Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) didn’t exactly back former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani (R) after the latter said that President Barack Obama doesn’t love his country.
Rubio told the Associated Press Thursday there was “no doubt” Obama loves the country. But he added, “I just think his policies are bad for our nation.”
Other Republicans, like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), haven’t pushed back on Giuliani’s remarks. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) refused to say whether he thought Obama loves America or not, but did point out that he does.
“I’ll tell you, I love America,” Walker said on Thursday. “There are plenty of people, Democrat, Republican, independent, and in between who love this country. I think we should talk about ways we love this country and that we feel passionately about America.”
Grudging respect for Rubio. Disagreeing with Obama’s policies is part of the time-honored tradition of American politics. Launching an ad hominem attack, accusing him of being some sort of traitor, is over the line, and reveals the mendacity of those making the charge.
I guess in today’s Republican Party, this qualifies as a Profile in Courage.
Giuliani’s statement was a racist fog horn.
Agreed with a capital grudge. Having enough class not to repeat or equivocate on an absolutely ridiculous and obviously false accusation is simple decency. But it certainly does make him stand out from the other no-class moral dwarves.
To be fair, accusing the other side of treason and failure to love the country enough and lack of true 'Muriken-ness is also a time-honored tradition in Amurikan politics. But yeah…that doesn’t mean we have to like it or accept it or can’t ridicule it as the bullshit it is when we see it.
Rubio’s response is the correct one and the adult one and I give him credit for that. The fact that he was able to make it also highlights just what spinelessly pandering pussies folks like Walker are when they avoid answering the question as a way of giving the racist base a wink and a nod while maintaining plausible deniability in terms of the rest of the public. That being said, Rubio’s still wrong on the substance of the policies issue and will no doubt say something puerile to balance this out soon enough anyway.