By David Taub
One of America’s greatest philosophers and an early conservationist, Henry David Thoreau wisely observed: “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.”
There are way too many dissolutely ambitious men in our Congress seeking fame (and fortune) today; they should heed Mr. Thoreau’s most prophetic principle of truth, which underpins the proper governance of a civilized democratic society.
During the Congressional vote to confirm each state’s vote in the Electoral College, on what is now an infamous date – January 6, 2021 – the Republican Senator from Utah, Mitt Romney, passionately preached that the best way to unite our deeply divided country was for government leaders to “TELL THE TRUTH!”
Ignoring that sage advice, 147 GOP House members and eight different senators (seven objecting to Pennsylvania and six to Arizona) voted to deny some Electoral College votes that verified Joseph R. Biden as our newly elected President.
Against voluminous evidence and absent any to the contrary, these Republican Congressional toadies elected to believe the blatant lies of ex-POTUS that somehow, some way, magically the Democrats had pulled off a nation-wide theft of the election; Donald John Trump erroneously calculated that he “won reelection by a landslide,” when in TRUTH he had lost by over six million votes.
Even after the treasonous invasion of our foremost symbol of democracy, 147 GOP House members and eight Republican senators, all who lacked courage and integrity, chose to believe ex-POTUS’s mendacious conspiracy. Over one-half of all GOP Representatives were cowardly naysayers. The power of Lies versus the power of Truth.
Fortunately, large majorities in both Houses of Congress voted to ensure the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, as President and Vice-President, respectively. The dutiful stand of all Congressional Democrats and a few courageous Republicans certified the correct and righteous outcome of the election of Nov. 3, 2020. In this case, TRUTH was POWER.
Every one of those cowardly members of Congress should be held accountable for contributing to “The Insurrection” that exploded in the Congress, disrupted Congressional voting and threatened lives. By the Grace of God, no Congresspersons were murdered or hurt though a few contracted COVID-19 because some Republicans fore swore wearing a mask.
In a most perceptive essay in the Atlantic, one brave GOP Senator, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, offered this choice for the fractured Republican Party to consider: “It is the blossoming of a rotten seed that took root in the Republican Party some time ago and has been nourished by treachery, poor political judgment, and cowardice. When Trump leaves office, my party faces a choice: We can dedicate ourselves to defending the Constitution and perpetuating our best American institutions and traditions, or we can be a party of conspiracy theories, cable-news fantasies, and the ruin that comes with them.”
Every member of Congress takes a sacred oath, pledging to protect and defend the Republic against all enemies foreign and domestic. To honor that warranty requires courage, truthfulness, honesty, integrity and humility.
Those cowardly 147 members of Congress and eight senators who were “inattentive to their DUTY,” should take guidance from President Andrew Jackson. He himself was a controversial President, but he understood what was required to defend against our enemies, foreign and domestic. He is said to have berated his troops for abandoning their lines at the Battle of New Orleans on Jan. 8, 1815 thusly: “The brave man inattentive to his duty, is worth little more than the coward who deserts her in the hour of danger.”
Count as cowards 147 House members and eight senators, who deserted their duty in the hour of our greatest challenge since the founding of our union, not much different from those whom General Jackson scolded. We should not only scold them, but also hold them accountable to the letter of the law and for their dereliction of duty and for violating the oath to which they swore allegiance.
During almost every day of the last four years, we have witnessed Lies to Power, and we are a poorer people for it. Now is the time for a revolutionary beginning when Truth to Power is Power. Power for all people for whom this nation was dedicated.
The religious scriptures tell us that we should KNOW the truth, and by such truth shall we be freed. The newly elected leaders of our government owe us nothing less than the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth!
Watching the inauguration was like a 1,000-pound weight had been lifted off my back. Its normalcy was invigorating.
Hearing President Biden pledge to tell the truth sounded innovative compared to the outgoing mendacious ex-POTUS. Superman, America’s greatest mythical hero, told us he was dedicated to “TRUTH, Justice and the American Way.” So too the current administration. God Bless America.
“Well, all I know is what I read in the newspapers.” – Will Rogers.
David M. Taub was Mayor of Beaufort from 1990 through 1999 and served as a Beaufort County Magistrate from 2010 to 2015. You can reach him at david.m.taub42@gmail.com.
