“Our presidency has been debased by a figure who has a seemingly bottomless appetite for destruction and division and only a passing familiarity with how the constitution works. And our Article I branch of government, the Congress (that’s me), is utterly supine in the face of the moral vandalism that flows from the White House daily. I do not think that the founders could have anticipated that the beauty of their invention might someday founder on the rocks of reality television, and that the Congress would be such willing accomplices to this calamity. Our most ardent enemies, doing their worst (and they are doing their worst), couldn’t hurt us more than we are hurting ourselves.” — Mormon US Senator, Jeff Flake (R, Arizona), speaking to Harvard Law School Graduates on Wednesday, May 23, 2018.
Senator Flake is not running for reelection in 2018. His speeches in defense of the rule of law, an independent judiciary, a free press, and empirical, objective truth have made him very unpopular in the party of Trump. Polls in his home state of Arizona (which is 5% LDS) showed that he likely would not have been able to defeat a primary challenge from the right wing of his own Republican party — so he decided to step down.
Meanwhile, here in Utah (55% LDS) we are in the midst of a Republican primary fight for the Senate seat of the retiring Orrin Hatch. The king of “flexible” positions, Mitt Romney, was actually defeated at the Utah Republican State Convention (49% to 51%) by State Representative Mike Kennedy. (A candidate needed 60% of the Convention vote to make the November ballot without a Primary.)
At a debate on Tuesday, May 29, 2018, both Republican candidates said we need to lower the national deficit, but supported the Trump tax bill which added $1.9 trillion to our national debt. Both said we must “repeal Obamacare” but offered no replacement plan. Both Republicans said we must “end illegal immigration,” but offered no solutions to keep families together and to help the Dreamers who were brought here as children by their parents.
Clearly, the Republican Party is bankrupt of ideas and has replaced clear-headed solutions with empty slogans. They control both Houses of Congress, but are afraid to stand up to the excesses of a reckless and dangerous President of their own party. And anyone who tries to put democratic principles ahead of party loyalty gets kicked out of office by the increasingly rabid Republican voters.
Senator Flake is currently a very lonely voice in his party. When will the other four Republican Mormon Senators start to speak up?
To be clear, we did not become great — and will never be great — by indulging and encouraging our very worst impulses. It doesn’t matter how many red caps you sell. — Senator Jeff Flake
Sources: “Read Jeff Flake’s Commencement Speech on the Rule of Law and Trump: ‘We May Have Hit Bottom’,” Katie Reilly, Time.com, May 23, 2018.
“Senator Jeff Flake to Harvard Law Grads: Trump ‘Debased’ Presidency,” Sam Stein, www.thedailybeast.com, May 23, 2018.
“Trump Lucked Out Bigly With Jeff Flake, His Sole GOP Critic,” Matt Lewis, May 29, 2018, www.thedailybeast.com, May 28, 2018.