As reported by The Blaze on July 1, the Senate had just passed Trump’s “big beautiful bill” in a 51 to 50 decision, Vice President J. D. Vance casting the deciding vote. Three Republican Senators, Susan Collins [Maine], Thomas Tillis [N. Carolina], and Rand Paul [Kentucky], had endangered the bill’s passage by voting against it. While a good deal has been published suggesting the 3 are traitors to the Republican cause, they clearly put their status in the party in jeopardy because they felt conscience-bound to do so. Such integrity is essential to honest, open, political debate, is indeed the key to narrowing the ridiculous gap that presently separates the Left from the Right.
Bill Maher continues to see himself as a liberal though he has harshly criticized certain aspects of the Left he finds utterly absurd. After meeting with Trump a few weeks ago, he openly admitted the man had not proven to be the monster he had expected. In the same way those of a conservative perspective need to make Common Sense rather than Party Fealty their guiding light, criticizing Trump when he has clearly stepped out of bounds. As is obvious from these blogs, I agree with the man on issues such as border security, D.E.I. mandates, government waste, law and order, etc.. Yet as his methods frequently entail a level of bullying that is morally questionable if not unconstitutional, it is mandatory that members of his own party not simply bow in submission to his every whim. The 3 Republican senators who found certain aspects of his “big beautiful bill” unacceptable, had every right to do so. I am not suggesting I necessarily agree with their objections, but rather that their willingness to speak their own mind rather than merely falling in line with what is expected of them, represents the kind of intellectual integrity that is absolutely essential to the functioning of any healthy democracy. I am a conservative because I believe such intellectual integrity [i.e. common sense] is one of the defining characteristics of that multitude of conservatives [i.e., Rational Humanists] whom I admire.