We Need a Change
To the Editor:
The administration under President Trump is a disaster, and a historical threat to America’s representative democracy. Contributing to Trump’s erratic and chaotic style of governance are the congressional Republicans who lack the courage to honor their oath to the Constitution and tell the president that he is wrong. Our democracy is under open assault today by a president who respects no boundaries, who does not care about Americans, who starts an unprovoked war, who has failed to keep his most fervent promises to lower consumer prices, release all the Epstein files with redactions only for victims, create a program for affordable health care, and keep us out of the quagmire of eternal wars in the Middle East.
President Trump has violated his oath to defend and protect the Constitution. The congressional Republicans know it and are too cowardly to do their Constitutionally mandated jobs and hold Trump accountable. The coming November election is critically important. Voters must flip the Senate and House by electing highly qualified Democratic candidates. I understand that this appears blatantly partisan, and, well, it is. No apologies. A majority of Texans are proud life-long Republicans. And what I say may anger them. However, my GOP friends know that the current GOP is is in total obsequious loyalty to President Trump and bears little resemblance to the Republican party of past years.
That was the party that stood for loyalty to the Constitution, the rule of law, fiscal responsibility, personal accountability, and love of country. That party was represented by great presidents like Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush – courageous men who loved their country and believed allAmericans should have the best possible life. Even if you disagreed with some of their policies, you knew they were decent, honorable men.
What should anger every American is not only the conduct of President Donald Trump, but the shameful cowardice of many congressional Republicans who know better and say little. They were elected to defend the Constitution, not kneel before one man who wants to be a king. Yet time after time they have excused behavior they once claimed would disqualify any leader.
They have tolerated attacks on judges, threats against political opponents, contempt for the rule of law, and repeated efforts to use government power for personal revenge. They have watched attempts to pressure the Department of Justice into becoming a political weapon. They have watched attacks on journalists and public media simply for doing their jobs. Instead ofdrawingaline,toomany Republicans chose silence.
Even more outrageous is the endless corruption surrounding Trump and his family. Americans are tired of seeing the White House turned into a family business. President Trump has used the enormous powers of his office to funnel money, favors, influence, and privilege while ordinary people struggle to pay for gas, groceries, rent, medicine, and insurance. Public office is supposed to be public service, not a cash machine for relatives and insiders.
We were promised better health care, better roads, lower costs, and government focused on working people. Instead, we got chaos, division, grievance, and constant self-promotion. We were promised strength. Instead, we got drama. We were promised results. Instead, we got excuses.
Many Americans are deeply troubled by the heavyhanded conduct in immigration enforcement. Border security matters, but so do due process and constitutional rights. No agency should be allowed to act beyond the law or use fear as policy. The reports of the detention of huge numbers of illegal immigrants imprisoned in filthy, brutal concentration camps should be deeply troubling to any American of conscience. Masked federal agents breaking down doors and accosting people without warrants violates the Fourth Amendment. And congressional Republicans who are privately appalled do not speak out.
On the world stage, reckless conduct has weakened alliances that helped keep America safe since World War II. Starting conflict with Iran without clear congressional approval or a convincing explanation should have drawn bipartisan outrage. Instead, too many Republicans again looked the other way.
Enough is enough. If Republicans in Congress will not perform their duty, voters must do it for them. The surest way to restore oversight and accountability is to elect Democrats who will ask hard questions, defend institutions, and remember that their oath is to the Constitution, not to Donald Trump.
Sadly, the decline of the current GOP, too afraid to hold President Trump accountable, is deeply troubling. Our democracy functions better in a strong two-party system where the party out of power can keep an eye on the party in power. Vigorous debate on critical issues is of paramount importance to the healthy functioning of our government. The current congressional Republicans who have given up their Constitutional authority to the executive branch need to read the Federalist Papers by Madison, Hamilton, and Jay that describe the importance of a government of checks and balances.
Texas has leaders ready to step forward, leaders like James Talarico, who has spoken clearly about decency, public service, and moral courage. We need more voices like his, and fewer politicians who mistaken submission to one man for loyalty to the Constitution. We are lucky to have the outspoken Representative Jasmine Crockett from Dallas in the House who does not hold back in roasting Republicans for their cowardice, their hypocrisy, and their lies.
This election is not about left versus right. It is about honesty versus corruption, law versus lawlessness, courage versus cowardice. Texans pride themselves on independence. Now is the time to prove it. Next November, vote for Democrats (or Republicans who have the courage to say “No” to a lawless President Trump). We must vote for a new beginning for America. Let’s vote for the continuation of this amazing 250 year experiment in representative democracy.