The North Carolinians who chose Trump over democracy

“There are but two parties now, traitors and patriots.” — Ulysses Grant (1861)

Carl Friedrich, the German political theorist, wrote in 1935: “To be an American is an ideal, to be a Frenchman is a fact.” I don’t think Friedrich was out to disparage the French. He meant, instead, to emphasize that our national membership is not based on race, religion, tribe, language, pedigree, geography or ancestry. Rather, it is premised on a defining commitment to complementary beliefs in human liberty and equality. To what Abraham Lincoln characterized as the nation’s “primary cause” — the principle of “Liberty to all”.

Lyndon Johnson described the centrality of our national promise with surprising eloquence in his most powerful speech, introducing the Voting Rights Act:

“This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. The great phrases of that purpose sound in every American heart. ‘All are created equal’ — ‘government by consent of the governed.’ “

Lincoln, of course, declared the civil war was fought “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” To be an American is an idea; not a claim of ancestry or purported privilege.

The other side of that defining coin is that it is clearly possible to behave in ways that are un-American, that violate the American promise, that cast aside the very mission of our nation. Ways that betray the sacrifice of millions, stretching over centuries, to make real, as Dr. King put it, “the promises of democracy.” Such betrayal is possible, even for those who occupy high office, who wrap themselves daily in the American flag, and who advertise their status as super-patriots.

North Carolina Republican congressional members Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Virginia Foxx, Richard Hudson, Greg Murphy, David Rouzer and Mark Walker, in early December, joined nearly two-thirds of House Republicans supporting the Texas Attorney General’s outrageous bid to get the Supreme Court to throw out the results of the presidential election. The high court tossed the case with both speed and derision – noting the litigants had no conceivable authority to challenge millions of votes cast in other states. Pennsylvania’s Attorney General correctly labeled it “a seditious abuse of the judicial process.”

More directly, on January 6, Dan Bishop, Ted Budd, Madison Cawthorn, Richard Hudson and David Rouser — along with 116 other Republican congressmen — voted to reject Arizona’s electoral college certification. Bishop, Budd, Cawthorn, Hudson, Rouser, Virginia Foxx and Greg Murphy locked arms with 131 other Republican members to try to cancel Pennsylvania’s election.

Even Mitch McConnell protested that “the voters, the courts, and the states have all spoken; if we overrule them it will damage our republic forever … our democracy would enter a death spiral.” Our quisling Republicans voted to overthrow the presidential election even after Trump-incited, violent, armed insurrectionists launched an attempted coup against the United States. Cawthorn had apparently spoken at the rally that preceded the terrorist attack. “The Democrats, with all the fraud they have done in this election, the Republicans, hiding and not fighting, they are trying to silence your voice,” he reportedly told the crowd.

Supine loyalty to Trump easily outweighed, for these embarrassing Tar Heels, fealty to the constitution, to democracy, and to the foundational premise of America. They sought to do what our country’s adversaries couldn’t manage – end democracy in the U.S.

Of course, even these transgressions pale next to those of their former Republican House colleague, Mark Meadows, Trump’s partner in the extortion of state officials who courageously refused to lie and steal votes. The North Carolina Republican Party lauds, supports, funds, canvases for, and elects them. They must be proud. Welcome the traitors’ caucus.

This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 1:19 PM.