This is popping up all over the internet at the moment, but I'll give it a shot here. Where has the GOP, the "party of personal responsibility," gone? There is an attack on Congress that was inarguably ginned up by Trump and his minions, quite possibly facilitated by malign mismanagement by Trump's toadies in the DOD, and the first thing we hear is, "Antifa did it!" This of course is demonstrably false, an obvious and weak attempt to deflect blame and responsibility. So we move past that (some of us do, anyway), and as calls for impeachment or the use of the 25th Amendment grow, GOP lawmakers decide that such a thing would be too "inflammatory." Now wait a second. A bunch of Trump-backed crazies just attacked Congress and you're worried about "inflammatory?"
Seriously?
But of course they're not. These politicians just want to avoid personal responsibility. They don't want to take heat from the Trumpian fringe groups they've fed off of, they don't want to admit error, and they don't want to face a reckoning for their reckless decisions.
And they need to take responsibility for their role in not impeaching Trump the first time. There were no surprises in Trump's actions since the Senate failed to remove him, and they used the horribly weak line, "Let the voters decide in November." At the impeachment trial, Jerrold Nadler said: “President Trump has made clear in word and deed that he will persist in such conduct if he is not removed from power. He poses a continuing threat to our nation, to the integrity of our elections and to our democratic order. He must not remain in power one moment longer.”
Nadler called it, and so did millions of others. And let's face it: those Republican Senators knew. They made a choice to stand with a corrupt, criminal wannabe dictator. And now they need to admit they were wrong to let Trump slide, they knew they were wrong, and they did it anyway. And they need to face the consequences--whether that be censure, resignation, or getting voted out in their next election.
And let's be honest: a vast number of the regular Republican joes who fought against impeachment knew Trump was guilty, knew that he would continue with election tampering, and they knew their choice was not right but was purely self-serving. At the very least, it's time for folks like this to admit they were wrong and short-sighted to continue supporting Trump, and to acknowledge that impeachment or resignation is warranted, whether or not they full-throatedly support it.
This is not a time for deflection, whataboutism, or "Whoops--my bad." The "party of personal responsibility" has been on this "not-responsible" trajectory since long before Trump, and for the good of the country it needs to stop. You'd think that "I made a mistake" was the hardest sentence in the English language. You'd think that a party that chants "Lock her up" would be a little less weasely when it comes to facing the consequences of their own actions.
I think folks would find that discourse would become more civil--here, in Washington, and at dinner tables across the country--if people on the right would take that whole "personal responsibility" thing more seriously. And maybe admit to their mistakes and grow from them, instead of doubling down on the awfulness as we've seen with Trump.
Believe it or don't, fly into a rage because I dare suggest Republicans might be wrong or irresponsible--whatever. I think this is one of those moments in history where we can start working to fix things that have been festering and getting worse. In this particular case, one side is very obviously very much in the wrong. It's not time for two sides to "meet in the middle," it's time for Republicans to step away from the ledge and see if they can find their way back to normalcy.
Seriously?
But of course they're not. These politicians just want to avoid personal responsibility. They don't want to take heat from the Trumpian fringe groups they've fed off of, they don't want to admit error, and they don't want to face a reckoning for their reckless decisions.
And they need to take responsibility for their role in not impeaching Trump the first time. There were no surprises in Trump's actions since the Senate failed to remove him, and they used the horribly weak line, "Let the voters decide in November." At the impeachment trial, Jerrold Nadler said: “President Trump has made clear in word and deed that he will persist in such conduct if he is not removed from power. He poses a continuing threat to our nation, to the integrity of our elections and to our democratic order. He must not remain in power one moment longer.”
Nadler called it, and so did millions of others. And let's face it: those Republican Senators knew. They made a choice to stand with a corrupt, criminal wannabe dictator. And now they need to admit they were wrong to let Trump slide, they knew they were wrong, and they did it anyway. And they need to face the consequences--whether that be censure, resignation, or getting voted out in their next election.
And let's be honest: a vast number of the regular Republican joes who fought against impeachment knew Trump was guilty, knew that he would continue with election tampering, and they knew their choice was not right but was purely self-serving. At the very least, it's time for folks like this to admit they were wrong and short-sighted to continue supporting Trump, and to acknowledge that impeachment or resignation is warranted, whether or not they full-throatedly support it.
This is not a time for deflection, whataboutism, or "Whoops--my bad." The "party of personal responsibility" has been on this "not-responsible" trajectory since long before Trump, and for the good of the country it needs to stop. You'd think that "I made a mistake" was the hardest sentence in the English language. You'd think that a party that chants "Lock her up" would be a little less weasely when it comes to facing the consequences of their own actions.
I think folks would find that discourse would become more civil--here, in Washington, and at dinner tables across the country--if people on the right would take that whole "personal responsibility" thing more seriously. And maybe admit to their mistakes and grow from them, instead of doubling down on the awfulness as we've seen with Trump.
Believe it or don't, fly into a rage because I dare suggest Republicans might be wrong or irresponsible--whatever. I think this is one of those moments in history where we can start working to fix things that have been festering and getting worse. In this particular case, one side is very obviously very much in the wrong. It's not time for two sides to "meet in the middle," it's time for Republicans to step away from the ledge and see if they can find their way back to normalcy.
