History is Calling

An Open Letter to Republican Senators and Representatives

Conscience compels me to write you on this day called Good Friday to humbly and earnestly implore you to consider certain matters in a different light. The eyes of the world, and the eyes of history are upon you. Make no mistake—history is not mere dead letters on the pages of old books but a living, unfolding process in which we all participate, and in which you, as representatives of the People of the United States of America, have the noble honor of playing a central role. With such an honor comes a great weight of moral responsibility, and the tide of events now calls upon you to exercise this responsibility.

The Trump administration has now repeatedly and flagrantly violated its constitutional authority, committed numerous heinous abuses against human rights, and flouted lawful orders of the constitutional courts, up to and including those of the Supreme Court of the United States. The actions it has taken with respect to immigrants represent a despicable slide into not only authoritarianism, but abject cruelty. People in its custody, many never charged with or convicted of any crime, are being sent—without due process—to a torturous foreign prison resembling a Soviet gulag or concentration camp, from which there is no access to legal recourse, no access to family, and no hope of escape beyond death. The administration claims that the treatment of these people—rendered into the hands of a foreign detention facility it funds at taxpayer expense—is beyond the jurisdiction of American law. The president has lately indicated, multiple times, that he wishes to do the same to American native-born and naturalized citizens. To say that these actions are violations of the oath of office is a pitiful understatement. They are a total repudiation of the core legal and moral principles of our republic. They are crimes against humanity.

In addition to these crimes, the administration has repeatedly alienated and insulted our free-world allies while aligning with dictators, has engaged in a trade war which has plunged the domestic and global economy into uncertainty and disarray, and has all but dismantled the long-standing alliances that have served to promote and protect democratic government worldwide, and to prevent great power wars in the post-WWII era. Beggaring belief, he has threatened to annex the territory of two allied democratic nations—Canada and Greenland, which would effectively be a declaration of a new world war—this time with America fighting against its erstwhile democratic allies. International faith and trust in the United States has been deeply eroded. Alarm bells are sounding in allied free countries around the world, who recognize that this government threatens to repeat the very darkest chapters in human history. This insanity cannot stand. For the sake of humanity, it must not stand any longer.

I humbly ask that you sincerely and thoughtfully consider the immense gravity of these matters and resolve to take up your responsibility to lead morally, not merely to follow. I ask that you resolve to take a vocal moral stand, not to equivocate. I further ask that you join those Republicans, Democrats, and Independents who already oppose this administration and that you consider all Congressional remedies—including impeachment, for the high crimes against the constitution and against humanity listed above as well as others. This matter is far too great for partisanship. It is a fundamental question of whether justice, decency, and the rule of law will survive in America.

The time is now, and the window is short, for Congress to act. The responsibility now falls upon you, who have been given the high honor of service, who have sworn an oath to protect and defend the constitution of this nation that we love, both to exercise wisdom and to summon the moral courage to do what must be done. In this light, I ask you not to consider your base constituency, nor your near-term re-election bids, but to consider quite a different constituency—your children, grandchildren, and posterity. What kind of world will you leave to them? What will they think when they learn of your actions during this pivotal time? Will they be proud or ashamed of you? Will your legacy, when the history of this period is written, be a profile in courage or a profile in infamy?  

I hope this letter reaches you—physically and metaphorically. My words may be forgotten, but your actions will echo through history. The choices you make now may determine whether the republic we love endures or falls, and whether the world pulls back from the brink, or plunges into an unfathomable depth of evil and self-destruction. I believe you know all of this as well as I. May you find the strength to do what is right, and may wisdom and virtue guide you along your path.

Your fellow citizen,

David Lane