ëƵ

close

Partisan politics at their worst

By Al Owens 4 min read
article image -

Human suffering is very difficult to watch.

Yet, as long as it exists on my television ëƵ I somehow canëƵt turn it off or turn away.

I feel obligated to root for the victims of bloodshed at the hands of a seeming madman as if I have a stake in the madness.

I do not. Not directly.

Even on the periphery, though, the suffering doesnëƵt seem quite real.

How can one man visit this much destruction on people who have no quarrel with him or his country?

To me, this is not war. ItëƵs butchery.

Fortunately, to this point, the usual partisan politics ëƵ AmericaëƵs go-to parlor game ëƵ has been kept at a minimum.

But there will always be a few politicians who simply canëƵt help themselves.

Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Colo.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Ga.) are two of them who heckled President BidenëƵs State of the Union speech last week.

They engaged in the kinds of vicious partisan politics that should be an embarrassment to the Republican Party. Sadly, their actions will largely be ignored ëƵ and even applauded among the partyëƵs hierarchy.

It is an enduring custom that a presidentëƵs cabinet members are generally greeted by both Democrats and Republicans with respect while they enter the House chamber.

Not for the comedy team of Greene and Boebert.

They openly turned their backs as those cabinet members walked down the aisle to their seats.

They werenëƵt finished.

They began heckling the president as he spoke.

They did it, even about a matter thatëƵs deeply personal to Mr. Biden.

He was talking about getting help for U.S. military personnel who could be suffering the debilitating effects of highly toxic burn pits in Afghanistan.

ëƵA cancer that could put them in a flag-draped coffin, I knowëƵëƵ Biden began saying.

(He was referring to his son, Beau, who died from brain cancer, and the possibility that his disease may have been caused by similar burn pits.)

At that point, Boebert shouted, ëƵThirteen,ëƵ which she apparently meant as a reference to the 13 U.S. troops who died in August at the Kabul Airport.

That drew loud boos from the assembled lawmakers.

These are monkeyshines that should not exist when there are serious matters at hand.

Greene and Boebert have only been in office a little over a year. It seems much longer than that.

TheyëƵre headline grabbers. But never for the right reasons.

Greene has been the source of endless tumult. She was removed from all committee assignments a month after she was sworn in.

According to Twitter, she had so many violations of their ëƵcivic integrity policy,ëƵ she was permanently suspended in January.

ThatëƵs a feat only equalled by Donald Trump.

Boebert, too, has engaged in questionable behavior since she touched down in Washington.

I think itëƵs appropriate if some responsible Republican takes Greene and Boebert aside and tells them to sit down and to tell them something like my parents used to tell me: ëƵGrown folks are talkin!'ëƵ

TheyëƵre talking about matters that donëƵt enable petty political fundraising.

These days, theyëƵre talking about war. People are fighting for their lives over there in Eastern Europe.

TheyëƵve been forced to seek shelter, wherever they can find it.

So, while ëƵgrown folksëƵ are discussing what this country can do to help those people, SIT DOWN. GROWN FOLKS ARE TALKINëƵ.

There are few occasions when Republicans and Democrats agree on much anymore.

Russia attacking Ukraine has our warring political parties sharing an alliance.

We see those people over there struggling to fight with anything they can.

There are videos of some people making makeshift Molotov cocktails out of gasoline and empty beer bottles.

Boebert and Greene are so busy making themselves the subjects of their own dramas, perhaps they should stop and take note.

Ukrainian grandma making a Molotov cocktail: ëƵI will face the Russian army and send a few of their soldiers to hell before I am killed!ëƵ

By contrast.

Boebert and Greene: ëƵMasks make our faces all itchy.ëƵ

Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at /week.