The price we pay for political cowards

We are just weeks away from the end of the 117th Congress, and with it comes the transfer of the gavel from Nancy Pelosi to the new Speaker of the House.

We are also witnessing the end of the congressional careers of Republicans Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Regardless of your political beliefs, if you genuinely care about the Jan. 6 insurrection and the lasting impact it will have on our nation, you must admire the political sacrifices made by the two Republican lawmakers.

Since few elected House Republicans have shown the courage to publicly confront and condemn their fellow Republicans over the Jan. 6 attack, Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger will be sorely missed. Sadly, many Republican primary voters have it backward. While voters reward political cowardice, political boldness and true patriotism are rejected. 

“The once great party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan has turned its back on the ideals of liberty and self-governance. Instead, it has embraced lies and deceit.” Kinzinger said in his farewell address to Congress. “Instead of members using our platform to advance the well-being of our nation and her people, we’ve turned this institution into an echo chamber of lies.”

This type of warning to the GOP is not new to Kinzinger, who made efforts during the Trump presidency to inform his one-time GOP allies about the corrosive effects of conspiracy theories. There are consequences when a large part of the electorate forgoes wisdom, good judgment, and common sense when choosing their leaders. We all suffer as a nation when voters choose to be led by elected officials who embrace dishonesty, deceit, corruption, and hypocrisy. Unfortunately, communities of color will suffer more.

This political corrosion is not just limited to Congress. It runs through the courts, state legislatures, and now school boards. Therefore, who is at fault when Kinzinger’s warning concerning the threats to democracy is so soundly rejected within his own party? Are the GOP elected officials and candidates who are disingenuous when preaching patriotism at fault? Are the GOP voters who are disingenuous when publicly chanting “USA!” at fault?

There was no “red wave” during the 2022 midterm elections because enough Democratic, Republican, and Independent voters displayed the degree of wisdom, good judgment, and common sense to discern that both sides are at fault. Before Donald Trump, never has a former or current president called for the termination of the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Cheney, who has picked up a solid national following among moderate Democrats and Republicans alike, denounced the former president’s statements. 

“No honest person can now deny that Trump is an enemy of the Constitution,” Cheney said. 

The Congresswoman is correct, and we can only hope that enough of those who were previously duped and misled will now start to wake up.

Marcus Tullius Cicero was the last true defender of the Roman Empire, and his story sounds very familiar when compared to today’s politics. Cicero was a loyal politician to the Roman Republic and viewed the informal alliance known as the First Triumvirate to be in direct opposition to the principles of the republic and the authority of the Senate. By refusing to join this alliance, Cicero was vulnerable to attacks from his political enemies, which became an issue when he was criticized for speaking out against the political figure and tribune, Publius Clodius.

Ironically, it is the same reaction Cheney and Kinzinger received by GOP lawmakers when taking a stand against Trump. When Clodius was elected as a tribune, he introduced a bill that revoked the citizenship of anyone who killed a Roman citizen without granting them a trial, a move designed to punish Cicero for his role in putting down an uprising known as the Catalonian rebellion.

Cicero ordered the execution of revolutionaries without a trial due to the urgent need to end the dangerous rebellion. With no allies remaining to protect him from Clodius’ attack, Cicero fled Rome and lived in exile. When resisting the rise of dictatorship, Cicero once said, “the enemy is within the gates; it is our own luxury, our own folly, our own criminality that we have to contend.” His political opinions were not always popular, and he was ultimately declared a public enemy and executed.

History has a way of repeating itself. Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger are the modern-day versions of Cicero. What was true of the government of the Roman Republic is also true with today’s U.S. government. The enemies of democracy and the Constitution are within our gates with folly and criminality.

With Cheney and Kinzinger now “exiled,” who on the Republican side will join Democrat lawmakers in resisting this internal folly and crime? The battle among House Republicans over the speakership is a preview of the next two years. A small band of GOP opportunists has already signaled to their colleagues that any willful group can hold the entire House majority hostage over any issue they want, making governing and accountability impossible. The 2024 elections can’t come soon enough.

David W. Marshall is the founder of the faith-based organization, TRB: The Reconciled Body, and author of the book God Bless Our Divided America. He can be reached at www.davidwmarshallauthor.com.