A growing number of U.S. Congressmen have declared that they will not attend Donald Trump’s inauguration this Friday.
So far, Rep. Katherine Clark is the only member of the Massachusetts delegation who says she will skip the ceremony in protest. Should our congressman, Joe Kennedy III join the list? Vote in our poll and explain why in the comments.
[polldaddy poll=”9638257″]
Rep. Kennedy recently said he believes trump does not have the judgment or temperament to be president, calling out “alleged incidents of sexual assault perpetrated by the nominee of a major U.S. party”. Trump has admitted to as much. with his ‘grabbing’ slur. I don’t understand why Rep Kennedy would honor trump with his presence at the inaugural, having these concerns. I urge Rep. Kennedy to join dozens of other lawmakers in boycotting the inaugural ceremony and standing for dignity and civility. A groundswell of support awaits if Rep. Kennedy stands on the right side of history.
https://youtu.be/DUNhro4ZIY0
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/10/us_rep_joe_kennedy_iii_trump_d.html
The title asks if he should skip while the poll ask if he should attend. I got confused and think I voted against my intention.
Yikes. My mistake!
I have cleared all votes from the polls. (There had been 36 before 4 p.m. Monday) And I fixed it so the question is should Kennedy “skip” the inauguration.
Sorry for the confusion. If you voted before 4 p.m., please vote again.
That’s Kennedy’s call. I can forgive a lot of things, but I’ve never been able to get over Trump’s leadership of the “Birther” movement against President Obama. That was no blatantly false, racist and unpatriotic that it’s colored anything else he has done or said since that time. It was such red and rancid meat for the worst of his followers.
I do note, however, that 1300 spots have been reserved in DC for buses coming in for the Woman’s March, but I believe the figure is less than 300 for the inauguration. itself. And we had between 6,000 and 7000 in Boston yesterday for a spirited but hastily called rally against cuts to Medicare, certain programs for veterans and the disabled, Social Security and Medicaid. A great time was had by one and all although the lines for coffee were insufferably long.
Congressman Kennedy does an excellent job for Newton and his district in Washington and is a great guy. If he were to stay away from Trump’s Inauguration, he’d have my full support in the decision. Trump is a clear and present danger to all of us.
He should show respect for the elected president and attend. If this is what the American people wanted (by the strange logic of the electoral college), he should accept it. This endless boycotting of everything under the sun is not helping anyone.
Trump has no sense of service before self and no humility in the contemplation of the office he is about to hold.
By boycotting the inauguration, our representatives reinforce this occlusion of the office of the president by the ego of Donald Trump. The inauguration is not about Trump, ultimately. It is about the peaceful transfer of power in the greatest republic in history.
The representatives should attend, in silent support of the Constitution above any one man or woman, and then they should spend the next four years helping to save this country from this madman.
the vindictiveness and incessant whining by liberals is unmanly and pathetic.
I’m in agreement with Newtoner and Jake. This is about respecting the position of President, regardless who holds it.
@James – I have no wish to be manly. My son, mother, and ex-husband would be quite confused if I suddenly became manly at my age.
This is a personal decision for each Congressman and Senator to make. I won’t be adding or subtracting points in my support for any of them no matter what they decide to do.
We have a lot of work to do in this country right now. If we’re going to be divided over an issue or how an issue plays out publicly, at the very least, we should make sure the divide is worth it. This one’s not worth it in my mind. Go or stay away. They just shouldn’t expect pats on the back for whatever decision they make because by Saturday it will be lost in the muddle of more important issues.
What Shawn and Bob said. I can’t believe we live in a country where the first black POTUS has to show his birth certificate, but the first billionaire PEOTUS who challenged his legitimacy without justification doesn’t have to show his tax returns.
James – Let’s be very clear. For eight years, Republicans have called the current president a monkey, a Kenyan, and not an American. His wife has been called a man. His children have been called “fake”.
