Many of us regret the failure the Republican Party has become. They stand for clear things which are regrettable. Restriction of voting rights (many of us want a Democracy), attacking women’s health care and reproductive rights (supposedly they have women they love and care about), refusal to support responsible and effective health care for all (why would they want that?), decimation of social security and Medicare and on and on.
They have fallen to being the antigovernment party in a country of over 300 million people where we need an effective and responsive government to manage our complex economy and the needs of our citizens. While hating Eric Holder they refuse to act on the nomination of Loretta Lynch who is admirably qualified. Perhaps more than a tinge of racism and sexism there.
In all quarters they drag their feet while wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on endless hearings run by the likes of Darrell Issa. But they are good at calling for the decimation of things like food stamps needed by our most disadvantaged citizens. Their list of candidates for the 2016 election is by far the most problematic they have ever fielded in that they are failures at what they lay claim to.
And now they threaten to attack any agreement with Iran. We have an interest in working hard to reach a viable agreement. Or perhaps they would prefer failure of any agreement and to implicitly support a march to nuclear war in the Middle East. And 47 Republican Senators disgrace themselves and their party with a letter to the leader of Iran. And some of them said it was just a joke. Acting like an out of control herd they bypass responsible processes for petty political purposes. It’s not a joke and they should resign or be removed from office. Accountability would instruct their removal. It seems they are the party which promotes war and at the same time, in the name of supposed austerity, are not supporting adequate funding for the healthcare of our returning veterans. They send them to war and then fail to support the needs of those who have given service when they return.
There are substantive issues which need our attention. Hilary Clinton has noted income inequality which is decimating our middle class. She also noted that even if it takes an amendment to the constitution we need to get big money out of our politics. The Supreme Count visited that upon us when they distorted our legal system with their politically inspired decision. So much for an autonomous judiciary. And then there is the matter of teachers going to jail in Atlanta while Wall Street tycoons who brought our economy to its knees go unpunished. We have real governmental work that needs to be done.
Surely we do not need to spend time on the petty issues contrived by the so-called Republican Conservatives who are conserving nothing. They waste our time with petty political pandering, things like endless Benghazi hearings and specious arguments. We can only hope that demographics and the attention of the American public will give them the dismissal they so admirably deserve.
Perhaps I got the title of this Op-Ed wrong. The current crop of so-called Republicans are not in search of authenticity. They seem to be in search of a place in the dustbin of history.
Fiona Foster says
On target – well defined Mr. Burt!