The courage to face political threats

Recently I have thought a great deal of the meaning of courage. 

I think of my friends who risked their lives under withering enemy fire in the jungles of Vietnam. And those who succumbed to the threats in Vietnam, survived, but have been burdened by PTSD and went on to live productive lives.

I think of the first responders who went into the horrific fires and danger of the Twin Towers on 9-11 to save the lives of countless others. There is another kind of courage. The courage to face political and physical threats here at home.

Many acts of courage go unnoticed, others are condemned for political reasons. Hagan Scotten is one such example. Before becoming an attorney, he was an Army Ranger for eight years, first in his class at Harvard Law School and was awarded two Bronze Stars. 

Hagan Scotten clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts. He was a highly regarded assistant United States attorney in the criminal division in the Southern District of New York. His service and dedication to the Constitution were recently demonstrated by his decision to resign his position when he was called upon to dismiss an airtight case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

President Trump offered to drop the “airtight” case against Adams if he would do what the President wants, regardless of legality. Scotten responded saying “any attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using prosecutorial power to influence other citizens.” No lawyer can be loyal to the Constitution, but disregard it when convenient. 

Scotten could not make a deal with the devil by following orders he knew were wrong. It‘s a lesson the Republican Party as a whole failed to understand when they succumbed to Trump in 2016.  

Or, when they failed to convict Trump’s impeachment trial in 2021 for trying to overturn the 2020 election. Or helping him win the last election and by enabling oligarchs like Elon Musk, with limitless dark funding, to create the situation America and the world now faces.

Donald Trump has surrounded himself with yes-men and yes-women who tell him only what he wants to hear and do whatever he wants them to do. Some are so unqualified they would never be confirmed to their current position if not for the completely subservient Republican legislators.

But they are confirmed when ordered by the President. If there is no one within earshot who will speak truth to power, then anything is possible for the Trump administration. 

The sooner the American people understand that fundamental truth, the better we can understand the grave situation we now find ourselves.

David James, MA, PhD American History 

Eureka, Montana