Robert Johnson is regarded as one of the greatest delta blues musicians. As the legend goes, Johnson secured his talent during a meeting with the devil at “the crossroads,” where he agreed to trade his soul.
There have always been stories like that; someone makes an unholy deal for an immediate gain that they believe will satisfy their desires. Just consider what the Republican National Committee did last week.
The RNC passed a resolution formally censuring Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for service on the House Committee investigating the January 6th insurrection.
The resolution reads, “Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” [emphasis added]
The party spin was that the resolution did not apply to the rioters who stormed the Capitol. However, Republicans had to negotiate the language of the resolution. They had a chance to absolve the peaceful protesters, while condemning the insurrectionists, but they chose not to do that.
The resolution says what it says. With no hint of irony, the resolution also states that the “primary mission of the Republican Party is to elect Republicans who support the United States Constitution and share our values.”
So, the leaders of the Grand Old Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, are reduced to kowtowing to a demagogic former president, papering over an attempt to obstruct the peaceful transfer of power and casting out two members who have the courage to seek the truth about January 6.
Speaking of truth, former Vice President Mike Pence continues to separate himself from Republicans who have made their journey to the crossroads. Responding directly to Donald Trump’s false claim that Pence could have overruled the electoral vote count, Pence said, “President Trump is wrong. The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American President.”
How long are Republicans going to tether themselves to false claims about the 2020 election, while viewing the abhorrent events of January 6 through rose colored glasses? Conservative thought leaders from the Wall Street Journal and National Review have had enough of the clown show and are urging the GOP toward a course correction.
The National Review said the RNC’s resolution “will only encourage those who see riots as legitimate political discourse. A mistake, and worse, a shame.” The Journal opined that Trump’s “post-election behavior (has) compounded the harm to his party.”
Robert Johnson is remembered as an iconic delta blues musician, but he also died when he was just 27 years old, likely from drinking poisoned whiskey. His untimely death gives mythmakers a convenient hook to suggest the devil came to collect.
The RNC has made its own ill-advised nighttime journey to the crossroads. Its slavish adherence to falsities may in fact yield short-term benefits, but ultimately there will be a price to pay.