Je hoort nu veel stemmen opgaan uit rechtse hoek dat het ter verantwoording roepen van hoofdrolspelers in de Trump-regering de beoogde eenheid van Biden in de weg zou staan. Artikel van Jennifer Rubin over de stelling dat verantwoording afleggen juist een noodzaak is voor er uberhaupt sprake kan zijn van eenheid.
The false choice between unity and accountabilityquote:
You will see a plethora of pundit “takes” that President-elect Joe Biden has a dilemma because he wants to unify the country but cannot ignore accountability for Republicans who perpetrated the Big Lie that the election was stolen. But the choice between unity and accountability is a false choice, and the definition of “Republican” is outmoded.
Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address contained the iconic plea for unity: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” He did not say, “well, let the South keep its slaves.”
The conditions for reentry into the Union for the states that had seceded included ratification of the 13th and 14th amendments, the latter of which did not allow those who served in or aided the Confederacy to hold federal office without a two-thirds vote of each chamber of Congress.
Unity then and now must be conditioned on justice — on the affirmation of the principles the South had rejected. A “just and lasting peace” means fidelity to democracy, to the sanctity of elections and to honest, fact-based public debate. Indeed, there cannot be unity today without accountability and without repudiation of the Big Lie, which was an attack on democracy itself. Biden obviously cannot work constructively with members of Congress who do not think he is the legitimate president, nor can he reestablish domestic order by allowing white supremacy and violent right-wing extremism to flourish.
The conventional wisdom also falsely assumes that Biden cannot work with “Republicans,” so long as characters such as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) operate in the world of lies and stir White resentment. Well, sure, Biden isn’t going to make headway with those pro-Trump Republicans — though even Cruz might welcome a truly anti-Putin president. Thankfully, we have seen other, traditional Republicans willing to work constructively with Democrats as they did for the December stimulus deal.
Biden does not need Cruz or Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) or the rest of the Senate’s Sedition Caucus to confirm his nominees; he’s got 50 Democrats and a tie-breaking vote from incoming Vice President Kamala D. Harris, not to mention a band of reasonable Republicans who have complimented nominees such as Merrick Garland and Janet L. Yellen.
On the rest of Biden’s agenda, the risk of filibuster always remains so long as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) remains minority leader. Nevertheless, there could well be 10 or more Republicans to get to cloture on anything from infrastructure to child tax credits to executive branch reform. You might even find 10 Republicans willing to repudiate Jim Crow voting restrictions and update the Voting Rights Act. And then there is the reconciliation process by which Biden may be able to achieve parts of his “Build Back Better” agenda with only 51 votes.
In sum, there is no conflict between accountability and unity if one understands that unity comes with conditions. (Moreover, judging from a number of Republicans’ receptivity to impeachment, Biden might have more Republicans than one might imagine.) Once you get past the nonsensical notion that Biden needs the Jim Jordans or the Josh Hawleys to govern, it becomes clear that the potential for just enough compromise to get some things done remains. Easy? No. Possible? Certainly.
[ Bericht 0% gewijzigd door Kijkertje op 19-01-2021 20:25:55 ]
“The fundamental cause of the trouble in the modern world today is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.”— Bertrand Russell