Redemption
The British parliament yesterday refused to accept a “no deal” Brexit and instead pulled the rug out from under Prime Minister Johnson’s losing game of chicken with the EU by insisting on its prerogative of approving whatever is going to happen. It was only possible because Tory members, horrified by Johnson’s effort to “prorogue” parliament, abandoned their now fractured party, depriving Johnson of his majority.
Something analogous has happened also in Italy, where the (Northern) League’s withdrawal from a government coalition, rather than precipitating new elections and a League victory, stirred the opposition to ally with the League’s erstwhile coalition partner, the Five Star Movement. An unlikely coalition then supported continuation of the relatively “technical” prime minister originally installed with support from the League.
This is what the redemption of good sense and democratic process looks like: people so appalled by the xenophobic ethno-nationalist hogwash that passes today for “conservatism” that at least a few of those associated with it decide to go in a different direction. That was relatively easy for the Five Star Movement, which has no discernible principles other than populist appeal, but hard indeed for individual British Tories, some of whom have become independents and others of whom have joined the Liberal Democrats.
It is apparently also hard for American Republicans, who are announcing their retirements in unprecedented numbers but not joining the pro-impeachment tide that is steadily growing among the Democrats. Only a single Republican member of the House has called for impeachment. Without a few Republican senators willing to buck Donald Trump and their own party, the Democrats are stuck: they can impeach but they can’t win removal from office in the Senate. Speaker Pelosi is therefore holding back, hoping to compile all the evidence needed to win at least the Senate if not the presidency in 2020.
It is sad that Americans can expect nothing better from the Republicans in our time of need. You don’t have to look far for impeachable offenses. Any government employee who suggests that the hotel he happens to own would be a good place for a government delegation to stay would find himself ousted quickly: this is Conflict of Interest 101. But that is precisely what President Trump did for the Vice President’s visit over last weekend to Ireland, and the Vice President accepted the suggestion. This is improper and one of many “high crimes and misdmeanors,” as the Constitution puts it. But accountability will need to await a few good Republicans with the courage to abandon their now thoroughly corrupted party.
In the end though, elections should decide the fate of the Trump’s Republicans, the League, and the Johnson’s Conservatives. The Brits may be headed for the polls as early as next month. The Lib Dems are likely to do well, which won’t displease me. The Italians won’t vote until spring. Who knows what they will do with the League, which represents some of the worst racist sentiments in Italian public life. The Americans have 14 months to wait, but the economy is slowing, Trump’s defects are glaring, and the Democrats are energized. There are no guarantees, but if these three countries begin to turn against their dreadful right wings, the world will be a much safer place.
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