Thursday
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Zelensky’s heroic resistance have crystallized for the world what’s at stake in the clash between democrats and authoritarians. Authoritarianism has also split American Republicans. On the one hand, there are those who either support or tolerate a man who attempted to override the results of the election and overthrow the government. On the other, there are those who still believe in the Constitution—including one who recently quoted Virgil as he took his stand.
While fascists like Marjorie Taylor Green and Madison Cawthorn are particularly toxic, I also have no patience for Trump enablers like former attorney general William, who while now seeking to distance himself from Trump still says he would vote for his former boss, despite having seen his sedition up close. Seeing his equivocations cause me to admire that much more those Republicans, some of whom I have disagreed with vehemently for years, who put their country first. Even before Ukraine, they realized the extent to which the GOP was going down an authoritarian path. Among these are Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol.
The Virgil quoter is Kristol. Here’s a series of tweets he recently posted:
If Liz runs for the Republican nomination in 2024, I’ll donate. I’d vote for her in the [Virginia] primary if it could make a difference. But I’m doubtful that will be the case. I think it’s more likely that in 2024 I’ll be voting not for a Reagan Republican but for a Zelensky Democrat.
Who, you ask, is going to be that Zelensky Democrat? Hoc opus, hic labor est.
The Latin sentence is translated in a third tweet, along with the passage in which it appears:
“The gates of hell are open night and day; Smooth the descent, and easy is the way: But to return, and view the cheerful skies, In this the task and mighty labor lies.” – Virgil, Aeneid, Book 6, lines 126-129, trans. John Dryden
The words are delivered by the Cumaean Sibyl, who is the priestess who presides over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae. Aeneas, unsure whether to continue on with his mission, needs her guidance if he is to consult with his dead father in the underworld.
In other words, Kristol is slightly misusing the passage. Indeed, “underworld” is probably a better word than “hell.” However, I agree with Kristol’s point. It has been easier to give in to Trump than to stand up to him, just as it has been easier to give in to Putin, but in both cases, that has just put people on the glide path to hell. I realize how hard it is to reverse course and vote Democratic. That indeed is where the task and mighty labor lies.
Thank you, NeverTrump Republicans, for being willing to put in the work that will take us back to cheerful skies. When the threat is this dire, we must stand together—here in America, in Ukraine, and in all places where democracy is threatened. New alliances must be formed to save the republic.