“I’m a Republican, so I’m not switching parties to support a Democrat… But I’m now neutral on the president. You have to get into a neutral position.” – Anthony Scaramucci 8/12/19
I want to be honest and straight-forward with you: President Trump is a pernicious evil trying to divide this country. I can no longer stand by and let this mad man have my enthusiastic and vocal support. In response to this evil administration, I call on all Republicans to be neutral. We will take a stand by taking no stand at all.
President’s Trump’s recent comments are the tipping point for me. They cross the line and I can’t defend them in my mind or in my heart. Even though they are actually pretty much identical in tone and substance to all his previous comments that I could and have defended in the past. I believe that “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil.” So I won’t be silent. Boom, there, I said something. I’m saying that I’m neutral, like all of history’s most notable heroes. To be neutral in the face of evil is, honestly, pretty brave.
Truly, this is where I draw my line in the sand. I mean, I drew some other lines that Trump crossed but then the tide came in and washed those lines away and I couldn’t redraw the line because I was racing over to CNN to explain how he didn’t cross any lines and AOC is a communist.
When one sees evil in this world, one must first work for that evil in an official capacity, then repeatedly support that evil on social media and cable news, then say that you don’t love the evil but you’re aligned on most policy goals so you can live with the evil. Finally, one must denounce it and pledge to do absolutely nothing. It’s a moral imperative.
It’s like this expression I saw on a novelty coffee mug at Marshalls: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, that’s actually really helpful!” At least I think that’s how it ended, it was a few months ago and I was actually racing over here to tell you what a great leader our president is.
What can I say? I tried to see the best in Trump. Who would have thought that lovable scamp who called Mexicans rapists or bragged about sexual assault might end up making racist and sexist comments as president of the United States? Well, yes, I was okay with it during the two-and-a-half-year grace period, but now it is inexcusable.
The president is purposefully dividing our country. That’s evil, full stop. But vote for a Democrat? I don’t know, I mean, we’re just so divided.
There’s a poem at the United States Holocaust Memorial I’ve actually memorized for this occasion: “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I’m a free-market guy. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out — because it benefitted my stock portfolio. Then they came for the Jews and I thought “Wow, that’s really evil” and that really changed my mind so I decided to become neutral — and that’s very brave of me.”
Republicans must make a choice between evil and good. And the only morally correct choice is smack dab in the middle, or as I call it, the “staying barely relevant as a talking head on cable news” sweet spot.