From Bobby Lewis on Twitter:
Fox's Pete Hegseth: "If you're a Republican in the era of Trump and you can't get behind defending him in this moment, after the partisan action of Democrats, why are you still a Republican?”
“The Era of Trump” ?
Really?
Think for a moment of what it must mean, to think — of yourself ! — that you are living in “The Era of Trump” and that you should take that fact into account, as you decide what you will do, who you will be.
Now certainly, we are all aware that we are living in the fourth and final year of the Trump maladministration. We take that into account with every campaign contribution we make, every street protest we join, every voter registration we re-check, every meeting we attend. I dropped by the new St Louis Missouri-for-Warren headquarters on Wednesday and supplied them with a table, some toilet paper and paper towels, a wastepaper basket, and a coffee maker. People are doing the same for other campaigns. We are well aware that we are living in time of an unfit president. We work to bring his time to an end and to defend the victims of his malice. We’re well aware of his corrupt presence in our public life.
But that’s not what Pete Hegseth was saying.
He was saying that a Republican — in The Era of Trump — should conform his behavior to the service of Donald Trump. Period.
This is not the 244th year of the United States. The 233rd year of the Constitution. No, this is The Era of Trump, and that changes things. It’s time for Republicans to get in line, to get behind the Leader, to serve . . . not the nation, not their oaths of office, but Trump.
It’s hard to think of a clearer image of how far a great part of our nation has fallen. Obedience, not to an ideal, not to a principle, not to a nation, but to Trump. It’s his era, and they’re going to serve him.
We are well aware that we are living at the same time as Trump. I am well aware that freezing rain is forecast for this afternoon. But it’s not like what FDR said about Churchill: "It is fun to be in the same decade with you." It is in no way fun to be in the same year as Donald Trump. As long as he is present in our public life, we need to resist and reject him. When he is gone, we need to work against the aspects of our public life that put him there.
For us, this is not "The Era of Trump.This is also the era of
- the United States Constitution
- the rule of law
- a nation of, by, and for the people.
If we are a nation "indivisible," then this is not the era of only one man or only one party.
This is our era.