J.D. Vance is the one who has advocated for "open rebellion" against the United States

As a recovering therapist, my brain is still hard-wired to wonder about the motivations behind the absurd behavior of MAGA politicians. So when Sen. J.D. Vance all of the sudden is garnering headlines for doing things like raging against diversity initiatives or smearing Ukrainian President Zelinsky, I think that perhaps he's gotten jealous of all the attention the Republican chaos agents in the House have garnered lately. A sure-fire way to rouse the MAGA troops is to push the boundaries of extremism. So Vance is basically saying "Look at me! I can be a chaos agent too!"

But one of the other actions Vance took lately caught my eye. He wrote a letter to AG Garland and Sec of State Blinken demanding answers regarding a recent Washington Post op-ed that he said suggested "open rebellion" against the United States.

The article in question was written by NeverTrump Republican Robert Kagan, an opinion columnist at the Washington Post. The rather lengthy piece was focused on documenting the fact that the odds of an American dictatorship in the next few years are pretty good - given the possible election of Donald Trump. Near the end, Kagan devotes two paragraphs to a couple of options he thinks we'll have as citizens if he's right - both of which he dismisses as unlikely or ineffective. Here's the one Vance focused on:

Resistance could come from the governors of predominantly Democratic states such as California and New York through a form of nullification. States with Democratic governors and statehouses could refuse to recognize the authority of a tyrannical federal government. That is always an option in our federal system. (Should Biden win, some Republican states might engage in nullification.) But not even the bluest states are monolithic, and Democratic governors are likely to find themselves under siege on their home turf if they try to become bastions of resistance to Trump’s tyranny.

Personally, I didn't think that Kagan's article was based on solid reasoning - including that paragraph. But what I could have done is write a response documenting my own thoughts. That is what civil discourse in this country ought to look like.

That's not what Vance did. In his letter he accused Kagan of advocating for "secession, treason, and (likely) political violence," demanding that DOJ open an investigation.

Beyond the fact that such an investigation would take direct aim at free speech, I would remind Senator Vance that his MAGA colleagues in the House have openly called for secession.

But the real reason all of this caught my eye was the blatant hypocrisy. As a reminder, here's what Vance said during an interview with Jack Murphy, head of the Liminal Order men’s group.

“I tend to think that we should seize the institutions of the left,” he said. “And turn them against the left. We need like a de-Baathification program, a de-woke-ification program.”...

“And when the courts stop you,” he went on, “stand before the country, and say—” he quoted Andrew Jackson, giving a challenge to the entire constitutional order—“the chief justice has made his ruling. Now let him enforce it.”

Vance wants Republicans to "seize the institutions of the left," and implement a "de-woke-ification program." If the courts get in the way, he'd basically tell them to f*ck off. 

I know that it has become rather banal these days to point to Republican hypocrisy. But as long as I still have a voice, I'm determined to call out J.D. Vance for the fascist he's proven himself to be. He has no business lecturing anyone about "open rebellion" against the United States!