Calls for unity, after 147 members of the U.S. Congress tried to overturn the election, after they amplified the very lies that led a mob of insurrectionists to sack the nation’s capitol, are odious.
Those calls for unity should be met with fury.
Even after the extremists broke through the barricades, swamped the Hall of Statues, many of them shouting death threats against specific congressional leaders, then spilled the blood of Capitol police on the floors of the seat of our democracy, these members of Congress — including our very own Congressman, Judge John Carter — spent seven hours forcing vote after vote in an attempt to un-do President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
There were 16 Texans who sustained objections to the certification of electors from Arizona and Pennsylvania. The Houston Chronicle called them, rightly in our view, the Seditious 16.
Ted Cruz, our junior senator, was the loudest. His hypocritical attempt to lead the effort was an obnoxious piece of political theater when everyone knew it was doomed to fail. But, once a bloodthirsty mob forced a joint session of Congress to flee for their lives, the theater needed to end.
Yet Cruz persisted. So did Carter.
Carter is a former District Judge from Williamson County. He’s smarter than this. His initial plan to object to electors because some voters felt “like their vote didn’t count” was opportunistic, at best.
Yet, his statement also amplified disproven claims of election fraud, claims that have been repeatedly investigated and repeatedly rejected by the courts because there is no evidence.
Further, Carter is in a unique position to know that these claims were lies, yet he pressed on.
His actions tore at the fabric of our democracy, especially after it was clear that his vote wasn’t merely performative — a way to shore up his credibility with far-right primary voters — but deadly dangerous. Even seditious.
Unity?
No. This isn’t possible, not without accountability.
We’d call for the two men to resign their positions of trust but we also know that such a call would be met with disdain. We are under no illusions that the editorial opinion of a small, weekly newspaper in Williamson County, Texas, will dent either Cruz’s arrogance or Carter’s complacency.
Regardless, we believe that this must be said. On the record. Cruz and Carter should resign.
Since they won’t — and since they will continue their disingenuous call for unity and healing — let’s lay out what they might need to accomplish before we can begin. Indeed, this is what needs to happen within the right-wing political echo chamber if calls for healing and unity are to be greeted with something other than hoots of derision.
First, accept that the election was free and fair, and acknowledge that Biden won. This has become the most thoroughly investigated and adjudicated election in our nation’s history. Claims of fraud have been met with scathing judicial responses in more than 60 courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, and on a bipartisan basis.
Second, leaders of the Republican Party should accept responsibility for their part in inciting the riot that engulfed the Capital on Jan. 6, and for fomenting the lies that propelled it. The madness that swept our nation’s capital that day is on them and they must show some remorse and contrition.
Finally, those who encouraged the mob must be held accountable. That includes not only President Trump but those within the administration and law enforcement who contributed to a situation where, it’s becoming increasingly clear, the entire legislative branch of our government was minutes away from a mass hostage situation or worse.
We can debate the exact nature of that accountability but hold them accountable we must or this will happen again.
Without those three conditions, there is no “moving past” what happened in our nation’s capital Wednesday.
We doubt Cruz has the personal courage necessary to accept those conditions.
So, we call on Judge John Carter — who we believe does possess such courage — to accept Biden’s victory, apologize for his part in inciting the mob and work to hold accountable those responsible for last week’s shameful insurrection.
This editorial was written for the Jan. 14 edition of The Hill Country News.
The Ragged Edge 