False Prophets Always Have Supplicant Choirboys
As I watched Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial for the over 400,000 Americans who have died of COVID-19, I was overwhelmed. I hadn’t felt this sense of humanity in four years, and I didn’t know how to process it. My body had forgotten what it felt like. It suddenly occurred to me, Donald Trump’s depravity and lack of empathy had held me hostage during his presidency. And, like those held against their own will by terrorists or bank robbers, now that it’s over, it will take time to adjust — to get back to any semblance of well-being and trust. That feeling of “fight or flight” and the level of cortisol in my body will not go away immediately. It is going to take me time to heal.
But the new year has brought little relief so far. There are people who don’t think I — we were ever held hostage. Georgia’s Republican Congresswoman and QAnon conspiracy adherent Marjorie Greene has already filed articles of impeachment against President Biden for misusing his power as Vice President when his son, Hunter Biden, served on a Ukrainian energy company’s board. She’s the representative who wears facemasks that say “Trump Won” and “Stop the Steal.” And, even though former President Trump has left Washington, she continues to peddle his lies. Millions of Americans still believe he won the election. Despite the facts, MAGA is still alive.
Before his term ended, the House voted to impeach Trump for the second time for inciting the insurrection at the Capitol that killed five people, including a Capitol Police officer. Every Democrat representative plus a record ten Republicans voted to impeach him. But, suddenly, the GOP is talking “unity” as a way to ignore his actions. They have appropriated the word President Biden has used as a building block for his new administration and reframed its meaning. Biden is searching for enough common ground to pass legislation that will end the pandemic, ease people’s economic struggles, deal with climate change, and repair America’s international policies. He has no illusions we will all be singing Kumbaya.
Republicans are using the word to sidestep the transgressions of last four years and their role in perpetuating them. Texas Senator Ted Cruz said an impeachment trial after Trump has left office is “vindictive” and “punitive.” “We’re in the middle of twin crises,” he stated, “a global pandemic and an economic crisis with millions of people out of work. But, instead of focusing on those jobs, the Congressional Democrats seem obsessed with their hatred for Donald Trump.” Cruz speaks as if he’s always believed in the primacy of Americans’ welfare.
Both Cruz and Missouri Senator Josh Hawley voted to reject the lawful Electoral College tallies hours after the insurrection. Many of Cruz’s former aides were “disgusted” by his actions. Amanda Carpenter, who worked for the Senator, said, “she could have never envisioned that the political career of a legal scholar with a reverence for the Constitution would ‘culminate in a stand to potentially cancel votes in a way that defied any standards of federalism and constitutionalism.’”
Senator Hawley gave a fist pump in support to rioters as he walked the grounds of the Capitol that day. After his actions, his hometown newspaper called him on his behavior. The Kansas City Star stated in an editorial, “No one other than President Donald Trump himself is more responsible for Wednesday’s coup attempt at the U.S. Capitol than one Joshua David Hawley, the 41-year-old junior senator from Missouri, who put out a fundraising appeal while the siege was underway.” Hawley’s mentor, former Republican Senator John Danforth, said, “I thought he was special. And I did my best to encourage people to support him both for attorney general and later the U.S. Senate and it was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life.” By ignoring his actions, Republicans become complicit in them.
Both Cruz and Hawley want to run for president in 2024. And both are drooling over at the 70+ million voters who cast their ballots for Trump last November. By supporting Trump’s “stolen election” lie and by supporting his call to storm the Capitol, they have put their interests ahead of the country’s. Worse, they have supported an insurrection against the Constitution they have sworn to uphold. This is sedition, not unity.
Trump has needed enablers like Cruz and Hawley. They and other GOP leaders are the choirboys and choirgirls spreading his gospel of nativism, White supremacy, and economic good fortune for the rich. They perpetuate his lies and alternate truths. Or worse, they look the other way. In doing so, they are just as responsible for over 400,000 Americans lost to COVID and the millions who have lost their jobs and their businesses. And now, with both the executive and legislative branches in the Democrats’ hands, all of a sudden, they’re talking unity? It’s an empty attempt to avoid their responsibilities to the American people.
Every false prophet has their supplicants to sing their praises. This isn’t about the crucifixion of Donald Trump. This is about his deification. He’s no god and doesn’t deserve the perks. He denounced the science of the pandemic, and Americans have died because of it. His lies incited others to storm the Capitol. And people died because of it. So before we can contemplate unity, those who supported these mistruths must take responsibility and be held accountable for their actions.
Ephesians 4:25 says, “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” Privately, many Republican legislators abhor Trump’s presidency and what he stood for. If the Senate vote to convict him was private, they would find Trump guilty. But since the vote is public, no Republican has the fortitude to speak up. Some, like Cruz and Hawley, are in it for themselves. Others, like Greene, are conspiracy addicts. And some fear for their safety and the safety of their families. Continuing this charade will hurt all conservatives and destroy the Constitutional thread that binds us as a people.
For more than a decade, honest and fruitful debate in Congress has been impossible. If we really want unity, then stop the destructive partisan rhetoric and let’s begin this administration as members of one American body. I’m pissed the new year still feels like 2020. Donald Trump may no longer be president, but he still has his hands on the bully pulpit. I’m tired of being held hostage by him and the likes of Cruz, Hawley, and Greene (and let’s not forget Mitch McConnell). It’s all about power and control. And none of it is about the welfare of Americans. Trumpism has become a systemic problem. Lies built upon lies left uncontested by the party of Lincoln. Like unity, ending MAGA distrust and conspiracy theories will be a long process. Republicans, you have the power to do it. You just don’t have the courage.
This poster is part of a series of posters about the sorry state of American political discourse. Jeff Gates does these under the guise of the Chamomile Tea Party. This poster is part of a group of images he’s been doing since the beginning of 2020 about the election, the pandemic, and social justice. Download a high resolution copy of this poster for free. In fact, all Chamomile Tea Party posters are free to download under a Creative Commons license.
Follow the history of our country’s political intransigence from 2010–2020 through a seven-part exhibit of these posters on Google Arts & Culture.