Here, right matters

I was planning on doing a full recap of yesterday's explosive testimony.

But that doesn't matter. Nothing matters, save for this exchange.

Today, I asked Lt. Col. Vindman why he had the confidence to put himself in direct opposition to the most powerful person in the world and still tell his dad not to worry.

His answer: "Because this is America... here, right matters."

Watch my full line of questioning ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/IHVUTQIHx8

— Sean Patrick Maloney (@RepSeanMaloney) November 19, 2019

As I've written before, I'm a child of immigrants. My family, like Alexander Vindman's, fled a dictatorship to find freedom in this country.

This matters. For all its faults, for all its myriad imperfections and outright crimes, another America has always existed. One where might does not make right. One where political power is in the hands of the beautician, the mill worker, the cashier, the busboy. One where service to the ideal of this country is the most honorable service in which one can engage.

I will be frank: I didn't always have this view of this country. It had disappointed me so many times, in so many ways.

But that flew out the window in 2016. What this daunting time has taught me is that this country and its promise are worth fighting for. That the promise is real, and achievable, by women and men of good conscience, not blinkered by hatred and resentment.

We're in a dark time. But we've survived slavery, and Civil War, and Depression, and the onslaught of totalitarians who make anything Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin attempt to do childish. We are the nation which says "Yes we can." We are the singular nation worth fighting for—not because we are better than anyone else, but because this is home. Where else can we go? We are Americans. This country's rhythms and language are bred into us. We can no more escape them or set them aside than a tiger her stripes. We are who we are.

This is another tweet which caught my eye:

“Never ever give up on the United States of America. Her capacity for recovery & renewal is remarkable.” My Dad gave me that sage advice in the 1970s when things looked very bad & the nation was in deep despair. 🇺🇸 https://t.co/Kn6aAdsCE4

— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) November 19, 2019

We've been through this before. This may be our greatest challenge since 1861. But we've seen this movie. The history of this country is a history of struggle. It will ever be thus. But this country is what it is because it doesn't give up the struggle. Men and women have fought for justice for two centuries. They've fought to perfect this Union. Our conception of America in 2019 would be alien to someone from 1819. We are a living, growing organism, and most of us strive to evolve, not devolve. There is 30% of this country which wants to turn back to a time which never existed. They can't be reached. The damage is too severe. Let them go.

This is America. And though many times it doesn't seem so, here, in this place, in this chaotic and seemingly ungovernable nation, right matters. This is evidenced by all the public servants who are standing up to someone who, on paper, is the most powerful man in the world. Here, right matters.