Speculative Stephen

The collapse of integrity and the embrace of autocracy within the Republican party is devastating to me. I grew up in the shadow of the Ronald Reagan library. I believed that he and the party he led had helped overthrow a totalitarian state that threatened the future of humanity.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned that the truth is more complicated than that, but I still saw the Republican party as a bulwark of support for the rule of law over as-long-as-our-ideology-wins Democratic efforts.

Then Trump came down the escalator and he embodied a new ethos: the only thing that matters is winning. Everything is partisan and people who believe in the rule of law are suckers being taken advantage of by the lawless. The only way to succeed is to use the same tactics.

I reject this approach. I believe that there are principles higher than winning. The rule of law means everyone has to follow the same laws, regardless of your political role or party or ideology. Maybe that means I’m a sucker. Perhaps me and my children will be worse off in this America which has abandoned even the pretense of fairness before the law and rule by the people. But I was taught that following principles–humility, patience, kindness, integrity–mattered more than any worldly success. I still believe that.

I’m not feeling a lot of hope right now. I don’t see a way out. The country that I grew up viewing as leading the free world is adopting the tactics of Russia and China: the use of the law to enforce political conformity and the worship of an individual ruler.