By Bruce Lindner
Dear Republicans,
We get it. You all saw what he did to Liz Cheney, and you don’t want that to happen to you. Short of outright political banishment, if you displease him in the slightest, he might even mean-tweet you from his golf cart in Florida. You all tremble at the mere thought of that.
And he knows it, which is why he does it — to control you. To get you to confirm the most unqualified Cabinet secretaries in American history. If the gravity of that situation wasn’t so solemn, it would be comical.
But what’s done is done. You didn’t want to suffer the indignity of being mean-tweeted, so you seated a drunk who paid a woman $50,000 to buy her silence to become America’s Secretary of Defense, an anti-science conspiracy theorist for Health and Human Services, and a man who openly hates the FBI to run it.
You’ve watched in silence as his hatchet man — or should I say his chainsaw man — has wiped out the careers of untold thousands of Americans, the cascading effects of which will no doubt threaten the very existence of poverty-stricken communities who rely on America’s bounty and generosity.
You fidgeted in your seats a bit when he shook his fist at Mexico, Canada, Panama, and Denmark. But no outright condemnation from any of you, because again, you can’t: the spirit of Liz Cheney might haunt you.
You’re in a unique position. Hard as it is to believe, you’re the gatekeepers. Once upon a time, in a magical epoch known as pre-Trump, Congress was a co-equal branch of government. That means YOU had it within your power to keep lawlessness and tyranny in check.
But that was then, and this is now. You’ve ceded your authority because, say it with me, “Liz Cheney.”
In the hierarchy of things that matter to you, in order from most to least, are:
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- Me
- My personal safety
- Not getting mean-tweeted
- Getting re-elected
- People who won’t vote for me
- People in shithole countries
- The nation
At the far end of the courage spectrum from you and at the far side of the planet, there’s a guy named Volodimr Zelenskyy. He must look like an alien species to you, because his priorities are diametrically opposed to yours.
When offered a chance to be airlifted out of his embattled nation, he turned it down and confronted the threat pouring over his nation’s borders. He then addressed his people from a darkened corner somewhere in Kyiv, reassuring them that he and his government will stand and fight on their behalf.
But now he and his 38 million fellow Ukrainians face a new threat: Blatant betrayal by the President of the United States. If Trump follows through with it, Zelenskyy himself, perhaps the most iconic example of raw courage in the world today, will be hunted. And if captured, meted out Navalny justice.
But that can only happen if you let it.
Yes, I know, you murmur amongst yourselves over martinis how you had to swallow hard to vote for Tulsi Gabbard, or to stay silent when he gutted USAID and our National Park Service. But unless you take a hard stand, now, and say HELL NO, I’m drawing the line right HERE … you’re as complicit as he is.
This Edmund Burke quote has never been more relevant: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.”
This is your moment. History will document your names right alongside his. I’m looking at you, Lindsey the Lionhearted. Ted the Turd. Joni, Queen of Castraters. Rise up. Fear not the mean-tweet.
Liz Cheney knowingly sacrificed her career, as did Adam Kinzinger, because they made the calculus: Who am I and what are my core values? And they deduced that there are bigger things in this world than themselves.
Thus far, not a single Republican in this picture has come to a similar conclusion.
Cowards, all. And if you allow Ukraine to fall by your inaction, you’ll be accomplices in mass murder, as well as the beginning of the end for NATO.
The was originally posted by Bruce Lindner on Feb. 21, 2025. Bruce is the owner and operator of the Pony Espresso java truck. You can find him at the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturdays from May to October.