By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--June 16, 2017
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“While Sanford initially noted that the events were “surreal,” he believes that the event is a time to reflect and reconsider the state of our nation. (ABC) “He noted that the polarization now seen in Congress is the most extreme it has been in the “roughly 20 years” he’s been in politics. These “demons” were recently observed by Sanford while attending a constituent senior center, where residents freely exchanged expletives when arguing over political issues. “Though Sanford was careful not to blame Trump entirely, he said of Congress members: “we ought to call” Trump’s behavior “bizarre.”
“He closed by saying that yesterday, while a tragedy, is also a learning opportunity. He also took the event as a chance for personal reflection, saying he now is asking himself, “What might I do a little differently in the way I reach out to other members.”You could start, Mr. Sanford by not joining in with the media and Democrats in blaming the president for the tragedy at the ballpark that saw four victims, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise among them, shot. Lobbyist Matt Mika, Zachary Barth, a staffer for Rep. Roger Williams, and Capitol police officer Crystal Griner were the other shooting victims. Rep. Scalise is still in critical condition after having undergone three surgeries since the event. You could follow up, Mr. Sanford, by not fibbing to your own congress colleagues, some of whom are just as expert in the fib as you are. The same politician who once posted a rambling, 2,000-word announcement of his breakup with María Belén Chapur on his Facebook page in September of 2014, was yesterday trying to backtrack on his Trump accusations made during an interview with Joe Scarborough:
“I’ve gotten a number of calls today with people picking up on rather sensational media headlines that tried to claim I believed that Donald Trump was responsible for yesterday’s shooting. That’s not true. The assertions were based on an interview I did earlier this morning with Joe Scarborough, who I once served with in Congress.
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“As too often is the case in the world of politics, people will grab a portion of a phrase and use it to the effect that serves their purpose. This is the case with these headlines. “Given the friends that did call, I’ve included the clip below from another interview that I did a few hours ago with Craig Melvin. I’d ask that you take a look. Once again, we talked about the tragedy that occurred yesterday and what I see is the degradation of civil debate at all levels of our society. “There’s plenty of blame to go around. At some level, we’re all to blame. Some would say that Obama let people down, based on the way in which he was to be a great uniter...and proved to be less than that. Others would blame President Trump for some of the things that he has said over the course of his campaign and time in office. Still others would focus on the way in which people in politics have said awfully rough things about each other of late. “So the bottom line is this: too often, people want to blame somebody else for what we can all have a hand in fixing. The main point of the clip here is that while different people, including the president, have said some things that strain this notion of civil discourse - it’s up to all of us to look for ways of being more civil to each other. Take a look, and let me know your thoughts.”Here are some thoughts for Sanford in some of the blankety-blank style of his senior constituents: “Put a you-know-what sock in it!’ And sometime before the next election, Sanford should be told by taxpayers to take a hike.
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