September 10, 2002
Republican Before American
by YT Cai
Last week, after watching Senator Mitch McConnell on Hardball jettison his strict Constitutional constructionist beliefs to support Bush's "it's my decision alone" approach towards Iraq, it dawned on me what is wrong with Republicans. They will always be Republicans before they would even consider their roles as Americans.
There are many other traits that are bothersome about the leaders of the Republican party. Among them are:
- mean-spiritedness -- a gleeful willingness to destroy anyone that stands in the way of the GOP agenda;
- selfishness -- a me-first attitude that has no understanding of or compassion towards anyone who doesn't have the same opportunities that they enjoy;
- closed-mindedness -- steeped in bigotry against anyone who doesn't hold the views that they do, whether it be in position, race, or religious beliefs.
All of these demonstrated qualities can be understood in the context a personal belief system. That is something that one could either agree or disagree with based on your own life's experiences. However, when they put their personal political interests ahead of what is outlined in the Constitution, it controverts the very document that they swore to uphold.
Turn the tables with the 2000 presidential election. Gore is ahead by few hundred votes and the Supreme Court, who has no legitimate role in election dispute resolution, decides to end the recount. Would the Republicans have been as silent or accepting as their Democrat counterparts were?
Under the same scenario, and if 9/11 still would have happened, the Gore Justice Department hauled out the Patriot's Act and the many other draconian measures sucking away the rights of individuals. These same people who are lining up behind Bush and Ashcroft, not only unquestioning, but actually in support of policies that they would otherwise condemn brings me to the most unappealing Republican trait of them all -- hypocrisy.
The Constitution is certainly open to interpretation, but in certain areas it is implicit in expressing how our republic shall deal with matters of grave importance. Going to war only through a vote in the Congress could not be clearer. For Bush to cite a 10 year old U.N. resolution to attack Iraq is above hypocrisy, considering that he has done everything in his power to deride and marginalize the U.N. since his appointment.
Bush leads by example, and the Republicans are more than willing to forget where their first loyalties should lie.
YT Cai
