Commentary: Racist tweets can’t just be ignored

“America is a nation of immigrants and I do not, and will never, condone discrimination,” the congressman said in a statement Tuesday. “The President’s recent tweets do not reflect the values that we hold dear in America and they are comments that should not be made about any American citizen regardless of who they are or where they work.”

The President’s blatantly racial comments deserve condemnation.

Walden also called out those who use similar tactics to spark division and political spin, by describing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents as “running concentration camps” or that people who support Israel only do so for the “Benjamins.” Such comments are “disgusting and wrong,” Walden said.

I have to agree that Walden has a point—Republicans and Democrats alike need to rethink how much hate is acceptable, how much violence, how much anger, how much evil. In the sharply divided realm of Washington, and among voters and activists as well.

The never-ending battles between Antifa and Patriot Prayer demonstrators on the streets of Portland are a good example of what happens when no boundaries are set: The democratic process is hijacked, our constitutional freedoms misused and perverted and our public safety officers put repeatedly at risk.

As Walden stated Tuesday, racism and misdirection “distract from the real issues our nation faces, like the humanitarian crisis at the border, the rising cost of health care, and providing for our veterans and active duty military.”

But on one point I will disagree with my congressman, who wrote, in regarding to a house vote condemning the President’s words, “taking time to vote on political resolutions condemning the President wastes precious time that should be spent debating and voting on legislation that directly improves the lives of Americans. Respectfully, Congress needs to stop wasting time bickering over mean tweets and get back to tackling the real problems facing our nation.”

I’ve heard a number of the president’s supporters suggest that we ignore the President’s tweets (yes, they are wrong and sick and ugly) and stick to the real issues (because Trump is doing good things as well), but that holds no water: Trump is responsible for the things he says, and should be held accountable for the harm he is doing by saying them.

A political vote in the house is important: Only through official, bipartisan agreement over what is or is not acceptable in American politics today will the lines of political behavior be redrawn in any meaningful way.

Mark Gibson is editor of The Dalles Chronicle.