A Letter From Middle America

Dear Moderate Republicans in Congress:

It should be clear by now that we have reached a troubling turning point as a nation.  We have elected a man who, through his mercurial and petulant personality, willful ignorance, and lack of integrity, threatens the very existence of the republic.  I write this, because you have taken an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.  We stand now in grave danger of the Constitution being utterly subverted by the Executive Branch, and we cannot risk delaying bold action.

A certain faction of the Republican Party has decided that tolerating Mr. Trump as President will allow them to follow their agenda unmolested.  They have miscalculated.  President Trump does not share their ideology, nor does he make decisions based on a set of values or guided by a moral compass.  His actions are capricious, and generally reflect the perspective of whatever advisor had his ear last.  This has fomented an unseemly jockeying for position among his underlings, and it has created a muddled and confusing face of the administration which our allies find disconcerting in the extreme - and they have reason to worry.  Mr. Trump seems not to fully grasp the tremendous power and concurrent responsibility of the presidency.  He does not seem to realize that lives are literally in his hands.  Worse, there is no indication that if he does understand this that he cares.  His war with the media, largely in the ongoing pursuit of self-aggrandizement, is a national embarrassment, and it is injurious to the First Amendment.  I know that you perceive this, and that you share my deep concern.

Now is the time to act boldly.  Since it is clear that the Republican Party increasingly wishes to squeeze out moderate voices, it is only logical that you should formally withdraw from the party.  As Independents, you would have the freedom to move forward sensible legislation, partnering with your colleagues of either major party, working in the interest of the American people - the middle and working class people that desperately need relief from financial stress, escalating healthcare costs, eroding educational standards, and the ongoing degradation of real purchasing power and their voice in the public square.  You are no longer in the GOP of Eisenhower.  You are no longer in the party of Reagan.  The present Republican Party has become something else, and it appears increasingly to be of sinister intent.

Consider that in the Senate, should only two moderate Republicans become Independents and caucus with the Democrats (for this limited purpose), the Senate leadership would change hands, and the chairs of every committee would change.  The rubber-stamping of unqualified or compromised cabinet nominees would be arrested, and there would be real and significant examination of judicial nominees, including those to the Supreme Court.  There would be a chance for the Senate to actually fulfill its role in providing "advice and consent," rather than simply rushing nominees through without proper vetting.  Pointed questions could be asked and real answers could be expected.  Objections would be substantive rather than symbolic.

The American people desperately need you to lead.  We require your courage.  In spite of the portrait the media presents, more Americans are moderate than the coverage of political polarization would have us believe.  Problems are not solved on the extremes of the political spectrum.  They are solved nearest the center.  They are solved by building consensus, not by imposing a political doctrine.  We are, at our core, a pragmatic people.  We need you to compromise.  We need you to get the job done.

At some future date - not long from now, I suspect - the harm that the Trump Administration will do to our nation will be very clear to all but a few who remain in denial.  By that time, many people will be injured by poorly crafted policy, disastrous foreign misadventures, and hostility to the openness of markets worldwide.  Indeed, people well beyond our borders will suffer the negative affects of these errors too.  I pray that you do not wait until the house is on fire to at least acquire the means to douse the flames.  Withdrawal from the Republican Party will at least give you options that you do not now have.  You will at least be facing the conflagration with a fire hose in your hands.

We moderates are out here in significant numbers.  We are watching events unfold with a tightness in our stomachs, a fear for the future our children will face, and the worry that America's beacon of freedom will be dimmed, or, God help us, extinguished.  We look to you to remain true to the oath you have taken.  We need you to lead.  Now is the time.

Most sincerely,

Middle America