Washington Post columnist George Will, ever the staunch conservative, wrote a column in yesterday’s paper titled Trump must be removed. So must his congressional enablers. This column was extraordinary in several ways. It represented yet another revolt among a growing number of influential members of the President’s own party. It has garnered the most comments (approaching 7,000 as I write this) that I think I’ve ever seen in a newspaper column. It is a rebellious voice during a week of growing rebellion on many fronts for many reasons in America. It is yet another harbinger that Donald Trump is in a centrifugal spin that seems likely to eventually destroy him.
But the central importance of this article to me his emphasis on “the enablers”. We know who the vociferous enablers are. Their madness confronts us nearly every day. But I hope we are taking note of the quiet and silent ones as well. They are the cowards of the Presidents venal and power-thirsty followers. They support him openly when his power is full strength, and support him quietly but loyally when his power wanes.
And soon, as Trump increasingly spins out of control, these enablers, feeling the changing winds, will begin to make quiet, equivocal statements and start to drift toward the political center. They will begin positioning themselves for the post-Trump world. They will want, above all, a place in that world too. A place of influence; a place that allows them to benefit from that influence; a place that will enrich them, and allow them to drift with the political winds without being held accountable for anything. The men without character. The hollow men.