A few years ago, Republicans raised a kerfuffle that the other major party should not refer to itself as the “Democratic” party but rather the “Democrat” party. Their argument was that Americans, of any party, who believe in freedom, liberty and the Constitution, are democratic.
I do not recall Republicans offering to change to the “Republic” party. Apparently, they support adjectives only when it suits them.
Leaving aside the fact that the Dem party’s official and registered name has been “Democratic” since 1844, how ironic does the Republican objection seem in a post-insurrection context? Their party leader made unproven claims about a stolen election and then inspired his followers to storm the Capitol building; and it was his faithful followers in Congress who called the bloody insurrection a “tourist visit” by “patriots.”
Those actions are the opposite of democratic.
Republicans in Congress engineered a Supreme-Court-packing that resulted in the rollback of the fundamental right for women to make their own healthcare decisions. Three of Donald Trump’s appointees to the court misled Congress, and the American people, about how they would rule on Roe vs Wade.
The Republican party earlier supported and celebrated the Supreme Court decision that unshackled corporations and PACs to provide unlimited sums to candidates who would then, when elected, rig the system in behalf of those donors. Not very democratic that.
Under Trump, the Republicans handed a trillion-dollar tax break to the wealthiest Americans and ran the same old jive past the rest of us that the sum of all those tax breaks would “trickle down.” It never has since Ronald Reagan and his Congress first ran that scam, and it never will. How democratic is it to benefit the top 2% of Americans to the detriment of the rest?
There is so much more to say about Republican hypocrisy and anti-democratic behavior, such as the current Republican platform that, if they held the majority in the Senate, would bring up for a vote the funding of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security every few years. Are you listening Baby Boomers?
Given that Republican candidate websites in Connecticut – and, indeed, across the land – have been scrubbed of policy comments on women’s rights, voting rights and gun safety, all top-of-mind issues with voters, you might think they are ashamed of their positions. You would be wrong. They know their positions are unpopular with voters. Candidates who hide from you deserve to be called out on it. They do not deserve your vote.
You will hear plenty from the Republic (sic) Party about the economy, certainly a fundamentally important issue but not, most reasonable people would agree, as important as the preservation of democracy. Voters are smart enough to understand that the economy works in cycles, and that what goes down will eventually – maybe even soon – come back up.
Is it at all reasonable to think that a reinvigorated economy will be better accomplished under an authoritarian party whose only governing policy is to remain in (or gain) power? Give me a fully functioning democratic republic anytime.
Lawrence Gavrich lives in Avon.