Paul Revere by Cyrus Dallin, North End, Boston

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Wednesday, September 4, 2019

British Profiles in Courage



We will see nothing like this from the cowards and lackeys in the GOP:





21 British Conservatives put country over party
Anne Applebaum, WaPo


Among them are two former chancellors of the exchequer, an array of former cabinet ministers, and many old and familiar stalwarts of Conservative party conferences and Conservative think tanks. One of them, Nicholas Soames, is Winston Churchill’s grandson. Another, Kenneth Clarke, is the longest-serving member of the House of Commons. All of them were told that if they voted against the Conservative government Tuesday night — paving the way for the British Parliament to block a damaging, “no-deal” Brexit — they would be expelled from the Conservative party.
Not only that, but they also would be prevented from standing as parliamentary candidates at the next election. They would be out of politics. Finished. Yet all of them, all 21 of them, did it anyway. Why?
Firstly, they did it because — of course — it’s an idiotic idea for Britain to sever, from one day to the next, all of its relationships with all of its closest and most important neighbors: not just trade but also security arrangements, scientific agreements, legal pacts, diplomatic deals, everything. During the Brexit referendum campaign, nobody ever said this kind of total break was a possibility, nobody voted for it and only a minority of the public say they support it now. The 21 Tory rebels know that the diplomatic and economic consequences of a break like this, without transitional treaties and negotiated arrangements, will last for decades. Just about everybody else knows this, too, including the prime minister, Boris Johnson. But only 21 members of the party were willing to act.
Secondly, they did it because a few days earlier, Johnson had announced a suspension of Parliament that will begin next week. This unprecedented abuse of power was accompanied by a series of open lies, bullying language and threats of a kind that Conservative governments don’t, historically, use toward their members. The 21 Tory rebels aren’t just standing against an ugly legal and economic mess; they also are standing up in favor of constitutional, behavioral and legal norms that they see being broken. They are standing up for a set of parliamentary traditions and customs that they fear will be destroyed forever.
Thirdly, they did it because they know — everybody knows — that members of the current Tory leadership have chosen this destructive path not for the sake of the country, not for the well-being of the British, not for the future of their children, but because they are afraid that, having promised Brexit and failed to deliver, they will lose the next election. They are putting party over country. By contrast, the 21 Tory rebels have decided to put country over party, indeed country over career, in defiance of their leaders.
These 21 rebels, in other words, stood up against a national leader from their own party in order to prevent him from harming the country, undermining the constitution and damaging democracy. Imagine how different American politics would be if we could find 21 Republican senators to do the same.

6 comments:

Dave Miller said...

Imagine what could happen here if 21 Republicans in Congress found a spine,. According to the pundit class many in the GOP are disgusted with Trump, but afraid to step up for fear of retaliation and loss of their jobs.

Our founders designed a system to remove a Pres like Trump, but it is based on the "love of country" the Brits are showing and not the love of party the GOP is showing.

What to do?

I am encouraged that Joe Manchin decided to stay in the Senate rather than run for Gov of WV. As the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, I'm thinking Manchin is seeing a Dem win overall in the Senate and likes the perch he would get if that happened.

As Candidate Obama said... keep hope alive...

Les Carpenter said...

We won't be holding our breaths.

Perhaps in another lifetime.

The spirit of McCarthyism and Trumpism runs deep in American right-wing politics.

And Moscow Mitch McConnell is currently holding the line nicely for the Goon Squad in the senate.

BB-Idaho said...

The continuing NRA 'collateral damage' of innocent youngsters, shoppers, churchgoers et. al. at the hands of over-armed sub-humans with the support of a
formerly principled GOP, (now a peculiar transmogrified collection of lapdogs led by a conscienceless Kentucky ferret) is becoming gradually clear to the US public.
No amount of twitter, FoxNews, Breitbart baseless rhetoric can obfuscate this fact.
It cannot sustain.

Howard Brazee said...

They're between a rock and a hard place. Certainly Brexit is going to be bad for Britain. But ignoring the majority who voted for it also is bad.

Shaw Kenawe said...

Howard, nice to see you here! Yes, the Brits are between a rock and a hard place. However, it's my understanding that those who voted to leave didn't have all the facts, especially about the hard border leaving would cause between Ireland and Northern Ireland and also the problems of Britain bringing in vital imports from the EU to Britain. Everything, including food and medicine, would have to go through customs! This was NOT thought through to the nitty gritty details.

Shaw Kenawe said...

BB-Idaho, that's my understanding as well. Finally, Americans are reaching a breaking point on this subject. No Democrat that I know wants to take away anyone's right to own a hunting firearm or handgun. What we Americans are against is ownership of a weapon of war that allows people to shoot 29 human beings in 10 seconds. That firearm is not used for hunting, it's used for killing people. It's a weapon of war, and no civilian needs to own one!