Here he is successfully striking that middle course somewhere between rolling over like a political doormat and storming the barricades like Robespierre.
We could use a bunch more guys like him with some actual fire in their bellies instead of those passionless quislings like Romney, or political arsonists like Schumer.
Here is what he had to say in his 5 minutes on the floor.
Watch:
WATCH @RepMattGaetz right NOW! pic.twitter.com/6y8mclkHTX
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) January 7, 2021
He opened with decency and a call for respect among those of differing political inclination… appealing to the way in which everyone came together as Congress opened, in support of a colleague’s personal tragedy.
He called on that sentiment to guide their interaction with one another.
Despite how politicians in DC may personally dislike one another, if harm had come to any of them in the unfolding of events at the Capitol, he stated on the record how that would have made the catastrophe that much worse.
His theme of taking the high road and appealing to moral decency continued…
He reminded — for the record — that President Trump had explicitly called for demonstrations to remain peaceful… far more explicit in HIS calls for peace than some of the BLM and left-wing rioters were this summer.
“Now we came here today to debate, to follow regular order, to offer an objection to follow a process that is expressly contemplated in our Constitution. And for doing that, we got called a bunch of seditious traitors.”
“Now, not since 1985 has a Republican been sworn in absent some Democrat effort to object to the electors. But when we do it, it is the new violation of all norms, and when these things are said, people get angry.
“Now, there are many countries where political violence may be necessary, but America is not one such country. Madam Speaker, it was wrong when people vandalized and defaced your home, it was wrong when thugs went to Senator Hawley’s home and I don’t know if reports are true, but the Washington Times has just reported some pretty compelling evidence from a facial recognition company showing that some of the people that breached the capitol today were not Trump supporters, they were masquerading as Trump supporters and in fact, were members of the violent terrrorist group Antifa.”
“Now we should seek to build America up, not tear her down and destroy her, and I am sure glad that at least for ONE day I didn’t hear my Democrat colleagues calling to defund the police.”
“Now I appreciate all the talk of everybody coming together, but let us not pretend that our colleagues on the left have been free of some anti-democratic impulse. Just because we signed onto legal briefs and asked courts to resolve disputes, there were some on the left who said that we should not even be seated in the body. That we ought to be prosecuted. Maybe even jailed.”
“Those arguments argue people, but people do understand the concepts of basic fairness…”
This (3:21 timestamp) is where he goes on to make his case for why it is neither unreasonable nor seditious to take issue with the election results in a hearing on the floor of the House.
His metaphors are simple, clear, and compelling.
It is definitely worth watching.
