Republicans Want You to Know Trump's Racism Is Very Hard for Them
By DAHLIA LITHWICK, Slate
JULY 16, 2019 2:32 PM
An unavoidable recurring trope of this hideous moment in public incivility is concern for the suffering of the oppressor. Buckets of ink are spilled on the pain of the predator, the grief of the duped, and the profound losses of those unfortunate golden boys who missed opportunities and lost chances due to the consequences of their own momentary bad choices. The president of the United States says blatantly racist things while attempting to enforce his race-based agenda, but then suggests that it is he who is suffering the offense of being called racist. He demands apologies for these injuries. All of this of course centers the pain of those deemed important and diminishes the experiences of their victims. It’s also a dangerous prelude to a redemption story; a sinner converted to saint, and who among us doesn’t love the redemption of a sinner more than we care about the agony of the sinned-against?
But more and more, creeping into the public narrative of the reformed baddie and his boundless anguish, another story is emerging: the story of the suffering of the silent collaborators and colluders, and how difficult it is to be forced to choose sides. Be wary of this story.
For a long time in the runup to the 2016 elections, many Republicans, many of whom called themselves Never Trumpers, felt free to condemn Donald Trump in public. After the Access Hollywood tape leaked, Republicans reacted in horror. Sen. Ted Cruz called the president’s comments “disturbing and inappropriate,” tweeting that “there is simply no excuse for them.” Sen. Marco Rubio called them “vulgar, egregious & impossible to justify,” adding that “no one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private.” Paul Ryan issued a statement in which he said unequivocally, “I am sickened by what I heard today. Women are to be championed and revered, not objectified.” He also canceled an event scheduled for Trump the next day in Wisconsin. At the time, these reactions were unremarkable. Any sentient listener would have said and done the same. Today, though, with almost no exceptions, Donald Trump’s vicious racist tweets telling four American congresswomen of color to “go back” to their home countries was met with near-universal and stoic Republican silence. That is to be expected now. Republicans who hold elected offices have long passed the point where they’re expected to react to Trump’s sexist, racist, xenophobic, and outlandish statements. Indeed, they have come to the point where they can brag about their silence, as did Sen .Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who told CNN, in response to Trump’s attack on the women of color in Congress, “I’m working as hard as I can on reducing health care costs. I’m not giving a daily commentary on the president’s tweets.”
Where once there was moral courage in standing up to the president’s despicable comments, now the claim is that the true mark of moral bravery lies in remaining silent. They are dutifully continuing the work of governance, thus goes the hypothesis, making Republicans the true patriots grimly steering the country past the choppy waters of this presidency. Silence has become—like the infamous memo to the file—a heroic public act of Republican defiance. “See,” it says, “I’m just working away here in my lane, not rising to the bait of these culture warriors on both sides.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/07/republican-reaction-to-trump-racist-tweets-all-about-them.html
In lieu of a comment, I shall merely post the best and funniest line from Lithwick's piece: Hand-wringing plus cringing! Call the doctor! It’s moral carpal tunnel!
= new reply since forum marked as read
