GOP Senators Cower as Trump Tries to End American Democracy
Americans can mark down July 30 as the day where the country completed its descent to Banana Republic dictatorship. Thst is the day when Donald Trump tried to decree that the election should be delayed until people could vote safely. Roughly translated, it means that the election should be cancelled because he is losing and will not easily give up on power. Trump does not hide his cards well. He has been agitating for this practically since the second he took the oath to the Consitution that he promptly defiled. What should be more surprising is that the same Republican Party that routinely crows about freedom did not rush to condemn the President's attempt at dictatorship.
However, for those of you who were expecting a prompt response from the profiles in courage that comprise the Senate GOP, you would be sorely disappointed. The same Senators who have a lot to say when echoing the racist rhetoric of their party leader suddenly either have absolutely nothing to say or offer up nondescript word salad in an attempt to answer questions with at least some words escaping their mouths.
Joni Ernst Courageously Ducks Questions
One courageous case in point for Republicans in Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa. She campaigned on the back of a now-famous ad that featured her castrating pigs as she claimed that is what she would do in Washington. That was certainly easy for her to say when Barack Obama was in office and all she had to do was say "no." Now, the President is of her party, and she figuratively owns every tweet from his account.
Last week, Joni Ernst was rushing with glee to bury the cancer-stricken Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She cheerfully announced that she would vote to confirm her replacement even though Justice Ginsburg is still alive and she blocked Merrick Garland from getting a hearing in an election year. Ernst likes to talk, except when she is asked about the latest fascist tweet coming from President Trump. Now, Ernst simply says that she is "not answering any questions." Iowa voters are taking note of the courage displayed by their junior senator on a daily basis. This is why she is currently trailing in the polls to her Democratic challenger.
Thom Tillis Tries to Throw His Staff Under the Bus
Thom Tillis is the second GOP profile in courage. Just last week, he was expounding on his theory of why and how COVID-19 was spreading across the country. Instead of focusing on the obvious failure of people to social distance and wear masks, Tillis blamed it on Hispanics. Now, when asked about Trump's tweet, Tillis used the time-honored tradition of trying to pass the question off the his staff members standing nearby. When the reporter persisted, Tillis then tried the second suave tactic of claiming not to have read the tweet. Finallly, when pressed again, Tillis weakly said that the election would not be delayed without condemning the President's attempt to subvert American democracy.
Perhaps the "toughest" GOP talk came from Trump's frequent golf partner/hanger-on Lindsey Graham who said that delaying the election was "not a particularly good idea." It is impossible to understate the magnitude of what happened today. An American Preisdent, who accepted help from a foreign enemy in the last election, tried to declare that the election should be pushed off when the date is set by Congress. If warning bells after our possible slide into dictatorship were not five-alarm beforehhand, they should certainly be now. Yet the only GOP senators to even speak could barely even muster a word if they even gave an answer at all. We did not even get the usual statement of "concern" from the noted worryer Susan Collins.
Every single Republican elected official needs to be put on the spot about this attempt to delay the elections. They need to be made to answer for what the Preisdent has tried to accomplish. Anything less than a full-throated condemnation of this attempted overthrow of democracy should be interpreted as support for the President illegally staying in office. Then, voters need to make sure that these people who enabled the assault on our democracy never hold office again, whether they are up for election in this cycyle or a future one. If Trump did not lay his marker down before, it is on display now on Twitter for all to see.