I really enjoyed a recent episode of the New York Times podcast, The Daily, in which host Michael Barbaro interviewed newly-elected Michigan Republican Representative Peter Meijer about his vote to impeach Donald Trump. Lots of good stuff in there from a man who looks like he has the integrity to call it like it is and not play weak political games with our current state of affairs.
Meijer draws the line – did the president act in a way that betrays our constitution or not? While one may be able to nuance the answer (and there were a couple of good points to be made for not voting to impeach – although none that could really deny the president’s culpability in creating the environment for the riots to happen), a thoughtful person should be able to fall on the side of “law and order.” And isn’t that what Republicans (and, ironically, Donald Trump) all stand for?
Meijer was able to capture some sense of reason with his approach. If it was a matter of “yes” or “no,” he got to the seriousness of it all and left very little room for argument. To tell you the truth, I would expect nothing less from someone who served honorably in the military and spent time deployed in the desert. In one sentence near the end of the interview, he got to an even more important point:
“The colleagues that I think have betrayed their oath, those that I think should feel a sense of responsibility and shame are not the ones who found an argument and used that argument to vote in a way that I disagreed with. But those who had been repeatedly, energetically and emphatically lying to people who looked to them, who trust them, and who supported them, that, to me, is contemptible.”
When you serve in the military, one of the things you understand is what it takes to go into battle with those under your command. You trust them and, equally important, they trust you. When you tell them they have to accomplish an objective, they have to believe that you’re sending them in with a purpose. We’ve seen too many examples of the ludicrous nature of a senseless operation, but for any one of those I assure you there are far more where courage and decisiveness made all of the difference. Representative Meijer is showing us what that looks like. There should be nothing more distasteful than to see the actions of cowards and liars working against that kind of bravery.
I’m not a fan of “outrage.” I find far too much of it manufactured to whip up a frenzy for political advantage. But there should be no question here. Americans should be outraged. Republicans even more so. We’ve been told persistently that they’re all for “law and order.” And yet here, right before our eyes and recorded for posterity, we see a lawless riot that resulted in the deaths of five and the vandalization of the property of the American people. Here was an outright attack on a building and institution that serves to the world as one of the greatest symbols of the freedom with which we’ve been blessed. And by whom? Those whom the president demonize as a danger to our nation? Illegal immigrants? Muslims? Antifa? BLM? No. We get Billy Bob and his Confederate flag, walking the halls of congress. I’ve got to ask, do blue lives really matter when you’re out there killing a member of the Capital Police with a fire extinguisher? Given the party line, outrage is the only option.
You would think this would be awful PR. All an enterprising member of the DNC would have to do is cut “law-and-order” speeches by politicians and the president with footage of people rioting in the Capital and run those non-stop around the country. And while they’re at it, they could toss in a couple of the real doozies these same politicians were saying about stolen elections that whipped up the rioters in the first place.
I think more than a few people got a good wakeup call within the past couple of weeks. They played with political fire, thinking they’d not get burnt. It’s always been a game to them to use inflammatory rhetoric to rile up their base. But their naivete came to a crashing end when the people whom they had been riling decided to riot. You could almost see the “oops, I really screwed up” looks on their faces when they realized they were in trouble. Unfortunately, I’m sure they’ll cover up their shame with more lies and spin.
To close, I really enjoy the New York Times, even if I don’t always agree with their positions on things and their editorial slant. Sadly, many people would tune out the minute they see that it’s the Times who’s doing the interviewing, but one must admit, regardless of their politics, they’re some of the best journalists and writers on the planet. You’d do yourself a disservice not to listen to this.
And as a bonus, here’s a good read.