Respect the office if not the man
Donald J. Trump, the billionaire businessman, will recite the presidential oath on Friday. Each inauguration is a demonstration to the rest of the world what the peaceful transfer of power looks like. The only shots heard that day will be the cannonade from the Presidential Guns Salute Battery that will fire from Taft Park, just north of the Capitol.
Unfortunately, some of our elected officials, all Democrats, have decided to boycott the inauguration. Outside of being from the same party, almost 60 of them are from all over the country, representing 25 states.
While some lawmakers had already decided not to attend, the no shows began in earnest when Georgia’s own Rep. John Lewis went on “Meet the Press” and said, “I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president....” This set off a minor Twitter war between the president-elect and Lewis. President-elect Trump tweeted that Lewis was, “All talk, talk, talk — no action or results. Sad!”
Many Democrats decided to boycott the inauguration in solidarity with Lewis. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., tweeted, “Rep. John Lewis was beaten, bloodied & arrested 40+ times marching for civil rights. He is a true American hero & represents the best of us.”
What’s sad about this snit is that it shouldn’t be a snit at all. This is not the first time Lewis has skipped an inauguration. He didn’t attend George W. Bush’s first swearing-in back in 2001. That was over the hanging chads in Florida and the Supreme Court’s intervention in the 2000 election. Other lawmakers have skipped the ceremony but they didn’t raise any flags to say so.
Whether you love or loathe Donald Trump, he is going to be the 45th president of the greatest country on this planet and he will assume the mantle of leader of the free world. If Lewis and the other Democrats could not bring themselves to respect the man, the least they could have done is respect the office and kept their mouths shut.
This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Respect the office if not the man."