The time for tolerating lies is over
The big lie has put our republic at risk. The lie is that someone stole the election from Donald Trump. The lie is that the coronavirus is not the crisis it is said to be. The lie is that big tech, Democrats and the news media are in cahoots to steal your country. The lie is that it wasn’t Trump supporters who swarmed the Capitol.
The authors of these lies have given up on democracy. They don’t believe any ideas other than their own have value. They think you’re too stupid to see beyond the lies.
The president lied. He poured out the big lie until the dissatisfied, the disaffected and the marginalized among us became drunk on the falsehood that Biden didn’t win. Trump lied when he swore to uphold and defend the Constitution.
His lies called the mob to Washington. His lies propelled them to the Capitol. His lies resulted in five deaths.
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland lied. He knew there was no evidence that Joe
Biden unfairly won the presidency. Yet, he signed a document supporting a specious lawsuit from Texas challenging the results. He stood there on the floor of the House of Representatives Wednesday and sided with a mob that tried to overthrow the results of that election through insurrection.
Even though Trump has been banned from Facebook and Twitter for lying, his lies soak the social media pages of those spreading them. Even after he incited the chaos on Wednesday, these people refuse to wake from the fever dreams caused by his lies.
It’ s understandable to be frustrated. There are many people who feel like the American dream has left them behind.
But those participating in the big lie have given up on the United States. They have given up on our future together.
We’ve all heard the maxim that elections have consequences. Let’s be clear today; the big lie must have consequences.
Trump should be impeached. Harris should be censured.
Republicans who advanced the president’s lies because he helped their political goals must be held accountable at the ballot box.
Men and women who went to Washington to enforce the lies with violence should go to jail.
Those who continue to share the big lie on social media should be shunned by those who understand the consequences of lying. First among those consequences is the possibility of more violence.
Social media companies that refused to moderate these lies until after the mob left the building should be held accountable.
When Biden takes office in 10days, he will have the ability to govern because voters in Georgia rejected Trump’s lies. But he cannot heal this nation without the cooperation of men and women of good conscience right here at home.
Republicans have to take stock of the moral disaster Trump has been for their party and decide if they can salvage their honor from the wreckage he caused. Working with Biden is a start.
Those who still subscribe to the lie must awake to the danger they helped fester.
The challenges facing our nation are great: A deadly pandemic still raging; an economy staggering; enemies abroad seeking to leverage our chaos and enemies within using stillmore lies to subvert any beliefs but their own.
Whether there is healing or not, we must move forward from this disgraceful moment. Over time, perhaps, the lie will recede andwe can find unity.
But moving forward to address our problems, to restore trust in our institutions, must begin now. It must begin with a decision to no longer tolerate lies.