G. C. Jeffers

Now, I am not going to judge whether this marine should have been allowed to remain in the Corps. I am not even going to pass judgement one way or another on the legal case against him. But I am deeply distressed by the overwhelming apathy I see among people regarding the insurrection on Jan. 6. 

Cards on the table: I’m a never-trumper. I have been since the day he entered the Republican Primary in 2015. In that primary, I voted for John Kaisich. In 2016, my main concern about Trump was that he was incompetent to serve as president. But, as more information poured out about him, I grew even more concerned about him. Here is something I wrote about him shortly after the election in 2016:

Trump himself is an odious character, a confessed sexual predator, and a narcissist. Furthermore, he surrounds himself with folks like Steve Bannon who cater to the so-called alt-right coalition of white supremacists, ethno-nationalists, anti-semites, and semi-fascists. This intentional race-baiting is the opposite of solidarity. It is the pitting of one member of the community against another in the hope of reaping some kind of personal reward. 

I also could not bring myself to vote for Clinton, so I voted third-party.

His time in office did nothing to reconcile me to him. Rather, it confirmed again and again that not only was he personally odious, but he was a wannabe dictator, a threat to the basic functioning of law and order. His behavior during the 2020 election solidified this tangibly when he refused to accept the results of the election and then, on Jan. 6, sent a mob to the capitol to “stop the steal.” The violence and desecration of that day, and his refusal to stop what he had started, made him the man least worthy of any US president to hold the office. His actions far surpass the illegal activities of Richard Nixon, the first modern president to be embroiled in scandal. 

Running now for re-election, we find an electorate nearly four years later who seem to have largely forgotten the horror of the insurrection. Here is how prominent Republican lawmakers reacted in the aftermath of Jan. 6:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.): “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “All I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.”

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.): “Everyone has a right to peacefully protest. No one has a right to commit violence. What happened today at the Capitol is disgraceful and un-American. It is not what our country stands for.”

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.): “Mr. President. You have got to stop this. You are the only person who can call this off. Call it off. The election is over. Call it off. This is bigger than you. It is bigger than any member of Congress. It is about the United States of America.”

I agree with Sen. McConnell, who said this after the impeachment trial:

There is no question that President Trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of that day. The people who stormed this building believed they were acting on the wishes and instructions of their President. And their having that belief was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories, and reckless hyperbole which the defeated President kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth. The issue is not only the President’s intemperate language on January 6th. It is not just his endorsement of remarks in which an associate urged ‘trial by combat.’ It was also the entire manufactured atmosphere of looming catastrophe; the increasingly wild myths about a reverse landslide election that was being stolen in some secret coup by our now-President. (here is the full speech)

I find Trump to be even more unfit than when he ran for office the last time. One has only to listen to his former administration officials (who say that Trump wished for the kind of deference given to Hitler) or even his own words (where he suggests that he will use the military to combat the “enemies within”) to know that he is spectacularly unfit to serve as president. 

But back to my point–so many Americans seem to have forgotten the horror of Jan. 6, or maybe they just don’t care anymore. Their apathy is terrifying. This apathy, this failure to care rightly (and act accordingly) with what one knows to be the good, is the vice of acedia, or sloth. St. Thomas Aquinas has it like this: 

Sloth . . . is an oppressive sorrow, which, to wit, so weighs upon man’s mind, that he wants to do nothing; thus acid things are also cold. Hence sloth implies weariness of work. . . Now this sorrow is always evil, sometimes in itself, sometimes in its effect. For sorrow is evil in itself when it is about that which is apparently evil but good in reality, even as, on the other hand, pleasure is evil if it is about that which seems to be good but is, in truth, evil. Since, then, spiritual good is a good in very truth, sorrow about spiritual good is evil in itself. And yet that sorrow also which is about a real evil, is evil in its effect, if it so oppresses man as to draw him away entirely from good deeds. Hence the Apostle (2 Corinthians 2:7) did not wish those who repented to be “swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.” Accordingly, since sloth, as we understand it here, denotes sorrow for spiritual good, it is evil on two counts, both in itself and in point of its effect. Consequently, it is a sin, for by sin we mean an evil movement of the appetite. (ST. II-II. Q35. A1.)

Acedia (sloth) is thus, in a narrow sense, a sorrow at doing the good work of God (prayer, fasting, scripture reading, church attendance, giving to the poor, serving those in need, etc). But, more broadly understood, acedia is a sorrow at doing any kind of good work, a failure to care. Acedia either manifests as laziness (refusal to act at all; distracting oneself with various forms of entertainment) or busyness (acting on trite matters; distracting oneself with small, inconsequential, things). Acedia is a sin because it directly inhibits human flourishing. It encourages us to be or remain in our sin nature without making war against the flesh. It is a repudiation of sanctification. Acedia tells us that if something is inconvenient to the satisfaction of our desires, then we should not care about it.

Holding Trump accountable for his actions on Jan 6 would require his current supporters to somehow be motivated to act against their own self-interest as they perceive it. It would require them to privilege the long-term good of American polity over the temporary good of specific policy aims.

Retired Federal Circuit Judge J. Michael Luttig, a darling of the Federalist Society, recently endorsed Kamala Harris. In part, he said:

Until January 6, 2021, there was a peaceful transfer of power from one President of the United States to his successor for almost 250 years. The peaceful transfer of power from one President of the United States to the next and the commitment of presidential candidates and their respective political parties to the peaceful transfer of power in the next election are fundamental tenets of our constitutional Republic. Adherence to these tenets is essential to American Democracy, American governance and government, and to the Rule of Law in the United States of America. Without the peaceful transfer of power, America would have no democracy. . . . 

America’s two political parties are the political guardians of American Democracy. Regrettably, in the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law. As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris. In voting for Vice President Harris, I assume that her public policy views are vastly different from my own, but I am indifferent in this election as to her policy views on any issues other than America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law, as I believe all Americans should be. In the 2024 election for President of the United States, there are no more important issues for America. (find the full text here)

One mark of a virtuous person is a willingness to put aside one’s own desires and preferences for the sake of what is right and good. 

In a previous article, I outline my political beliefs and offer a hierarchy of values I bring with me into the voting booth. In order of importance, these are the following:

1. The Right to Life (opposition to abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, and the death penalty)
2. The rights enumerated in the Bill of Rights and the 14th amendment, namely Speech, Religion, Assembly, Press, Search & Seizure, and Due Process. 
3. Poverty and access to resources that foster quality living conditions, including access to healthcare and protection of American jobs.
4. Fiscal Responsibility. 
5. The environment and climate change.
6. Crime. I am a Law & Order kind of guy. 

However, now, it seems, I must add a new topic to my list. I must add, “Respect for the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power.” This went without saying for nearly the first 250 years of the United States. But now it must be said. If you cannot commit to respecting the rule of law, accepting the results of the election, and to the peaceful transfer of power, then you have no business running for office. 

And Jan. 6, one of the most documented days in American history (second to 9-11 maybe), is Exhibit A. Go watch the footage. Read Trump’s remarks. As Sen. McConnell put it, Trump is “practically and morally responsible” for the events of Jan. 6.