Unlike the last time that Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema made hateful homophobic remarks, this time Gov. Rick Snyder has stepped forward to condemn the former state legislator.
The MIRS newsletter reported late Tuesday evening this quote by Snyder's press secretary, Sara Wurfel:
"What I'd say, plainly and simply, is that the governor believes Mr. Agema's remarks are wrong, extreme and discriminatory. We shouldn't tolerate discrimination of any kind. There shouldn't be room for that in any political party, period."
Agema said last week that gays want free health care because most of them will die at a relatively young age from AIDS. Snyder is the first major GOP figure in Michigan to react. In April, when Agema engaged in gay-bashing on Facebook, the entire party leadership was silent.
Commentator Jack Lessenberry, writing for Michigan Radio’s website, is quick to point out that the state’s GOP congressional delegation remains silent, again. And the list goes on from there.
Lessenberrywrote:
“Though Gov. Rick Snyder finally denounced those statements … other state officials have been mostly silent, including the other member of the GOP on the national committee, Terri Lynn Land, who is running for the U.S. Senate. Last month, we were watching clips of President John F. Kennedy, saying: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’
“There are a few Republicans who have spoken out -- Dan Pero, a top strategist to former governor John Engler, for one. (On Monday), Pero called on every member of his party to ‘reject Agema’s silly bigoted comments in the strongest terms,’ saying, ‘he has no place in the party of Lincoln and Reagan at all.’
“He was joined by anti-affirmative action crusader Jennifer Gratz, who understands strategically what’s at stake. She said ‘comments like these are hurtful and unproductive and cause those who are on the fence … to vote Democrat and never look back.’”
0 comments:
Post a Comment