A Republican takes on Trump
Jeff Flake is in a bit of a pickle.
Who鈥檚 Jeff Flake?
He鈥檚 the junior Republican U.S. senator from Arizona, who鈥檚 making the rounds promoting his new book 鈥� 鈥淐onscience of a Conservative.鈥�
He opened his book tour with a searing online article posted on politico.com last Monday, titled 鈥淢y Party Is in Denial About Donald Trump. We created him, and now we鈥檙e rationalizing him. When will it stop?鈥�
Yep! Sen. Flake is one of the few Republicans in Congress who appears to be in open warfare against the president.
For those of us wondering when some Republican would finally step up and say what鈥檚 really on their minds, Flake is that Republican.
Until now, most of the Republican delegation offered tepid criticisms of Trump 鈥� but only when pressed after one of his self-inflected, Twitter controversies.
鈥淚 think he should cut down on the tweeting,鈥� they might say.
Or, 鈥淗e came to Washington to shake things up, and that鈥檚 what he鈥檚 doing.鈥�
But full-throated rebukes have been scarce.
Not now, though.
Flake is revealing that there is definitely a small, but growing list of Republicans who might be souring on 鈥淭he Donald,鈥� and his antics.
First, though, Flake admitted in that politico.com piece that Republicans had determined their main job, when Barack Obama first took office, was to defeat him at every turn.
鈥淥ur No. 1 priority was not advancing a conservative policy agenda but making Obama a one-term president,鈥� he wrote.
Imagine that.
A Republican finally said in public what Democrats knew they鈥檇 been saying in private 鈥� for eight years.
Flake really pulls back the curtain on the Republican鈥檚 obvious deceitful behavior, when he openly talks about the time when they stayed silent, when one of their own was guilty of openly disrespecting Obama during his 2009 joint speech before Congress.
That night, Joe Wilson, a Republican representative from South Carolina, shouted the words, 鈥淵ou lie,鈥� while Obama was mid-sentence.
That caused an uneasy hush in the House chamber, but more importantly, according to Flake, it exemplified shallow behavior among members of his own party.
鈥淭here were few Republicans willing to stand up and say, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 wrong. That鈥檚 out of line.鈥� Whether it鈥檚 a Republican or a Democrat doing that, we ought to stand up and say, 鈥榮ome things should be out of bounds,'鈥� says Flake.
According to Flake, it didn鈥檛 matter that Republicans hardly showed any inclinations to advance their own policies. All that mattered was that Obama鈥檚 policies would be aggressively thwarted.
The result, of course, is an American electorate that has grown increasingly tired of Washington鈥檚 inability to come together for the benefit of the country.
鈥淲ho could blame people who felt abandoned and ignored by the major parties for reaching in despair for a candidate who offered oversimplified answers to infinitely complex questions and managed to entertain them in the process,鈥� Flake says 鈥� and without mentioning Donald Trump鈥檚 name. (But we all know who he鈥檚 talking about, don鈥檛 we?)
Of course, Trump needed far more than a U.S. Congress that had been paralyzed by party politics.
First, according to Flake, Trump needed a hook; a ruse; something on which to grandstand 鈥� that birther nonsense.
鈥淚t was we conservatives who were largely silent when the most egregious and sustained attacks on Obama鈥檚 legitimacy were leveled by marginal figures (read Trump) who would later be embraced and legitimized by far too many of us,鈥� Flake says.
Well, it鈥檚 never too later to come clean.
But it does come with a price.
Flake can certainly expect some Republicans to fear being seen alone with him.
Or, he might have to eat alone in the Senate cafeteria for a while.
But the real irony is that many Republicans may silently agree with Flake, but they鈥檒l still cling fast to a president who has shown little loyalty to them, or their agenda.
Yet, there are increasing signs that Trump鈥檚 welcome is wearing thin among his fellow Republicans who are now having to comment on his near-daily shenanigans.
Welcome aboard, Republicans.
What took you so long?
Edward A. Owens is a three-time Emmy Award winner and 20-year veteran of television news. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net