Some (Republican) leaders don’t deserve to be called Americans

Even in the rough and tumble of politics, there are places where honor, decency, and yes, even patriotism, demand that politicians not go.  Challenging the loyalty of people fighting to uphold American constitutional liberties is one of those places.

Yet, here is what one of the most powerful officeholders in this nation had to say about efforts by Democratic members of Congress to add some small, if utterly insufficient, degree of respect for personal liberties to the so-called antiterrorism bill:

After Wednesday’s mostly party-line vote in the Republican-run House, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said in a statement that Democrats who voted against the measure “voted today in favor of more rights for terrorists.”

He added, “So the same terrorists who plan to harm innocent Americans and their freedom worldwide would be coddled, if we followed the Democrat plan.”

What am I supposed to say?  Seriously, what words can even begin to express the depravity?  This man doesn’t deserve to be elected sheriff of a small rural county, let alone Speaker of the House of Representatives.  His words are indisputably un-American.

Yet, they aren’t the least bit surprising, are they?  In fact, this may fairly be described as business as usual for the Republican Party.  These are, after all, the same people who won a Senate seat in Georgia in 2002 by questioning the honor and patriotism of Max Cleland, who only lost three limbs fighting for this nation in Vietnam (and can any one say
dé·jà vu this year). 

And it’s the same crew who falsely and maliciously besmirched the courage of John Kerry, a true American hero, so as to secure the reelection of a president who used his daddy’s connections to avoid having to fight in the same war.

They are also the same people who, ever since the attacks on Sept. 11, have consistently equated dissent with disloyalty, protest with treason and independent thought with providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

Still, this is a democracy, even if a very sick one at present: And in a democracy accountability doesn’t flow just one way.  Yes, office holders are ultimately accountable to the electorate, but we the voters are also accountable for the decisions we make. And the harsh reality is that if we continue to reward un-American political conduct at the polling booths, we become as responsible for that conduct and the harm it does to our constitutional system as all the Hasterts, Cheneys and Bushes themselves.

So yes, some Republican leaders don’t deserve to be called Americans.

But then how many of the rest of us do?


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3 Responses to “Some (Republican) leaders don’t deserve to be called Americans”

  1. lamzy Says:

    If so called Democrats can’t stand up for themselves (and we the people) no matter what the neocons say, then I don’t think they deserve to be called Americans either

  2. FreeDem Says:

    If someone who reads and is internet aware tries to explain the final results of what they have discovered to someone who has no internet or cable, how can they help but think you are bonkers.

    In a Democrat leadership meeting in 2002 I was stunned at the lack of information that was commonplace on the web. The situation has improved somewhat but too many Democrats see the situation as one of blindness and incompetence rather than the deep malice beneath.

    Ever since Dec. 2000 I have felt like I was stuck is some lame novel where the writer has all the charectors acting and thinking in ways I would not believe if I was reading it in the novel. But most folk are like John Dean travelling with blinders, not expecting anything to really change till suddenly they find themselves at the pointy end of the problem. Untill then people will just assume that the reality that has already happened would be impossible.

  3. Wye Knot Says:

    And the harsh reality is that if we continue to reward un-American political conduct at the polling booths, we become as responsible for that conduct and the harm it does to our constitutional system as all the Hasterts, Cheneys and Bushes themselves.
    So yes, some Republican leaders don’t deserve to be called Americans.

    But then how many of the rest of us do?

    Wha’ts this *we*? Sorry, but I think this one is a bit uncalled for. How many of us, Democrats, Greens, independents, have been trying to get rid of these bozos? It’s not that we are ineffectual, it is that they are doing everything in their power to make sure we don’t count.

    They fly in rioters to shut down recounts.
    They make sure the worst voting machines and longest lines are in Democratic precincts.
    They own the media and make laws so more of their buddies can take over more of the media.

    There is much, much more they do that hasn’t been proven yet, but the above are all provable.

    Even the Dems in Congress are showing some spine. What Dem voted for this anti-American, facist bill? Liberman doesn’t count. We all know he’s really a Republican.

    We anti-facists ARE trying to stand up for ourselves, America, and the Constitution, but how can you tell if no one is told about it?

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