Whom shall we send?

by Robert J Silver

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” —-Isaiah 6:8

Amid the ongoing Covid19 pandemic, an economy in crisis, social unrest unseen in decades, and more, in whom shall our nation now place its trust? The contrast between our two major political parties’ nominees for President of these United States could not be more dramatic.

On the one hand, we have Donald Trump, a malignant narcissistic sociopath, who has persistently lied, cheated, stolen and bullied his way into and through the years of a self-serving presidency. He ran for office declaring that he would drain the “swamp.” Yet, he has done the opposite of what he promised. He has not only enlarged and deeprend that swamp, he has turned it into a toxic cesspool of EPA superfund proportions.

Joe Biden, on the other hand, though imperfect, has dedicated himself to public service and the public interest, rather than to his self-interest. We can count on him to act with honor, integrity, decency, and compassion. If knocked down, we know he will not quit. He will get back up and go at it again. This, we know from his history. We have watched him do so time and again, over the decades of his public life. We have watched Donald Trump do the opposite.

So, as to the question of whom the American people should send to act on their behalf, the answer is clear. If we want someone whose self-interest is paramount, Trump is our guy. If, however, we seek someone who will put first the national interest, our interest, we must send Joe Biden to the White House.

Then, comes the question of which political party the people should put forward to lead the U.S. Senate. The record here is also clear. The Republican Party has become a cult of sycophant enablers and apologists for a President who has no respect for rules, laws, norms, history, precedent, or facts. And though elected Republicans routinely kow-tow to him, he shows no respect for them either. Having had multiple opportunities to behave with integrity, elected Republicans, with extraordinarily rare exception, have been dishonorable cowards. They now reap the scorn that they have sown. The G.O.P. has repeatedly revealed its craven nature and forfeited any future claim to be worthy of trust in the exercise of authority.

Anyone now seeking elective office under the Republican banner, tells me all I need to know. The G.O.P. of yore is no more. I can no longer vote for a declared Republican—not now and perhaps not ever. Party affiliation alone damns them. Without support of other elected Republicans, the Administration’s many misdeeds would have been impossible.

Fundamentally moral policy questions are likely to come before our future Congress: universal health care, Black lives mattering, fair worker wages, immigration, gun laws, stewardship of our planet, quality education, and more. With Republicans having repeatedly shown themselves insensitive to moral issues, can there really be any doubt about which party should lead the U.S. Senate? Democrats are again the rational choice.

The Republican Party has earned the political quarantine required to prevent it from ever again infecting our body politic. With our nation in Republican enabled crisis, we must send Donald Trump and his Republican co-conspirators into the political wilderness, where they can do no further harm. The preservation of our democratic republic demands nothing less.