While many on the left rightly condemn the actions of President Donald Trump, we must not forget the branch of government intended to be much more powerful than the executive: Congress.
But our Congress, majority controlled by the GOP in both the House and Senate, has abdicated that power. Republican officials — such as U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann and U.S. Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, all of whom represent us in Chattanooga — have decided one man and his cadre of shameless sycophants should unilaterally control our government.
The root of this unwillingness to act on their constitutionally given power is not an effort to reflect the will of the American public. It’s not an effort to make this country prosperous or to improve the average person’s quality of life. It’s not some supposed mandate from a mere plurality of the national electorate that voted in Trump.
The truth is this: At the core of this inaction from Fleischmann, Blackburn and Hagerty — and the rest of the GOP — is cowardice, nothing more. They would rather cater to the whims of a narcissistic man-child, who lashes out like a toddler on live television in the Oval Office, than actually do their job: represent the American people.
This is clear for two broad reasons: what congressional Republicans are doing and what they’re not doing. Let’s start with the latter.