The Senate majority leader said the day after the election in 2008 that his whole agenda was to make President Obama a one term president. No way he was going to work with this president to actually get things done for the good of the country.
No one is whining. We are taking action against a man who ridiculed a person with diabilities, called Mexicans who immigrate to the U.S. rapists, and who thinks sexually assaulting women is just fine. He has refused to release his tax returns, has more conflicts of interest than can be counted – or that he will tell us about – and he thinks a dictator is a great leader.
No, James, I’m not whining. Not at all.
By the way, I’m not a man, so I feel no need to be “manly”.
Put me down as also happy not to be considered “manly.” It was bad enough to be called “alderman.”
PS – #JoeDontGo
@Jane Frantz – Perfectly summarized! I concur but also feel the peaceful transfer of power is an important mainstay of our system, as is the right to protest in what ever lawful form it requires. My personal take is the Congressman should attend but wear a visible demonstration of dissent, (like a black armband…).
Judging a dissenters ‘manliness’ says more about the judge than the dissenter.
A comment was removed from this thread because the author seemed more interested in personally attacking another participant than presenting a different opinion. We want a diversity of views here — we really do. So please try again, but please review our commenting rules first.
Not attending the inauguration. Its just so hard core and cutting edge. So 60’s isn’t it?
Thankfully Joe Kennedy is not Katherine Clark, whose grandstanding, bitterness and hatred is tedious and tiresome. John Lewis may have earned the right to sit this one out, but this Colorado carpetbagger has not. JK, on the other hand, has been quietly grinding along, getting ‘er done. A work horse, not a show horse. There are some problems with Clark’s classless approach, which are pragmatic. Unfortunately Clark doesn’t seem to understand that she represents ALL of the people in her district; (Thankfully not me) Democrats, Republican’s, independents, people who voted for trump and people who didn’t. Anyone, which should be everyone, that’s concerned about the risks, real or implied to
Social Security, medicare, the affordable health care act, etc, etc should demand that their
rep attend the inauguration to get in the faces of the people that will be putting all of us at risk, and protect our interests. There is going to be a reckoning of the cruelest kind as
millennials and genxers – whom i haven’t found to be all that sentimental- age and realize that they now own the mess that baby boomer presidents and their selfish reps from both parties have created. If people like Clark don’t get off the stage and get the work that they were elected to do moving, we are going to be looking at a 2 term Trump presidency. I guarantee it.
I would support either decision by the Congressman- I am more concerned that he be vocal in his work to support the constituents – and that includes the fight against rolling back access to health care and other vital benefits, as well as the fight against the erosion of voter and civil rights. The real work begins (and already has begun as Congress has convened) on Capitol Hill, and that’s what counts, wherever you stand on these issues.
The inauguration is a ceremony; it is symbolic. So would be a decision to boycott, which is why I would be ok with that. I have become more aware of and sympathetic to those who want to make noise in opposition- and less in favor of “give him a chance” complacency. It’ not “whining” but people afraid their voices will be ignored if they don’t keep using them.
It’s going to be a fun* four years.
*your definition of “fun” may vary.
I see this in almost an opposite light. Attending the ceremony would be the norm, the basic thing you do as a member of Congress in respect to the presidency. With that in mind, actively avoiding the ceremony is the act of protest but attending is not the act of acceptance.
In eyes, should he protest the election of Donald Trump? I believe there are many reasons to believe that this president will not act in the best interest of the people. But from Joe Kennedy’s perspective, would it be better for the people of his district to attend or to protest? I’m not entirely sure. I can actually see both sides of this.
Like it or not, Trump is in power and with that comes the need to work with him and his administration. If Kennedy takes a stand against, then he needs to carry that through. Is he willing to be that protest voice in Congress?
” . . . the Congressman should attend but wear a visible demonstration of dissent, (like a black armband…)”
Or a pink pussycat hat.
According to CBS news, Congressman Lewis also refused to go to GW Bush’s inauguration, stating the same reasons, his (GW) was an illegitimate presidency. Which may or may not be true, but at some point you have some humility when your side loses, and show some class. I think this makes the Congressman look small and petty.
