Political opinion by Richard Bleil
A meme on my social media reminded me that the GOP lost their minds when they caught Bill Clinton having an inappropriate sexual encounter and screamed for his impeachment, and yet with the current president, who has been involved with hush money, sexual assault, racism, nepotism, emolument clause violations, abuse of power obstruction of justice and criminal conspiracy, has elicited nothing but protectionism from these same senators.
This is hypocrisy.
I’m not claiming that the Democratic senators are any better, but I’m truly tired of this kind of attitude. These types of actions are a clear indication that senators are not representing or feel like they need to answer to the American people, but instead, to their parties. It should never be like this. Political leaders, in any office, represent not just the people in their districts of their parties, but all of the people. By being true to their parties, they are leaving their other constituents unrepresented.
My opinion is that party affiliation should represent a leaning, not a loyalty. If I were to run for office, it would probably be in the Republican party because I lean conservative. Unfortunately the Republican party no longer represents my ideals or morals, so I could never actually be affiliated with them. Instead, I would have to go independent. Because I have a mind of my own, and am not afraid to use it, I cannot belong to either party. I believe in fiscal responsibility, and would rather fix the national debt than spend money, but I do have heart and want to protect families and refugees. Conservative leaning, but I have not sold my soul.
I am so tired of representatives not doing their jobs because of their party affiliation. During the Obama administration, a position opened up on the Supreme Court. Conservative commentators lost their ever-loving minds, fearful that he would nominate a justice that will make the highest court in the law absurdly liberal. Before his announcement, there were several commentators who suggested that the only acceptable choice might be Merrick Garland. To their shock, Merrick is exactly who Obama chose, liberal leaning but not extreme but as soon as this nomination was announced, suddenly Merrick was the devil.
Okay, that was an aside. Mitch McConnell, as it turns out, then refused to take the nomination forward. His excuse was that it was the end of the president’s term although there was plenty of time to debate and vote on the nomination. In so doing, McConnell refused to perform the duties assigned to him by the Constitution. Yes, the US Constitution. Instead, he drug his feet in the hopes that the Republican party would win the election and it would be a conservative president that could choose the justice. This is putting party ahead of country.
The irony is that he withheld the nomination from one of the most scandal free presidency in recent history, and handed it to a president that now is under an impeachment investigation. Good job, Mitch. Hope you’re proud.
We, the people, need to start exercising our voting privilege, including within our own parties. The Republican Leadership does NOT reflect the thoughts and morals of this Republican, and because of that, I vote against them. Can you imagine what would happen if more people voted their conscious rather than their party? Maybe, just maybe, we’d get representation that actually represents the voters, rather than the special interests. Do the voters really want representatives that take the authority to avoid doing their job, holding up votes and discussion? If there really are not the votes to pass legislation, there is absolutely no reason to create a backlog. Maybe, if the Democratic party proposes legislation that can pass a largely Republican side of Congress, it’s a good bill. Then who wins? Democrats, or Americans?
Are there really so many Republicans who are okay with increasing national debt so they pay more taxes but the most wealthy people get more tax breaks? If not, why don’t they vote out the idiots who thought that would be okay?
It’s time for change. It’s time to get those that do NOT represent America out of office, regardless of their party affiliation. Nothing will change, ever, if we do not start paying attention to news, and voting for what is best for us. The longer they are in power, the more they believe themselves to be above the law. There’s a lot of talk about term limits for congressional members, but the fact is that we, the voters, also have the power to get people out of office.
Bleil's Banter 