As expected, the Senate has approved a resolution specifically condemning white supremacists and neo-Nazis after last August's so-called "alt-right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia turned deadly.
Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia introduced the measure along with four colleagues from both parties. The resolution, approved unanimously Monday night, recognizes a woman who was killed Aug. 12 and 19 other people who were injured after a car allegedly driven by a neo-Nazi slammed into a crowd of demonstrators protesting the rally in Charlottesville.
It now goes to the House and, presuming it passes there, to Donald Trump himself for a signature.
In his early remarks Trump balked at singling out those groups, blamed "many sides" for the violence. White supremacist groups see Trump as an ally, and those pointedly evasive remarks were widely celebrated by those white supremacists.
Lawmakers are seeking a joint resolution condemning white supremacy and Nazi groups as specific response to those remarks. That is indeed where we are now, as a nation: The House and Senate feel it necessary to craft a joint resolution obliging the sitting president to sign his name to a condemnation of white supremacy and fans of genocide just to refresh his memory on where America, as a nation, stands on those things.
It is presumed that he will indeed sign it. But he might not, and that is why the House and Senate are testing the theory.