Most everyone comes to a point in their life when they are called to take the moral high ground, stand on principle, and tell it like it is whatever the consequence because failing to do so is morally and ethically unconscionable. If you're an elected official and the president, who swore to "faithfully execute" the duties of his office and "protect and defend" the Constitution, publicly violates his oath of office and puts the nation at risk, that would be the time to step up.
But instead of showing the moral courage the country so badly needs as Donald Trump dismantles the foundations of our democracy, Democrats offered America nothing more than a string of hollow adjectives on a path to some mystery destination after Trump put the presidency up for sale.
"Everybody in the country should be totally appalled by what the president said last night," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said of Trump's invitation for foreign interference in our elections. "But he has a habit of making appalling statements," she added, calling Trump's solicitation "totally unethical.”
"However," Pelosi continued, "what we want to do is have a methodical approach to the path that we are on and this will be included in that."
Oh, so the country is being set aflame by its very own leader with the help of his Republican enablers, and Democrats want to watch it burn to the ground so they can stick to some pre-conceived timeline. By the time Democrats complete their journey, they'll arrive just in time to throw some water on the smoldering ruins of our republic.
As Clinton campaign veteran Brian Fallon noted, “I used to think Trump could shoot a man on Fifth Avenue and the Republicans would let him get away with it. Now I think the Democrats would, too."
My only quibble with Fallon's observation is that Democrats are watching Trump pull the trigger in real time. Presumably, they care about the victim while Republicans don't, but the victim still perishes anyway.
Pelosi said Wednesday that Democrats are on a "path to seek the truth for the American people." Americans certainly deserve the truth about Donald Trump, but it's hiding in plain sight. Democrats simply aren't illuminating it for them. What the country needs is a heavy dose of moral leadership.
Americans need Democrats to call Trump out, denounce his actions in no uncertain terms, and explain why he represents such a grave threat to the country—threat enough to initiate impeachment proceedings against him. Voters did't go to the polls in 2018 to elect Democrats in historic numbers so they could turn around and cower in the corner while Trump continued destroying the country.
Whatever story Democrats are telling themselves, they are now enabling Trump's butchery just like Republicans are, even if for different reasons. America not only deserves better, it needs better if we are going to come out on the other side of this bearing any resemblance to the country we used to be.