Sunday School 11/22/20: Extra Credit

Last week, I said that many GOP officials were "weaselly scaredy cats" for not standing up to the president's assault on our election systems and processes. 

In yesterday's Sunday School, I quoted Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who said that we're "beginning to look like a banana republic" and that

I just don't think that there are a lot of profiles in courage, frankly... I mean - we all know how vindictive the president can be, how powerful his Twitter account is, and how he can really pressure Republicans and go after them. Very few of us are willing to stand up.

In yesterday's This Week classroom, former NJ Gov. Chris Christie took his stand, more firmly than he had immediately after the election. Here's his exchange with George Stephanopoulos, who opened the door for Christie.

And Chris, let me begin with you. I remember well, in the hours after president Trump's speech on -- early Wednesday morning, the day after the election, you said it's incumbent on him to come forward with the evidence. There have now been 34 court cases the president has lost. We saw Pennsylvania last night. We saw Pat Toomey, the senator from Pennsylvania, say it's time for the president to enable this transition; it's time for the president to concede. The president's response was to attack Pat Toomey on Twitter. Is it finally time for this to end?

Christie was clear in his response -- and it's what every Republican should be saying. 

Yes, and -- and here's the reason why. The president has had an opportunity to access the courts. And I said to you, you know, George, starting at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, if you've got the evidence of fraud, present it. And what's happened here is, quite frankly, the content that the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment, Sidney Powell accusing Governor Brian Kemp of a crime on television, yet being unwilling to go on TV and defend and lay out the evidence that she supposedly has.

This is outrageous conduct by any lawyer. And notice, George, they won't do it inside the courtroom. They allege fraud outside the courtroom, but when they go inside the courtroom, they don't plead fraud and they don't argue fraud. This is what I was concerned about at 2:30 in the morning on Wednesday night. Listen, I've been a supporter of the president's. I voted for him twice. But elections have consequences, and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn't happen.

You have an obligation to present the evidence. The evidence has not been presented. And you must conclude, as Tucker Carlson even concluded the other night, that if you're unwilling to come forward and present the evidence, it must mean the evidence doesn't exist. That's what I was concerned about starting on election night, and I remain concerned today.

I think it's wrong. I think what you've heard lots of Republicans starting to say this; I said it on election night; and I hope more say it going forward. Because the country is what has to matter the most. As much as I'm a strong Republican and I love my party, it's the country that has to come first.

Heck, author John Bolton took a stand. I am no fan of his, but even he managed to find a dollop of conviction, now that his book's out and he's no longer under Trump's thumb. Bolton spoke with Jake Tapper in the CNN SOTU classroom. 

In response to Tapper's question on whether this is "essentially a nonviolent attempted coup," here's what Bolton had to say.

I think that gives Trump too much credit. I think he's just playing for time, in hopes that something will emerge that allows him either to have a good reason why he's lost or, in his mind, maybe still to win. But I think that simply emphasizes the need for senior Republican leaders to join those who have begun to come out and say Trump's behavior is inexcusable.

Look, the Republican Party is not going to be saved by hiding in a spider hole. We need all of our leaders to come out and say the election is over. We're not talking about an abstract right to use -- for Trump to use his legal remedies. We have passed that. We're three weeks after the election. He doesn't have any evidence. He doesn't have any legal theories. 

Look, for those who are worried about Trump's reaction, there's strength in numbers. The more who come out and say, he doesn't represent us, he is not following a Republican game plan here, the safer they will be.

He also said of Republicans,

Well, I don't think we are a bunch of cowards, but I do think it's a character test, which is why people have to speak up. The longer Trump rambles through our electoral system causing damage without Republican opposition, the more the Democrats are going to say that it is a Republican Party characteristic, and that you can't trust them with the instruments of government. I think, if we have -- people don't have to say what Trump's doing is outrageous. Just say it's wrong. I will be satisfied with that.

I think it's very important for everybody to understand that, at noon on the 20th of January, Donald Trump is no longer president. The dynamic changes enormously. I'm not saying he's going to disappear. That's, unfortunately, not going to happen...

But it's not the same as his -- him being able, as he did on Friday, to haul people into the Oval and put pressure on them. That's all going to be gone. You can -- you can say what you think without worrying about a Trump Twitter rant that will just be a bunch of damp squibs by that point. And that's what people need to understand. Far better to start that process now than to wait for him to cause more damage.

Yes -- it would be far better to not allow him to cause more damage - it's easy to agree with him on that, as much as I find agreeing with him disagreeable.  

For your Extra Credit, I ask you to take a stand, too. Write, call or email your elected officials, regardless of party, and tell them what you think about this. Send a letter to your local paper, TV station, radio station - wherever you can find a platform to make your voice heard. Social media is just as good as any of the traditional media outlets. 

Don't let the president do any more damage.  

See you around campus. Wear your mask, and please, honor whatever regulations are in place where you are.