The House of Representatives voted 354 to 60 on Wednesday to oppose President Trump’s withdrawal from Syria and to call on the Administration to, I don’t know, do something about it (whatever that would involve). The Democrats voted 225 to 0 to support the resolution, not surprisingly. More interesting, perhaps, was the 129 to 60 vote among House Republicans in favor of the resolution. (At least on this, Democrats will find it hard to complain that Republicans are not standing up to President Trump, though I am sure some will try.)
The most interesting question, however, is what would have happened in a reverse situation. What if a President Warren (or Obama) abandoned allies in Syria (or elsewhere)? Republicans would, I am sure, vote near-unanimously to criticize a Democratic president. But how many Democrats would do the same? Would they vote unanimously in favor of our abandoned allies, as they did with Donald Trump as president? Would even 68% of the Democrats vote against a Democratic president, as House Republicans did here against a Republican president?
Principle is always easy to stand up for when you get to rip on your political opponents at the same time. It is harder when it’s the other way around.
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