Hannah Arendt, philosopher turned political theorist, covered for the New Yorker the war crimes trial of Adolf Eichmann, the bureaucrat primarily responsible for organizing the Holocaust. Arendt’s assessment was that it was Eichmann’s lack of thought and his desire to be part of a movement that enabled his evil. During his trial, Eichmann revealed himself as having no capacity to think or to will independently, repeatedly reciting in his defense that he was “just following orders.”
Is that what is happening with Republicans in Congress? Have they become mindless bureaucrats rubber stamping everything Project 2025 through that this president orders them to? Do they just want to belong to a movement, namely MAGA, without thinking about the consequences for their constituents? What will Project 2025 through this president demand of congressional Republicans next?
People will surely die because of the bill recently passed by Congress with its cuts to health care and food programs. Funding cuts for education and disaster programs will also have dire consequences for this and future generations. While giving lip service to reducing the deficit, the Republican budget bill will, in fact, add over $3 trillion to our crushing national debt.
This president told his supporters that the 2024 election would be the last time they would have to vote — the last opportunity to think and decide for themselves who should run our government. That is not democracy. It is authoritarianism. Under such a government each of us will be tested. “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” (Romans 14:12)
Kathleen Acklin
Squirrel Hill