“These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” These words open Thomas Paine’s “The American Crisis,” a series of pamphlets written in 1776 to inspire a young nation on the verge of collapse. Paine’s point is simple: crisis demands action, and action alone deserves praise.
But we are still in a time of governmental dysfunction; so when action is demanded, words are all we get. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) recently made a speech comparing Donald Trump to Josef Stalin and warning Americans about a new, almost autocratic attitude towards the fourth estate. Say what one will about the impact of a United States senator joining the ranks of America’s late-night comedy elite by comparing the President to a dictator—to think that the comparison might have escaped us. What is truly distressing are the circumstances of Flake’s words: Flake has no votes to lose and a quieter life on the way.
Flake gave a speech on Oct. 24, 2017, detailing “the state of our disunion…the coarseness of our leadership…the compromise of our moral authority.” How rare it is for a Republican on the Hill to stand up to the Trump junta. Flake decried failure to do the right thing because of “political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base.” How rare it is for a politician to make an against-all-odds stand in defiance of the status quo.
Flake took these timely words to their logical conclusion. He quit. He used his big contrarian moment to announce that he will end his Senate service with the end of his term, in January 2019. When the going got tough, Jeff flaked. One is reminded of George Washington’s refusal to cross the Delaware River on account of inclement weather.
But why did Jeff flake? Because he will not be complicit in the havoc Trump and his sycophants are visiting upon American institutions. Jeff Flake will not stick around to fix the “royal mess that we’ve created,” so Jeff Flake no longer shares responsibility for the existence of said royal mess. Was there ever a logic more sound?
Flake’s response to the corrosive effects of the Trump presidency is more of the same from GOP lawmakers: too little, too late, if at all. There are just the slightest whisperings of principled dissent within the GOP’s legislative cadre: the odd attempt at compromise from Lindsey Graham, irregular calls for regular order. But until dissenting Republicans do more with their principles than hide behind them, nothing will change. Until Congressional Republicans embrace the Constitutional separation of powers and begin functioning like an independent legislature, they will go in living in Trump’s shadow.
Who exactly do Flake and his compatriots think will stand up to Trump in their absence? Perhaps other of Trump’s Republican enablers? Trump’s doing whatever it is politicians disapprove of is easy, when these same politicians decide to leave Washington. Politicians who quit “on principle” are saving the President no small trouble, sparing him the smear campaigns and Twitter rants he has marshaled against public servants who did fight the good fight before their departure.
Let us carry Flake’s metaphor to its full extent. If Trump can be likened to some sort of despot, then cannot those civil servants who leave public service now be likened to the various government functionaries whose quiet surrender opens the path for a despot’s advance? The stubborn truth of complicity is that it involves action and inaction alike. Some people do the wrong thing, while others do little to stop them. The result is the same.
If there are indeed dissenting voices within the GOP, they would do well to commit themselves to action that is more than symbolic. They should be the change they hope to see, and not go quietly because of “political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base.” In movements of dissent, someone has to be first. Stand, and others will stand with you.
I close with Shakespeare’s “Henry V," particularly King Henry’s speech at Agincourt. Heartening his men before battle, he tells them, “And gentlemen in England now a-bed/ Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,/ And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks/ That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.” Sit idle, despite the presence of a very great problem, and accept the anonymity of safety. Stand and act, despite the chance of reproach, and assume a place among those who have made our nation better.
I am reminded that George Washington did cross the Delaware, despite the inclement weather.
Tim Kowalczyk is a Trinity junior. His column runs on alternate Mondays.
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Tim Kowalczyk is a Trinity sophomore. His column, "the academy matters," runs on alternate Thursdays.