Gather 'round this hoiliday eve and join us in giving thanks for Justin Amash, the most likable Republican from Grand Rapids since Jerry Ford.
The 38-year-old West Michigan congressman, elected this month to a fifth term in the seat Ford held from 1948-73, has lobbed blunt blasts at the guy in the White House since Inauguration Week of January 2017.
Amash's latest shots come in two tweets about a presidential statement telling why "the United States intends to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia," even though the CIA believes its crown prince ordered the Oct. 2 murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
This is an utterly absurd, irresponsible, and repugnant statement from @POTUS. No amount of money justifies the betrayal of our principles and values as Americans. https://t.co/wRjRN38DV4
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 20, 2018
Congress should pass legislation immediately to end arms sales and other military assistance to Saudi Arabia. We must stop aiding this regime in its horrific Yemen war.
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 21, 2018
Way to show how you really feel, Rep. Amash. Dire times call for dialing it up past the deferential niceties, diplomatic pabulum and reflexive respect spewed by most of your party colleagues in Congress.
"Betrayal," "regugnant, "absurd," "irresponsible" and "horrific" are apt. Do you, Justin, as you did six days before your party's character was inaugurated:
Dude, just stop. https://t.co/UCIqhqGnXu
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 15, 2017
Four months ago, "bizarre," "subordinate" and "counterproductive" were among Amash's ammunition in a volley of 24 tweets aimed at the Oval Office occupant and his congressional backers after presidential praise of Vladimir Putin while standing alongside him in Helsinki, Finland.
"Perhaps it was just the president showing insecurity, once again, over the legitimacy of his election," one July tweet says. "Perhaps it was a sign of a more troubling entanglement with Putin."
That same month, the feisty congressman tweeted more than once about the president's "disappointing pick" of Judge Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court.
New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, a fellow Republican, last summer saluted the "frequent thorn in Trump's side" and called him "admirable."
We agree. So do 143,000 Twitter followers, up from 91,000 at the start of the president's term 22 long months ago.