Romney, Vindman among the best America can be
Last week provided more confirmation that America lies in intensive care, its recovery in doubt.
It featured the defense lawyer for the president of the United States informing Americans that their president is free to threaten anyone he chooses with whatever consequences he wants in order to extract anything he wishes in return, and still be immune from impeachment, so long as he believes it will help him remain in office — an interpretation of American democracy at once novel and totalitarian.
It included Republicans at the State of the Union acting like frat boys, chanting “Four more years!” to convey their enthusiasm for a president not merely clinically megalomaniacal but conclusively demonstrated to be epically corrupt.
Then there was the National Prayer Breakfast, at which our president expressly rejected the keynote speaker’s gentle requests that he reflect on the teachings of Christ and try, maybe just a little bit, to incorporate them. And the oh-so-presidential “celebration” of his Senate acquittal on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,
so conclusively documented that even some Republicans who were too intimidated by the president to vote to convict him openly admitted that the charges were true.
Standing at a lectern embossed with the presidential seal, Donald Trump once again modeled pure dignity and grace for the American people, using obscenities and calling the FBI “scum.” Trump also denounced those who had proven his guilt, calling them “the crookedest, most dishonest people I’ve ever seen.”
Those were remarkable words indeed given the numerous individuals he has seen at quite close range, including his personal lawyer, his campaign manager, his national security adviser and his longtime political confidante, who have been convicted of felonies and are either headed to federal prison or are already residents there.
It isn’t merely Trump who reflects the advanced state of our national disease, but his base, whose size and psyche have destroyed our heretofore self-congratulatory self-image. That which the decent among us instinctively know is indecent, Trump World regards as really neat.
Thus, for instance, the president and his enthusiasts feel it is clever to riff childishly on U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff’s last name, with the moniker
“Shifty Schiff” the least juvenile of the insults. When Schiff’s fellow House Manager, Congressman Jerrold Nadler, tweeted that he would miss some of the impeachment proceedings in order to help his wife cope with pancreatic cancer, some of his fellow countrymen replied that they looked forward to his return so that he could be tried for “treason.”
A spate of polls showed that 49% of Americans view
Trump favorably. Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a candidate for his party’s presidential nomination, has taken to saying, “This time, it’s about the character of the country,” and he is right.
But there was also good news, and there were people to be proud of. Sen. Mitt Romney, the sole Republican in Congress to be honest about Donald Trump, reminded Americans what patriotism and political courage look like. Romney’s vote to convict Trump has already generated the viciousness that is Trump World’s calling card, but it has also earned him a degree of admiration reserved for few politicians, one that will endure in history.
Ditto for Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the son of a Ukrainian family that came to America fleeing totalitarianism because in America “right matters.” Vindman fought for his nation, told the truth — and was kneecapped by a president who dodged military service by having his wealthy family pay for a “bone spurs” diagnosis.
Mitt Romney and Alexander Vindman are saving graces, individuals we can point to when telling our children and grandchildren what America has been, what it has meant and why it deserves to be rescued. They are examples that provide some hope as we struggle to save a country that has long provided hope to so many.