Cartoon from Adam Zyglis
Fellow Blog Journalist AZ Blue Meanie and other columnists like the Washington Posts Paul Waldman and EJ Dionnehave already offered their insights into what I am about to reflect on.
Republicans over the last week or so have attempted in a very shallow and lying way to portray themselves as agents for the working class and the true advocates for law and order.
As Blue Meanie noted in a September 24, 2022 column, President Joe Biden was having none of that, saying at a September 23 Democratic Party Event:
"Earlier today, after opposing and obstructing everything we tried to do to stop progress for the last two years, the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy went to Pennsylvania and unveiled what — what he calls a “Commitment to America.” That’s a — that’s a thin series of policy goals, with little or no detail, that he says Republicans are going to pursue if they regain control of the Congress.
In the course of nearly an hour, here’s a few of the things we didn’t hear. We didn’t hear him mention the right to choose. We didn’t hear him mention Medicare. We didn’t hear him mention Social Security.
So let’s take a look at what Kevin said today. He said Republicans want to, quote, “preserve our constitutional freedom.” That sounds great. I’m for doing that as well; we all are. But look at what they’ve actually done.
The MAGA Republicans just cheered and embraced the first Supreme Court decision in our entire history — the first one in our entire history that just didn’t fail to preserve constitutional freedom, it actually took away a fundamental right that had been granted by the same court to so many Americans: the constitutional right to choose. And now nearly half the states in the United States of America have either passed a ban on abortion or will shortly. And in many states, abortion is already banned even in cases of rape and incest — a fundamental change."
No voter in Arizona or throughout the United States should believe Republicans are the party of the working class or law and order.
People should think and ask:
- When was the last time the majority (or any) of Republicans in Congress voted for an increase in the federal minimum wage?
- If they are so law and order, why did they vote against monies for the police in the American Rescue Plan?
- If they support the working class so much, why did so many Republicans vote against the Bipartisan IInfrastructure Act or CHIPS Act which will provide many good-paying jobs to blue and green-collar workers?
- If they were the law and order party, why are they actively defending Donald Trump from the many transgressions he is accused of committing before, during, and after his White House stay? Why do they nominate people like Mark Finchem in Arizona who was a participant/spectator in the January 6, 2021, Domestic Terrorist Attack on the Nation's Capitol and is apparently regularly guilty of omitting information when filling out annual financial disclosure forms?
- If they were the heroes of the working class, why did they vote against the Inflation Reduction Act which will reduce the cost of prescriptions for...wait for it...many in the working class and on Medicare.
- If they were the party of law and order, why do they nominate fringe/racist/intolerant candidates that would make minorities and members of the LGBTQ community social pariahs?
- If they were the heroes of the working class, why are Republicans continually working to cut their Social Security, Medicare, funds for the public schools their children go to, environmental safeguards for the water they drink, their access to the ballot box, and reproductive freedom?
So when Republicans say they are for Law and Order and the working class, look at their track record.
In all likelihood, the inactions and no votes speak louder than the false/shallow platitudes.
Look at the Democrats and look what they have delivered for the working class and police with little to no support from the Republicans.
Voters should choose candidates on November 8, 2022, that is for the working class, and believe in law and order.
Unfortunately, there will not be many Republicans on the ballot that believe in either.
