In calling out Trump, Rep. Al Green stood tall for each of us
More than a week after Rep. Green was censured for interrupting Trump's address, the lingering question is: Why didn’t Democratic members of the House jump to their feet and stand with him?
Something about the way Rep. Al Green (D., Texas) brandished his black cane during President Donald Trump’s recent address to Congress reminded me of Charlton Heston’s Moses wielding a staff in Cecil B. DeMille’s movie version of The Ten Commandments.
Green looked like the leader the Democrats need during this time of political turmoil, as he stood in the House chamber on March 4 and pushed back against Trump’s statements about having a mandate from voters to make sweeping changes to government, including eliminating whatever agencies, programs, or positions he likes.
Green, a dignified, 77-year-old lawyer from Houston, shouted, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid … no mandate.”
He stood tall that day for the truth.
He stood tall for the future of Medicaid.
He stood tall for each of us.
More than a week later, the lingering question I still have is: Why didn’t each and every Democratic member of the House immediately jump to their feet and stand with him? Especially when the sergeant at arms approached to escort Green away.
Reps. Jasmine Crocket (D., Texas) and Maxwell Frost (D., Fla.) were among those who walked out at other points during Trump’s speech. But you’d think at least some of Green’s fellow Democrats would have made a big show of rising and accompanying him as an act of solidarity.
Instead, they allowed their widely respected colleague to be led away as if he’d done something disgraceful. It was painful to watch — and it reminded me of how police officers would take away nonviolent civil rights activists who dared to demonstrate for the right to vote, eat at a Woolworth’s lunch counter, or have the temerity to attend a school designated for whites only.
Green’s removal happened just three days before the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement, during which state troopers attacked peaceful demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala. The night Green confronted Trump, he was channeling civil rights activists such as the late Rep. John Lewis (D., Ga.), who suffered a skull fracture and other injuries during the violence on Bloody Sunday.
It took a lot of courage to do what Green did — the kind of bravery the Dems really need more of at this perilous moment.
Let’s face it: Showing up dressed in shades of pink isn’t the kind of thing that’s going to give even a moment’s pause to the most fervent MAGA faithful.
The same with holding up auction-style paddles with messages such as “Save Medicaid.” The Democrats used to be the party of “Ask not what your country can do for you …” and “I still believe in a place called Hope,” and even “Yes, we can.” But this is the best we’ve got? Seriously?
Adding insult to injury, the House voted to censure Green for his disruption. Ten cowardly, go-along-to-get-along Democrats, including Rep. Chrissy Houlahan from Chester County, joined Republicans in that action. Green’s Democratic supporters on the House floor that day sang “We Shall Overcome” in protest.
Green is believed to have been the only lawmaker in modern history to have been removed like that, according to ABC News. None of the Republicans who have famously acted out during speeches by former Presidents Barack Obama or Joe Biden ever got this kind of treatment. But Green, a former president of the NAACP, certainly did.
When Green rose to his feet during Trump’s speech, he stood on the shoulders of Lewis and so many others.
I doubt anything will happen to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R., Colo.), either. She has had a House resolution filed against her for saying of Green during an appearance on a conservative streaming website, “For him to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.” That was truly disgusting for one member of the House to say about another, but given her ignominious history, I’m not surprised.
Meanwhile, I have nothing but respect for how Green managed to keep his composure through everything, and for doing as Lewis famously urged us, “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
When Green rose to his feet during Trump’s speech, he stood on the shoulders of Lewis and so many others. As Green wrote on social media, “I accept the consequences of my actions, but I refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice.”
If only every Democrat had the fortitude to do the same.