but more needed to be said.
On June 14th of this year police officers Crystal Griner and David Baily were attached to the Capitol Police Force unit tagged with protecting a Republican Congressional baseball practice and were wounded in the line of duty https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/14/house-majority-whip-steve-scalise-shot-congressional-baseball-practice. Just recently the officers were awarded the Medal of Valor for unselfishly and bravely not only saving the life of Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA.) but countless numbers of other participants and onlookers.
If asked, I am sure Griner and Baily would state exactly what makes them heroes, we were just doing our jobs.
I watched the White House ceremony intently trying to put myself in the head of the officers, especially Officer Griner. The awarding of the Medal of Valor came just days after the President of the United States told the “T” of Ms. Griner’s community you are not fit to wear some of the uniforms that protect our nation. Both David Baily and Crystal Griner are black officers assigned to protect a man who had openly courted white supremacists and has disparaged the LGBTQ community. Scalise’s less than stellar record voting against almost everything Ms. Griner represents is stunning: Scalise voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act; co-sponsored a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman; voted against including LGBTQ people in hate crimes protections;http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-scalise-crystal-griner_us_59490f1ee4b0cddbb0095752.
Have I mentioned, by the way, that Officer Crystal Griner is married to a woman…
I watched the pained look on Griner’s face knowing that the man bestowing her with a great honor would drum her out of her job if he could. Some may question my assumption, but if the President feels members of a specific community are ill-equipped to handle duty and responsibility based on his [Trump] moral values (which is funny itself) who is next on the list?
The ideas of bravery are rooted in the belief that life is precious, liberty is valuable and honor is unshakeable. Staring bigotry squarely in the face, Officer Griner rose from her wheelchair, balanced on crutches, ankles recovering from gunshot wounds and proudly accepted what she so painfully earned. She rose to stop insanity on June 14th and rose again to the occasion on July 27th to receive the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor.
Officer Griner is one female black officer whose lifestyle and existence is questioned by the man whose life she was credited with helping to save. Officer Baily is a male black officer whom Scalise participated in a discussion group asking if his existence in society is a good thing. Scalise claims he was unaware that his group participation at an all-white venue, that handed out white-supremacist literature headed by David Duke was a bigoted organization, but I will leave that up to you https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-majority-whip-scalise-confirms-he-spoke-to-white-nationalists-in-2002/2014/12/29/7f80dc14-8fa3-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html?utm_term=.a5140c175375.
For the sake of Steve Scalise, his family and friends both hooded and not, I wish his recovery would be as painless and as full as possible. Officers Griner and Baily, I am confident, would bravely take the exact same actions again, risking their health and lives to save the Congressman. Let us see if he returns the favor morally and legislatively.
Vote in 18’ for Change.