As year ends, the GOP leaves no doubt about its destructive and cruel agenda. Biden isn't just standing in their way, he is lifting us up
We need to rededicate ourselves to the fight for democracy and steel ourselves for a difficult year
Russia has invaded Europe, seeks to redraw the map by force of arms, and uses rape and child abduction as tactics to weaken the resolve of its victims. So far, American leadership and Ukrainian courage, with strong support from a terrified Europe, have stalled the invasion and weakened the Russian military machine. Around the world, autocrats like President Xi in China are taking note.
Now, in this crucial moment on the battlefield, Republicans are walking away. They have variously said, gee we don’t know what the end game is, and, golly, we just have to protect our border before we protect Ukraine’s.
This week we learned that a 10-inch-thick binder of highly classified data on Russian election interference went missing during the final hours of the Trump administration and has yet to be recovered. The document contains raw data, sources, methods, and analyses. Experts say its release would be deeply damaging to our national security and would likely result in the killing of operatives and sources. According to one witness, it was last seen with former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Meanwhile, the GOP leadership continues to poison our politics with the autocratic playbook of lies, intimidation, and covert ops to subvert our elections. Shamelessly, but tellingly, the GOP elevated to the House Speakership the author of the strategy to disenfranchise millions of voters in swing states that voted for Joe Biden. And, they just opened impeachment inquiry while admitting they had no evidence of wrongdoing, and promptly leave for vacation.
As we bring this year to a close, there can no longer be a shred of doubt that today’s GOP - Mr. Trump’s GOP - has allied with Russia and autocracy against American security, our national interests, and in opposition to our nearly 250-year history of expanding democracy.
We know this too: Like all autocrats, they boast that no one can stand up to their power. They tell us they have the biggest crowds at their rallies, but that’s a lie. They told us to cower before their unstoppable red wave, but that was before Americans stopped it. They use the outsized political power they gained through the Electoral College, gerrymandering, and the Citizens United decision, to impose a deeply unpopular agenda on the majority of Americans - one that outlaws abortion, idolizes bans books, gives the wealthiest even more tax cuts, and doubles down on climate-destroying fossil fuels. They do this because, to them, the will and the welfare of the people are irrelevant. Power is all.
We cannot call today’s GOP “un-American” because this hateful strain has always been with us. Mr. Trump and Speaker Johnson are heirs to the antebellum Slave Power, to the Gilded Age Robber Barons, the KKK, and the John Birch Society. In fact, overcoming these powerful forces is the great arc of American history.
As ever, the fight is not straightforward. Winning requires living our values. It is never enough for Americans to rail against evils, we must do good work. And so we are.
Photo Credit: Saul Loeb Pool/Getty Images
During these past few years, under President Biden’s leadership, the government organized to deliver vaccines and to end the crippling pandemic. With help from the then Democratic Congress, Biden not only guided us to the strongest economic recovery, he also began restructuring that economy so that its benefits would be more widely and fairly shared. And because of the Inflation Reduction Act (legislation that passed without a single Republican vote) America is now leading the world in the fight against climate change.
The stark difference between caring about Americans and using them as props is even clearer in the states. In blue America, women are free to make their own reproductive decisions. In red America, women not only lack that freedom, their lives are threatened. Red states, not blue ones, have the highest per capita murder rates, and lower life expectancy. I could go on.
This coming year offers those of us who care about America and about our democracy the same opportunity as those who came before us: to defeat the forces of power and privilege and to, instead, continue to perfect our union.
I am committed to this battle and will do all I can to inform voters and to build on-ramps to bring into this fight those who have not yet paid attention to the news and those who just hear the blaring headlines. And I take great comfort knowing we are in this fight together.