During the Trump administration, it was fashionable among progressive cynics to declare that “nothing matters”: No misdeed, lie or blunder on President Donald Trump’s part would ever entail any consequences. But in the wake of his 2020 loss and the multipronged criminal investigations into him, we can see that that adage isn’t accurate.
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What is true, however, is that “nothing matters” to fellow Republicans; they’ve become fortified by utter shamelessness, a quality Democrats, thankfully, do not yet possess.
Take Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s repeated refusal to recuse himself from considering matters directly related to the 2020 coup attempt, which we know his wife, Ginni Thomas, participated in (e.g., by egging on the White House chief of staff and soliciting state officials to reverse the will of the voters). He did it again Monday, refusing to sit out Sen. Lindsey O. Graham’s (R-S.C.) appeal to be rescued from testifying to a grand jury about Trump’s efforts to “find” votes and reverse Georgia’s election results.
Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tweeted that Thomas violated part of the U.S. Code “requiring any ‘justice’ to recuse when his or her ‘impartiality might reasonably be questioned’ or his or her ‘spouse is known by the justice to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome.’ ”
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Thomas’s utter contempt for the court’s already diminished reputation is bolstered by the knowledge that he has lifetime tenure and therefore faces no consequences for his injudicious conduct. Moreover, among those whose favorable opinion he covets — MAGA politicians, right-wing think tanks and publications with pretensions of intellectual seriousness — no one will object to actions that further their “cause” even at the expense of the court’s integrity. You’ll hear not a whisper of criticism, for example, from the thoroughly partisan Federalist Society, nor any GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Refusals to act on principle, to call out one’s own side and to enforce a code of behavior for all public servants are now matters of tribal identity for Republicans. Defending Trump’s behavior — be it absconding with sensitive documents or instigating a would-be coup — is the only true requirement to succeed in today’s GOP. One has to be willing to subordinate conscience, truth and fidelity to the Constitution to earn the MAGA stamp of approval.
We’ve seen this play out with other right-wing figures. Look how the party rallies around its Senate candidate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, as unfit a nominee as either party has advanced in my lifetime. See the GOP’s deafening silence on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) racist comments, or antisemitic gibes from Kayne West and Trump.
Aided by a right-wing media cocoon that insulates them from critical coverage and supported by an ends-justify-the-means MAGA movement, Republicans remain defiant. To quote Daniel Patrick Moynihan, they’ve been not just “defining deviancy down” but celebrating the decline.
There simply is no equivalent on the Democratic side. When a tape of shamefully racist comments among members of the Los Angeles City Council came to light, President Biden demanded that the miscreants resign. One member did. California Gov. Gavin Newsom now calls for two others to do the same.
When a group of 30 left-leaning House Democrats signed a letter urging “talks” with Russia to end the war — a position that aligned them with right-wing Russia apologists — condemnation from Democrats came swiftly. The group later withdrew the letter. Peer pressure and moral approbation serve their purpose, but only on one side of the political divide.
Democrats should not envy their opponents’ shamelessness. It’s not a superpower but, rather, a fatal flaw in character and a threat to decent, honorable democratic governance. There might be short-term gain to be had by enabling morally pernicious conduct. But the success of democracy and the favorable judgment of history depend on a strong conscience and an adherence to standards necessary for decent self-governance.
Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates
What is true, however, is that “nothing matters” to fellow Republicans; they’ve become fortified by utter shamelessness, a quality Democrats, thankfully, do not yet possess.
Take Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s repeated refusal to recuse himself from considering matters directly related to the 2020 coup attempt, which we know his wife, Ginni Thomas, participated in (e.g., by egging on the White House chief of staff and soliciting state officials to reverse the will of the voters). He did it again Monday, refusing to sit out Sen. Lindsey O. Graham’s (R-S.C.) appeal to be rescued from testifying to a grand jury about Trump’s efforts to “find” votes and reverse Georgia’s election results.
Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe tweeted that Thomas violated part of the U.S. Code “requiring any ‘justice’ to recuse when his or her ‘impartiality might reasonably be questioned’ or his or her ‘spouse is known by the justice to have an interest that could be substantially affected by the outcome.’ ”
Follow Jennifer Rubin's opinionsFollow
Thomas’s utter contempt for the court’s already diminished reputation is bolstered by the knowledge that he has lifetime tenure and therefore faces no consequences for his injudicious conduct. Moreover, among those whose favorable opinion he covets — MAGA politicians, right-wing think tanks and publications with pretensions of intellectual seriousness — no one will object to actions that further their “cause” even at the expense of the court’s integrity. You’ll hear not a whisper of criticism, for example, from the thoroughly partisan Federalist Society, nor any GOP member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Refusals to act on principle, to call out one’s own side and to enforce a code of behavior for all public servants are now matters of tribal identity for Republicans. Defending Trump’s behavior — be it absconding with sensitive documents or instigating a would-be coup — is the only true requirement to succeed in today’s GOP. One has to be willing to subordinate conscience, truth and fidelity to the Constitution to earn the MAGA stamp of approval.
We’ve seen this play out with other right-wing figures. Look how the party rallies around its Senate candidate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, as unfit a nominee as either party has advanced in my lifetime. See the GOP’s deafening silence on Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) racist comments, or antisemitic gibes from Kayne West and Trump.
Aided by a right-wing media cocoon that insulates them from critical coverage and supported by an ends-justify-the-means MAGA movement, Republicans remain defiant. To quote Daniel Patrick Moynihan, they’ve been not just “defining deviancy down” but celebrating the decline.
There simply is no equivalent on the Democratic side. When a tape of shamefully racist comments among members of the Los Angeles City Council came to light, President Biden demanded that the miscreants resign. One member did. California Gov. Gavin Newsom now calls for two others to do the same.
When a group of 30 left-leaning House Democrats signed a letter urging “talks” with Russia to end the war — a position that aligned them with right-wing Russia apologists — condemnation from Democrats came swiftly. The group later withdrew the letter. Peer pressure and moral approbation serve their purpose, but only on one side of the political divide.
Democrats should not envy their opponents’ shamelessness. It’s not a superpower but, rather, a fatal flaw in character and a threat to decent, honorable democratic governance. There might be short-term gain to be had by enabling morally pernicious conduct. But the success of democracy and the favorable judgment of history depend on a strong conscience and an adherence to standards necessary for decent self-governance.
