"Send not to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee." -- John Donne
"Enough." -- Sen. Jeff Flake
The Republican Party as we have long known it is dying. Whether it survives with the same name it has had since the days of Abraham Lincoln is the question. Realistically, the GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln. It is now the party of Trump.
With the announcements by two senior Republican senators, Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona, that they will not seek re-election next year, along with the clear independence of John McCain, also of Arizona, and their strong opposition to Donald Trump, the party has lost its dominance in the U.S. Senate.
In announcing his decision to retire, made in a speech on the Senate floor, Flake said he has had "enough," and that he cannot follow with "complete and unquestioning loyalty" the demands and instructions of President Donald Trump.
Increasingly, the sentiments spoken by these senators are being discussed privately by others, illustrating the erosion of support for the radical positions pushed by the president.
The danger to democracy is growing, they point out, and they can no longer in good conscience follow the lead of the current president.
In his speech, Flake said, "The impulse to scapegoat and belittle threatens to turn us into a fearful, backward-looking people," and also threatens to transform the GOP into "a fearful, backward-looking minority party."
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