The Editorial Board, USA TODAY Published 5:52 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2019 | Updated 5:58 p.m. ET Oct. 17, 2019

The longer Republicans remain silent on how President Trump is abusing the Republican Party, the more it will sound like the silence of the lambs: Our view

It has longbeen said that Republicans ought toput country over party and stop defending the indefensible behavior of President Donald Trump.

For the most part, this argument hasfallen on deaf ears for the obvious reason thatTrump still enjoys the support of the very same rank-and-file voters whomRepublican lawmakersface in primary elections.

A better argument might be that Republicans need to stand up to Trump for the sake of their party's future.

Some GOP lawmakers have, to theircredit, challengedthe presidenton foreign policy issues such as Russian sanctions and Trump's hasty, ill-conceived decision to withdraw from Syria. But in repeatedlyturning a blind eye to his abuses of office, the GOP is branding itself asbankrupt of principle andinterested only in clinging to power.

More ominously, the GOPisturningindependent voters against it and abandoningpositions such as support for law and order, fiscal responsibility, science, free trade, ethics in government and standing up to dictators abroadthat long formed its political high ground.

For much of Trump's first 1,000 days in office, a party that supposedly values the rule of law sat by as thepresident attackedprosecutors and judges who dared to question his actions. More recently, nearly all of its ostrich-like officeholders have put their heads in the sandasTrump used the power and prestige of the United States to pressureUkraine to investigate a potential general election opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden.

This is the same party that tried to politicize a tragedyat aU.S. compoundin Benghazi, Libya,in 2012 to make it look like a Hillary Clinton scandal. Itis also the party that impeached President Bill Clinton in 1998after he had anaffair with a former White House intern. As the chart belowshows, many of the same Republicans who were quick to impeach or convictthen are now drooling poodles on Trump's lap.

RNC: The future for Republicans, and America, has never looked brighter

Rally on Capitol Hill on Sept. 26, 2019.(Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

If the GOP doesnt recover its values, it will be hard to take the party seriously when it claims that a Democrat is doing something wrong. Its candidates, moreover,will struggle to articulate what their party stands for:

Family values? Not when the president brags of grabbing womenandpayshush money to a porn star.

The rule of law and constitutional governance? Not when the president misuseshis powers for political gain.

Limited government? Not when the president uses levers of powerto go after the head of Amazon, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the state of California, the auto industry, Americas closest allies and many others simply because they refuse to carry his water.

Concern for conflicts of interest?Not when the president selects one his own resorts to hostthe summitof the Group of Sevenmajor industrial nations. (One can only imagine how Republican politicians and conservative media outlets would have reacted if a Democratic president had done the same.)

To be sure, Republican lawmakers are politicians who can't ignore their constituents.But they are also the stewards of the GOPs future who shouldn't be cowering in fear of nasty tweets.

How is it going to help conservatives get elected if their party has offended large swaths of the electorate? Howis toleration for self-dealingand misuse of power going to be a selling point?

As they contemplate these questions, they might actually find that doing the right thing turns out to be thepolitically expedient thing.

Rep. Robert Aderholt, Ala.

Sen. (then-Rep.) Roy Blunt, Miss.

Rep. Kevin Brady, Texas

Sen. (then-Rep.) Richard Burr, N.C.

Rep. Ken Calvert, Calif.

Rep. Steve Chabot, Ohio

Sen. (then-Rep.) Mike Crapo, Idaho

Sen. Mike Enzi, Wyo.

Sen. (then-Rep.) Lindsey Graham, S.C.

Rep. Kay Granger, Texas

Sen. Charles Grassley, Iowa

Sen. James Inhofe, Okla.

Rep. Frank Lucas, Okla.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, Ky.

Sen. (then-Rep.) Jerry Moran, Kan.

Sen. (then-Rep.) Rob Portman, Ohio

Sen. Pat Roberts, Kan.

Rep. Hal Rogers, Ky.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, Wis.

Sen. Richard Shelby, Ala.

Rep. John Shimkus, Ill.

Rep. Chris Smith, N.J.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, Texas

Sen. (then-Rep.) John Thune, S.D.

Rep. Fred Upton, Mich.

Sen. (then-Rep.) Roger Wicker, Miss.

Rep. Don Young, Alaska

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Forget Donald Trump, Republicans. Save the GOP for the sake of your party's future. - USA TODAY