Opinions

Profiles in cowardice

When will elected officials fulfill their oaths to the Constitution, rather than running scared from a rabid political base that takes orders from a demagogue? For Dan Sullivan, apparently the answer is “never.”

A bipartisan majority — though not the 2/3 necessary — of the U.S. Senate voted to convict Donald Trump following a trial that extensively documented Trump’s role in directing a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol. This insurrection interrupted the certification of electoral college votes for the presidential election, and both Trump and the domestic terrorists who took orders from him made it clear their goal was to prevent a peaceful transition of power.

There is nothing more fundamental for our democracy than democratic elections, and a democratic transfer of power. This year, our democracy literally came under assault at the direction of the previous president. We know who kept their oath to the Constitution: Sen. Lisa Murkowski and dozens of other senators whose conviction votes represented a defense of democracy itself. Sadly, we also saw a group of politicians whose allegiance is to a violent fringe, and that group included Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Article II, Section I of the Constitution clearly lays out the process by which electors in the electoral college ratify voters’ will to select a President. A violent insurrection aimed at blocking certification of a presidential election is an assault on our Constitutional system of government. Sadly, in this historic moment, Sullivan voted in defense of a president who incited domestic terrorists rather than fulfilling his oath to the Constitution.

Throughout U.S. history, our rare cases of impeachment have generally been for presidents occupying office, and some Republicans — including Sullivan — claimed impeachment cannot be used for a recently departed President. That is a plain lie, as the Constitution makes clear that impeachment can be used to remove a president or prevent a former president from serving in the future. Article I, Section 3 clearly says impeachment may be used for “removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States.”

Our American history represents an unrelenting struggle to fulfill the promise of democracy. With the 2020 election, Americans voted clearly to move past white supremacy, reject Trump’s authoritarianism, and embrace the ideals that still animate our founding documents. Trump and domestic terrorists tried to unravel this election, and would have turned the Constitution into an artifact rather than the foundational document that guides our nation’s laws. The Senate’s conviction vote was a clear opportunity to stand on the right side of history by standing with our Constitution. Lisa Murkowski cast an honorable vote, and Dan Sullivan cast a cynical one that will stalk his conscience for the rest of his life.

Though Trump has left office, the struggle for democracy is not complete. Since Sullivan and others blocked conviction, Trump could try to return as president and resume his project of dismantling democratic institutions. Regardless of his future, he has unleashed a plague of white supremacist violence reminiscent of the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorist organizations that waged war against democracy during the Reconstruction era.

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The year 2021 mirrors 1866. We have won a decisive battle for democracy, but domestic terrorists and white supremacists plot counterattacks against democracy itself. In the late 1800s, white supremacists ultimately prevailed, eliminating voting rights of Blacks throughout much of the country and imposing a reign of terror, even removing and in some cases murdering Black elected officials. Today, we must be resolute in defense of democracy. Law enforcement has removed Trump’s terrorists from the U.S. Capital, but some terrorists remain on the loose, and are using digital platforms to plot new assaults against democracy.

At perilous times such as these, all of us must stand in defense of the Constitution and categorically condemn those who would attack it. Thank you, Sen. Murkowski, and shame on you, Sen. Sullivan.

Kevin McGee is president of the Anchorage NAACP.

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Kevin McGee

Kevin McGee serves as president of the NAACP in Anchorage.

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