No Plausible Deniability Here: Congressional Cowardice Compromises All of US
I’m returning to the U.S. to visit my family soon. I was born and bred in the U.S., so for those who like to say “go back to your own country,” this is MY country. My ancestors’ blood, sweat, and tears helped build billions of dollars of value without getting a penny for their effort. My family has given their service in generations of conflicts and wars, despite 400 years of slavery, Jim Crow, and the “DEI Deranged” nonsense that consistently tells them “we hate you.”
I consider myself a true patriot, willing to critique my government and dedicated to offering real solutions to make life better for ALL Americans. Now I am receiving several communications from frightened friends and family about the digital footprint and my safety at U.S. border crossings.
Is this what we’ve come to? Is this the United States of America?
More to the point: Do those “freedom-loving” Republican members of Congress not see what’s happening in the U.S.?
Of course they do.
They see citizens, especially Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and immigrant communities, preparing digital “go bags” in case the border closes or democracy cracks. They see Americans self-censoring online, avoiding protests, or quietly moving funds offshore, just in case the next election is the last free one.
They see it all. But they’re not blind. They’re complicit. They’re collaborators.
For the rest of us, these exhibitions of government overreach aren’t some paranoid fever dream. This is the lived experience of millions of Americans who still believe in this country’s promise — even as that promise is being stripped from them, pixel by pixel, vote by vote, right by right.
Many Republican lawmakers have embraced this erosion of democracy because it benefits their power and feeds their greed. Cowardly Senators like Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney know exactly what’s happening — but claim they’re too afraid to confront this madness.
“There are a lot of people who just don’t want to get involved because it’s just too scary,” Murkowski said in a 2023 interview with The Atlantic (source).
During a recent town hall, Murkowski admitted:
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski said. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell you, I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
Really, Lisa? You’re afraid? Has ICE come up on a family member to bundle them off to a South American gulag?
Romney, in turn, confided to author McKay Coppins, saying, “I spend $5,000 a day on private security,” not because his constituents threaten him, but because his party’s base does (source).
Oh, so that’s how it’s done. Just $5000 a day, and you, too, can fend off the talons of tyranny. Of course, that didn’t work out so well for Vladimir Putin’s opponents.
Let’s be very clear: If sitting U.S. Senators and Representatives are terrified of MAGA extremists, what chance do the rest of us have?
Romney and Murkowski can access personal security, insider briefings, private planes, and legal teams. The average American does not. We can’t afford round-the-clock protection. What we can afford is courage. And far too often, it’s everyday people — activists, poll workers, librarians, teachers — who summon it. Not senators. Not Congress. Us.
Meanwhile, rights are under siege.
- Voting rights have been gutted across red states through restrictive ID laws and voter roll purges (source).
- Books are being banned in public schools and libraries at historic levels, targeting LGBTQ+ and Black authors (source).
- Trans kids are being legislated out of existence in multiple states — blocked from accessing healthcare, bathrooms, and sports teams (source).
And in the background, MAGA think tanks are plotting their next move. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 lays a blueprint for turning the federal government into an instrument of retribution — centralizing power in the executive branch, ending civil service protections, and purging “disloyal” employees (source).
That’s not democracy. That’s dictatorship in slow motion.
And when the American people demand accountability, what do too many GOP lawmakers do? They duck and cover. They deflect. They blame “wokeism,” George Soros, drag queens, immigrants, anyone, and anything but themselves.
They hope that by staying silent, they won’t be targeted. But their silence is not neutral. It’s not passive. It’s a green light to the forces trying to destroy our republic from within.
To those lawmakers who still possess a conscience — Republican or otherwise — here is your moment of truth: Will you be remembered as someone who helped preserve democracy, or as someone who stood by while it fell?
To the rest of us: We see what’s happening. We must keep seeing it. We must keep speaking, marching, organizing, running, voting, exposing, protecting, and building. Because if history has taught us anything, it’s this: Authoritarians do not stop until they are stopped.
No more plausible deniability. No more cowardice cloaked in “civility.” This is the fight of our lives. And some of us are fighting it without a security detail.
Patrick Henry once said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Or at least give me freedom from being hassled about my digital life and political opinions at the border. This tyranny must end. This administration is bad for business, bad for citizens, bad for humans, bad for our country, and bad for our world.
