On Tuesday night, hundreds of voters who are represented in Congress by U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen will attend a public meeting in Morris County to discuss their concerns about President Trump.
One problem: Frelinghuysen won't be there.
He won't say why. He won't even answer the respectful invitations he's received, which were accompanied by home-baked cookies as a symbol of their determination to keep the discussion civil.
The arrogance of Frelinghuysen's stiff-arm is breathtaking. And he is not the only one: U.S. Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-2nd), Tom MacArthur (R-3rd) and Chris Smith (R-4th) have all decided against holding town halls.
Among Republicans, only U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance (R-7th) has agreed to hold public hearings this week during the Congressional recess.
To hide like this at such a turbulent moment is flat-out cowardly.
If these Republicans support Trump, they should stand up and defend him in public. If they don't, they should have the guts to say so. Their constituents deserve to know that, and to voice their own concerns as well. This is not a moment to play it safe and see which way the wind blows.
Democrats are a spent force, for now, so much hinges on the courage and integrity of sensible Republicans. So far, sadly, our delegation seems lost.
If these members need a reminder of what political courage looks like, they need only to turn to Sen. John McCain, the Republican from Arizona who is decidedly a war hero, no matter what Trump says.
McCain unleashed a scorching critique of Trump on Friday at the Munich Security Conference, saying things out loud that many of his colleagues must be thinking.
The conference is a gathering of the key Western powers who have preserved the peace since World War II. Here's a sampling of McCain's hard truths.
-The founders of the conference, he said, "Would be alarmed by an increasing turn away from universal values and towards old ties of blood and race and sectarianism."
- "They would be alarmed by the hardening resentment we see towards immigrants and refugees and minority groups - especially Muslims."
- "They would be alarmed by the growing inability - and even unwillingness - to separate truth from lies."
- "They would be alarmed that more and more of our fellow citizens seem to be flirting with authoritarianism and romanticizing it as our moral equivalent."
Asked on Meet the Press if he was suggesting that we are witnessing early signs of fascism, McCain fired another blastn, this time at the signs of flat-out incompetence, noting that Trump has nominated only a few dozen people for the nearly 700 jobs requiring Senate approval.
"My fear of the administration as it shakes out so far is not that it's incipient fascism, it's that it's anarchy," he said.
And this came before Trump tweeted about a non-existent terror attack in Sweden.
Granted, Republicans have a perfect right to defend Trump. What is appalling is when they won't criticize him, and they won't stand up in public and defend him either. That is what we're seeing from our Republican delegation. It is a profile of cowardice at a critical time in the nation's history.
Our hope is that the crowd at Lance's public hearings -- which take place Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. at Raritan Valley Community College - is civil. He deserves that. If it becomes a shouting match, that will only give the others an excuse to keep hiding.
Note: Those interested in contacting the five Republican members of Congress may do so at the following phone numbers:
Rodney Frelinghuysen - 973-984-0711, 202-225-5034.
Tom MacArthur - 856-267-5182, 732-569-6495, 202-225-4765.
Leonard Lance - 908-788-6900, 908-518-7733, 202-225-5361.
Chris Smith - 732-780-3035, 609-286-2571, 609-585-7878, 202-225-3765.
Frank LoBiondo - 800-471-4450, 609-625-5008, 202-225-6572.
More: Tom Moran columns
Tom Moran may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or call (973) 836-4909. Follow him on Twitter @tomamoran. Find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
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