Sen. Flake: Will you deny your friend Gabby Giffords a simple up or down vote?

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

With friends like these . . .

The friendship between Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is well documented and genuine. At the State of The Union Address in February, Sen. Flake stood and cheered when President Obama intoned:

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.

Last week, Sen. Flake was among those Senators who voted against a GOP filibuster of any debate of the gun safety bill. But that was only the first GOP filibuster test; each provision of the bill and offered amendments are subject to GOP filibuster obstruction.

On Monday, when the nation was focused on the tragedy in Boston, Sen. Flake quietly announced in a Facebook post that he would vote against the background checks compromise hammered out by his fellow Sens. Manchin and Toomey. He continues the line of B.S. that he has been saying for weeks, that he "supports background checks" -- just not anything that has a snowball's chance in hell of passing Congress.

So what are you saying, Senator? That you will vote for the GOP filibuster of the Manchin-Toomey background checks bill to prevent any up or down vote on the bill? Will you deny your friend Gabby Giffords a simple up or down vote? If you want to vote "nay" on a bill, fine, that is your right. But it is a craven act of cowardice to prevent any debate or vote on a bill through the abuse of the Senate filibuster rules that has become all too common among the craven cowards of the GOP in the Senate.

Sen. Flake was with Gabby Giffords at the dedication of the House conference room for Gabe Zimmerman on Tuesday. I hope that Gabby Giffords reminded her friend that she "deserves a vote," Gabe Zimmerman deserves a vote -- "they deserve a simple vote."

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Comments

[jim pidgeon]

Sen. Flake had the temerity to speak at the dedication of a conference to honor the memory of Gabe Zimmerman, and
then turned around the next day to vote to obstruct a bill to expand background checks.

So, on Tuesday he honors Gabe Zimmerman, and on Wednesday he honors Jared Loughner.

Sen. Flake is a hypocrite as well as a coward.