Washington and Lincoln – It seems to be dawning on people what a catastrophe we have brought upon ourselves. As one commentator put it:
"How can you look at what has happened to us and not be enraged?"
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan has finally spoken out as well, as a Republican taking on his own President while he watches the Maryland death count go up:
"So many nationwide actions could have been taken in those early days but weren’t. While other countries were racing ahead with well-coordinated testing regimes, the Trump administration bungled the effort."
"So many nationwide actions could have been taken in those early days but weren’t. While other countries were racing ahead with well-coordinated testing regimes, the Trump administration bungled the effort."
Even these are mild words compared to my own reaction. In May, 2016, after the Nebraska primary election, I asked, incredulous, how Nebraskans could possibly have voted for Trump. In November, 2016, I predicted a "colossal crisis" if he took office and suggested it was time for Hamilton electors to employ the Constitutional provision (12th Amendment) to send the election to the House, which could investigate foreign interference, as Hamilton warned against, before choosing a president. Few took heed; the crisis is upon us.
It is not enough to rage against what has happened. Solutions must be offered.
The fight against Covid-19 can only be led by competent people, by scientists and logistics experts. That must be impressed upon Trump in no uncertain terms, with consequences if he doesn't permit it. I'd suggest Republican senators, led by two Nebraskans, resign from the Senate Republican Conference if Trump does not act accordingly and either step aside completely (as did Nixon) or put the authority of the Defense Production Act and other emergency laws into the hands of those the American people can trust to act in their interest.
If a few Senate Republicans told the president he cannot count on their support, and that he will lose a majority in the Senate immediately (including possible votes on censure or even new articles of impeachment), he will be forced finally to face the coronavirus threat.
This is not without precedent. Senate Democratic leader Alben Barkley was so upset with President Roosevelt in 1944 that he resigned from the Democratic leadership. FDR pleaded with him not to, but he did so anyway, with an emotional speech on the Senate floor. Congress then backed Barkley to override an FDR veto on a revenue bill, chastening the president.
Barkley sacrificed his chances of being on the ticket in 1944, as FDR then chose Harry Truman to be his running mate.
What would Senators Fischer and Sasse sacrifice by announcing their intention to leave the Republican Conference? Nothing. They both know that Trump is a danger to the country and an embarrassment to anyone who voted for him. They might even gain respect as well as prevent thousands of deaths, to prevent the country from sliding further into third-world chaos.
