Letter: Silent Conservatives Must Speak Out, Or Democracy Will Die

For the publisher:

This is not about Donald Trump. This is not even about the sad souls seduced by him. The insurrectionists who stormed the capital to prevent the peaceful transfer of power were guilty above all of gullibility. They fell for the great fraud. They did not defraud. Many have been held accountable for their actions. Most of those who deceived them have not. Not yet.

I think of the Republican Party leaders who used their moral courage to seize power through a demagogue. They learned from their beloved leader how to make coded appeals to crowds eager to express their resentment. I used to believe that people had to be taught to hate. Donald taught us that all you have to do is invite people to hate. Let them know it’s OK. Normal. Join the crowd. Have fun.

Who would you like to hate? It doesn’t have to be race, religion, or immigration status. People really want to hate the “elites.” Who are the elites? Anyone who knows more than them. People want to feel like they know more about science than the scientists, more righteous than the bigots. What better leader could they have than someone who tells them what they want to hear. Someone who claims to “know more about the military than all the generals.” That injecting bleach could cure Covid. Forget the evidence. Forget the knowledge. Too time-consuming. Too boring. All you have to do is what Donald does. Just “feel” that you’re right. Personally, I’d rather lose with honesty than win with lies.

They label themselves something they are not: “conservatives.” True conservatives value character, civility, and intelligence. Trump’s darlings reward arrogance, anger, and delusion.

“Alternative facts” are an oxymoron. Except in the minds of those who can’t face an inconvenient truth. They are just opinions masquerading as facts. Using partial truths isn’t just a way to deceive others. It’s a way we deceive ourselves. If you accept Donald, you accept his lies and delusions. You become what he is: a fraud. You will make excuses, you will find scapegoats and rationalizations. But in the end, you will be nothing more than a follower of a pathetic, narcissistic tyrant. I’d rather be dead than that.

If you are one of those silent conservatives who still respect the Constitution, democracy and the rule of law, but are intimidated by Trump’s trolls, the death of our democracy will be upon you.

James Tweed,

Ocean City, New Jersey