"Profiles in Cowardice"

"The coward only threatens when he is safe" ~ Goethe~ 

The word out of Washington now is that some of the Republican elected officials are now defying Trump and pushing back on his agenda. The editorial writers and talking heads on cable news are quick to point this out and praise them as being independent and defiant. They are not. The Senators who trump opposed in their primaries, who were ultimately defeated by MAGA handpicked candidates, are still angry and bitter. (Ken Paxton? Really?!) Others see the tide turning in the polls, and so, as politicians like to do, they are reading the political tea leaves. So everybody calm down.  Let's not give them the profiles in courage stamp just yet.

The public outcry against Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund has been so loud and angry that it defies logic that the White House would actually think they could get away with it.  Trump's loyalist could not defend it, and the public would not let them. And so it gave the cowards cover. They came out against it, and the White House had to scrap this particular grift they were planning on the American people. (For now)  

Then there are the picks for his cabinet posts. These are folks who are so seriously unqualified for the positions they are slated for, that you have to wonder if Mr. Trump is trying to sabotage his own administration and if he really wants the government to fail. Or, if he is just testing the sycophants who are beholding to him in Washington. It didn't take a lot of courage to come out against Bill Pulte, a MAGA political hack who rump picked to run the national intelligence agency. " I see no evidence of any qualifications for the job", says John Cornyn of Texas, who Mr. Trump has already dumped like he was one of his former mistresses. It wasn't hard to come out against Bill Pulte's nomination, Stevie Wonder could see that the man should not have even been considered for the position. Especially now that we are at war.

Finally, speaking of war, Mr. Trump's war of distraction (Remember Jeffrey Epstein?) in Iran had to have been the last straw for some of the cowards who are now finally pushing back. On June 3, the House passed a Democratic resolution to end the Iran war. Four Republicans actually crossed over and voted with the Democrats.  Not much, but it was enough to get the resolution through. Of course it means nothing, because Trump will veto it. But it's a crack. 

The mid-terms are coming, and Trump's approval ratings are in the mid thirties. That spells doom for anyone who is hanging unto his MAGA coattails.  One thing we know that a cowardly politician can do, is read the poll numbers. 

USA Today columnist, Rex Hupke, said it best:   

"The Republican Party remains largely in lockstep with Trump as he marches them and the rest of us off an economic and reputational cliff. But the war powers vote and submarining the beloved ballroom are clear signs that cracks are forming in the party.

I expect those cracks will spread and deepen the closer we get to the midterms. And if the country is lucky, and voters are smart, the whole cult-of-personality monument Trump built from the spines Republicans willingly surrendered will come tumbling on down." 

Cowards do not have spines.  

*Image from rawstory.com