Will he not attend the state of the union either?
So much for teaching the lesson of tolerance.
@Amanda – great idea!
I’m with those who will be fine with whatever Joe decides to do about attending the inauguration and those who state the inauguration is symbolic. DT will be officially sworn in the day before – that is the peaceful transition of power. To me, a silent protest by congress of the man himself, his policies and his cabinet picks by refusing to attend or turning their backs shows America who they stand with – DT or those he’s threatened. I trust Joe to do what he thinks is the best use of his time.
As for DT and his supporters calling protesters whining, vindictive and unfair, DT called for a revolution when Obama retained the White House in 2012 and tweeted,
“We can’t let this happen. We should march on Washington and stop this travesty. Our nation is totally divided!” 11:29 PM – 6 Nov 2012
Four years later DT tweets, “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!” Really? Such whining.
While anti-Trump protesters have engaged in mostly peaceful demonstrations against the president-elect, pro-Trump supporters have been responsible for a wave of attacks against Muslims, Latinos, blacks, and the LGBT community.
The morning of the 2008 election a noose was found hanging from a tree at Baylor University in Texas. By the end of the month, a Wichita pastor had put up a sign on his church calling Obama a Muslim and said that his victory was a “sin.” In the two weeks after Obama’s 2008 win, the Southern Poverty Law Center documented hundreds of hate crimes against minorities by Americans outraged that a black man could be President of the United States.
My comment was the one that was removed. Ironically, I was not attacking anyone personally but simply addressing the post that paints Republicans as racist, which apparently it’s okay to attack 26% of the US population but not address the person making the accusation?
Regardless, I also wanted to point out that Joe Kennedy was elected because of his name and not his qualifications, which he had only 2 years of work experience and didn’t even live in the district when he ran for election. Yet, his family is known for its womanizing and nepotism, so if that’s the family you elected to represent the district then I don’t understand why you all don’t like Trump.
@Geoffrey: Better. Thanks for trying again.
When Joe Kennedy first ran for Congress I was also skeptical that his main qualification might be his family name. However, I have had the privilege to work with the congressman on a half dozen or so occasions and have been very impressed by his thoughtfulness, intellect and judgement. I’ve seem him interact with business leaders, workers and residents. He asks great questions and is the best listener of any elected official I’ve ever spent time with (and that’s many).
Disagree with his politics if you so choose, but Joe Kennedy brings a lot more to the table than just his family lineage.
We’ve got to put the ugliness of the campaign behind us, and focus on policy objectives. It’s a mistake for the Democrats to be confrontational. They should recognize that Trump’s idealogical convictions are about as deep as a piece of paper. Over his adult life he’s swung like a pendulum on nearly every major issue from abortion to immigration. And Trump’s relationship with his own party is highly suspect. The Republican leadership has serious philosophical disagreements with him. The Democrats should be actively engaging Trump, exploiting his differences with Republican leadership, and cutting deals of their own with him.
Congressman Kennedy has decided to attend the inauguration.
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/us_politics/2017/01/joe_kennedy_pleads_with_dems_to_win_back_votes
Sorry to have missed him last night.
I spoke with Congressman Kennedy at the event last night. He was clear that he believes in witnessing the peaceful transfer of power because many people in other countries don’t have that opportunity.
However, he is actively opposing the nomination of Jeff Sessions for Attorney General and I am hopeful we will see more actions like that to push back against the personnel and policy choices Trump is and will be making that are antithetical to our values.
I respectfully disagree with Rep. Kennedy’s reasoning. He conflates people who voted for trump with trump himself. It is possible – in fact necessary – to engage constructively with trump voters, but in no way does that require kowtowing to trump and his racist sexist bigotry.
Rep. Mike Capuano has now joined Rep Katherine Clark as the 2nd member of the MA delegation to stand for dignity, civility & due process under the law.