It’s a Matter of Faith
I had a long conversation with an old Republican friend the other day. We were talking about what the Justices of the Supreme Court would do with the Alabama abortion ban. I expressed concern that the five Federalist Society Justices would move to overturn the forty-six year precedent of Roe v Wade and its related cases. He responded with “faith.”
He had faith that the members of the Supreme Court would stay with their conservative view of the power of precedence in the law. Faith, that they would see the Alabama case for what it was: a challenge to the Court’s power to interpret the law. Faith, that the Court would defend the continuity of law; rather than fall into the ideological argument over this particular case. Faith in stare decisis, Latin for “stand by things decided;” taught as the bedrock of the law from day one of law school.
My faith in the “bedrock principles” of Republican leaders has been sorely tested in the past two years. I have seen many, really most, abandon the principles they have avowed their entire lives, and fall into the thrall of the Trump Presidency. The only ones who seemed to have the courage of their convictions were on their way out: McCain, Flake, Corker, Kasich. They stood for what they believed, then departed from the scene.
I have always believed in American exceptionalism. I ascribe to the theory, that Americans will rise to the crisis, that a man who led no more than a platoon could rise to lead an army and a nation (Washington) or a country lawyer save it (Lincoln.) This is what Americans do.
I was raised on the stories told by John F. Kennedy in his book Profiles in Courage; that Americans would be willing to sacrifice their careers for the Constitution and nation they served. My favorite: Edmund G. Ross, the Republican Senator from Kansas who turned against his party and voted to prevent the removal of President Andrew Johnson. He had no love for the President, but he recognized that his impeachment and removal would fundamentally alter the Constitutional balance of power. He gave up his career with his vote, but he stood for his convictions of what the Constitution, and the Country, meant.
That belief has been sorely tested in the past two years. I have seen men that I disagreed with but admired, Republican leaders of our nation; silenced by a “Tweet.” I have seen dedicated Americans who did their duty as they saw it, literally “flayed in the public square.” Men like James Comey, John Brennan, Andrew McCabe, and even the terribly flawed Peter Strzok, all were faced with an apocalyptic choice. They could either investigate a possible arrangement between a Presidential candidate and Russian intelligence and risk their careers; or ignore what the evidence demonstrated, and allow the possibility of a Manchurian Candidate turned real.
There are those who have shown courage on the Democratic side: Adam Schiff, Jerry Nadler, Maxine Waters, Elijah Cummings, and perhaps most of all, Nancy Pelosi. They have all been attacked, all excoriated by the President and his minions; and all have stood firm for what they believe is the good of our nation.
There are only three paths from our current crisis. The facts can be brought out into the light of day, as they were exposed in the Watergate hearings. Americans can hear for themselves without the filter of Attorney General Barr or Rudy Giuliani; Robert Mueller’s unvarnished facts in cold, hard testimony. Then the people can decide what needs be done.
That will require some bipartisanship, some breaking of the silent “red” wall. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina has allowed a crack, subpoenaing the President’s son, but it will take more than one to allow the American people access to the facts.
This will also require the Supreme Court to decide whether the President’s “stonewall” against all investigation and subpoenas can hold. Stare decisis should determine their decision, but this Court has yet to be openly tested. Of the five Federalist Society members in the majority, where will they stand? At least one, probably Chief Justice Roberts, will need to fulfill my old friend’s expectation, his faith.
Or, as I now expect will be the case, the American people will decide themselves; educated by whatever means they have available, in the 2020 elections. Republican voters will have to decide whether to stick with their leader, regardless of what he has done, justifying their gains in the Courts and the stock market against his personal and political behavior. They will have to decide to exercise the courage their leaders have been unable to find, in the secrecy of the voting booth.
Or, finally; America will be unalterably changed, and the laws, norms and behaviors of the current Republican Administration becomes who we are.
It just takes a little faith.
