Flaking Out

Here is an excerpt of Senator Jeff Flake's parting shot to President Trump on the Senate floor this afternoon:

We must never regard as “normal” the regular and casual undermining of our democratic norms and ideals. We must never meekly accept the daily sundering of our country - the personal attacks, the threats against principles, freedoms, and institutions, the flagrant disregard for truth or decency, the reckless provocations, most often for the pettiest and most personal reasons, reasons having nothing whatsoever to do with the fortunes of the people that we have all been elected to serve.

None of these appalling features of our current politics should ever be regarded as normal. We must never allow ourselves to lapse into thinking that this is just the way things are now. If we simply become inured to this condition, thinking that this is just politics as usual, then heaven help us. Without fear of the consequences, and without consideration of the rules of what is politically safe or palatable, we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal.

Reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as “telling it like it is,” when it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified.


And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else: It is dangerous to a democracy. Such behavior does not project strength – because our strength comes from our values. It instead projects a corruption of the spirit, and weakness.

Yet I find myself in agreement with Vox's Ezra Klein. Jeff Flake should have announced he was seeking re-election rather than abdicate his re-election bid on the Senate floor:

Flake’s speech on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday will prove a historic document in American politics. It is an explosive denunciation of the president of the United States, and of his Republican enablers. Flake has long been critical of President Trump, but he has never made his case so starkly, nor condemned his fellow Republicans for their silence and cowardice so clearly.

But in choosing to retire rather than run for reelection, Flake is sending the worst possible message to his colleagues, empowering the president he loathes, and accelerating the takeover of the Republican Party that he laments.

America does not need Flake’s courageous retirement. It needs his courageous reelection campaign.

Instead the GOP standard bearer will be Trump apologist Kelli Ward. I know there are those who think this seat is an opportunity for the Democrats, but this is wishful thinking. Flake is surrendering without a fight. In so doing he is sending the message that neither the soul of the Republican Party nor the sobriety of the Senate is worth the fight. Indeed by retiring, Flake undercut one of the central points of his speech:

And there are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. Now is such a time.

But Flake isn't risking anything now. He gets to go home to a nice Congressional pension and perhaps a sinecure at the Kennedy School of Government or some other highbrow institution. Soon Trump will to take to Twitter to mock Flake. Not that he needs any encouragement.

Flake's word would mean a lot more if he was prepared to go down fighting. Yes, there is a good chance he would have lost to Ward in the primary, but at least he would fought for something worthy. It's all the more reason to stay and to fight on. At least he would have tried.

Instead his words are empty calories. In other, Jeff Flake just plain flaked out.