“And so we are not just the country of the president. We have a Congress. We have a Supreme Court. But most importantly, we have the people of the USA, the voters, the voters and the voters. “

No doubt what Powell’s doing here: he calls and removes Republican lawmakers for absolute surrender to every whim of Trump. He tries to remind them that the government founds three equal-equal parts of the government, not a legislative body that lives and does what the country’s founders fear of execution.

This is what the Republican Party in Washington has been doing in the past three years. While Trump had almost no choice of any of the major Republican leaders in Washington during the 2016 campaign, it became clear that after his GOP candidacy march and his striking victory over Hillary Clinton, it would force them to a very clear choice: Are you with me or against me?

Trump’s political worldview did not allow any nuances or differentiation. Either with him – in general, at least 100% of the time – or you became his enemy – and therefore, someone he will try to destroy. (And yes, this is an incredibly simple way to look at politics and the world.)

So, at a very early date headed by Trump, Republican leaders had to make a choice: are you fully aligned with Trump (and you get some of your key priorities such as more conservative judges, tax breaks, etc.) or your independence legislature and chief executive Is there a tense relationship risk that could jeopardize these priorities?

Even among these alarming signs, however, very few Republicans are likely to respond to Powell’s call to stand up against them and the President.

My mother was a word among Congressional Republicans, with a few notable exceptions, such as Sens Lisa Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah), after ex-Defense Minister James Mattis’s critique of the President last week. .

South Carolina You. “To blame Trump for everything is politically trendy – and I’m not buying it,” said Lindsey Graham.

“I didn’t follow, I’m sorry,” said Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy.

This silence (or sticking of the head in the sand) is what Trump bought with his policy recommendations. The verbal agreement made by Congressional Republicans was that they would use Trump for a long time to achieve conservative priorities in exchange for unlimited political loyalty to a man who was not up to a few years before deciding to run for president in 2016. There is a republican on various topics ranging from trade to deficits, and opinions that directly oppose those adopted by the GOP organization just a few years ago.

Nobody knew what the price of this silent loyalty would be in early 2017. As of today, a Democratic president and a Democratic Controlled Congress could lead to January 2021. And even beyond that, the unwillingness to offer any real policy and criticism of criticism beyond Trump and a traditional “conservative” definition could take the GOP brand back much longer than a single choice.

The question every Republican should ask them, perhaps later, is this: Is it worth it?