Image: Wikipedia
Recently I went to see a play called "Conscience."
Bet you already have a notion where I'm going with this.
The play is about Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, who in 1950 delivered her "Declaration of Conscience" speech in the Senate, a reaction to fellow Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy's Cold War shenanigans.
The principled speech resulted in deafening silence from her colleagues, who were too scared of McCarthy to get on board. It wasn't until four long years later that the Senate censured McCarthy, after he'd done irreparable harm to so many lives.
I left the theater thinking about all the Republican jellyfish in Congress who've kept mum about Donald Trump's glaring excesses and treason over these painful years. If Republicans are crushed in the midterms a few weeks from now, will these avid Trump supporters instantly pretend they've never heard of the man?
Fear of being labeled a Communist sympathizer kept her colleagues from supporting Smith; fear of pissing off Trump have kept today's Congressmen from confronting his incompetence and cruelty. Job security over conscience.
So while there are many reasons I hope the Democrats take the midterms, one of them is to see how the Republican enablers handle it. Will they defend Trump as he's sidelined or even impeached, or will they put distance between themselves and his aromatic carcass?
I feel confident not one of them will confess that supporting him was a mistake. No, rather than admit their own role in this national fiasco, they'll turn on Trump faster than you can say "golden escalator to hell."
Assuming these elections weaken him sufficiently. If the Republicans hold serve, his GOP toadies will stick by him.
Until gas hits $7 a gallon or he names the White House after himself. Whichever comes first.
