Profiles in Courage, 2019. On one hand this is understandable, as all of the incentives in politics these days on both sides of the aisle run towards shamelessness. That strategy led Nancy Pelosi to protect Ilhan Omar in that cowardly resolution about anti-Semitism and bigotry, although fat lot of good it did the Speaker, since she ended up attacked by Omar and her allies as a bigot for her trouble.

On the other hand, if you can’t acknowledge an ugly moment when it happens …

GOP senators no interest in talking about “send her back” chants. Ted Cruz told me: “I’m not interested in giving running color commentary.” Sens. Joni Ernst and Marsha Blackburn both ignored questions. And Sen. Cornyn wouldn’t answer questions bc he said he didn’t see the rally — Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 18, 2019

Cornyn’s an established member of Republican leadership, and Ernst and Blackburn two frosh Senators who have to be concerned about winning a second term. But what about Ted Cruz? He spent his first term as an iconoclast willing to tell it like it is and to stuff his finger in the face of GOP leadership. Color commentary was practically his entire schtick, at least until he tried running for the GOP presidential nomination.

How silent were these people when Omar was accusing Jews of being less than loyal Americans? Which is precisely the same argument as “send her back,” although it’s only applied individually in this case.

Give Lindsey Graham (!) credit for finding his gonads and attempting to parse out a rational position in the breach. Graham criticizes the “send her back” chant, telling CNN’s Manu Raju that it’s one thing to criticize the policies of one’s opponent, but another to chant for their deportation. “All of these congressmen won their elections, they’re American citizens,” Graham reminds Trump supporters, “and this is their home as much as mine.”

Asked Graham about the difference between John McCain, who told a woman that Obama wasn't an Arab, and Trump now: "I don't remember John McCain having to go through this crap every day, all the time." pic.twitter.com/WYbccGDrdu — Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 18, 2019

That’s at least a tacit rebuke to Trump from Graham, who has been one of Trump’s staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill. After all, Trump generated the rally chant with his own tweet last weekend about sending Omar and the other Squad members back to their “original countries.” Graham was smart enough to match that up with a defense too. As for the chant being racist, Graham scoffs at the notion. Racists would demand the deportation of all Somali refugees, Graham argues. This is a reaction to Omar’s specific and provocative political statements, Graham argued, and besides, Trump gets the same kind of hyperbolic treatment every day:

”If you’re a racist you want everyone from Somalia to go back because they’re black or their Muslim. That’s not what this is about to me… What this is about to me, is these four congressmen in their own way have been incredibly provocative,” he said — Manu Raju (@mkraju) July 18, 2019

How tough was that to say? If Lindsey Graham can step up and address the issue, put it in a fair perspective, and put some pressure on Trump to dial it down, surely Ted Cruz and other Senate Republicans can give it a try. As can the rest of us.

Update: House Republicans are not as happy to stay quiet about it, Politico reports. They pressed VP Mike Pence for some answers about it over breakfast this morning:

During a breakfast meeting with Republican leaders, multiple members expressed their concern with the chants aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and asked Pence to relay their message to Trump, which he agreed to do, according to several members who were present. Rep. Paul Mitchell, the sophomore class representative, even asked for a 15 minute meeting with the president so he could directly discuss the chants along with Trump’s weekend tweetstorm against Omar and the progressive squad. “I want to talk to the president about the tweet, and what has emanated from that,” the Michigan Republican told Politico. “It’s one thing to do chants of ‘lock her up.’ But a chant like [‘send her back’] is simply not reflective of our constitution.” … And Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who was also uneasy with the tweets and rally cries, said Pence seemed to share in their concerns. “He said, ‘at first I couldn’t even tell what it was.’ And he said, ‘that just needs to not happen,’” said Cole, ranking member on the House Rules Committee. “He seemed as appalled by it as everybody else.”

Update: Besides, wasn’t it just two years ago that Democrats wanted to eject Seb Gorka over his political views? Why, yes it was:

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) is asking the White House to hand President Trump aide Sebastian Gorka’s immigration paperwork over to the House Judiciary Committee. In a letter addressed to Trump, Nadler cites a report in The Forward, an American Jewish news outlet, linking Gorka to a far-right group in Hungary, saying that the judiciary panel needs to “be assured that he did not enter this country under false pretenses.” “If Sebastian Gorka is indeed a member of this organization, as high-ranking leaders of the organization claim he is, he would have been required to disclose this information on his immigration application, and on his application to be a naturalized U.S. citizen,” the letter reads. “Failing to do so, he may have been withholding important material facts about his background from the United States, in violation of the law.”

Gorka now works as a radio host at Salem, which is the parent of the company that owns Hot Air. Gorka also denied being a member of a neo-Nazi party or of being in any way loyal to them. Conservatives and Trump supporters argued rightly at the time that Nadler and Schumer were stepping over a line in threatening a naturalized US citizen over a disagreement about his politics.

“Send him back” was wrong two years ago, and “send her back” is wrong today.

Update: Trump seems to be backing away from the chant now. Allahpundit will have more later on that. If so, then good.