Nancy Braus, a retired independent bookseller, is a longtime activist.
GUILFORD-I was confident that U.S. Rep. Becca Balint would never have voted for a resolution to honor the memory of Charles Kirk.
I was astounded at the vote totals: Only 58 Democrats had the spine to say they would not honor a man who built his life, career, and fortune on hate and manipulation, mostly targeted at high school and college students in their formative years.
And all of two white Democrats voted no. Two! When I brought up the topic while visiting my former bookstore, I said, "And I assume Becca is one of them."
Three voices behind the desk said, "No."
* * *
I have listened to Becca, my fellow community member and bookstore customer, speak more than once publicly and passionately about the Trump regime, the many harms it is committing and - now, ironically - how the Republicans who refuse to do their jobs and stand up to Trump should "get the hell out."
I have had many personal conversations with her over the years and seen her evolve on the issue of the Gaza. "I believe Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people," she wrote earlier in September.
She is the first (hopefully, not the last) Jewish member of Congress to acknowledge what is happening on the ground. She is the granddaughter of a man who was brutally murdered by the Nazis during a death march.
Given the brutality of the ethnic murders of the Jewish people during World War II, it is incomprehensible for many of us Jews to witness the callousness with which so many of our people in Israel and the United States can perpetrate this genocide and suffering in real time. So I am immensely proud of Becca for speaking out.
She bravely led a town hall in the legislative district of the odious Elise Stefanik in Glens Falls, New York, where the ambitious, Trump-loving representative had not held such a public event in six years. A large and supportive crowd turned out, and I was proud of her for that.
And then came the vote.
* * *
I was so sure she would not succumb to the false creation of sainthood for Kirk, this dangerous man who would have hated everything about Becca: her out lesbian life, her lack of dressing to please men, her progressive ideas, and even her Democratic identity. So I continue to be shocked and disappointed, and think the video explainer that she posted makes her vote - for this clear and unambiguous resolution that praises this man - even worse.
To me, the most amazing words in the video are how it begins: the Republicans set a trap, a very clever trap - "it is so craven," Becca says. Who publicly states that they willingly walk themselves into a trap with eyes wide open?
"It is supposed to be a resolution abhorring political violence," she says but then states openly that the resolution supports all Kirk's ideas.
She then tells the viewer that she opposed much of his rhetoric.
And then here's the kicker: "I'm voting yes on this resolution because I absolutely abhor political violence," she said.
Nowhere does she mention Kirk's frequent references to ensuring a completely unfettered gun culture - making the United States the only (formerly) first world nation with essentially no gun control. He stated often that violent deaths are the price we (white men) pay for our freedom.
"I think it's worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights," he said during a 2023 event by TPUSA Faith, the religious arm of his organization, Turning Point USA.
Kirk said the way to reduce gun violence was simple: to "put guns into the hands of more Americans," The New York Times summarized.
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So Becca's excuse that she would be voting simply to condemn political violence is just incomprehensible given the facts and the text of the resolution. This is not an error she can un-vote.
We live in Vermont: Anyone who knows the cruelty of trapping knows that no creature willingly walks into a trap. When they do, good things never ensue for the humans or animals.
After watching her sorry video twice, I am still scratching my head: how did almost the entire Congressional Black Caucus know not to step into that trap and vote no? It surprised exactly nobody that the weakest link in that body - Hakeem Jeffries - voted yes, along with four others.
Meanwhile, 38 Democrats chose to vote "present" - likely because the resolution's effusive praise of Kirk was a bridge too far.
Among them, the "squad" voted with integrity. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said, "[Kirk's] rhetoric and beliefs were ignorant and sought to disenfranchise millions of Americans - far from 'working tirelessly to promote unity' as asserted by the majority in this resolution."
Those voting "present" also include Rep. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Chellie Pingree of Maine - company Becca might have been smart to share.
If this resolution was primarily about political violence, where was the name of Melissa Hortman, the leader of the Democratic Caucus of the Minnesota House of Representatives, who was shot dead in June, along with her husband?
I am sad and disappointed.
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