John F. Kennedy authored a book, Profiles in Courage, which was published in 1956 and contained short biographies of eight United States senators. These biographies describe the acts of bravery and integrity in the face of political opposition undertaken by these senators. It details acts of political courage by people who chose to do the right thing based upon principles, even if they paid a price for going against their party and, in some cases, their constituents. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1957. Given the way things are currently going in the United States, the book will likely be banned in the near future because political courage will be simply as viewed as being too ‘woke.’
What we are witnessing today and have been witnessing for the last few years is the antithesis of profiles in courage. The Republican Party has become of the poster child for Profiles in Cowardice. That begins with Senator Mitch McConnell. McConnell had the ability to stop Trump during two impeachment trials and he failed to do so. It is no secret that privately, Mitch McConnell, despises Trump and knows that he is unfit to be president. However, rather than acting with integrity and courage, he chose a path of expediency and cowardice. McConnell falsely believes his legacy will be as the man who packed the courts with conservative judges. His legacy will more likely be as the man who had a chance to stop the carnage that Trump will wreak upon the nation and didn’t have the courage to stop him. Even with the exalted title of ‘Senator,’ a coward is still a coward.
Senator Marco Rubio, who once ran against Trump, and once said, “for years to come, there are many people on the right, in the media, and voters at large, that are going to be having to explain and justify how they fell into this trap of supporting Donald Trump because this is not going to end well, one way or the other.” But he has cashed in whatever integrity he has left in exchange for being Trump’s pick for Secretary of State. Perhaps Senator Rubio should justify to the American people how he fell into this trap. He is just another profile in cowardice.
Right now, many if not most, United States Republican Senators do not agree with some of Trump’s nominees for some of the most critical positions in the U.S. Government. Trump is trying to cajole, persuade, and bully them into letting him make recess appointments which would abdicate their Constitutional responsibility to provide an advise and consent role on presidential nominations. They would cede their role to provide any kind of check on the President’s power to fill offices with anyone – qualified or not. If they acquiesce to the Trump’s request, it will be yet another display of the cowardice that has become the hallmark of the current Republican party.
We can only hope that Senator John Thune will be able to find a modicum of courage and lead the senate to stand firm against some of Trump’s most outrageous picks such as Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, and Tulsi Gabbard. However, given the Profiles in Cowardice that we have so frequently witnessed over the last few years from the Republican Senators who have had multiple chances to hold Trump accountable for his actions and failed, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
