National Review Online
Thursday, January 07, 2021
Donald Trump managed the seemingly impossible yesterday
and found a new low.
He whipped up and urged on a mob toward the U.S. Capitol,
where it breached the building and forced his vice president and lawmakers to
flee. He didn’t immediately address the violence and reportedly resisted
calling out the National Guard. He finally issued a brief video telling the
rioters to go home but expressing his love for them. At no point did he condemn
their conduct and at the end of the day, he tweeted that such acts are what
happen when an election is stolen (leading to the temporary suspension of his
Twitter account).
The scenes at the Capitol were so shocking that they were
difficult to fathom. They were worthy of a third-world country, not a
well-established constitutional republic whose political stability has been one
of the wonders of the world. Not only did the rioters desecrate a great temple
of American democracy, they managed to disrupt the counting of electoral votes,
the final step of the presidential election. Trump has never had any interest
in the peaceful transfer of power, and yesterday’s events mean that the
transfer this year, indeed, hasn’t been peaceful.
Of course, the backdrop to all of this is Trump’s
unhinged and poisonous lies about the election. If shadowy forces have really
stolen our democracy, why isn’t an insurrection to stop Joe Biden from taking
office justified?
It is incumbent on all Republicans to call out these
untruths and insist that the president, at this late date, concede the
election. Instead, senators who should know better, most notably Josh Hawley
and Ted Cruz, have played along with the charade, feeding the delusion — also
promoted by Trump — that it is within the power of Congress to reject electors
from states won by Biden. After the violence, a number of Republican senators
backed off their intention to object, but they never should have played with
this dangerous idea in the first place.
Congress appropriately reconvened for the counting as
quickly as possible and completed it in the early hours, with lawmakers — most
notably Mitch McConnell — insisting that its work won’t be stopped by a rabble.
Whatever the failings of Congress, a basic decency and commitment to our system
of government still prevails on Capitol Hill. The same can’t be said about the
other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
No comments:
Post a Comment