The country, and indeed the world, received a shock on November of 2016. That, of course, was when the United States elected Donald Trump to the White House. From that point onward, millions of Americans - particularly those on the left - have been wondering how that possibly could have happened, and just how far the erosion and even a general and genuine decline in the country has gone. Often times the answers have hardly been comforting. Many people, for example, have a hard time even acknowledging that the problems in this country go far, far beyond just Trump. Get rid of him as the problem, and for many, it seems that the problems are solved. It is that kind of thinking that led to Trump rising to become president in the first place, quite frankly.
Indeed, while many on the left have wrestled and struggled with what sure looks and feel like a serious level of rot in the country, the opposite is true on the right. The vast majority of elected GOP officials on the highest levels of government - Congress in particular - have quickly gotten behind Trump. Earlier criticisms of him by some high-ranking members - including but not limited to Ted Cruz, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Jeff Flake, and Paul Ryan - pretty much fell by the wayside. Bush dropped out of the presidential race, McCain died, Flake decided not to run again, but most of the others simply complied with Trump's bullying and trying to force everyone into lock and step.
Almost all Republicans complied, yes. Perhaps the two most blatantly disgusting and wormy examples were from Graham and Cruz, both of whom actually seemed almost to be outdoing one another in terms of ridding themselves of their intellectual and moral responsibilities to the country, and simply licking Trump's boots. Graham and Cruz both blasted Trump in 2015 and 2016 for being exactly what Trump is and always has been. Namely, a con artist and a well-established liar, as well as an overgrown, spoiled child. And just as quickly, both ended their criticisms abruptly and become Trump's most ardent supporters in Congress instead. At least Graham finally found a change of heart when he saw what happened in Washington on January 6th. As for Cruz, he seemed to be able to get over everything and forgive Trump his many, many trespasses as a rule. Even Trump insulting Cruz's wife was not enough to stiffen his spine even a little bit, because it would not be politically profitable to do so. Cruz and Graham should deservedly be remembered for revealing themselves as political weasels.
Not all Republicans remained silent or compliant, however. Of those names mentioned above, only one still seems willing to stand alone against Trump and all that he represents. True, the Bush family hardly seems like big fans of Trump or Trumpism, but their criticism are very often measured and mostly mild, despite not holding any office currently. But one man is still holding office, and willing to risk his political future by standing against Trumpism.
That, of course, would be Mitt Romney, the Senator from Utah. Romney was critical of Trump early on, seemed to warm to him for a little while, and then instead remained critical. To his credit, that made him visibly braver than pretty much almost all other members of Congress, with maybe the sole exception of Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Romney and Cheney are unlikely heroes, although they are being hailed as such by many on the left these days. Not sure that I would go nearly that far with any admiration, although I am impressed that they at least took a stand against an obviously authoritarian figure who appeals to the demons of the very worst nature among far too many Americans. It is a paradox, almost, because it is considered brave to stand up to Trump i you are a Republican, but it should not be, frankly. Members of the same party often have disagreed with one another. That is especially true among Democrats, admittedly, who are kind of famous for infighting. But Republicans often disagreed with one another, as well. Somehow, that went away under the pressure of Trump's bullying and mean-spirited tweets and such. It seemed that all too quickly and easily, criticisms of Trump by people on the right largely ceased. In place of this criticism, too often, were horrendous displays of fake and forced unity, such as when every prominent member of Trump's administration sang his praises publicly at one point, for all the nightly news cameras to show the country later that evening. Those seemed to be the prevailing political winds for Republicans, even though resistance could easily have strengthened if more Republicans actually were willing to criticize Trump and Trumpism.
So while I am not quite yet ready to honor either Romney or Cheney for profiles in political courage, it nevertheless is obvious that they should be given credit for at least putting their country ahead of political profit. It would have been so much easier simply to stifle their criticism, but they have not done so. It cost Cheney quite a lot already. Romney, who is wealthy already, has managed to survive politically somehow, to his credit, and remained independent from the general line of the Republican Party, which former Speaker John Boehner rightly suggested should be called the Trump party by this point.
It seems fair to suggest that Romney likely does not want to see Trump reach the White House again. And right or wrong, agree or disagree, Romney feels that some of the desires by those on the left, and obviously the Democrats more generally, might actually have the opposite of the intended effect. Specifically, Romney warned that some of these measures might actually make a return to the Oval Office by Trump almost inevitable. Here is what Romney said, specifically, about the possibility of getting rid of the filibuster on the Senate floor recently:
"The United States Senate is one of our vital democratic institutions, and the power given to the minority in the Senate and the resulting requirement for political consensus are among the Senate's defining features.
"Note that in the federal government, empowerment of the minority is established through only one institution: the Senate. The majority decides in the House; the majority decides in the Supreme Court; and the president, of course, is a majority of one. Only in the Senate does the minority restrain the power of the majority."
Frankly, I think that Romney might just have a point here. Sure, I understand the frustrations by Democrats against things that have been misused and abused by Republicans, and not just for the past four years. The filibuster would be one of them, and Supreme Court nominations would be yet another. Democrats seem to largely favor increasing the number of Supreme Court Justices, as a means of effectively ending the GOP stranglehold on the Supreme Court. But these measures are likely, inevitably, going to be diluted at best, if not outright negated or eliminated at worst, once Republicans gain power again. And it might take all of five minutes before they implement these changes and give themselves the power again, perhaps more than ever before. Plus, it seems to validate concerns that there is some kind of left-leaning conspiracy against Trump and his loyal entourage of cultists.
No, I do not know what the answers are. All I know is that the same old thinking, of temporary political solutions to decades of consistent losing in the most important elections are not going to fix the seemingly crushing number and severity of problems facing this country. Certainly, Trump offers no real solution or intelligence or anything to the myriad problems the country has to deal with. But those on the left, and particularly Democrats, seem to have made shooting themselves in the foot almost an art form, because they are so profoundly good at that. So Romney may indeed have a point here.
What do you guys out there think?
Romney warns against getting rid of filibuster, citing possible Trump win in 2024 by Joseph Choi, 1/12/2022:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/romney-warns-against-getting-rid-of-filibuster-citing-possible-trump-win-in-2024/ar-AASHVNx?li=BB141NW3
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