Jeff Flake: Fellow Republicans, there's still time to save your souls

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jeff-flake-fellow-republicans-theres-still-time-to-save-your-souls/2019/09/30/ade876f6-e2d3-11e9-b403-f738899982d2_story.html

By Jeff Flake
September 30, 2019 at 8:46 a.m. EDT

Jeff Flake, a Republican, represented Arizona in the U.S. Senate from 2013 to 2019. He is a resident fellow at Harvard University and a contributor to CBS News.

Two years ago I stood in the Senate chamber and said: “There are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles.”

In my case, I had not supported the president’s election. One year into his presidency, I knew that I could not support his reelection. While I had hoped that I could still run for reelection to the Senate in 2018 as someone who would help to provide a check on the president’s worst impulses, it soon became apparent that this was not what Republican primary voters in my state were looking for. Whatever reservations they might have had when they voted for Donald Trump, one year into his presidency they wanted a senator who was all in.

But I already had seen too much. Traveling overseas I witnessed the damage being done to our standing in the world as a result of President Trump’s fondness for authoritarians and his scorn for allies. His hostility toward security alliances and trade agreements had placed our long-term security and our economy at risk. His adoption of the tyrant’s phrase “enemy of the people” put journalists in even greater peril, all over the world. His resentment toward refugees and profane description of certain countries were destroying generations of goodwill.

At home, I was convinced that his repeated disparagement of the judiciary, antagonism toward Congress and casual disregard for the truth were damaging our democratic institutions, and his persistent crudeness to his political opponents and cruelty toward vanquished foes were degrading our political culture. I knew that to have a chance of winning reelection, I would need to support policies I could not support and condone behavior I could not condone.

Now, two years later, it is my former Republican Senate colleagues who have a decision to make. Or, as I see it, two decisions to make. The first is difficult; the second is easy.

</snip>

Like they'll listen...

[Loki Liesmith]

1. lol there's not

[True Blue American]

2. Flake should run again after this mess is cleaned up.

Or, maybe for Governor.

[in2herbs]

9. Of what state? I don't want him in AZ that's for sure. nt

[kozar]

3. this sounds very sincere

Mr. Flake's voting record while in the Senate, is almost 100% opposite of this post,statement, whatever to call it. I guess we are not to remember anything, 90% voting along with the same people he is chastising in this screed. Link provided below, put in whichever senator you want, 90% with Moscow Mitch, 91%here, 90 there,,all have the R behind their name. This is just another gaslight post from another "listen to me,don't look at what I have done" Republican.

Link for info purposes

https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/F000444-jeff-flake/compare-votes/115


Koz

[dalton99a]

4. +1. He voted to kill Obamacare, and for the tax scam

[Hermit-The-Prog]

6. he's a hard-nosed "conservative"

He will vote against almost any government spending except military. He would gladly reduce each level of government to a couple of offices and a shared secretary.

I disagree with Flake on just about every policy out there, but that doesn't make him a traitor like Ryan, McConnell, McCarthy, Nunes, et. al. (Of course, he could just hide it better than they have, but I assume innocence until there's evidence to the contrary).

[Delmette2.0]

5. He voted for Kavanaugh!! Even after he announced his retirement.

[dalton99a]

7. Trump has given them another chance to break away. Why won't they take it?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/30/opinion/republicans-trump-impeachment.html

What’s the Matter With Republicans?
Trump has given them another chance to break away. Why won’t they take it?
By Peter Wehner
Sept. 30, 2019

...

As the psychologist I spoke to put it to me, many Republicans “are nearly unrecognizable versions of themselves pre-Trump. At this stage it’s less about defending Trump; they are defending their own defense of Trump.”

“At this point,” this person went on, “condemnation of Trump is condemnation of themselves. They’ve let too much go by to try and assert moral high ground now. Calling out another is one thing; calling out yourself is quite another.”

As a result, many in Mr. Trump’s party not only refuse to challenge his maliciousness; they have adopted his approach. They have embraced his “will to power” worldview. After dealing with Mr. Trump, “you’re definitely denuded and jaded,” one Republican who has interacted recently with members of Congress told me. “Your sense of perspective is totally warped.”

Many Republicans now find themselves in a place they never envisioned — not only defending Mr. Trump but doing so with gusto. Those who once defended traditional values now relish siding with the Great Transgressor. “Owning the libs” turns out to be a lot of fun. But it also comes at a high cost.

A person who was once an aide to a current Republican senator told me that his former boss, who in private will concede that he is quite troubled by Mr. Trump’s unethical conduct, will say “nothing that would cause the president to question his complete loyalty.” This individual went on to tell me, “The sad part about this is that no policy or new law is worth undercutting our norms and checks on power that will cause irreparable damage to our system.”

The Republican Party is the party of Donald Trump, through and through. As such, it has become morally disfigured. The party finds itself deep in a dark alleyway. It can eventually find its way back. Renewal and regeneration are always possible. But that will require the Republican Party and its future leadership to repudiate much of what it now embodies. I happen to believe that this is an essential task. But it won’t be an easy one, and every day it is delayed, the harder it becomes.

Mr. Trump’s most recent abuse of power — pressuring the Ukrainian president to do his dirty work — is the latest link in a long chain of corruption. If Republicans don’t break with the president now, after all he has done and all he is likely to do, they will pay a fearsome price generationally, demographically and, above all, morally.

[NCjack]

8. "Fellow Senators" not! Flake broke and ran. He could have stood up

against Trump, but he has no backbone. So, don't listen to him -- handcuff yourselves to Trump. When he prevails and gets a second term, he will reward you.