A deeply respected veteran journalist speaks with clarity and urgency about the moral crisis facing the Republican Party.
Republican politicians were quick to distance themselves from Donald Trump's vicious and disgusting attack on MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski's appearance and intellect.
But none withdrew their support from him. None withdrew their support for his disastrous, immoral agenda. And none admitted to turning a blind eye to his misogyny.
This evening, Dan Rather appeared on MSNBC's Chris Hayes and called out this behavior for exactly what it is.
DAN RATHER: Where in the Republican Party are there any profiles in courage? There is a name for what we've been talking about, playing both sides when a bad tweet comes out. To say 'that's terrible,' then go back to supporting the president. The words are, tough words. One of the words is hypocrisy. Another of the words is cowardice. Nobody wants to go that strong but we need to see things clearly. That's what we're seeing. An until we have some profiles in courage, within the Republican Party itself, this situation is not likely to change.
Earlier today, Rather weighed in on Facebook with a post eviscerating Trump for his vile behavior by drawing a comparison to Joe McCarthy:
Senator McCarthy once was powerful, and then the fever broke and much of the country saw a small, vile, hateful man. His name is now an epithet for an era of shame in our country's history.
...Imagine if McCarthy had Twitter. There can be no more surprise about the level of cruelty or recklessness we are witnessing today.
That post has garnered more than 100,000 interactions.
Dan Rather will keep speaking truth.
And while Republicans will do no more than utter a few words of condemnation for a few of Trump's tweets, the American people will continue to act.
And eventually, the fever will break.
