by MALCOLM ABRAMS
“There is a crack, a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in.”
I find indelible truth and optimism in this song lyric written by Leonard Cohen. It applies to today’s America, where the cracks in President Trump’s support have begun and the light is shining through.
Crack #1: The whistleblower. Without this peek behind the curtain we would not know of Trump’s dark deeds in the Ukraine and there would be no impeachment.
Crack #2: An editorial in the influential magazine Christianity Today by editor Mark Galli calling for Trump’s removal is the first public rift in the evangelical hypocrisy that has supported a charlatan president.
In a follow-up editorial, the publication’s president, Timothy Dalrymple, called Trump “extravagantly immoral” and warned that to embrace his leadership meant being tied to his “rampant immorality, greed, and corruption; his divisiveness and race- baiting; his cruelty and hostility to immigrants and refugees.”
Christianity Today has a circulation of 130,000 and 4.3 million monthly online readers.
At another evangelical publication, The Christian Post, an editor, Napp Nazworth, resigned because of the publication’s support for Trump. “I can’t be an editor for a publication with that editorial voice,” he proclaimed.
Crack #3: Formation of the super PAC Republicans Against Trump. The following is a statement from the group’s website: “On a nearly daily basis, Donald Trump’s demeanor and competence have been rightly called into question due to his frightening and consistent drama and poor judgment. From threatening nuclear holocaust to engaging in disgusting and never-ending drama, we have had enough.
“Our mission is a simple one: Donald Trump must depart the American Presidency. The sooner the better.
“He must leave in order to preserve and protect our American democracy, standing in the world, and the future viability of the Republican Party. … Together, we can put an end to this maniacal president and his blemish he has placed on both the nation and our Party.”
The PAC’s ancillary mission is to punish congressional Republicans who have been his enablers. Among those enablers are our representatives: Sen. Mike Braun, Sen. Todd Young, and Rep. Trey Hollingsworth.
Braun went to Harvard University. Young attended the University of Chicago. Apparently, they are intelligent. I’m not so sure about Hollingsworth. The son of a multimillionaire, he attended the Wharton School, but I suspect if your father is rich enough, you can buy your way in. (Trump, the spoiled son of a billionaire and the self-proclaimed “consistent genius” with a fourth grade vocabulary, also attended Wharton.)
All three legislators have dumbed down to back Trump for fear of losing the support of his fanatical base and being the targets of his childish Twitter meltdowns. They should be better than that.
It’s time for our representatives to grow spines before Trump abandons more of our allies, offers greater comfort to his mentor Vladimir Putin, destroys the integrity of our elections, does more damage to the environment, or starts a war.
Republican strategist Stuart Stevens described his party this way in a Washington Post op-ed: “Republicans are now officially the character doesn’t count party, the personal responsibility just proves you have failed to blame the other guy party, the deficit doesn’t matter party, the Russia is our ally party, and the I’m- right-and-you-are-human-scum party.”
The cracks have started to appear. One crack leads to another. At some point a Republican legislator will finally show some integrity, put country before ambition, and vote his/her conscience.
It would be nice if it was one of our boys.
