Partisan politics at their worst
Human suffering is very difficult to watch.
Yet, as long as it exists on my television 鈥� I somehow can鈥檛 turn it off or turn away.
I feel obligated to root for the victims of bloodshed at the hands of a seeming madman as if I have a stake in the madness.
I do not. Not directly.
Even on the periphery, though, the suffering doesn鈥檛 seem quite real.
How can one man visit this much destruction on people who have no quarrel with him or his country?
To me, this is not war. It蘑菇视频 butchery.
Fortunately, to this point, the usual partisan politics 鈥� America蘑菇视频 go-to parlor game 鈥� has been kept at a minimum.
But there will always be a few politicians who simply can鈥檛 help themselves.
Congresswomen Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Colo.) and Lauren Boebert (R-Ga.) are two of them who heckled President Biden蘑菇视频 State of the Union speech last week.
They engaged in the kinds of vicious partisan politics that should be an embarrassment to the Republican Party. Sadly, their actions will largely be ignored 鈥� and even applauded among the party蘑菇视频 hierarchy.
It is an enduring custom that a president蘑菇视频 cabinet members are generally greeted by both Democrats and Republicans with respect while they enter the House chamber.
Not for the comedy team of Greene and Boebert.
They openly turned their backs as those cabinet members walked down the aisle to their seats.
They weren鈥檛 finished.
They began heckling the president as he spoke.
They did it, even about a matter that蘑菇视频 deeply personal to Mr. Biden.
He was talking about getting help for U.S. military personnel who could be suffering the debilitating effects of highly toxic burn pits in Afghanistan.
鈥淎 cancer that could put them in a flag-draped coffin, I know鈥︹�� Biden began saying.
(He was referring to his son, Beau, who died from brain cancer, and the possibility that his disease may have been caused by similar burn pits.)
At that point, Boebert shouted, 鈥淭hirteen,鈥� which she apparently meant as a reference to the 13 U.S. troops who died in August at the Kabul Airport.
That drew loud boos from the assembled lawmakers.
These are monkeyshines that should not exist when there are serious matters at hand.
Greene and Boebert have only been in office a little over a year. It seems much longer than that.
They鈥檙e headline grabbers. But never for the right reasons.
Greene has been the source of endless tumult. She was removed from all committee assignments a month after she was sworn in.
According to Twitter, she had so many violations of their 鈥渃ivic integrity policy,鈥� she was permanently suspended in January.
That蘑菇视频 a feat only equalled by Donald Trump.
Boebert, too, has engaged in questionable behavior since she touched down in Washington.
I think it蘑菇视频 appropriate if some responsible Republican takes Greene and Boebert aside and tells them to sit down and to tell them something like my parents used to tell me: 鈥淕rown folks are talkin!'鈥�
They鈥檙e talking about matters that don鈥檛 enable petty political fundraising.
These days, they鈥檙e talking about war. People are fighting for their lives over there in Eastern Europe.
They鈥檝e been forced to seek shelter, wherever they can find it.
So, while 鈥済rown folks鈥� are discussing what this country can do to help those people, SIT DOWN. GROWN FOLKS ARE TALKIN鈥�.
There are few occasions when Republicans and Democrats agree on much anymore.
Russia attacking Ukraine has our warring political parties sharing an alliance.
We see those people over there struggling to fight with anything they can.
There are videos of some people making makeshift Molotov cocktails out of gasoline and empty beer bottles.
Boebert and Greene are so busy making themselves the subjects of their own dramas, perhaps they should stop and take note.
Ukrainian grandma making a Molotov cocktail: 鈥淚 will face the Russian army and send a few of their soldiers to hell before I am killed!鈥�
By contrast.
Boebert and Greene: 鈥淢asks make our faces all itchy.鈥�
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.