It’s
time for Republican elites to shut up and listen to the people
Opinion by
Columnist
Jan. 15, 2021 at 3:06 p.m. CST
It has been four
years since Republican elites sanctimoniously derided the
liberal “coastal elites,” the “libtards” in pink hats,
the media and urban dwellers generally for failing to “listen” to the “real
Americans” in “flyover country” who voted for Donald Trump.
Well, I’ve been
listening.
I’ve heard about the
net loss of 3 million American
jobs — the worst economic record in
modern American history — as stock markets deliver greater riches to
billionaires and ordinary Americans go hungry.
I’ve heard about a
record-shattering $7 trillion added to our national
debt and the three largest trade deficits in
U.S. history.
I’ve heard about
thousands of Americans dying every day in a pandemic, nearly 400,000 in
all — by far the world’s worst death
toll, in the world’s richest country.
I’ve heard about
the abject cruelty of
the administration gratuitously (and often
permanently) tearing migrant children from the arms of their
parent's arms and warehousing them in cages.
I’ve heard
about wanton government violence against
peaceful citizens in Lafayette Square, and about support from the president for
violent white supremacists in Charlottesville and Kenosha.
I’ve heard
about Iran and North Korea advancing
their nuclear weapons programs and Russia executing a galling
cyberattack on the United States, while our president withheld U.S.
military support from Ukraine to extort political benefit.
I’ve heard about a self-dealing
president using his office to try to overturn a free and fair election, and
then incite a mob of QAnon followers and white supremacists to launch a deadly
insurrection at the Capitol against the people’s representatives.
And I’ve heard that,
at this very moment, 20,000 troops have
been positioned in the national capital, and countless more in state capitols,
to defend democracy against violent totalitarian thugs loyal to Trump.
I’d like to think
this is not what all of the “forgotten men and women”
had in mind when they voted for Trump in 2016. But this is what Republican
elites did in their name.
Now, fully 84,172,012 Americans have
voted against Trump in the highest-turnout election in more than a century.
President-elect Joe Biden received more votes than any candidate in U.S.
history. Democrats held the House and took control of the Senate. For his
abuses of power, Trump has been impeached — twice. He departs office as one of
the more unpopular leaders
in our nation’s recent history.
So, Republican
elites, please: Spare us your lectures about how the liberal coastal elites
don’t understand real Americans. It’s time for you to listen.
You have manipulated millions
into believing that their problems are caused by Black people, brown people,
immigrants, college-educated women, Muslims and Jews.
You have condoned and
normalized racism and vulgarity in the
highest office in the land, allowing both to move from the fringes to the
mainstream.
You have disabled the
federal government, and state and local governments,
to the point that they lack the capacity to deliver the vaccine science has
heroically produced.
You have fueled the
violent, paranoid fantasies of QAnon, you have weaponized social media to
spread falsehoods, and you have attacked the free press in Stalin-esque terms
as the “enemy of the people.”
You have empowered propaganda
outlets such as Fox News to build an echo chamber that misinforms millions.
You have fought to
allow unlimited, unregulated, anonymous campaign
spending by billionaires and corporations, which have hijacked your primaries
so the most extreme candidates win
nomination.
You have
established purity police in
your ranks, such as the Freedom Caucus, that coerce lawmakers to
shun compromise.
You sacrificed
long-standing principles to co-opt the anti-government passions of the tea
party and Trump’s anti-immigrant nationalism.
You employed deceit and hypocrisy to
stack the Supreme Court with a majority that endorses voter suppression,
partisan gerrymandering and
the erosion of minority voting rights.
Fully 139 of you in
the House and eight in the Senate voted to overturn the
votes of the American people.
You have, in sum,
discredited American democracy and encouraged political violence and
authoritarianism.
And now, as a
freshman “QAnon congresswoman” plans to introduce impeachment articles against
Biden on his first full day in office, you say it’s time for “healing.”
After Trump, in his
final days, incited a bloody coup attempt, Republican elites could, at long
last, do the right thing, as 10 House Republicans did.
But House Republican
leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), while declaring that censuring Trump would be “prudent,” offered up no
censure resolution and opposed impeachment.
And Senate Republican
leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), while claiming he might vote for removal, blocked a Senate
trial from occurring before Trump leaves office — likely killing prospects for
conviction.
We hear you loud and
clear, Republican elites. Now, how about you listen to the American people?