We should be ashamed.
Of President Donald Trump for inciting a riot and insurrection at the United States Capitol, and of the goons who heeded his call, to be sure. But not just of them. Donald Trump is perhaps the most transparent politician in history, and his followers reward him with cultish devotion. We’ve known this since 2016. Given what Trump and his supporters have said and done publicly for five years, yesterday was not at all surprising. Thus, our deepest shame should be directed at the enablers, the ones who allowed such a childish, racist, hate- and fear-mongering ethos to ricochet its way to the most powerful office in the world.
We should be ashamed of the lawmakers who spent the last four years catering to an immoral president so they could loosen restrictions on industries they favor, gut protections for people and landscapes they deem inferior, and advance judges who, increasingly, do their jobs for them. Of Utah Senator Mike Lee, who spent the last few months spewing the insidious notion that popular sovereignty is mob rule, only to temper that language once an actual mob showed up at the Capitol. Of Arizona Representative Paul Gosar, whose legislative agenda, best I can tell, is to peddle conspiracies and yesterday became the dog that caught the car. Of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the embarrassing apotheosis of Reagan Republicanism reduced to begging Trump to call off the shirtless QAnon idiots who stormed the Capitol in his name. Of Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis, who voted to overturn the will of the people. Of freshman Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado, who tried yesterday to overturn the election for her “constituents outside this building” before they stormed said building, and just days ago promoted, in the most flamboyant fashion, illegal concealed carry in Washington D.C. But, hey, the rule of law is just a suggestion for Trump supporters.
We should be ashamed that the mythic Western individualism is, indeed, a myth. It doesn’t take long to count Western Republicans who stood up to Trump in any meaningful fashion yesterday. Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the only senator to vote to convict following Trump’s impeachment in February, remains the moral conscience of the Republican party. He quickly said yesterday’s riot was an insurrection instigated by Trump. Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, also was unequivocal: “There is no question that the President formed the mob, the President incited the mob, the President addressed the mob. He lit the flame.” Former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake was one of the few who initially denounced Trump’s brand of sexual assault politics and actually stuck with it. For chrissakes, I have to expand Bitterroot’s coverage area to find another Western lawmaker who has bucked the GOP norm and stood up to Trump. Glad to have you, Ben Sasse.
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With power comes extra accountability, but we cannot dismiss the rank-and-file supporters of Trump’s ideology.
We should be ashamed of this guy, and all of his associates. And of the folks who “protested” legitimate election results at statehouses in Washington, Colorado, Utah, and elsewhere in the West — especially those who threatened journalists and pepper-sprayed photographers. Not at all surprising that folks who call a free press “enemies of the people” are the ones who support an attempted coup.
And what of the 74.2 million of us who wanted Donald Trump to continue leading this country? He was always a shameful choice. There were many other Republicans to choose from in 2016. God forbid you split your ticket and vote for Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden alongside Republicans down-ballot. I will forever ponder how so many Americans voted for a man who they would never, ever, want to work for, to hire, to associate with, or for their children to emulate.
I’ve spoken to many people for whom Trump was a compromise candidate. “I don’t like him,” one California rancher told me in 2017, “but I hate Hillary, and I want the Supreme Court.” That’s shameful calculus when the candidate receiving your vote is so obviously corrupt, incompetent, and morally dilapidated. But others fully embrace his falsehoods. For those who consider government a joke, he was the perfect candidate, a self-fulfilling prophecy. But Trump is paving the way for autocratic leaders these folks say they’re worried about. If a more competent version of Trump emerges in our future, American democracy is toast.
What happened yesterday was a regretful culmination of societal forces and individual decisions that began accumulating well before Trump’s presidency. But, if we want to prevent it from happening again, we — especially the political leaders among us — must act quickly and decisively. If we don’t, we should be ashamed of ourselves.
