Lisa Murkowski reveals the ugly nature of Trump's rule
It's not about persuasion. It's about fear.
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Every day it seems as if Donald Trump is inflicting new horrors on the nation ā catastrophic trade wars, the undermining of public health, mass deportations without due process. Fear is an understandable response to this ongoing nightmare, but itās even scarier when our elected representatives share that emotion.
āWe are all afraid,ā Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski admitted last week at an event in Anchorage. āItās quite a statement. Weāre in a time and place where ā I donāt know, I certainly have not ā I have not been here before. And Iāll tell you, Iām oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice because retaliation is real. And thatās not right. But thatās what youāve asked me to do and so Iām going to use my voice to the best of my ability.ā (Watch below.)
Murkowskiās remarks are alarming because thereās no reason she should fear āretaliationā in any normal political sense. She held off a primary challenge in 2022 and isnāt up for reelection until 2028. But everyone understands that defying Trump can bring dangers more grave than well-funded primary challenges.
After all, on January 6, Trump sicced a violent mob on his own vice president when he wouldnāt follow his illegal orders, and since returning to office, Trump has behaved more like a mob boss than a commander in chief. Indeed, Murkowski sounds sadly resigned to this fact, like someone bravely fighting a terminal illness with no hope of a cure.
Trump is not a normal president who governs through persuasion and political savvy. He constantly resorts to coercive threats. A system where that becomes normal isnāt a democracy. Itās a reign of terror.
The perils of the enemies list
To be clear, Murkowski is hardly a member of the resistance. But she has done more to oppose Trump than just talking.
Murkowski voted against confirming Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel. In 2017, she defied Trumpās bullying and joined Susan Collins and John McCain to save the Affordable Care Act. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke reportedly warned Murkowski a ānoā vote on repeal could āput Alaska's future with the administration in jeopardy,ā specifically road projects, drilling rights, and other issues that would benefit from executive branch support.
Murkowski voted to convict Trump following his impeachment for January 6. That came after a 2020 campaign where she made headlines for her criticisms of Trump and reluctance to support him. That summer, she was the target of a string of nasty tweets from the Orange Menace, who vowed to campaign against her in 2022.
Despite Trumpās efforts, Murkowski ended up easily beating MAGA candidate Kelly Tshibaka in the GOP primary. But her worries about āretaliationā go beyond politics.
The contrast between MAGA gangsterism and the Democratic Party is telling. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (remember them?) constantly stymied Bidenās agenda in the Senate, while progressive House members like Rashida Tlaib, Jamal Bowman, Cori Bush, and Ilhan Omar were outspoken critics of Bidenās support for Israel. Some survived primary challenges. Others didnāt. However, none of them discussed their defiance in frightened, hushed tones for fear of their personal safety.
Itās taken for granted that Biden would never whip up a lynch mob against them at a political rally or on social media. Republicans like Murkowski have no such luxury when it comes to the leader of their party.
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Stochastic terrorism
The irony is that while Republicans might want you to forget January 6 ever happened, they clearly have not forgotten. The violent Capitol attack proved just how far Trump would go and that even members of his own party arenāt safe if they defy him.
According to former Republican House Rep. Pete Meijer, a Republican colleague of his admitted that even though he believed the 2020 election results were legitimate, he couldnāt vote for certification because he feared for his familyās safety.
āIf theyāre willing to come after you inside the US Capitol, what will they do when youāre at home with your kids?ā Meijer said.
Trumpās stochastic terrorism only intensified after January 6. When he faced prosecution for election interference and stealing classified documents, he egged on threats from his supporters against law enforcement authorities, judges, and even their family members. Trump expressed no remorse and showed little interest in tamping down the rhetoric. The judge in his New York election interference case had to impose a gag order on him after Trump attacked his daughter and lied about her on social media. Trump repeatedly violated the gag order, which he falsely decried as āunconstitutional.ā
Trump has openly mocked and almost welcomed attacks against his political enemies. When Paul Pelosi, former Speaker Nancy Pelosiās husband, was brutally assaulted in his home by a deranged MAGA in 2022, Trump used him as a punchline at his hate rallies.
Now back in the White House, Trump is actively endangering his foes. He removed a security detail assigned to Dr. Anthony Fauci, whoās faced death threats after a lengthy and distinguished carer because of MAGAās unhinged covid conspiracies. Trump also revoked Secret Service protection for John Bolton, Mike Pompeo, and Mark Milley. Iran has threatened their lives because of their work in the Trump administration, but they committed the cardinal MAGA sin of criticizing Dear Leader.
Trumpās message is clear: Youāre safe only if you remain unflinchingly loyal. And his pardons of the January 6 criminals suggest he not only has the back of those who commit violence in his name, but condones it.
āItās not worth itā
People have argued that if Murkowski is serious about the threat Trump and his MAGA movement present, she should actively work to weaken their influence. She could become an independent and caucus with Democrats, reducing the GOPās majority. But that could put an even larger target on her back.
Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell claimed last month that Republicans were slavishly falling in line behind Trump because they feared violent retaliation against themselves and their families.
āItās their personal safety that theyāre afraid of, and they have spouses and family members saying, āDo not do this, itās not worth it, it will change our lives forever. We will have to hire around-the-clock security,āā he said during a webinar. āLife can be very uncomfortable for your children.ā
Republicans still hold the constitutional power to remove Trump from office, but thatās meaningless if theyāre paralyzed by fear of MAGA mob violence. Trumpās hold over his party and the Congress it currently controls is inherently corrupt, not legitimately persuasive. Itās a terrifying reality that we shouldnāt let become our new normal.
Thatās it for today
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Thanks for reading.
All of what you write is true, but I think you're being shortsighted.
There seems to be a perception that Trump created this "movement" and because it's about him, all will be better when he's gone. First, Donald Trump couldn't create something like this if he tried. He's not organized or intelligent enough. Second, homegrown rightwing extremism existed and was growing prior to Donald Trump. It's been growing alongside the Republican party's further and further move to the right ever since Barack Obama's election in 2008. Remember the Tea Party? They're MAGA now. The Tea Party launched the original "Stop the steal!" movement, which Trump eventually grafted himself onto, against Obama with their fraudulent claims he wasn't a US citizen. They continued to believe it despite John McCain telling them it wasn't true...and then they turned on McCain.
By 2020, Trump already had a set of voters who believed multiple elections had essentially been "stolen" because Obama shouldn't have been on the ballot, and Hillary Clinton should be in jail for, basically, "pick a crime." Their fraudulent claims about her date back over 30 years (remember Vince Foster?) When you have voters who have been conditioned to believe such nonsense for over 30 years, the events of January 6 become "about" Trump only in the sense he refused to do a thing to stop it, and quickly intervene after it started.
These people *aren't* going away when Trump finally takes a dirt nap, and it's dangerous to assume Vance or someone else within MAGA-world won't, at the very least, also become a "hostage" to the crazy.
Ultimately, this is Mitch McConnell's lasting legacy. Both parties have wingnuts, even violent wingnuts. McConnell and the Republicans were unique in "embracing" theirs to defeat Obama. IMO, McConnell thought he could control them, and unsurprisingly he was wrong. Now they control the Republican party.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itselfā¦and the fact that the President of the United States would not hesitate to have you and your family killed if you donāt kiss the ring, then he would pardon whoever carried out his orders.
Alas, Babylon!