Not only was it John Lewis who picked the fight with Donald Trump - regardless of what you keep hearing to the contrary - but he pulled a fast one on you with the claim that he's never done it before.
First time Lewis has ever missed an inauguration since he was elected to Congress in 1986, is that right? Totally unprecedented, and all because of the unique awfulness of Donald Trump, yes?
Bolshevik.
Nice catch by Austin York in National Review here: Lewis apparently does this whenever a new Republican president is sworn in, and he tends to offer the same rationale too:
Newspapers continue to cite the boycott as an unprecedented act. For example, the Sacramento Bee claimed that the boycott was “breaking with generations of past precedent.” And Business Insider erroneously reported that the 2017 inauguration will be “the first time he [Lewis] will miss an inauguration since 1986,” the year he was elected to Congress.
But this isn’t the first time Lewis has boycotted a presidential inauguration. According to a Washington Post article written on January 21, 2001, Lewis and other members of the Black Caucus boycotted George W. Bush’s inauguration because they didn’t “believe Bush is the true elected president.” Lewis spent the day in his Atlanta district.
Presumably the Florida recount was Lewis's excuse for making that claim about Bush, although it's an awfully flimsy excuse since every recount - even the ones conducted by the left-wing media - showed Bush won Florida and thus the election. Lewis claims Trump is illegitimate because, you know, the Russians!
Democrats know they can trot him out to pick fights or to make provocative statements because anyone who fires back will be accused of "attacking a civil rights hero"
None of this really should surprise anyone. Lewis has been a hyperpartisan Democrat for years, and the Democrats know they can trot him out to pick fights or to make provocative statements because anyone who fires back will be accused - as Trump was - of "attacking a civil rights hero."
But that leads to a question we're long overdue in asking:
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Hasn't the time come when it should be permitted to criticize John Lewis?
Without a doubt, Lewis showed courage when he marched and demonstrated alongside Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, and no one can take away the honor he is owed for enduring physical brutality - the guy got his head bashed in - in his efforts on behalf of civil rights. Lewis was part of a worthy and difficult (and ultimately successful) fight, and he paid a heavy price for his efforts. That's why he's known as a hero.
But John McCain endured no less brutality during his captivity in Vietnam, and that didn't stop Democrats - including John Lewis, by the way - from viciously attacking him when he was the Republican nominee for president in 2008. That sucks for McCain (and Lewis's criticism of him was garbage), but McCain is in politics and I'm sure he's used to it by now.
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Why is John Lewis uniquely immune from any and all criticism?
We've had plenty of other political figures with admirable backgrounds. Why is John Lewis uniquely immune from any and all criticism? What Trump said about him wasn't really all that remarkable by the standards of politics. He basically just said he should do a better job taking care of his district instead of taking pot shots at the incoming president. Agree or disagree, it was hardly an over-the-top nasty attack.
But because Lewis has long been regarded as above all criticism, he gets away with firing shots at others, and anyone who dares to fire back gets quickly piled on by the media and the political class. That makes him awfully useful by the Democrats as a human shield, and I guess he's fine with playing off his civil rights achievements in order to function as an untouchable hatchet man today.
But you know what? It's time to stop letting him get away with it. What John Lewis did in the '60s was great. But John Lewis is serving in Congress today, and if he wants to open his mouth or take a position, he needs to be as willing to take the heat in return as any of his colleagues.
One of the real services Trump is doing this country is the breaking down of silly rules like this, simply by refusing to abide by them. The political class was aghast when Trump fired back at Lewis, but normal people can think of no reason he shouldn't. Lewis's claim that Trump is an illegitimate president was absurd. He deserved to be attacked for it. And if he wants to be immune from criticism, no problem. All he needs to do is retire from Congress and stop saying things. Then there will be nothing to criticize. Until then, the same rules should apply to John Lewis that apply to everyone else.
