Republicans Have Become the Evil They Claim to Fear

Today is turning out to be at once a beautiful and also an extremely ugly day for America. Late last night Raphael Warnock became the first black man elected to the United States Senate from a former Confederate state. Such a historic accomplishment should provide a national moment of reconciliation — an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a country, and to consider possibilities for the future. But these are not normal times. Today Warnock’s victory was overshadowed when the President of the United States urged his supporters to head toward the Capitol in protest of the Senate’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. The scene devolved into a riot as protesters stormed the Capitol Building. It was a violent coup attempt initiated by the President of the United States.

Is your head spinning? So is mine.

The irony is not lost on me that a year ago Democrats in Congress proved President Trump’s unfitness for office, and Republicans in Congress in turn lied in order to defend the indefensible. They said that removing Trump from office would be bad for the country. They said he had learned his lesson and that he “would be much more cautious in the future.”

Of course, he hadn’t learned his lesson and, of course, he wasn’t “more cautious.” Instead he was emboldened by Republicans’ inaction and enablement. Congressional Republicans’ inability to uphold their Constitutional responsibility emboldened and enabled a traitorous President. As engaged citizens, we certainly must ask ourselves what that says about Congressional Republicans.

Watching the increasingly shameful actions of the President of the United States over the past several months and years has led me to an unavoidable conclusion: Those who support and defend him cannot and do not love this country. There are some who are perhaps misguided, ill-informed and brainwashed, and this makes me truly pity them — a deeply ugly emotion. However, the level of pity I have for these people does not eclipse my astonishment and disgust as I watch videos and photos of them storming the Capitol Building in an attempted violent coup of our democratically elected government. Nor does it eclipse the disgust I feel for my fellow Americans who have sat silently and idly by thinking it somehow doesn’t matter, or for those who have said that Trump isn’t really that bad.

What’s worse?

This afternoon I sit here thinking of my friends, family and colleagues who claim the political title of Republican — there are many. I want to speak directly to them and ask them some questions because I need answers.

So, my fellow Americans who are Republicans, as an exercise I challenge you to ask yourself these questions, and answer them honestly: Do you support the violent coup currently being attempted by your president? Do you have any respect for the lives and will of Americans who disagree with you? Do you care about our shared institutions of self-government established, fought and died for over centuries? If those questions are too hard, maybe start with a simple one: Do you care that Americans are currently dying by the hundreds of thousands?

The rest of America has been asking you questions like these for quite some time and you have often refused even to acknowledge them. Maybe if you ask them of yourself the rest of us will finally get a decent answer — maybe you will listen to the one person you truly care about: yourself.

If honestly answering these questions is too hard, then maybe I can help. You should start by allowing yourself to acknowledge that nagging bundle of feelings you’ve crushed and hid away for so long — those feelings have names and among them are guilt and shame. 357,000 people have died and you — a member of the party of personal responsibility — have done everything to make sure this virus increases in danger and severity without taking an ounce of responsibility for the affect your actions have on others. You — a member of the party of law and order — have maligned defenders of black citizens’ lives as “thugs” and “criminals” while saying nothing of the white Christian boy who wantonly shot citizens in the streets with an illegally carried assault rifle. You — a member of the party which claims to support “liberty” and “freedom” — have allowed immigrants seeking asylum and opportunity in our country to be separated from their children, held in cages and in some cases have medical procedures forced upon them against their will. Yes, you have had a hand in doing these things because you have supported those who do them. That’s how representative government works. You are a hypocrite, you are guilty and you should feel ashamed.

And for those who still stand by the Republican brand and believe there’s a way to be an anti-Trump Republican with dignity, it’s high time you sit down and do some soul searching. For the sake of the future I certainly hope you see how empty an identity that has become. I’ll be direct: Donald Trump is the Republican Party — not because I say so, but because people like you let it happen.

I don’t know where things go from here, but this is the line for me. It’s important that you, whoever you are, know how I feel. For the sake of our country and our shared future I hope you come to realize the outsized role you have played in our shared devolution. I hope the guilt and shame you should be feeling causes you to change. I say all of this in the hope of a shared future. However, I will never align myself with who you have shown yourself to be today.