The nation should be scared in the wake of conservative Sen. Jeff Flake’s Oct. 25 announcement that he would not be running for re-election in 2018. Retirement speeches are usually not all that noteworthy; they are an acknowledgment and celebration of the job one has served and the accomplishments that have been made. Flake’s speech was not at all this. Flake gave a scathing speech on the Senate floor that is undoubtedly one of the most critical statements of 2017. The speech was a push for right-wing Republicans to speak up and fight back.

Flake’s speech focused on the fact that Donald Trump’s tendency to cross the line and give the middle finger to the status quo of politics is not something to celebrate; it is something to fear. Flake’s point is that Trump’s approach to life and politics comes with a consequence. He emphasizes that being reckless is not a governing philosophy, and crossing the line just to brag about crossing the line is not a strategy. There is a disease that has infected the system, and if people do not wake up, the virus will only spread.

Many elected Republican officials have remained silent and tolerated Trump’s unpredictability because of the near-term gains they believe they can secure. However, Flake argued that those benefits are not worth the long-term impact of supporting someone like Trump as the leader of the party and the leader of the country. If the Republican Party under Trump does not support independent-minded conservatives, senators like Flake and Bob Corker will be replaced by conservatives who are handpicked because of their blind loyalty to Trump.

The country relies upon a system of checks and balances and compromise between opposing parties. If people continue to be silent, and positions are filled with blind Trump supporters, the country is in more trouble than people think. Flake warned both Republicans and Democrats that the necessary bond between the parties is dangerously tense. He emphasized in his speech that now is the time to make sure this relationship does not break for the sake of the country.

Chris Coons, the Democratic senator from Delaware who opposed Flake on nearly every vote, stated, “[Flake’s] retirement is deeply troubling to me because he represents a principled and patriotic Republican Party, one that has long championed strong American leadership around the world, and one I now fear is falling apart.”

Photo:The White House via flickr