Courtesy of Bastrop Advertiser
May 20, 2021
By Bill McCann
Republicans often brag about being the party of Abraham Lincoln. But as extremists turn the GOP into a circus show, the Republican Party now is more like the party of Rhett Butler.
To borrow Rhett Butler’s words in the movie classic “Gone with the Wind,” many of today’s Republicans frankly, my dear, don’t give a damn. They don’t care about helping the poor and middle class get back on their feet. They don’t care about fixing the nation’s aging roads, bridges and electric system. They don’t care about the increasing threat of climate change to our planet. They especially don’t care about damaging our democracy — given their recent eager efforts to suppress the constitutional right to vote and their support of the big lie that Joe Biden is not our legitimate president because of voter fraud.
Vladimir Putin, who wants to see our nation in turmoil, must be having a good laugh in Russia. Republicans are playing right into Putin’s hands, just as they let former President Donald Trump play into his hands for four years.
By their recent actions, far-right Republicans are showing they are more concerned about regaining and retaining power than they are about the future of our democratic republic. Some of them continue to try to sell themselves as patriots as they attempt to revise history about the Jan. 6 insurrection by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol.
One of their ilk, Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., last week downplayed the insurrection, which we all watched on live television, by comparing the rioters to tourists. But he failed to mention that those “tourists” injured more than 140 police officers and did millions of dollars of damage to the Capitol.
Not to be outdone, homegrown Texas wackadoodle, Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, a staunch Trump supporter, declared there was no evidence that the mob attack was “an armed insurrection,” even though prosecutors have charged multiple persons with possessing firearms or other weapons, according to the Washington Post.
Clyde and Gohmert were among 147 congressional Republicans who voted against certifying Biden as president. The certification, required by the Constitution, was largely ceremonial because the states already had done so. But by inexcusably questioning the legitimacy of Biden’s election, Republicans undermined the nation’s election system. Some of them continue to do so.
Now that Biden is president, and focusing on helping working-class families, Republicans are revving up their old bogeyman called “socialism.” They were OK with helping the wealthy when Trump signed into law a bill doling out huge tax cuts that greatly benefitted rich people and big corporations – some of which have been paying zero federal income taxes. But when Biden pushed through COVID-19 relief legislation, which helps working people, small businesses and states cope with the economic consequences of the pandemic, not one congressional Republican voted for it. Not one, despite strong public support for it.
That didn’t stop Republican hypocrites from later touting parts of the bill to constituents. At least eight of them, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., have encouraged eligible restaurants to apply for assistance under the new law, according to media reports.
Biden also recently proposed comprehensive legislation to upgrade the nation’s roads, bridges, transit systems and other infrastructure, while creating millions of economy-stimulating jobs, and funding it largely by raising taxes on corporations.
Republicans drooled over the idea of an infrastructure bill when Trump was president. Trump kept promising, but never delivered. Now that Biden is delivering on infrastructure, Republicans in Congress are fighting it, even though polls show most Americans favor it. Once again Republicans are pulling political power plays, and their principles are gone with the wind.
