Miami-Dade members of Congress voted to defend party and Trump, not uphold democracy | Opinion

Bringing the chief culprit of the seditious Capitol attack to justice is essential to restoring peace and reconciliation in American political life.

But, in Miami-Dade, our elected leaders denied us our part.

They had two opportunities to stand up for truth and democracy.

Yet Miami’s bull-headed Republican members of Congress chose to uphold the lie that there was election fraud during certification after the deadly riot and desecration of the Capitol — and they voted again in support of the instigator of the insurrection, President Donald Trump, during a historic impeachment hearing.

The final vote, 232-197, was a bipartisan rebuke of Trump and his presidency, but Miami’s congressional representatives chose to pour cement on the divide among us and cause more damage to the fabric of this community, as if four years of Machiavellian Trump hadn’t been enough.

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Remember this defining moment, Miami-Dade voters.

The trio: Diaz-Balart, Gimenez, Salazar

Instead of leading the way out of this nightmarish time in American history like other Republicans are trying to do, Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, a veteran legislator, chameleon Carlos Gimenez (who supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 when it was convenient for his mayoral run), plus freshman Maria Elvira Salazar — who missed the vote to certify Electoral College results, but voted against impeachment on Wednesday — gave credence to false conspiracy theories with their votes.

Instead of putting to rest the outlandish lies about election fraud bandied about by their constituents and wildly spread as if they were absolute truths, they served the interests of the Trump GOP playbook, catering to the anger in sectors of Miami-Dade that refuse to accept the election of Democrat Joe Biden.

They forget that, despite GOP lies weaponized for political gain, Miami-Dade voted for Biden.

They favor bullies who wanted to see Trump installed for a second term at all costs, democracy be damned. They vote in alliance with other Republican politicians in Florida hellbent on seeing to it that Trumpist rage never goes away.

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They chose to be sycophant loyalists, party over country all the way.

Wrong side of history

They chose to indulge people on the wrong side of history, and instead of rising with moral authority to tell the truth, they stood alongside the kind of Miamians radicalized by QAnon who think the rest of the country has been brainwashed by a deep state.

These Cuban-American politicians acted no wiser than the fired-up, intolerant Democrat-hating crowds that don’t let up at Versailles and La Carreta.

They pay lip service to denouncing violence, yet prop up its instigator.

They should take lessons from Ohio Cuban-American Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, also a Republican, whose grandparents “fled Cuba in 1960 under threat of execution from the Castro regime,” the first line in his biography says.

He was one of the 10 Republicans who voted with Democrats to impeach.

“The president of the United States helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “During the attack itself, the president abandoned his post while many members asked for help, thus further endangering all present. These fundamental threats not just to people’s lives but to the very foundation of our Republic.”

What Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Salazar offered by way of an explanation in statements were nothing but excuses about timing and procedural shade not to impeach.

All of it easily debunked with one example from the history books.

When the Watergate tapes surfaced, proving Richard Nixon had lied about his role in the break-in at Democratic headquarters, the Republicans forced him to resign within a week before he was impeached by the House.

But those were Republicans with backbone and dignity.

To gauge the damage Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar have done with their votes, you have to imagine the opposite scenario.

If only they had chosen to educate their constituents on what a real democracy is all about, they could help shape a better, more inclusive and tolerant Miami.

If only they had acted with the courage of Gonzalez or Liz Cheney, who minced no words when she said: “The president of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the president.”

But so much for moving forward in Miami-Dade County from the hateful time capsule of Trump time.

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Harm to the cause of a free Cuba

Their political cowardice also will harm the cause of a free Cuba, the homeland they purport to defend at a time when people are suffering the worst repression. By supporting a U.S. president attempting to stage a coup, they lost credibility to call out dictators. If they can’t even clean up their own house of lies, deceit and president-inspired and guided violence, they yield no moral authority to stand up to others abroad.

Maybe, just maybe the sobering truth will set in at some point.

The House impeached Trump for a record-setting second time. What the Senate does remains to be seen, but the writing on the wall tilts to nothing.

But the political reality remains that Democrats will control both the House and the Senate, and Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20.

Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Salazar will have a choice to make, to become bipartisan players — or irrelevant.

Pro-Trump vote in Washington hurts Miami

They’ve done great harm to Miami, where the rabid Trump crowd will hang on to their votes as proof that they’re fighting a righteous cause by defending the indefensible.

They’ve given wings to conspiracy theorists who alarm people who don’t know better, particularly in the insular world of those who speak only Spanish, especially among new Cuban refugees who don’t see how they’re trading communism for fascism. They’re newcomers who should be educated about what a true democracy entails instead of being radicalized into serving the enemy with their newfound intolerance in exile.

They’ve become victims victimizing others who disagree with them.

That is what, sadly, Trump-crazy Miami has become.

At a time when elected leaders should be helping the nation heal, Diaz-Balart, Gimenez and Salazar divide and contribute nothing to the betterment of this country.

Shame on them.