Yes, you should not ridicule or underestimate your political opponents. That requires respect and decency. But given the way Republicans have been behaving lately, that necessity is difficult, very difficult, to fulfill.
Consider the behavior of Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature. The Grand Old Party (GOP) has a super majority there. In other words, she can do whatever she wants. And she too. For example, she recently expelled two young members of the Democratic Party for alleged inappropriate behavior.
What was their crime? The two young blacks had joined a protest of youths demonstrating for stricter gun laws — especially for a ban on the AR-15 killer weapon. In Nashville, three nine-year-old children and three adults were shot dead with one of these AR-15s in one of the school massacres that have now become commonplace in the United States.
The Republicans did not drop an absolute no-go in excluding the two. As mentioned, they were black. A white member of parliament, who had also demonstrated, was not excluded. And one particularly bright Republican didn’t hesitate to hurl at the young protesters, “What gun do you want to be shot with?”
The Republican power rally also had what is commonly referred to as “undesirable consequences,” and serious ones at that: The exclusion of young black people sparked a nationwide storm of protest. The two hitherto completely unknown provincial politicians became national heroes overnight – rightly so, both are rhetorically brilliant – and both had to be immediately reinstated under pressure from the street.
The Democrats, meanwhile, gained welcome sympathy points in the southern state of Tennessee, which is largely ruled by the Republicans. The representatives of the GOP, on the other hand, stand there as hillbilly and lackeys of the gun lobby NRA. You should know that the vast majority of Americans want stricter gun laws.
A vast majority of Americans – and American women in particular – also want abortion to remain legal. This is no longer the case in all parts of the country. Last summer, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a ruling that legalized abortion across the country for about 50 years. Since then, individual states have had the choice of severely restricting abortion or even banning it altogether.
The repeal of “Roe vs Wade” was only possible because Donald Trump managed to name three new justices and select conservative representatives during his term. By overturning the national legalization of abortion, these judges sparked a national outcry and played a key role in the Republican midterm elections that turned out worse than hoped.
Even in a conservative state like Kansas, voters in a referendum clearly rejected stricter abortion laws. In Wisconsin, a so-called swing state where elections are usually on the cutting edge, a progressive Democrat won a seat on the state’s Supreme Court with a clear majority. Reason: Your Republican opponent is a self-proclaimed opponent of abortion.
Anyone who thought that the Republicans had learned their lesson from this and would hold back on the abortion issue is mistaken. On the contrary, they go one step further. A conservative judge in Texas appointed by Trump has ruled that the abortion pill Mifepriston should be banned nationwide. The drug has been used for more than 20 years, has been declared safe by the FDA, and is used in more than 50 percent of all abortions.
With this verdict, the conservative judge put his foot between two stools. On the one hand, he wants to use this method to make abortion through the back door more difficult nationwide, while the Supreme Court has announced the exact opposite, namely to make abortion a state affair again. In doing so, he reinforces the suspicion that the fundamentalists in the GOP want to ban abortion again at the national level.
On the other hand, the Republicans are not only alienating women, but also the pharmaceutical industry. How can a judge throw overboard the findings of science and health experts with a stroke of the pen is the obvious question. In a statement, the pharmaceutical industry spoke flatly: “If courts can withdraw approvals for a drug without regard to science and evidence (…), then any drug is at risk.”
Ron DeSantis, said to be “Trump with a brain”, is also now getting involved in the abortion issue. Florida’s governor just signed into law a law banning abortion after six weeks. This amounts to a de facto ban on abortion. Until a year ago, abortion was legal in Florida up to the 24th week of pregnancy. In a first step, this period was shortened to 15 weeks.
Florida women, including Republicans, are opposed to this law. DeSantis signed it anyway because he still hopes to become the GOP’s presidential nominee. Currently, he can fulfill this hope. Recent polls show that he is once again far behind Donald Trump.
This brings us to the elephant in the GOP’s living room. Trump rules the party like he did in May – and he will lead them to ruin. Marc Thiessen, a very conservative commentator and long-time Trump fan, shows in the “Washington Post” why that is.
Here are some numbers from a CNN poll: While 76 percent of those polled believe the Stormy Daniels trial against Trump is politically motivated, 60 percent support the charge. This is even 62 percent among the most important independent voters.
For Thiessen, this is a wake-up call for the GOP. Trump has become so toxic that voters are voting for everyone but him. Another study confirms this. Only 37 percent of independent voters want Trump to return. The other part never wants to see him in the White House again. “These voters don’t want him reelected,” Thiessen said. “They want him charged.”
The GOP relies on the gun lobby, abortion bans, and Trump. All certain loser cards. In public, the crazy people, the “crazy ones” like Marjorie Taylor Green, Matt Gaetz, and Jim Jordan, shape her image. The system of primaries leaves the Republicans no other choice, because in these primaries the radicalized grassroots has the say. That is why extremists like Herschel Walker and Dr. Oz through, candidates who lost in the crucial election.
The Republicans have good other options. When it comes to the economy, Americans remain very insecure. Four in five believe their children will one day have it worse than themselves. And as Bill Clinton said, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Instead of embracing this with ball, GOP officials are waging hopeless culture wars and inciting a waking frenzy that is largely imagined.
Yes, one should not ridicule the political opponent. But the Republicans leave you no choice at this point. Real.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
