We are still about 20 days out from the midterm election and many of us pro-democracy voters are experiencing battle fatigue. This is exactly what congressional Republicans – with the exception of two, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, were hoping for. I say two, specifically because only these two have displayed the courage to stand on their convictions and speak up and defend democracy.
I lean on two quotes from Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. to bolster my rationale for making this claim that there are sadly only two Republicans in the entire House and Senate in Washington who are not cowards and are willing to stand on their principles. Those quotes are as follows: 1. During a meeting at Riverside Church in New York City, exactly one year before he was assassinated, Doctor King said “A time comes when silence is betrayal… The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one.” And 2., he said that “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
The way that these Republican Representatives and Senators (“our friends”) are conducting themselves at a time when there is an existential threat to our democracy is astounding; so, I will understand if there are those who can’t help but to chuckle to themselves and muse as to whether I am using the word friend quite loosely. However, my point is that all – with the exception of the previously mentioned two, of our elected congressional Republican officials in Washington have been measured and have come up short. They have failed to honor their oath of office and, instead, have chosen to cling to power at all costs. A failure to stand on principle and honor their oath – which, unfortunately has become normalized and most Americans wink at it, at any other time would be terrible enough but to fail to do these things at a time when our democracy is at stake is… As previously mentioned, this is astounding! It is all but unforgivable! There is no excuse for such conduct!
The mission that these words, “A time comes when silence is betrayal”, call all Americans to is indeed a “most difficult one.” It is a most difficult one because it pits us against one another. It pits us against one another through ginned up hate and intentional lack of transparency: Democrats vs. Republicans, Whites vs. Blacks and other people of color, Whites vs. Jews, Christians vs. Non-Christians, immigrants vs. American citizens, them vs. us… Divisiveness has been used as a weapon in politics for countless years but it was perfected by Donald J. Trump when he became The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America; and he continues even now to hone it as needed to fit his purposes each time that they change.
Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden but he has yet to admit that he lost. The scary and most stressful thing for most Americans who live in the real world is that Mr. Trump is threatening to run again in 2024. And he is threatening to do this even though he allegedly led a failed insurrection before he left office and committed numerous other crimes, which the preponderance of the evidence collected thus far indicates that he committed. And although he is still under investigation for these crimes, polls indicate that he is still extremely popular.
Republican-controlled state legislatures throughout America have either enacted laws or are in the process of enacting laws that are based on Mr. Trumps “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to rampant voter fraud. Thorough investigations were conducted as a result of Mr. Trump’s allegations and no fraud was found; not even by Bill Barr, Mr. Trump’s Attorney General! These laws that have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented by the above-mentioned legislatures are all based Mr. Trump’s “Big Lie” and no evidence! They amount to nothing more than thinly veiled voter suppression, a tactic that these Republicans are using to keep Republicans in power!
Currently, there are many of Mr. Trump’s followers, a.k.a. election deniers, who agree with him that he did not lose the 2020 election. They, like Mr. Trump, say that it was stolen from him and that he is still the legitimate The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America. Some of those followers are running for office at local, state and federal levels in the 2022 midterm election. Even with all of the evidence that is stacked up against Mr. Trump and with his current outrageous antics, due in no small part to his acumen concerning divisiveness and his demonstrated ability to con and manipulate people, there are those that continue to follow him as if he is the proverbial Pied Piper and so are committed to support these candidates simply because Mr. Trump has endorsed them. Hence, polls indicate that almost all of these are tight. America can’t afford to have people like these running the country if we intend to remain a democracy.
This is where we, the voters who love our democracy – whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, come in. Those elected leaders who are standing on principles and honoring their oath cannot fight those who would subvert democracy alone! They need our help! That is why we cannot become weary and disengage before the 2022 midterm Election Day; before the 2022 midterms are completely finished. That is why we must turn out like we have never turned out before. It is likely that we will even have to continue to fight beyond that day. We must realize that freedom is not free and that we must fight for it for as long as it takes. With midterm races being tight, staunch election denier candidates running for office, voter suppression laws in place and extreme gerrymandering, Republicans feel that they have a real good chance of taking, win or lose, the midterm elections and retaking the House and Senate.
Finally, polls show that many American voters believe that democracy is under threat but it is not a priority. Instead, their priorities are inflation, the overall economy and climate change. There is a poll that says 81% of American voters say that the economy will have a major impact on their vote. What! Don’t these voters know that without our democracy their perspective on these things won’t matter because they will not have any meaningful input concerning them. Don’t they realize that unless their perspective coincides with that of the autocrat and his chosen few, their thoughts and concerns will be tossed aside and completely disregarded?!
What are those Americans who have these concerns and place them above the threat to democracy going to tell their children and grandchildren should we lose our democracy and those children one day ask them, what did you do when America was faced with this threat? Are they going to tell them that they were to busy with the concerns that the price of gas was way too high and that food at the supermarket was too high! Every single voter needs to focus on their priorities as they relate to the 2022 midterm election and be absolutely sure that they are properly ranked.
If all of us do that, then we will have a much better chance of surviving this attack on our democracy by one of our two major political parties; the Republican Party. So, get your priorities straight and be sure to turn out and vote. And always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line