Karen Gardner stated in last Friday’s My Turn: “I have often been told that what happened in the past could not possibly happen here, but I’m sorry to say that I no longer believe that.” She refers to the Holocaust — the slaughter of 6 million Jewish people and thousands accused of being homosexual, and the sanctioned hatred of people of color. The Holocaust became a reality due to lies and accusations spread widely and oft repeated, and the complicity of those who knew better but acted to save their own skins and/or retain a semblance of some power of their own.
I agree with Karen Gardner. A similar phenomenon is happening here and now. Since the beginning of the 2016 election campaign the widespread repeating of lies and accusations, and the political power built on them, has fueled hatred, caused violence and death, divided communities, and put our democratic way of life at risk. An ex-president continues to spread lies and fear and scares Republican legislators and officials into eroding highly acclaimed democratic principles.
Congressional Republican members have rallied behind these lies and presented a united front against any legislation to protect voting rights, to help those in the most need during the COVID crisis, and against holding this ex-president accountable for his lies, threats, and promotion of insurrection. A few were brave, for a moment, but what happened to them? The 10 Republican senators who dared to vote for the impeachment of our former president have been systematically attacked, their families threatened, and their political futures put in jeopardy. Some have already announced their retirement from political life.
Why is this destructive behavior not being countered? Congressional Republicans can’t all believe the lies. They have complete access to the nonpartisan facts that refute the lies. Nonetheless, they persist in their support. Why? The answer to these complicities lies in the same factors that fed the Nazi rise to power — fear, preservation of self, and dread of losing political momentum and any semblance of power and influence.
Do these Republicans really believe that they will attain their political goals into the future by embracing the lies? Or can they just not fathom how to organize against this tyrannical trend that has hijacked their Party?
The movement that culminated in the Civil Rights Act of 1965 organized against the tyranny of institutionalized racism and Jim Crow society and brought about fundamental change toward (we are still working on it) equality and democracy for all in our country. Similarly, the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa transformed that society into one that dignifies every citizen, no matter their skin color.
These were movements of committed organizing by ordinary citizens standing up for the dissemination of truth and what is just, and at their core adhering to the principles of nonviolence exemplified by Mahatma Ghandi’s life and the campaign he led for India’s independence. The resistance movements (France, Britain and elsewhere) during World War II created strong networks that fueled unity in the military fight and made possible the defeat of the Nazi reign of terror. These are examples for Republicans to take to heart.
It is time for Republican members of Congress who don’t like lies and tyranny to band together and organize nonviolently to win the hearts and minds of their fellow members and embrace civil rights, democratic rule, and the power of truth.
Members of 22+ state legislatures who have allowed new anti-democratic restrictions on voting rights that are based on lies about election corruption also need to stand up and do the right and just thing. These politicians have the chance to repeat the effectiveness of past movements through loudly and widely dispelling the lies, stating the facts, and holding accountable those who lie for their own personal gain/protection. In this banding together they can protect themselves, their families, and our democracy.
Perhaps they need their own “Highlander Center” to train themselves how to organize, united and principled, with strength, and act justly. They can take back the Republican Party from those who have co-opted it for destructive purposes and personal gain. Wouldn’t that be worth it?
Political rule based on tyranny is corrupt rule. Supporting tyranny is no protection. Stand up for the truth is. Do the right thing, Republicans!
Louise Doud lives in Warwick.