Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse struggles to explain vote to confirm Trump's CIA chief as 1k protesters fill

[riversedge]

There is video at link also.


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Lee Fang ?@lhfang 2h2 hours ago

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse struggles to explain vote to confirm Trump's CIA chief as 1k protesters fill his town hall

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Protesters Grill Democratic Senator About His Vote for Trump’s CIA Chief
Lee Fang

January 30 2017, 11:05 a.m.
Courtesy Sam Eilertsen

At a testy meeting with a crowd of constituents Sunday evening, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., became the latest Democratic senator to face a grassroots backlash for voting to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Whitehouse was one of 14 Democrats who voted last Monday to confirm Mike Pompeo, a fierce Trump ally who largely shares the president’s antagonism towards Muslims and personal privacy, and has strongly suggested that he supports bringing back intelligence gathering techniques that include torture.

Organizers said more than one thousand people showed up at the senator’s town hall, held inside a Providence middle school auditorium, to denounce Whitehouse’s support for Pompeo. The venue hit its capacity of 600 people, leading the overflow crowd to chant for the senator to come outside so they could hear his explanation for the vote.

“You are entitled to an explanation of why I have voted for some of the defense nominees and I will concede right off the bat that I may have been wrong,” Whitehouse told people in the auditorium. His talk was captured in video posted by activist filmmaker Sam Eilertsen and political blogger Steve Ahlquist.

Whitehouse eventually headed outside to talk to the crowd over a bullhorn.


“Why did I vote for Pompeo?” Whitehouse said. “I think that there are a lot of you who may disagree with me on this, and I appreciate it. Sometimes I feel pretty confident, sometimes you need to make a judgment call.”

“He’s a Rubio guy,” the senator continued, drowned out by a chorus of booing. “Sometimes you need to be in a position to say no if something really, really significant happens.”..................

[Tom Rinaldo]

1. I like Whitehouse, but it's good he felt some heat on this

If nothing else he needs to know we are paying attention to what our elected representatives do. And maybe he will act more fearless knowing that.

[guillaumeb]

2. All of Trump's actions are significant, Senator.

Has he been sleeping for 2 years?

[Raster]

3. "I will concede right off the bat that I may have been wrong"...

...Then, WHY, for God's sake did you do it?

We need to hold EACH AND EVERY DEMOCRATIC SENATOR RESPONSIBLE for their vote. It is PLAIN AS FUCKING DAY that the tRump* administration will not be healthy for American ideals. ANY DEMOCRAT THAT CAVES needs to be voted out of office!

[Mika]

4. + infinity. n/t

[uponit7771]

7. Amen and Amen

[gratuitous]

10. I'll grant you that

But I'll still give Sen. Whitehouse props for facing a crowd and admitting that. I know I've been wrong before, but given time and space and a little bit of grace, I've tried to do better. Looking at the totality of Whitehouse's career and decisions, he's been right a lot of the time. I'm willing to extend some grace to Whitehouse for this vote as long as he doesn't make a habit of doing the wrong thing.

The dimensions of the Trump administration clusterfuck are becoming apparent, even to some Republicans.

[Raster]

11. Fine. Extend the grace....THIS ONE TIME AND NO MORE.

The tRump* administration does NOT have the best interests of this Country at heart. And if you are a Democratic Congressperson and you can't see that by now, you don't belong in office. Period.

No more "giving them a chance." No more "keeping the powder dry." NO MORE! NO MORE! NO MORE!

[gratuitous]

13. That's what I'm saying

Hopefully, Sen. Whitehouse doesn't need any reminding about how bad this administration is shaping up to be. And if he's responsive to his constituents on this subject, there won't be any need to replace him.

[eleny]

14. Every inch extended to Dems who vote like this is a mile for Trump

None of our reps in Congress should get an inch. They think it's still the old days, for chrissakes. Well, it's not.

Trump is a stone cold fascist and every yes vote by a Dem is like holding a lit match to our Constitution.

[Solly Mack]

12. +1

[tavernier]

5. Don't know why I bought my 10 yr old a pack of cigarettes

I may have been wrong.

duh

[uponit7771]

6. +1, KGOP spent 25 billion on high shutdown and got more Congress seats!!!

[TrekLuver]

8. This is awesome that so many people showed up!!!

[mopinko]

9. dude. no votes arent poker chips. you can make as many as you want.

saying no to everything is hard for liberals, but wake the fuck up.