Vice president Mike Pence showed up at a vandalized Jewish cemetery in St Louis this week. His presence, itself, became a ministry to those that were there and those that had suffered from this criminal act. It will not be a forgotten gesture, and is worthy of a man of his religious beliefs. Well done, Mr. Vice President, well done.
As Written By A.B. Stoddard for Real Clear Politics:
Mike Pence’s surprise visit Wednesday to a historic Jewish cemetery in Missouri, where 200 headstones were desecrated last weekend, gave a deeply divided country the most unifying moment since President Trump took office Jan. 20.
Pence’s healing words and deeds — he joined volunteers raking debris from the graveyard — uplifted not only a fearful community facing new, intensified threats, but millions of other Americans who were disturbed, if not horrified, that something like this could happen in the United States. This “vile act,” as Pence called the attack on Chesed Shel Emeth cemetery, follows 54 bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers in 27 states since the start of the year alone.
Pence, a deeply religious man, told those gathered they were “inspiring the nation by your love and care for this place, for the Jewish community, and I want to thank you for that inspiration — for showing the world what America is really about.”
The stop, which Pence added to his schedule for a planned visit to a business nearby, will be remembered long after the blur of events of the last four weeks is long forgotten, and showed that small acts can be as powerful as large, loud ones.
There are no press statements or tweets that can take the place of showing up. A picture of President George W. Bush surveying the damage of Hurricane Katrina from the comfort of his airplane instead of visiting the victims; President Obama’s decision to skip a unity march in Paris following the Charlie Hebdo terror attack, as other world leaders linked arms with the French president in support of his nation — both mistakes said it all. Indeed, Pence’s presence in surburban St. Louis said everything.
Trump’s young administration has been working hard to fulfill promises he made to supporters during his campaign. But whether it was his Happy New Year wishes to “my enemies and to those who fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do,” or his inaugural address last month, Trump has spoken mostly to the 46 percent of voters who cast ballots for him and not to the rest. Aides like Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, when asked about Trump’s intentions to reach out to those he hasn’t won over, routinely cite his remarks from election night about bringing the nation together, but nothing since then…….
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We Should All Thank Vice President Pence | RealClearPolitics
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