In 2000, Taiwan had its first peaceful transition of power. The KMT had ruled the island since the 1940s, under martial law for much of that time, and there was a lot on the line: a loss of power and their ultimate goal of unification with China, and the possibility...(1/9)

... that China would force unification on its own terms b/c it feared the incoming DPP president would move toward independence. Yet with so much at stake, the KMT didn’t launch an effort to discredit the election. It didn’t consider reinstating martial law or...(2/9)

...forcing a “re-do” of the election. There were some protests, but ironically, the protests were organized by KMT members who were angry at President Lee Teng-hui, who they believed chose a successor who could never win an election. In other words, some elements...(3/9)

...of the party turned on its leader, ultimately forcing him to resign as party chair a year ahead of schedule. He never had influence in the KMT again. Why did the Taiwanese show such good judgment, both in terms of their acceptance of the election outcome, and it’s...(4/9)

rejection of violence? Because they had experienced the brutality of one-party rule. They sacrificed blood and treasure to liberalize and democratize. They knew an election outcome that didn’t favor their candidate was still a good thing, b/c it meant that Taiwan was free...(5/9)

...and the people had a voice. When the system allows the people to choose, everyone is a winner even if their candidate loses. Freedom and self determination are valuable in their own right. (6/9)

Why the GOP cannot grasp this, I don’t know. It’s shameful. Maybe in 2020, 246 years out from our own fight for freedom, we’ve lost the collective memory of what it’s like to not be free. We don’t understand what’s at stake. We’ve become tribalists and don’t care...(7/9)

...if some other group suffers. Absent a foreign military threat, we aren’t in this together anymore.

Would that the GOP would turn its misplaced rage inward, at the wannabe autocrat who caused their loss, and not at the system that made us a nation to be admired...(8/9)

...and emulated for decades. It’s shameful. It’s Un-American. They have damaged the cause of freedom and democracy worldwide.

It could have been different. (9/9)