On Doing The Right Thing

• Combat Domestic Hate Groups

• Censure and More Firings

• Endorse Anti-hate Policies and End Racist Policies and Programs

A week after American Nazis marched on the city of Charlottesville, Rodney Frelinghuysen’s newsletter contained a statement that was nearly all that could be wished: pointed, clear and uncompromising in its refusal to concede legitimacy of any sort to Donald Trump’s both-sides-now equivocating. In its articulateness and power to move, the Friday newsletter statement was a world away from Frelinghuysen’s initial response on Monday — an inert, two-sentence post to his website.

“To be clear, the President’s assertion that there were two legitimate “sides” in Charlottesville last weekend is flatly wrong,’’ he declared Friday. “There can be no comparison – no equivalency - between white supremacists, KKK members and other racist fringe groups and those who showed up to challenge their bigotry, racism and anti-semitism.”

Perhaps opinions on Friday’s words will include terms such as gutsy, or forceful. There is an even more fundamental description: The right thing.

We only wish he would have done the right thing sooner. Frelinghuysen waited two days after the violence in Charlottesville before releasing his first, tepid statement against white supremacy late Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, he added a single sentence (punctuated by an exclamation point) to announce that Charlottesville protesters weren’t to blame before elaborating further in his newsletter.

In the meantime, the president’s economic council collapsed after several CEO’s left in protest, the 16 members of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities resigned together, and several GOP lawmakers from Leonard Lance to Marco Rubio mentioned the President specifically in repudiating his comments.  But perhaps more influential to Frelinghuysen were his constituents,  who called his offices constantly, visited daily, tweeted by the hundreds and had multiple letters published in the opinion sections of local press, all calling for stronger action. There were also hundreds of vigils and rallies across the country. We wonder if Friday’s statement is responsive — at long last— to the opinions and beliefs of his constituents.

As 2017 marches into autumn, we will need, at every turn, elected officials to remain just as strong and clear in answer to anything that challenges what is fundamentally decent about our democracy. And we will need, as we do now, actions on the heels of such statements.

“Actions speak louder than words but not nearly as often.” - Mark Twain

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen & Immigration

Congressman Frelinghuysen enthusiastically echoes Donald Trump’s talking point about immigration coming from and through Mexico as being “out of control”. This is clearly articulated in his political communiqués, where he has made declarations such as:  “The crisis on our Southern border underscores the inadequacy of our Federal Government’s efforts to secure that border…” The reality is that these are notions that all experts and serious sources have proven false. [1]

At the same time, Frelinghuysen likes to play the moderate card, tempering his assertions with comments like “We are blessed to be a nation of immigrants, but we are also a nation of laws.” The fact is that Frelinghuysen has a long record of voting in sync with the most extreme factions of the Republican Party [2], while portraying himself as a centrist.

Frelinghuysen and the Muslim Ban

3 days after Donald Trump issued an Executive Order prohibiting entry to the US by citizens of seven countries where a majority of the population practices Islam as their religion, Frelinghuysen declared: “As part of his strategy to make the safety and security of the American people his top priority, President Trump believes that a pause in immigration from unstable regions is warranted.” Frelinghuysen’s words conveyed the notion that the order was generic and driven to protect the Nation from dangerous actors. Unfortunately, Trump himself deprived the Congressman from this thinly veiled deception, by making clear that the intention was to prohibit entry of practitioners of the Muslim faith, even if they were legal residents in the US. The Courts addressed the unconstitutionality of the EO but Frelinghuysen never disavowed his agreement with Trump’s purpose.

• As White Supremacists Kill, Frelinghuysen Says Nothing
• Immigration: Slamming Shut The Golden Door?     
• Whack-a-mole Military Threat: North Korea?  Wait, can you say Venezuela?

As White Supremacists Kill, Frelinghuysen Says Nothing

In the aftermath of Saturday’s terrorist attack at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA,  Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen was the last of the NJ congressional delegation to address the events. Finally at 2 P.M. this afternoon, almost 48 hours after Heather Heyer’s murder, and after the President made an amended condemnation under pressure,  Frelinghuysen issued a two sentence “statement” on his website, saying simply, “The hatred and violence by White Supremacists in Charlottesville must be condemned. Such views and actions have no place in America.”  A reader, reviewing the statement multiple times in its entirety, could be forgiven for wondering, “Condemned by whom?”

By Sunday, all of New Jersey’s Congressional representatives but Frelinghuysen had condemned the white nationalists and neo-Nazis who convened a Unite the Right demonstration attended by 1,000 followers. Other NJ GOP delegates at least used the first person in their condemnations and Chris Smith from NJ-4 called the the white supremacist rally “deplorable.”  As indeed it was. The event left one dead and 19 injured after a car plowed into a group of counter-protesters. The driver was a man who rallied with white supremacists earlier in the day. He has been charged with 2nd degree murder and malicious intent to wound, among other felonies, and was denied bail on Monday. Two police officers were also killed in a helicopter accident while monitoring the events.

To Representative Frelinghuysen:

We are disappointed with your silence following the disgraceful events in Charlottesville, VA. President Trump's response has been inadequate at best leaving Americans everywhere feeling frightened and uncertain. This includes your constituents here in New Jersey's 11th congressional district. In times like these we look to you to represent our values by using your voice to condemn hatred and protect the safety of all citizens.  This is a matter of morality not politics --members of your party have already spoken out, including Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell.  We ask that you clearly and unambiguously condemn white supremacy and all bigoted hatred.  We ask that you condemn the domestic terrorists who took over the streets of Charlottesville this weekend.  We must stand with and for each other in peace and acceptance.

-NJ 11th for Change

UPDATE 8/14/17:

Monday afternoon, 2 days after the riots, more than a full day after this statement and hours after his office opened to constituents asking for him to speak out against Racism and White Supremacists, Representative Frelinghuysen issued a 2 sentence written statement about the events in Charlottesville and posted it on his website: 

"The hatred and violence by White Supremacists in Charlottesville must be condemned. Such views and actions have no place in America."

Update 8/15/17:

Sometime Tuesday evening, after Trump once again gave cover to neo-nazi white supremacists in a press conference, Frelinghuysen added a sentence and an exclamation point to his original statement and tweeted it out.  The new statement now reads in its entirety:

"The hatred and violence by white supremacists in Charlottesville must be condemned. There is no comparison between those on the side of bigotry and hate, and those who manned the barriers to protest them!  The views and actions of white supremacists have no place in America."