Perspective: Do Republicans have a moral obligation to challenge President Trump? A guest commentary today makes the case that they do.
I n August of 1988, my first op-ed published in a newspaper, was here, in The Day. It was about being a silent accomplice. Witnessing nefarious deeds, while not contacting authorities, not speaking up, not stepping forward, meant you were a silent accomplice and as guilty as the perpetrator. The piece I wrote back then wasn’t fancy writing. It was from the heart, with a core value I am as proud of today as I was 30 years ago.
Over the past decades I have had to refer to, and enforce that value, which at times cost me relationships and in two instances, jobs. Stepping forward and standing for what’s right has left me with no regrets. Doing that made me feel proud. Now, because I know it’s time to step forward again, I am trembling.
It is a very different world today, one which gives me the jitters because in the last year or so it has become alright to threaten, debase and vilify the press, as well as anyone who speaks out against the opinions of the current administration. Debasement has become the new norm for our president’s core and online trolls. That is frightening. That is why stepping forward is so hard now. That is why putting yourself out there is daunting. That is why I must.
I don’t think current Republican political leaders realize that by remaining in the back row, with tape over their mouths, they are aligning themselves with a base that will be looked upon historically as one to outdo the reprehensible Nixon White House. This is why, as frightened as I am, I chose to resurrect the basic tenor of my first op-ed, “Silent Accomplice,” and why I appealed to The Day to let me speak.
I am scared. Scared to write this, send this, post this, share this, scared to step forward. But I must. So I ask all Republican leaders: On which side of history do you stand?
If you do not speak up and speak out against abuse of authority, you are a silent accomplice to the corruption of power. To watch in silence as a divided nation stands confused and heartbroken in the face of promise, is to watch a villainous deed and do nothing. If you remain mute when voices vilify truth, it makes their lie your lie. You are a silent accomplice. To step back from the front line we endure every day, is unconscionable. To stare close-mouthed, while calamity ensues, is treasonous. To see our precious laws stretched to the absurd is reprehensible. You are a silent accomplice. To spit in the face of comfort, and endure that which is uneasy, to stand (alone) against that which (you know) is criminal, is heroic. It is up to you, by your actions, to convince others to change the rhetoric. You are more than one, and all powerful. History forms long lines behind good people, people who are right, people who do not submit to being a silent accomplice.
Where are you? Why are you so quiet? We need you to step forward. I am terrified by what I see as accepted behavior by our leaders. That not one Republican will stand strong against those who seek self-aggrandizement, at the expense of the American people, is domestic terror, as sure as if it was voted on and accepted.
As a woman who has watched our leader with embarrassment, who has witnessed our fall from the world’s grace, I am a silent accomplice no longer. As a voter, as an aging grandmother who wants to take all of you by the shoulders and shake sense into you, I say, “Wake up! Get up! Do something to stop what is happening to us.”
An adversary outside our borders, and one inside, wants us to be at each other’s throats. They haven’t won yet, but they’re close. Don’t let them destroy who we are, or you will all be silent accomplices to the fall of this great nation.