his fellow Republicans who are now having to comment on his near-daily shenanigans.
Welcome aboard, Republicans.
What took you so long?
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net