He lit the flame ... their dishonor will remain

In March 2016, when the primaries were underway across the country, I was worried sick about the near-certainty of tRump as the GOP's nominee for the presidency.  On March 9, 2016, in what comes across not as six years ago but six decades ago, I wrote about the global fascination with "the strongman" and their blatant disregard for liberty and democratic values.  I worried that the emergence of tRump as a candidate--and, gasp, as President of the proverbial free world--would reinforce the idea that liberal democracies are for pussies!

In those halcyon days, I used to be friends with Republicans and right-of-center people in India.  I did not allow our differences in how we make collective decisions come in the way of friendly interactions.  Two commenters at my blog, who often were the only commenters, wore their political colors quite loudly even when they posted their comments.  One of them responded to my post--may I remind you that this was in March 2016--with insights that, in retrospect, were accurate:

In a recent conversation with my dad, I speculated how much Trump would use executive orders to get his way. I can't imagine Congress giving him everything, or even half of what, he wants, and it seems his personality to respond with an executive order. (In ways he reminds me of a toddler in a sandbox, preferring to go home rather than share his toys.) Can't you hear it now? "Congress didn't pass my ban on Muslim immigrants so I will use executive order." He'll say that he is following the will of the people since the people elected him. I wonder how long it takes to initiate impeachment proceedings?

Ten months before the eventual inauguration, she--a die hard Republican--could see that he could be impeached.  She was incorrect in that it was not one impeachment but two!  Those sentences make it clear that the commenter would never have voted for tRump, right?

Wrong!

One after another, Republican friends embraced the demagogue.  A friendly couple who valued moral behavior as born-again Christians and who were dead set against tRump eventually voted for him.  Across the street, neighbors became jubilant tRump red-hatters.  The commenter voted for tRump.  They all voted for tRump fully knowing how flawed and dangerous he was.  All our friendships ended.

I ended my friendship with her and a few more Republicans who voted for tRump in the November election because of a conviction that there is no such thing as a good tRump voter.

I worried that disasters were bound to happen.  Disasters that I knew I was incapable of imagining.  I was, and am, incapable, because I am a rule-following citizen.  I don't have the ability to imagine actions otherwise.  But, I knew it would be disastrous.

The political rhetoric attacking immigrants, non-Christians, and people of color, was not easy to handle for this brown-skinned, accented, naturalized citizen who came to America in 1987 from Tamil Nadu, deep in southern India.  I wrote a commentary about my existential angst in this unmapped political landscape.  Writing and sharing my ideas with a few others is how I engage with this world.

On January 6, 2021, when the events unfolded live on television and Twitter, I was shocked but not surprised one bit.  I always feared that tRump and his enablers were capable of actions that were well beyond the rule-of-law and my imaginations.

Source

After all that, an overwhelming percentage of Republicans continue to support tRump.  I am sure the people with whom I used to be friends will even gladly vote for him again if he contested in 2024.  Being in power and owning us liberals are more important to them than democracy, rule of law, and plain human decency.

Against such a dark backdrop are a few voices like Liz Cheney's.  After her father's involvement in the Iraq War and waterboarding of prisoners, and with the daughter's politics not being different from her father's, I never imagined I would ever write with profound appreciation.

In a liberal democracy, we get the leaders that we deserve.  Our collective future depends on what half of the electorate decides about their views of tRump and democracy.  I hope that they listened to Liz Cheney who made it clear:

I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible.  There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.