It has been interesting to listen to the Republican outcry over the FBI’s “political raid” on Trump’s Florida home in early August. They have stirred the media to talk about civil war again and have (ironically) suggested that we “defund the FBI.” Their outrage is clearly a forced and desperate political tactic, for this was a fully legitimate and even measured legal action to recover documents which Trump had no right to take home with him.
It leads me to ask Republicans, who have historically favored “law and order” rhetoric, some questions:
Why were you silent when the National Archives reported earlier this year that Trump had not turned over important presidential documents?
Why didn’t you complain — or even show some embarrassment — when your once and future leader ignored a June subpoena to return the documents?
Why aren’t you embarrassed now that it is clear that the documents recovered from Mar-a-Lago really did contain top secret material that was not to be viewed outside a sound and electronics-proof booth?
Do you really think that the events surrounding the “unfortunate” January 6, 2021 attack on the Congress are not deserving of a criminal investigation by the legislative and judicial branches of government?
Is “law and order” a political slogan to be applied only when those on the Left are seen as guilty of real or presumed violence? Are laws only meant to control the poor, and do not apply to the very wealthy?
If you cannot answers these questions truthfully and without taking the Fifth, as Trump has done, it seems reasonable for the rest of us to assume that you think that Donald Trump is above the law, and should not even be investigated for potential criminal behavior that many see as treasonous.
What can we make of all this?
Naïve person that I am, I have been patiently waiting for those Republicans who do not personally approve of Donald Trump’s behavior to rise up and reclaim their party. Less than a dozen Republican legislators have abandoned Trump, even after the events of January 6.
Some of my Republican friends (but not all) seem to thrive by projecting all the violence their language and lies have stirred up on to the Left while ignoring the need to recreate an ethical Right-wing party to balance the Democrats, and practice the needed MAGA – Make America Governable Again.
So at this point, I can only appeal again to all Americans of character who are tired of lies, conspiracy theories, and living in fear to make a stand for democracy instead of demagoguery, the use of political power to solve rather than create problems, and to save rather than savage our planet for the next seven generations (a Native American criteria for dealing with nature).
Democrats have passed more positive, life-affirming, and people-affirming legislation in less than two years than the Republicans did in the previous administration. The recently passed tax bill will reduce the cost of medicine for those on Medicare and will take important steps to address problems caused by climate change.
And by the way, gas prices continue to decline and there exists some signs that our economy may be healthier than it was earlier this year. Do we really want Republicans to control Congress next year and reverse some of the truly helpful measures (some of them with bi-partisan support) passed since 2021?
This is not a question for Republicans who support Trump, but for the majority of Americans who do not. We can begin to restore sanity to our political system by voting against all the pro-Trump, election-deniers on the ballot this fall. That alone would bring a measure of peace to our troubled land.
We can do this even if that requires voting for a Democrat (shudder, shudder). Maybe we could even make Kentucky slightly purple instead of red. That would be a step and a statement in support of a renewed and responsible two-party political system.
If we could do that, then all Americans, Right, Left, and Center, old and young, rich and poor, would benefit, and we could indeed go back to Making America Governable Again!
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