Missouri State Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D) wrote an entirely inappropriate post on Facebook, as reported by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Missouri state Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal apologized on Sunday for a Facebook post that hoped for the assassination of President Donald Trump, saying, “I made a mistake.”
But the Democrat, who has faced a deafening chorus of critics insisting she should resign, did not indicate any willingness to do so.
At a news conference at Wellspring Church in Ferguson on Sunday, she said she had made a mistake and let others down. She had said much the same last week, but on Sunday she went further, apologizing to the president.
“President Trump, I apologize to you and your family,” she said.
She cited frustration with the tragedy in Charlottesville.
So why the lemonade? The reaction of Democratic leaders:
Missouri’s highest-ranking elected officials, Republicans and Democrats alike, have demanded that Chappelle-Nadal step down from her position. State Senate leaders have given her an ultimatum: Resign, or be expelled.
I was initially dismayed when reading a summary of the incident, but to hear that the Democrats, her own party, demanded her instant resignation – whether she complies or not – indicates to me that at least one side of the political spectrum still remembers how to conduct itself as a political party.
And, as a reminder, this is more than can be said for the GOP. For example, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) said this during the Presidential campaign:
“Nothing made me feel any better than [when] I walked into a gun shop, I think, yesterday … and there was a copy of Rifleman on the counter,” he said in audio posted by CNN of an event with Republican volunteers. “It’s got a picture of Hillary Clinton on the front of it. I was a little bit shocked at that ― it didn’t have a bullseye on it.” [HuffPo]
There are other examples as well, including this one from the current President, then candidate:
Repeating his contention that Mrs. Clinton wanted to abolish the right to bear arms, Mr. Trump warned at a rally here that it would be “a horrible day” if Mrs. Clinton were elected and got to appoint a tiebreaking Supreme Court justice.
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.” [The New York Times]
So the Republican leaders in Missouri were outraged at State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal’s faux-pas, and rightly so. Were they similarly outraged at Senator Burr, or candidate Trump, when they advocated violence against another political personage? Because this isn’t about the impropriety of advocating the assassination of a President. This is about the disaster that would befall this nation if we fell to using violence to settle political differences, much like, say, Yemen.
I call on the good Republicans of Missouri to condemn Senator Burr and President Trump for their inappropriate remarks during the last Presidential campaign, or to repeat their condemnations if they issued them when those fell utterances occurred. It would demonstrate that they have the future of the nation in their hearts – not just the party.
