In The Time of Trump, Watch Congress As Well

This week, in one of the first moves of the Republican controlled Congress, the House voted to remove an independent ethics panel which is meant to check and investigate misconduct of Congress.  The same Republicans who have a long history of decrying the morality of others, the same Republicans who have done as much as they can to investigate any and all claims of ethical violations of Democrats, now want no oversight on their own actions. Yes, they might have “changed course” for now, after Trump suggested it is not the best time to make the fight, but they have indicated their interest to disregard ethical concerns now that they run Congress.

It must also be made clear, Trump is no hero here. He supported the Republican position, saying it would be unfair for them to have to follow ethical standards. His concern was that this would delay and get in the way with his own agenda, and he wanted to make sure Congress was working with him to make sure his desires get preference to theirs.

This really is not too surprising. They want to lord it over others. They will be the first to require others to be morally responsible, and will make all kinds of arguments against others for their lack of moral restraint. But, as should be clear here, they fear what happens when that same judgment comes back upon themselves. This is not to say Democrats are morally superior: they are not. It is to say, however, we are getting a sign of the way things are going to be in their administration, where ethical concerns will be overshadowed by power play, and the justice which needs to be enacted for the betterment of the nation, the justice which would make America great again, will be the last thing we should expect from such a new house of unethical lords.

Jesus told his disciples not to be like the Gentile authorities of his time: they used their authority as just cause to lord it over others, without any consideration of the purpose of that authority:

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them.  It shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave; even as the Son of man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:25-8 RSV).

This, sadly, is not being heeded by the so-called Christians put in charge of the nation. The same politicians who have decried immorality want no investigation to be done on themselves, no independent watch dog to make sure they represent the morality which they claim to follow. They are hypocrites who are the first to complain if they have to be checked to see if they are morally fit for office while they are the first to demand others to prove their morality in order to be treated justly as a person. How many of them make or try to establish laws that require the poor, barely making it and with no time to spend on their own, to go through insane levels of investigation just to receive basic humane treatment?