On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut spoke out on the House floor against the hatred and xenophobia that’s been running rampant in this country since the horrific Paris terrorist attacks last weekend. Himes, not usually known as a firebrand, was scathing:
“The American people are scared as they learn the capabilities of these evil psychopaths at ISIS,” Himes said. “Mr. Speaker, in this House, when we’re scared, we do dumb things. We spend time forcing the cafeteria to rename french fries (as) freedom fries, we invade Iraq because of what comes out of the Middle East.”
He drew an analogy to the May 1939 rejection of a shipload of German Jews who were attempting to find refuge from the Holocaust. After first landing in Cuba, the U.S. rejected the passengers aboard the St. Louis because they were reputed to be “Communists and anarchists” and about 25 percent of them were exterminated by the Nazis.
“It was a moral stain on our history,” Himes said.
But that was Wednesday. On Thursday, Himes turned around and voted in favor of a GOP bill designed to shut down the process for admitting refugees fleeing Syria’s deadly civil war. His justification was garbage:
“The bill simply requires that our national security leaders certify that the thorough and extensive processes that are already in place are being followed,” Himes, of Greenwich, said in a statement. “After conversations with our national security leaders, I do not believe it will significantly increase the burden on these agencies, delay the 18- to-24-month wait time for refugees or impair our ability to help those fleeing the war-torn region.”
Himes somehow managed to buy into the Republican b.s. that this legislation was merely about tightening up the admission process and not exactly the kind of “dumb” response America has so often reflexively engaged in when it’s scared. But how on earth did he go from recognizing the “moral stain” of our shameful past during World War II to supporting exactly that sort of behavior just a day later?
What’s particularly dismaying is that Himes has been moving up in the ranks as a member of the House Democrats’ leadership team. Hopefully he’ll go no further, because today, the moral stain is his.