A Voice of Dissent
Terry H. Schwadron
May 21, 2019
It was just last week I wrote about the lowering of any bar for public officials to qualify for behavior we recognize as courageous in the Trump era. Had I held the idea a little longer, I’d have heard from Justin Amash, the Michigan Republican congressman who has been willing to say that Donald Trump has committed acts that could be impeachable.
It was welcome news, not so much for its political impact, but simply to see someone willing to embrace a bit of Truth in Government. These days, that passes as a victory.
Amash, a strong libertarian from Grand Rapids who has aligned himself with the Freedom Caucus in the House, said what no other Republican member of Congress has, that Trump’s acts as detailed in the Mueller Report detailed multiple instances of obstruction of justice, that Atty. Gen. William P. Barr misrepresented, and that his Republican colleagues are too partisan to do anything about it and too lazy to even read the report.
Amash himself seems someone who thinks his Freedom colleagues ought to be concerned with limiting presidential powers. Actually, they have enabled the opposite under Trump.
The impeachment remarks triggered an immediate tidal wave of reprobation from Republicans, as well as a dismissive, insulting swipe through presidential tweet. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-CA, called Amash’s comments “very disturbing.’ Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah said it was courageous, but not enough for him to join in. Official Republican National Committee comment decried Amash as out of step with his western Michigan district.
What I liked about the Amash announcement was that he offered “these conclusions only after having read Mueller’s redacted report carefully and completely, having read or watched pertinent statements and testimony, and having discussed this matter with my staff, who thoroughly reviewed materials and provided me with further analysis.”
As such, it could be the first chink in the Republican dam — or just a singular speed bump that will be ignored.
“Contrary to Barr’s portrayal, Mueller’s report reveals that President Trump engaged in specific actions and a pattern of behavior that meet the threshold for impeachment,” Amash said. “In fact, Mueller’s report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence.”
Obviously, more than 900 former federal prosecutors who have signed onto a letter reaffirming this position, agree with Amash, to say nothing of Democrats in general.
Set aside the exact comment, and listen to this very sensible remark by Amash: “America’s institutions depend on officials to uphold both the rules and spirit of our constitutional system even when to do so is personally inconvenient or yields a politically unfavorable outcome. Our Constitution is brilliant and awesome; it deserves a government to match it.”
The president lost a round in federal court yesterday, which ruled that the House can indeed subpoena his financial records — prompting a promise of appeal. And the White House moved to block former White House lawyer Don McGahn Jr. from testifying today, pushing the House an inch closer to opening an impeachment investigation.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin noted,“We can marvel at Amash’s intellectual and moral clarity and applaud his courage. However, he’s just saying indisputable facts and refusing to go along with the scheme to distract voters from the magnitude of Trump’s offenses. Unfortunately, that is what counts for courage these days.”
“So, we return to the question that vexes NeverTrumpers and Democrats: Why are Republicans such quivering sycophants, willing to lie and debase themselves in support of an unpopular president who is repudiating many of the principles they have spent their lives advancing?” asks Rubin.
She sees three distinct groups of Republicans: Cynics who know Trump is unfit, but stay with him to get agreeable judges and tax cuts; those convinced that they will never find work if they speak out against Trump, either through primaries for office, or at think tanks, media, party jobs and the like; and what she calls cranks, zealots, racists and haters — “a group, it turns out, much larger than many ex-Republicans could ever fathom. This includes not just the overt white nationalists and the tea party crowd but also those who have been simmering with personal resentment against ‘liberal elites.’”
Rubin said, “If you eliminate the retirees who couldn’t take it any more (like former U.S. senator from Arizona Jeff Flake), the cynics, the scaredy-cats and the resentful self-made victims, you’re down to a precious few congressional Republicans who will refuse to rationalize (and even praise) whatever Trump does. Only 13 House Republicans and 12 Senate Republicans voted to block Trump’s noxious emergency declaration on the U.S.-Mexico border, which amounted to a repudiation of our constitutional government of separation of powers.”
So what passes for courage comes now from speaking about facts, rather than for staking out some extension of civil rights. What passes as a functioning democracy is making the other side see some practical advantage in being able to speak about truths.
We can’t solve any substantial social problems we face unless we agree on what is on the table. That was the point of the Mueller Report. It’s too bad only one Republican is willing to speak it’s truths out loud.
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