Alan Zendell, September 24, 2021

This isn’t about time travel, though the subject fascinates me. It’s about time as the enemy of progress, the antithesis of positive inertia for needed change. It’s about the basic truth that delay and procrastination are not neutral, but negative decisions that preclude action. Desperate times require the people we elected to represent us to either rise above their personal biases and do the right thing or step aside in favor of people of character and integrity.

It’s about time governors, county health officials, and mayors who have not fully engaged with the effort to vaccinate their populations against COVID step up to the plate. The cynical game of balancing public health concerns against perceived political gain simply must stop. It’s un-American, immoral, and inhumane, and an argument can be made that it’s criminally negligent. Moreover, failing to support vaccinations is beginning to resemble political suicide. Trump lost the 2020 election largely because pandering to ignorance, prejudice, and stupidity resulted in more than a half million preventable deaths. Politicians who put citizens at risk of severe illness and death always pay a heavy price, and that price will be even greater if they put children at risk.

It’s about time Republicans in Congress started showing the same courage their colleagues Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) exhibit on a daily basis. Agree or disagree with their ideology, but you cannot disagree with their commitment to principle and refusing to submit to political bullying and blackmail. It’s long past time to speak out against The Big Lie and acknowledge publicly that Joe Biden is the duly elected President. The latest in Trump’s sideshow acts, the Maricopa County “audit” in Arizona, should be the last nail the election fraud coffin. Even Trump’s pet auditors couldn’t find evidence of fraud, and they reported yesterday that Biden’s victory in Arizona was actually undercounted by 100 votes.

It’s about time Congress ignored lobbyists with cash-filled pockets who represent corporate interests that profit from the status quo, to wake up to the realities of Climate Change. Pandering to ignorance and greed will eventually backfire when it’s too late to remediate the damage resulting from inaction. How much more evidence do they need? Do sea levels have to rise enough to flood Miami, Tampa, New York and New Orleans? Does every acre of forest land have to go up in smoke? Will we allow the ever more unstable Gulf Stream, which is the only reason the major cities from Washington to down East Maine are not covered by glaciers, to stop flowing because of melting ice caps?

It’s about time the Democrats stopped squabbling and got their act together to pass needed legislation. Our infrastructure is desperately in need of repair and updating, and right-wing extremists are threatening every American’s right to vote. Progressives, especially younger ones like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) with limited experience in Congress, need to grow up and learn the arts of compromise and when to stop arguing. At the same time, so-called Moderates like Joe Manchin (D-WV) need to stop grandstanding about bipartisan legislation and bite the same bullets Cheney and Kinzinger choke on every day. You made your point, Joe. So did Mitch McConnell, whose blanket obstructionism makes it clear that all you will accomplish by denying Senate Democrats their slim majority is allowing Republicans to scuttle the Biden administration’s agenda.

It’s about time Congress began representing the views of clear majorities of Americans on female reproductive issues. Reactionary religious views and prejudice have no place in laws and legal decisions that have global impact, and lawmakers who continue to ignore the views of their constituents will pay a price at the polls, as the COVID public health deniers did. Just glance at the latest nationwide Gallup poll on abortion – eighty percent of Americans oppose making abortion illegal. Our Constitution is clear; Congress is neither the moral advisor nor the religious conscience of the nation.

And finally, it’s about time the Bush family dynasty invested themselves in defending the principles of the party they profess to believe in. Remaining silent in the face of brutal, vicious personal attacks by Donald Trump may once have seemed like a classy thing to do, but refusing to behave like Donald Trump and engaging in public fits of rage is not the same thing as passivity in the face of danger. Trumpism is the most clear and present danger America’s future faces, and it will dominate Republican agendas and possibly our national agenda if principled Republicans don’t fight for their party.

Former president George W. Bush, finally appears willing to take up the mantle of anti-Trump Republicans. He is publicly supporting Liz Cheney in her primary battle against a Trump no-name candidate, headlining fundraising events for her. Bush understands better than anyone how difficult it is to govern. Even when you have a supportive Congress and your head is in the right place, it’s easy to lead the country down the wrong path. When the forces of divisiveness are in control, we’re doomed to fail. Given the lack of courage shown by most Republicans these days, Bush, who is probably the most popular figure among traditional Republicans, is best positioned to play the role of savior.