Flip-Flopping With the Truth

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Over the past four years, there have been plenty of instances where former associates of the forty-fifth president spoke out against him – after safely disengaging from his administration.

There’s John Bolton (who called the forty-fifth “erratic, stunningly uninformed and unfit for office.") John Kelly who remarked that the forty-fifth was the first president he knew who “does not try to unite the American people.”) Rex Tillerson (who said that the forty-fifth “doesn’t like to read, doesn’t read briefing reports, doesn’t like to get into the details of a lot of things.") And former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, who did a famous flip-flop, conveniently endorsing the forty-fifth after his surprise victory.

Most recently, we have John Boehner, former Speaker of the House, giving his take on the forty-fifth's role in the January 6th insurrection, remarking, "he incited that bloody insurrection."  

Most of the above-mentioned folks have written books about their experiences.

Even William Barr, who was the 45th's Attorney General, has reportedly signed on to write a book about his tenure.  

None of the above-mentioned individuals spoke up at the time that the forty-fifth was acting out.

Which begs two questions: Why didn't they speak up when they had the chance to influence history for the good?  Why did they speak up only when touting their new books?

Perhaps two of the more blatant examples of cowardice belong to former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsay Graham.

When the Senate was considering the second impeachment of the forty-fifth in January, McConnell led his party in saying it was unconstitutional. His "firey" speech, denouncing the forty-fifth was given only a few minutes after he voted for the forty-fifth's acquittal. 

Among other things McConnell said almost immediately after the acquittal was this:

"Fellow Americans beat and bloodied our own police. They stormed the Senate floor. They tried to hunt down the Speaker of the House. They built a gallows and chanted about murdering the vice president.

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They did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth – because he was angry he'd lost an election."

McConnell went on to say that the forty-fifth's actions the day of the riot "were a disgraceful dereliction of duty."

One is left to wonder why McConnell remained complicit for a month-and-a-half as the leader of his party continued to feed "wild falsehoods" about the election that he lost? What was McConnell's thinking when he refused to acknowledge President Biden's win until December 15th?

As for Graham, his flip-flopping happens so often, it would most surely win him a gold medal if there were such an event in the Olympics. 

Back in 2015, before the forty-fifth became his party's standard-bearer, Graham said, "I'm disgusted," with the things the forty-fifth was saying. "I want to talk to the T***p supporters for a minute. I don't know who you are. I don't know why you like this guy..."

In a speech during the impeachment trial, Graham denounced the forty-fifth and the falsehoods the forty-fifth spread for two months in denying the results of the election. 

Then, Graham, like McConnell voted for acquittal. And further, traveled to Mar-A- Lago to reconcile with the forty-fifth.

And while Boehner hasn't necessarily made a career of steering clear of the truth, one still is left to wonder about the uncanny timing of his most recent freestyle ranting, tied to his upcoming tell-all, way-after-the-fact book.

Many opinion writers have stated that the lack of remorse on the part of McConnell and particularly Graham, and the actions of former members of the forty-fifth's administration, point to the strength of the forty-fifth's hold over what used to be the Republican party.

I would offer that the actual point to be made is that all of these actions are evidence of a stunning lack of moral character. Fed by fear.

It's as simple as that.

Spiritually speaking, especially among Christians, we're told that the "truth will set us free."  John 8:32. 

Other relevant verses include John 4:24, Psalm 25:5, Psalm 43:3, Psalm 52:6, Psalm 15:2-3, Psalm 34:13 and Psalm 12:29.

The main point of these scriptures seems to be that truth is important, that it should guide our actions. But if truth doesn't guide what we say and what we do, then we're in big trouble. 

Of course, this implies that we are actively seeking the truth in the first place. 

And, when all is said and done, it's the truth that we need to seek and heed moving forward.

For another take on seeking and following the truth, try Beth Watkins's piece for the Salt Collective, written in 2019.