Quick Takes (v40): If True, Dems, Shame on You

I've long complained about the hypocrisy of this president calling for unity and love, and claiming he wants to be the president for all of us.

I find those comments ridiculous, given his daily rhetoric and attacks on anyone who so much as whispers anything less than fabulous about him, and also given that some of those comments come when he's in his 'good people on both sides' mindset, which I also find ridiculous.

In fact, just this morning I called him out for an apparent lack of comity with Democrats, which I discovered on one of my meandering trips through the propaganda pages on the White House website.

What set me off? The president's comments at the swearing-in ceremony for new Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who was approved by the Senate in a 90-8 vote. Take a look, particularly at the parts I italicized:

THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much everybody. We have a very important moment in our country’s history, actually. And we had a lot of our great Republican senators in the White House, and I invited them over and many of them wanted to be here. And as you probably heard, the vote just took place, and it was 90 to 8. That’s a vote that we’re not accustomed to, Mark, I have to say that. So congratulations, that’s great.

So, Esper was approved on a 90-8 vote? That is great (and it's about time Trump put up a reasonable nominee). Now, there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the Senate this year. If he was the unity president, as he pretends he is, Trump should have invited every single one of them and 90 of them should have showed up, right?  But he doesn't say he invited all of the Yes votes to the ceremony - just the "great Republicans," which is his standard practice.

But then I read about a Rose Garden ceremony today where Trump signed the bill that extends until 2092 the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. The bill passed the House by a vote of 402-12 and the Senate, 97-2.

Of course, during his remarks he had to make sure we knew that he, too, played a role in the aftermath of the attack.  In case you were unaware, he was very engaged. Listen - he'll tell you.

I was down there also. But I'm not considering myself a first responder. But I was down there, I spent a lot of time down there with you.

I suspect many will find that to be just another in a long line of appalling "look at me!" statements, another blatantly self-promoting lie. And you'd be right; after all, Trump lies like the rest of us breathe - but his absurd comment isn't the real shocker from today's gathering.

Nope -- this is the real shocker (emphasis added):

No Democrats attended Monday's event, according to a guest list distributed by the White House, but an official said that every member of Congress was invited. 

If that's true - that they all were invited and none of them attended - shame on them.

Shame on every single one of them.

I get that half of them are running for president and there's a debate on Wednesday and all that, and I get that there is literally no love lost between Democrats in Congress and the president, but "come on, man!" as one House member recently said.

Choke back your bile and show up for something that matters. Show up and respect the first responders and families of those who have passed, who were at the ceremony. If they can do it, certainly a bunch of politicians can do it to.

Be the better person, Democrats - the better person, not the bigger jerk.