What Does Unity Really Mean?

Why are Congressional Republicans not defending what their failed, twice-impeached ex-president said and did to incite insurrection? Because they can’t. His actions are indefensible. The evidence of his guilt is there for all to see. Members of Congress not only witnessed the results of Trump’s crime—personally, in real time — their own lives were actually threatened by it.

So, instead of putting up a futile defense, all but five principled Republican Senators voted for a resolution asserting that trying an ex-president is unconstitutional. And, while few legal scholars concur with that assertion, it doesn’t take much imagination to conclude how that same pack of hypocrites would have voted on an identical resolution, had the impeached ex-president in question been a member of the opposite party.

But this is what I find even more inexplicable. Republicans claim that carrying through with a trial — which the Senate is constitutionally obligated to conduct — is divisive. If this posture didn’t speak so loudly to the pathetic state of American politics, it would be laughable. Suddenly, after ten years of cynical, hyper-partisan power grabbing under Mitch McConnell, the last four years kowtowing to the most divisive president in modern history, the GOP is calling for unity.

• In 2008, McConnell smugly declared his first priority as Majority Leader: to make Obama a one-term president. Although he fell short in that regard, McConnell did succeed in blocking Obama from making 100 judicial appointments and deprived a rightful, deserving Supreme Court nominee of even getting a hearing. And now they’re calling for unity?
• Last June, the House sent a comprehensive pandemic-relief bill to the Senate. Self-christened Grim Reaper McConnell responded by ridiculing the measure as “a blue state bailout,” and refused to bring it to the Senate floor for a vote, leaving millions of desperate Americans still waiting for help. And now they’re calling for unity?
• McConnell then reneged on his own made-up policy of not confirming a Supreme Court nominee during a presidential election year, by cramming through the quicky confirmation of a radical anti-abortion Justice mere weeks before a presidential election. And now they’re calling for unity?
• After said election, McConnell waited a month to acknowledge Biden’s victory, allowing the “Stop the Steal” myth to inflame the Trump faithful into violent insurrection. And now they’re calling for unity?

I’m sorry. No, Republicans. It’s up to you to demonstrate unity. And here’s how they could (and should) begin: By doing the most fundamental part of their job; by honoring their oath of office and standing up for Democracy and the rule of law; by joining Democrats in endorsing the peaceful transfer of power; by condemning anyone, including the President of the United States, who persistently casts doubt on a free and fair election and deliberately foments insurrection. That would be a first, minimal-but-essential baby step toward unity.

And here’s how we could move ahead from that bottom line…

President Biden is sincere about re-unifying America. He has repeatedly articulated a willingness to work with Congress in a bi-partisan fashion. That being said, let’s look at the hard, cold, indisputable facts: Biden received 81 million votes to Trump’s 74 million. Yes, the Senate is now equally divided between the major party caucuses. However, the 50 Senators on the Democratic side of the aisle represent 41 million more Americans than their Republican counterparts. 41 MILLION!

By winning the White House by a significant margin, retaining a House majority, and gaining an advantage in the Senate, Biden has been handed a mandate to enact a specific set of policies the majority of Americans who voted for him believe will benefit their lives — personally, immediately, and in the future. Biden is indebted to those voters and it’s pay-back time. So, he’s hit the ground running, signing a series of promised executive orders aimed at mopping up the mess left behind by the previous administration: rejoining the Paris Climate Accord and the W.H.O., reversing the travel ban from Muslim countries, terminating an inhumane no-tolerance immigration policy, reinstating DACA, re-legitimatizing trans service members. It’s the platform Biden ran on and the one he won with — decisively! As Republicans chanted ad nauseam over the last four years: “Elections have consequences.” Deal with it, Republicans. It’s time to eat your words.

The United States of America is not just a name on a map. It’s a mantra, an affirmation, a commitment to the very principle of unity. It’s a wedding vow — to stick together, for better or for worse, through sickness and in health, till… cross fingers it doesn’t come to this unspoken eventuality. Does that mean we’ll live in perfect marital bliss? Of course not. Still, this vow obliges us to undertake a sincere and concerted effort to re-commit ourselves to the purpose of remaining one nation, indivisible, even in this din of deafening dissonance. Our elected representatives now have a fresh opportunity to demonstrate their common belief in the promise and potential of unity, a chance to renew their commitment to the lofty unitarian ideal built boldly into our nation’s moniker, by pledging to set politics aside in order to address the serious, urgent challenges faced by every American, regardless of party affiliation.

But, let’s be perfectly clear… Unity has nothing to do with coddling those who refuse to acknowledge reality. Unity is only possible amongst those who are willing to accept a certain set of facts, starting with these…

• Joe Biden and Kamala Harris defeated Donald Trump and Mike Pence in a free and fair election.

• Biden and Harris are now the legitimate president and vice president of the United States of America, and have sworn to serve in those offices for the next four years.
• Any elected official who refuses to admit those realities has lost his or her right to utter the word unity.

Finally, here is what I believe President Biden and the Democrats should say clearly and consistently to the opposition:

We are 100% committed to addressing the multiple crises currently facing this nation: a deadly pandemic and the economic hardship it continues to cause, systemic racism, racial injustice, climate change, immigration reform, crumbling infrastructure, and equitable access to quality, affordable healthcare and higher education, for starters. We can quibble about the details. However, if you’re not willing to do whatever it takes to face and overcome these very real and serious challenges, don’t come around crying about unity.