The fate of our country lies in the hands of sane, moderate Republicans. Think of them as Republican classic, from the 1980s or early 1990s, long before they became hijacked by the lunatic fringes of the Tea Party/Freedom Caucus and religious extremists.
Today it’s on Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to stand up, be strong and send a message that the GOP is actually something more than just the party of getting nothing done.
When a Democrat has been in the White House and/or public opinion favors progressives, Paul Ryan and company are usually the party of no; of doing nothing.
The GOP has clearly made a Faustian bargain with President Donald Trump, siding with him even in instances when common sense, logic, reason, decency, humanity and the good of country calls for disagreeing with him.
Instances of violence against the press are clearly the time to side with a sense of human decency over the Republican Party. Especially so in an environment obviously fostered, if not created, by Trump taking pride in being openly hostile to the media.
Sign a petition calling on Speaker Paul Ryan to keep press-beating Rethuglican Greg Gianforte out of the House of Representatives.
In case you missed the audio:
Via Credo Action, who have reached 88,938 signatures, with a goal of 100,000:
The night before the special election for Montana’s sole House seat, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs walked up to Republican candidate Greg Gianforte and did his job: asking him tough but fair questions.
In response, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the throat and threw him to the ground. Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs and began punching him. Screaming, “I’m sick and tired of this!” he continued punching the reporter. A FOX News crew waiting to interview Gianforte witnessed the whole thing. Later that night, police charged Gianforte with assault, and by the next morning, three major newspapers had withdrawn their endorsements.
Because the incident took place so soon before the election, after weeks of early voting, in deep-red Montana, Gianforte still won.
Now it is up to Speaker Paul Ryan to stand up for the freedom and safety of the press and refuse to endorse violence against journalists. He should do everything in his power to keep Gianforte from taking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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