“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done."
Trump tweet 2:24 p.m. EST, January 6, 2021, during the height of the Capitol riot.
A new norm has taken a foothold in the GOP. Laws are for losers, saps, the weak, and people who lack the courage to seize opportunities.
My U.S. representative just endorsed Donald Trump for president.
Cliff Bentz is joining a crowd of fellow Republicans. As of January 2, 18 U.S. senators and 96 House members have endorsed Trump. The nomination fight is still underway, but they have staked their ground.
There are Republican alternatives to Trump, even after the Iowa vote. Republican voters and officeholders can support one of several conservative, anti-abortion, Democrat-loathing, secure-border-supporting Republican candidates, without endorsing Trump. By endorsing Trump Republican leaders endorse what Trump has done. They are saying lawbreaking doesn't matter. They are normalizing flouting of the justice system.
Nikki Haley does not dare say outright that Trump did anything wrong. She hides behind the passive voice.
I believe Donald Trump was the right president at the right time; I agree with a lot of his policies, The truth is, rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him. We can’t have a country in disarray in a world on fire, and be dealing with four years of chaos. We won’t survive it.
Rightly or wrongly," she says, making no judgement. He doesn't create chaos and a world on fire by openly and proudly breaking laws, she says. No. Somehow, mysteriously, "it follows him" with a mind of its own. She says she will pardon him if she is elected and he is convicted, and that she will vote for him if he gets the nomination. He is imperfect, but OK.
My U.S. representative, Cliff Bentz, does a version of passive voice blame-shifting. Other Republicans support Trump, and Bentz is looking to them. Others have agency and judgment. He doesn't judge.
We have a republic, not a democracy, for a reason. Democracies are prone to stampeding. Humans look to leaders, presumably people with information and judgement. We elect representatives. I blame Republican leaders who saw a fork in the political road and chose the Trump road.
Republican leaders in the states and Congress could have taken the position that lawbreaking matters. It is an honorable position. It probably would have withstood criticism from Trump, especially had multiple political leaders joined in showing a consensus. But instead of isolating Trump, nearly all Republican leaders chose to excuse Trump. That validated him. Trump was OK.
The MAGA mindset could have incorporated law abidance, and its message would have been differentiated from that of "soft-on-crime" Democrats. They support sanctuary cities, tolerated bad actors who infiltrated Black Lives Matter protests, and failed to keep order on the southern border. Republicans could have held the defensible line that Republicans are the law- and-order party. But no.
Trump and Republican officeholders put their party into the position of condoning a president who attempted to overthrow the government with an openly-acknowledged plan to create fake electors for his vice president to accept as legitimate. Trump doesn't call that a misunderstanding or a mistake. He defends that position. Republican voters got a taste for willful lawbreaking if it helps "us" against "them," and they like it. Trump is a fighter. Not a good man. Not honest. Not respectful of the law and democratic norms. But he is a brawler and that is even better.. Republican voters got permission from Trump, and then confirmation-permission from Republican leaders, to flout democracy. It's the new norm. So, of course my congressperson goes along.
This is a dark path for American democracy and the rule of law. Republican leaders could have taken a stand that Republicans believe in being faithful to democratic norms. Instead they chose Trump.
Note: Written while stuck at the Portland airport, amid cancelled flights, followed by more cancelled flights. I may need to cancel the trip to New Hampshire.
I hope you don’t have to cancel your New Hampshire trip, Peter, because I am looking forward to your observations. We’ve known for a long time that many GOP elected officials have sold out to Trump. I only hope the voters can be smarter.
Cliff Bentz is my rep. He thinks the entire state of Oregon should cater to the ranchers, who make up a much smaller part of our population here. They're the wackos who want part of Oregon to join Idaho. Never going to happen, but we're stuck with old Clifford unfortunately.