Profiles in Cowardice

Republican politicians have been enabling Trump since day one of his Presidency. His statements before and during his Presidency have now totaled 29,508 false and misleading claims. (Washington Post and Fact Checker)

But for some reason, this hasn’t made a bit of difference to his followers or Republican lawmakers. For any other person running for office, something like the Access Hollywood tape would finish them. But not Trump. His hold on some of the American public was something not seen in politics often.

Eight Republican US Senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives voted to sustain one or both objections to the electoral vote — even after the mob descended on the Capitol, smashed windows on the House chamber, and created an armed standoff. One Trump terrorist mounted the dais in the Senate chamber to protest the election of Joe Biden. But still, eight US Senators and 139 members of the House of Representatives refused to accept the certification of President-Elect Biden.

The more outrageous Trump’s lies are, the more his supporters believe him. Mark Twain, in a letter to a San Francisco newspaper, is quoted as saying, “The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a man only tells them with all his might.”

What is more disturbing is many women voters who — no matter what he says, no matter how vulgar his statements are, no matter how many times he will call a woman a slob — women voters will stick with Trump. At the first Republican debate, Fox News host Megyn Kelly asked Trump, “You’ve called women you don’t like ‘fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals‘ all on Your Twitter account.“ And what was Trump‘s response? “I was only talking about Rosie O’Donnell.“

Fox News missed the point by saying elected officials were the “enablers.” Who was it that attended all his rallies and shouted: “Lock Her Up, Lock Her Up?” Who voted him in once with 62 million votes in 2016 and tried again this time with 74 million this past November? It was Republican voters who elected Trump into office, not Republican politicians.

The news media quickly pointed out that the Republican Party was the true enabler by refusing to stand up to him and is equally at fault for what happened at the Capitol as the Trump anarchists. But in reality, it was the Republican voters who ignored the old saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

The 62 million voters not only ignored the warning signs the first time, but the 74 million voters for Trump the second time completely ignored the flashing red lights. So, for Americans voting for him a second time, it should be “shame on me.” By Election Day, there should have been no doubt in anyone’s mind about Trump and his record of misstatements. How could the 74 million GOP voters not have been paying attention to his statement even while President?

How could these statements not have been a warning sign? Trump said:

• Of Dictator Kim Jong-un: “He wrote me beautiful letters and we fell in love.”
• About the Charlottesville rioting: “You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.”
• “I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words.”
• On Fighting Terrorism: “When you see the other side chopping off heads, waterboarding doesn’t sound very severe.”
• On John McCain: “He’s not a war hero, he’s a war hero because he was captured.”

Meanwhile, the bone spur President sat out his military service, once even claiming “he was never a fan of it.”

Then there are the four Arizona Republican Representatives in Congress, who voted not to accept the Electoral College Results: Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, David Schweikert, and Debbie Lesko.

Rep. Mark Finchem of LD11 is in a terrorist category by himself. Not only has he been in the news but claiming to Steve Bannon that the people of Maricopa County are engaged in a “full uprising, my e-mail is blowing up, people are on a mission, catching fire across the State.” Rep. Finchem was among the terrorists storming the Capitol and falsely claimed the people who did that were Antifa.

So, who is to blame for this President? Every American who voted for him, and every politician who enabled him.

Make American great again, President Biden.