Did the GOP lose its moral compass or ever have one?
Thomas Friedman ponders how this country got to where it finds itself by posing several “what ifs”:
What if Mitch McConnell, at the close of his scalding speech on the Senate floor blaming Donald Trump for the riot that occurred at the Capitol on Jan. 6, had promised to use his every last breath to ensure that Trump was convicted on impeachment charges and could never, ever become president again?
What if Melania Trump, after the porn star Stormy Daniels said Trump had unprotected sex with her less than four months after Melania gave birth to their son, had thrown all of Trump’s clothes, golf clubs, MAGA hats and hair spray onto the White House lawn with this note, “Never come back, you despicable creep!”
What if the influential evangelical leader Robert Jeffress, after Trump was caught on tape explaining that as a TV star he felt entitled to “grab” women in the most intimate places — or after Trump was found liable by a Manhattan jury of having done pretty much just that to E. Jean Carroll — declared that he would lead a campaign to ensure that anyone but Trump was elected in 2024 because Trump was a moral deviant whom Jeffress would not let babysit his two daughters, let alone the country?
It’s rare for me to waste time with a Friedman column, but then the day of Donald Trump’s indictment on 37 federal felony charges was a rare day.
How Friedman chose those three as people whose alternate moral choices might have taken the world down a branching timeline instead of this one is unknown. McConnell has zero moral authority. Melania Trump is a sphinx. Jeffress is yet another “court evangelical” whose brand of Christianity mistakes wealth for God’s endorsement. None of the three make any difference.
Watching the House and Senate Republicans whatabout 37 federal felony charges and the MAGA faithful wave their Trump and anti-Semitic banners as fiercely as ever confirmed what reporter Betsy Woodruff Swan said of Trump supporters on Tuesday: “The goalposts are on roller skates.”
Perhaps we mistake whose America we really live in. Trump’s America-first movement is the triumph of Roy Cohnism.
Marie Brenner wrote in 2017 (Vanity Fair):
For author Sam Roberts, the essence of Cohn’s influence on Trump was the triad: “Roy was a master of situational immorality . . . . He worked with a three-dimensional strategy, which was: 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deeply into the muck you get, claim victory and never admit defeat.” As columnist Liz Smith once observed, “Donald lost his moral compass when he made an alliance with Roy Cohn.”
Smith assumes Trump ever had one. Trump’s psychologist niece Mary might dispute that.
Media Matters’ Kat Abughazaleh caught “token liberal” Jessica Tarlov’s attempt to pentrate the smoky cloud of bullshit Trump supporters have spewed to distract from the charges Trump faces. Her “The Five” co-pundits would not stand for it.
Always declare victory, never admit mistakes, always counterpunch, etc. Getting what you want is the highest morality. Might makes right.
We are in a dark place, a place of peril. On this Friedman and I agree:
So [Trump] keeps pushing and pushing our system to its breaking point — where rules are for suckers, norms are for fools, basic truths are malleable and men and women of high character are banished.
This is exactly what would-be dictators try to do: Flood the zone with lies so the people trust only them and the truth is only what they say it is.
It is impossible to exaggerate what a dangerous moment this is for our country.
But not a moment without hope. The majority of Americans still recoil at Trumpism. Now, if they will only get off their asses to stop it. Leaving the job to the courts is not enough.