OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy shredded Democrats on, what he called, their double standards when enforcing the rules.
It happened when Democrats, and two Republicans, in the House voted 223-207 to censure Rep. Paul Gosar and strip him of his committee assignments.
And if you did not guess, it was Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger who joined the Democrats in the vote.
“What they have started cannot easily be undone. Their actions today and the past have forever changed the way the House operates,” the House Minority Leader said.
“It means that the minority rights that have served this body as well are the things of the past. And furthermore, it means that under the Pelosi precedent, all of the members that I have mentioned earlier will need the approval of a majority to keep those positions in the future,” he said.
“The old definition of abuse of power- rules for thee but not for me. That’s exactly what’s happening here today,” he said.
The Congress members he had mentioned before, but not by name, included Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Maxine Waters and Adam Schiff of California.
“What’s worse, we got to this point on the basis of a double-standard,” he said. “Democrats want to change the rules but refuse to apply them to their own caucus.”
He mentioned how a Congresswoman, presumably Waters, asked people to confront members of the Donald Trump administration when they see them.
“This side of the aisle didn’t ask that chairwoman to lose her committee, we simply asked for an apology,” he said.
And he talked about how Schiff promoted the debunked Steele Dossier and the Russian collusion narrative.
“Think about everything that dossier put this country through for two years based on fabricated evidence – the infringement of due process, the spying of the presidential campaign, and of course the $32 million spent by hardworking taxpayers for a Mueller investigation,’ he said.
“And yet, the Democratic chairman says “I don’t regret it.” Why? Rules for thee, but not for me,” he said.
“When a Democrat congresswoman said ‘Israel was hypnotizing the world,’ supporting Israel was ‘all about the Benjamins’ and that 9/11 was ‘some” people did something,’ Democrats actually defended her,” the GOP leader said, referring to Omar.
And then he went after Rep. Hakeem Jeffries who said on Twitter “Lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key.”
He accused Rep. Jeffries of “attempting to sway an ongoing trial.”
Here are some more examples of what Democrats have done and not been censured.
“Israeli airstrikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection. Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians,” Rep. Omar said in may, describing our nation’s most trusted ally as a terrorist regime.
Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism.
Palestinians deserve protection.
Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don’t exist to protect Palestinian civilians.
It’s unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid. https://t.co/vWWQfMqBkT
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 10, 2021
The report Omar cited omitted Israel’s claim that the airstrikes were targeting militants who fired missiles into Israel and that 11 Hamas terrorists were reportedly killed.
Then she compared Israel with the Taliban and Hamas.
“We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” Rep. Omar said in a tweet. “I asked [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] where people are supposed to go for justice.”
We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.
We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.
I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow
— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021
Punishment? None.
A day after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a high-rise building in the Gaza Strip that was home to The Associated Press offices, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Israel an “apartheid state.”
“This is happening with the support of the United States. I don’t care how any spokesperson tries to spin this. The US vetoed the UN call for a ceasefire. If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to? How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights?” she said.
This is happening with the support of the United States.
I don’t care how any spokesperson tries to spin this. The US vetoed the UN call for ceasefire.
If the Biden admin can’t stand up to an ally, who can it stand up to?
How can they credibly claim to stand for human rights? https://t.co/bXY99O3Wqp
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 15, 2021
“Apartheid states aren’t democracies,” she said.
Apartheid states aren’t democracies.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 15, 2021
Punishment? None.
And then there were the comments of Rep. Maxine Waters made during the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd.
“I’m going to fight with all of the people who stand for justice,” Waters she said to reporters just before the 11 p.m. curfew in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota where Daunte Wright was killed in a confrontation with police. “We’ve got to get justice in this country and we cannot allow these killings to continue.”
A reporter then asked Rep. Waters about what she would think if former Officer Derek Chauvin was found not guilty in his trial for the death of George Floyd.
“We’ve got to stay on the street and we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business,” she said.
More confrontational? She made the statement as she stood in a city where protesters have pelted police with rocks and bottles and have set fire to businesses.
Punishment? None.