The response by Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan to the "shithole" situation demonstrates once again that they will not condemn the president for what he says.

The Republican strategy adopted by Murkowski, Sullivan and others in high office is to pay as little attention as possible to what comes out of Trump's mouth—pretending his words are not important—and to focus on Trump's actions. This is the lowest standard for judging presidential behavior in the history of our nation.

Murkowski described Trump's words as "offensive," and said she was disappointed, but her words stopped far short of giving offense to the president. Sullivan's statement was like a ninth-grade homework assignment on E Pluribus Unum. Neither one would dare say that Trump's preference for white immigrants was racist.

Murkowski: "What the President said is offensive and doesn't reflect who we are as a country. It is particularly offensive just days ahead of our recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King. I am disappointed and suggest we move quickly to resolve the status of the Dreamers in a way that truly reflects our values."

Sullivan: "For over two centuries, immigrants from all over the world have come to America and built our country with energy and vitality. America's racial, ethnic and religious diversity is a critical source of our strength as a nation. All Americans must remember that the founding ideal of our country—E Pluribus Unum: out of many, one—has truly made America great.

"Republicans and Democrats in Congress and the White House have made significant progress in the last few weeks to get a legislative agreement on border security, fixing DACA and other related issues. Let's get back to work!"

The Alaska senators and the 49 other GOP senators who continue to enable Trump with their timidity express their concerns with word games, not with votes. 

Writing in the Atlantic, James Fallows says that with a 51-49 majority in the Senate, the GOP senators have a choice to make. It would only take two of them to serve as an effective majority.  If they "decided to take a stand, they would not change everything about  this perilous moment in politics. But they would do something, about the open secret of a destructive presidency that nearly all of their colleagues are aware of and virtually none is doing anything about," Fallows said.

Alaska's senators, should they ever decide to take a stand, could help the country in this perilous moment.

Write me at dermotmcole@gmail.com