Is it possible? With partisanship and tribalism dominating America’s political landscape, is it possible to bring the parties together? Assuming that most knowledgeable and intelligent members of both the Democrats and Republicans agree in private that Donald Trump is a criminal who has done a number of illegal things, it would mean that these GOP men and women in the House and Senate stand up for what is right and vote to impeach Trump. At least some of them. Put the country ahead of their party.
Will never happen you say? It would take a few courageous Republican members of the House and Senate to break ranks and vote against Trump. If that happened, perhaps further defections from the party would follow. But who will take the first step and absorb Trump’s wrath. There has never been a time in American politics where politicians have been so fearful of a man in the White House. They know he is mean and vengeful and will likely come after them if they cross him.
So what. These men and women were elected by their constituents to defend the nation and the Constitution, and Trump is defying the Constitution daily. He believes he is above the law and can do no wrong, supported in his beliefs by Attorney General Barr, a sycophant of the first order. And these GOP members of the House and the Senate refuse to accept reality as real. They know that the majority of the American electorate pays little attention to what is going on in Washington and can easily be convinced that President Trump has been wronged by the Democrats. All the GOP has to do is lie and lie, yell and yell, over and over again with enough advertising to support their claims.
But is that what they want to do. Were they elected to come to Washington to support Trump and all his lies and illegal actions? Their oaths did not mention anything about supporting Trump but did emphasize upholding the Constitution. Are they willing to abandon their oaths out of fear of this nefarious president?
I believe that in private the divide between most of the members of the two American political parties is not as wide as it seems. The men and women elected to office are not so unintelligent and ignorant as to not know the truth regarding Trump. Thus it is a question of acknowledging the truth publicly that they are willing to do privately. It entails a bit of courage to stand up against a powerful bully and his associates who have no qualms about attacking people who will not support them. In addition it means the loss of Trump’s backing in the next election and perhaps a primary challenge against them. But are they men and women of principle and valor whose oath to protect the Constitution means something to them. Or is their fear of Trump so overwhelming that they will not stand up and confront him. It will take just a few men and women to start and then others will follow. The divide between the Democrats and Republicans regarding Trump is not so wide that it cannot be bridged.
Resurrecting Democracy www.robertlevinebooks.com
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020