Red Dirt Report: Cole tells Midwest City town hall that he is against a U.S. attack on Syria

Red Dirt Report - Andrew W. Griffin

Wrapping up his congressional summer recess town hall blitz, U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Moore) was in good company Tuesday evening at his Rose State College stop when he told the largely older and conservative crowd that he was a “lean ‘no’” on the issue of attacking Syria.

And this, despite the fact that the House leader, U.S. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, said he would support a strike.

Cole, however, told the crowd that he is skeptical of the plans to attack Syria, noting that of 325 emails his office has received regarding Syria, only 1 was in favor of an attack on the Middle Eastern nation.

“There are no direct threats to America,” Cole said regarding plans by the Obama administration to lob “surgical strikes” against the Assad regime.

In response to a comment from conservative activist Steve Byas, regarding Syria and Obama saving face on the world stage, Cole responded that if we’re not in there to remove Assad, “then what are we doing this for?”

Cole said it is not clear why the Syria situation is so pressing that it requires such an immediate response from the American military.

“I don’t believe in using the military for symbolic statements,” Cole said, adding that it was President Obama “who drew this red line.”

Cole agreed that the current civil war within Syria is “brutal and nasty” but “at this point, why we would go in there is beyond me.”

“This is not yet our fight and I don’t think we ought to make it our fight,” added Cole.

During the question and answer portion of the town hall, Cole was questioned on everything from Obamacare (“I will vote to defund Obamacare”) to concerns about the UN “Small Arms Treaty” and its effect on the 2nd Amendment.

For the most part, Cole was very patient, taking questions from people all over the room. But he made sure to maintain control of the conversation when some people in the audience tried to shout out comments about various issues of concern.

The Rev. Theodis Manning, a local pastor who battles problems of gang violence, brought up the issue of immigration reform and noted how Hispanic gangs are growing and fights are increasing between Hispanic and black gangs. Cole said there were some issues related to that that he wasn’t familiar with but that he would be happy to look into it. And in the meantime, immigration reform probably won’t be dealt with by Congress during this session.

And others who spoke noted their outrage over Congress and how they don’t seem to listen to the voters. Cole admitted that “the American people are in a firing mood right now.”

Another person asked if Cole thought America was now a “socialist nation.”

“I think we have a president who wants to be a communist,” added the man, as some folks clapped in agreement.

Cole said he didn’t believe it was, but had trouble convincing the man otherwise.

And when another man offered his concerns about NSA spying and affronts to the privacy of Americans, Cole reminded him and others in the room that the national security state has “stopped 50 attacks” on America since 9/11.

And referring to the man’s negative comments about the “military-industrial complex,” Cole, whose district includes Tinker Air Force Base here in Midwest City and Fort Sill in Lawton, said that term, coined by President Dwight Eisenhower, “is an honorable phrase” when you consider all the members of the military who honorably serve. He also said that with threats constantly facing the country, the U.S. “can’t retreat back to ‘Fortress America.’”

Online: Red Dirt Report