Republicans in Michigan and around the country are lining up to reject the notorious bigot Dave Agema. Here in our state, multiple Republican elected officials have called for his removal from the Republican National Committee:
Oakland County Sens. Mike Kowall and Jim Marleau and Rep. Jim Tedder sent the 168-member Republican Party governing board a letter Tuesday pleading that it “end our party’s long nightmare” and remove Agema and his “hateful rhetoric” from the RNC.Separately, Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof issued a statement Tuesday calling for Agema to resign after a string of public and social media outbursts that critics have decried as racist and homophobic.
Sen. Meekof’s public statement was blistering:
When the ignorance and stupidity of one individual overshadows the good work done by so many other Republicans, it is incumbent upon those of us who know better to speak up and demand accountability. Dave Agema clearly has no shame, otherwise he would have already resigned.
Congressmen Fred Upton and Mike Bishop have called on Agema to resign as have RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and Michigan Republican Party Chair Bobby Schostak.
Leaders of the Virginia Republican Party have stepped up, as well:
Pat Mullins, chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, circulated his own letter to members of the RNC Tuesday that said “it is time for us to take a stand against Dave Agema.”“I realize this is unprecedented,” Mullins wrote. “…But we cannot sit back and allow Mr. Agema to further damage our Republican Party.”
The widespread outrage has even begun to get international attention.
Two people glaringly absent from the calls for Agema to resign or be removed: Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Lt. Gov. Brian Callety. Gov. Snyder could only bring himself to say this:
I made my feelings very clear that if you’re in public service or in the public eye, hopefully you can act with a degree of civility and treat people right. I don’t consider those comments to be in line with that.
Full stop.
Agema has called gay people “filthy”, called Middle Eastern people “camel jockeys”, and, in this instance, referred to a hideously racist white supremecist screed as “enlightening”.
Rick Snyder just wants all of us to get along and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley appeared at an event with Agema last weekend.
How about some leadership, Gov. Snyder and Lt. Gov. Calley? The bandwagon is leaving town. You might want to hop on it before it leaves you in its dust.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering if Agema is considering resigning, don’t count on it. In his most recent Facebook post, he defends himself, chalking up all of the outrage to “politically [sic] correctness”.
How enlightening.
Meme courtesy of Progress Michigan, used with permission
