J. W. Verret, The Atlantic:
Republicans who stand up to Trump today may face some friendly fire. Today’s Republican electorate seems spellbound by the sound bites of Twitter and cable news, for which Trump is a born wizard. Yet, in time, we can help rebuild the Republican Party, enabling it to rise from the ashes of the post-Trump apocalypse into a party with renewed commitment to principles of liberty, opportunity, and the rule of law.
I’m seeing a trickle of rank-and-file Republican intellects succumb to the Mueller report’s findings. Verret is a law professor at George Mason University and was a member of the Trump transition team. He writes,
Depending on how you count, roughly a dozen separate instances of obstruction of justice are contained in the Mueller report. The president dangled pardons in front of witnesses to encourage them to lie to the special counsel, and directly ordered people to lie to throw the special counsel off the scent.
That’s particularly damning news. It’s difficult for an honest intellect to disregard evident wrong-doing in the absence of over-arching humanitarian need. Trump’s actions, all self-serving, don’t meet that bar. This trickle will grow, because a political party cannot long survive under the leadership of an evident criminal.
The GOP has been in puppy-dog mode since Trump won their nomination, supporting the candidate and the elected president as their only vehicle to power. Standing for re-election next year means Trump will be more vulnerable to Congressional findings. I suspect the GOP will follow him over the cliff, but who knows, there’s always Bill Weld’s candidacy in need of support, and the nagging conscience of otherwise decent people.
#election #investigation #trump #congress
A Random Stroll 