Don’t expect real courage

There will be a day of reckoning for those in Washington who have stood by one of the most corrupt and incompetent men to sit in the Oval Office. Indeed, President Trump’s sycophants eventually will get their comeuppance—whether it’s being turned out of office or being branded in a historical context as complicit in the recklessness stemming from the White House.

In the meantime, everyday Americans are those who will bear the burden of the administration’s machinations—such as the drastic cuts to Medicaid and Medicare that will disproportionately harm the elderly, poor and disabled, and the elimination of the deduction for state and local taxes that help middle-class families reduce their share of federal income taxes. Those are just a few of the consequences of the budget passed last week by the Republican Senate in order to give the ultra rich a big, fat tax cut.

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve watched a few prominent Republicans join the likes of Sen. John McCain, who has challenged the president on his nativist rhetoric and policy, including efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Joining the Arizona Vietnam War veteran is Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, who also believes Trump is unfit to serve as commander-in-chief. The latest member of the Senate to challenge POTUS is Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, who earlier this week stunned Washington by announcing his retirement, though he’s only 54 years old, and giving a 17-minute speech on the Senate floor in which he denounced the president and called him, among other things, “dangerous to a democracy.”

The three senators aren’t kissing the ring because they have nothing to lose. McCain was recently diagnosed with terminal brain cancer while the other two have chosen not to seek re-election. In other words, don’t expect to see any of their politically ambitious GOP colleagues to follow suit. See, that would take real courage, something Republicans in Congress generally lack.