Where reason and debate couldn’t reach them, it appears that outright violence is finally proof enough – at least for some.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Friday that Donald Trump should resign the presidency immediately and that if the Republican Party cannot separate itself from Trump, she isn’t certain she has a future with the party.
“I want him to resign. I want him out. He has caused enough damage,” Murkowski, R-Alaska, said during an interview from her small Capitol office, steps away from the Senate chambers that were invaded by pro-Trump rioters on Wednesday.
“I think he should leave. He said he’s not going to show up. He’s not going to appear at the inauguration. He hasn’t been focused on what is going on with COVID. He’s either been golfing or he’s been inside the Oval Office fuming and throwing every single person who has been loyal and faithful to him under the bus, starting with the vice president. He doesn’t want to stay there. He only wants to stay there for the title. He only wants to stay there for his ego. He needs to get out. He needs to do the good thing, but I don’t think he’s capable of doing a good thing,” she said. [Anchorage Daily News]
Granted, Murkowski has been a leading member, in my mind, of the rational Republican caucus. Perhaps more impressive is this broadside from the National Catholic Reporter:
But also among those with some culpability for yesterday’s failed insurrection are more than a few leaders in our church. Catholic apologists for Trump have blood on their hands.
Many Americans expressed shock as they watched the violent mob smash glass and scale the walls while members of Congress cowered under desks or rushed to secure bunkers.
We were not surprised.
This is the culmination of what this presidency has been about from the beginning — and some Catholics have remained silent, or worse, cheered it along, including some bishops, priests, a few sisters, right-wing Catholic media and too many people in the pro-life movement.
We’re talking to you CatholicVote.org, Attorney General William Barr and other Catholics in the Trump administration, Amy Coney Barrett, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, rogue prolifer Abby Johnson. Sadly, the list goes on.
And what about the everyday Catholics — some 50% of them — who voted for Trump this year, after four years of incompetence, racist dog whistles and assaults on democratic norms? Not all were at the “protest” in Washington, but many have supported organizations that fanned the flames. Too many Catholic voters were content to cozy up to Trump in exchange for tax breaks, or Supreme Court judges, or subsidies for Catholic schools.
Waving a finger in shame isn’t really enough though, is it? The moral and intellectual flaws which led to the widespread willingness to vote for Trump – 74 million voters, for God’s sake![1] – indicate that either the American Catholic Church has fallen down badly – given its abysmal moral failings when it comes to pedophilia in the ranks, this is no surprise[2] – or the American penchant for monetizing anything that moves and much that doesn’t, will render them irreparable.
The American Catholic Church had better be preparing plans for clergy reformation for both pedophilia and the support of Trump by the clergy, and then moving on to the butts in the pews. If you lose a few congregants who can’t stand the thought that they were wrong, hey, too bad. Reform the great majority.
Because this country depends on it.
But, given the natural weaknesses of any church, I shan’t be surprised if they fail. The willingness to believe in a Divinity for which there’s no apparent evidence, to throw yourself into a frenzied study of sacred texts which were, nevertheless, penned by humans, does not lead to a rational mind that is sensitive to the difficulties of understanding epistemological issues, much less the challenges of detecting con men, grifters, psychics, quacks, and all that crew – and I say that without any sense of humor! Many scientists are taken in by just such sly and cunning people.
We’re all weak in one way or another, and the wolves in sheeps’ clothing are adept and sensing it and using it as a weapon. It can be a grim world out there.
In any case, expect a number of other organizations to scold their members. I only hope they have more than scolding in mind.
And then there are those who are lost, such as the MAGA-ites who have to decide if they now hate Trump, or if he has one more trick up his sleeve:
A trebuchet, used to fling objects great distances. Do not use with humans!
After years of fidelity, Donald Trump’s most ardent online fans have finally turned on him.
All it took was for the president to acknowledge the reality of his loss a little over a day after they, the MAGA faithful, stormed the Capitol in a violent attempt to stop the certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win.
“People were willing to die for this man and he just threw them all under the bus. That’s the only thing that’s shameful about the events of the past 36 hours,” Nick Fuentes, the host of the America First podcast and the unofficial leader of the white nationalist Groyper Army, angrily tweeted, shortly after Trump released a video Thursday night in which he conceded that Biden would be the next president and called for political reconciliation.
Cassandra Fairbanks, a prominent MAGA activist, tweeted: “[He] tells angry people to march to the capitol [and then] proceeds to throw his supporters under the bus.” [Politico]
Yet, as the article makes clear, they’re still trying to persuade themselves that he’s their Chosen One. What will happen when the Biden Administration is sworn in? Mass suicide? Malls blown up? I’m more than a little boggled thinking about how the bitterly disappointed may react in this age of immaturity.
