COLUMN: Republicans make being a liberal fun
It’s a great time to be a liberal. I’ll admit things were looking dim for us after the election. The GOP now has control of both houses of Congress and George W. is still our president. However, it’s good to know that through good living, liberals have diminished the GOP’s power and the George W. Bush presidency to the status of “lame duck.”
Just six months after his 51 percent mandate, President Bush’s approval rating is below 45 percent, according to CNN/USA Today/Gallup polls. In education, Utah lawmakers have led the charge by rejecting the No Child Left Behind regulations and risk losing $76 million for education, but the No Child Left Behind plan is in danger of similar bill passing in 32 other states. Bush’s plan to privatize social security also hasn’t gained any momentum among constituents. In fact, it’s losing popularity, from 51 percent opposition in February to 55 percent in April. This decline happened after Bush departed on a red-state campaign tour to gain support. The Republican-controlled government is being blamed for rising gas prices and a falling stock market. And instead of offering solutions, they are offering tax breaks to the oil companies. It seems the American people are falling out of love with the Grand Ol’ Party.
I wish I could say that it was fierce liberals, like me, who have thwarted the Republican quest for global domination. However, I think it is Republicans, through their arrogance, scandal and insincerity, who have caused their own demise.
Perhaps GOP arrogance can best be demonstrated in Bush’s nomination of John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations. Bolton, as described by life-long Republican Carl Ford, is a “quintessential kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy.” Bolton has a long history of trivializing the effectiveness of the U.N., and now we have learned, a history of bullying and being abusive to subordinates. The Bush administration refuses to withdraw his nomination and he has twice been denied a vote in the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Four committee Republicans have expressed misgivings about confirming Bolton. The nomination has been postponed without the Democrats having to filibuster. It seems that even though Republicans don’t want to defy their party, the agenda set by Bush and the far right-wing has forced rational, reasonable Republicans into an awkward situation. Republican Senator from Ohio, George V. Voinovich, has been called a “traitor” from the conservative lobby. Republicans are now going after each other.
A scandal has been swarming around House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. The amount of ethics violation accusations seems to increase every day and include accepting recreational vacations from lobbyists and paying himself, his wife and daughter payments of $500,000 from his charities and political organizations. This scandal has been getting a myriad of media attention and doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon. Normally, when Republicans want to detract from their own transgressions, they point fingers to their transgression poster boy, Bill Clinton. However, not even poorly timed Lewinsky innuendo has been able to save DeLay’s declining popularity. House Republicans have begun to distance themselves from DeLay. Many congressmen concede that an ethics investigation is warranted, but want the ethics committee rules weakened for DeLay. Democrats aren’t buying it and four former Republican members of Congress signed a letter stating that they believe the changes would be “obvious action to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay.”
DeLay is being disingenuous with the American people as he tried to detract from his own wrongdoings and place blame, for seemingly everything, on the judiciary. In an insincere reaction to Teri Schiavo’s death, DeLay has made a point to bring down the judiciary. Radical Republicans know that the judiciary is the only branch of government that can keep the GOP’s power in check. DeLay’s language toward judges could be construed as threatening and is definitely hostile. Last week, DeLay falsely and publicly accused Reagan Supreme Court appointee Justice Kennedy of basing decisions on international law. Maybe DeLay hopes to impeach all the judges so he won’t have to stand before them in court.
In both DeLay and Bolton’s case, we see conservatives turning against each other and bringing each other down. The bottom line is, Republicans have lost sight of what would benefit the American people as they pursue personal dominance. While they’re busy trying to be outrageous and unreasonable, it will be the Democrats, the liberals, that will win the hearts and minds of the American people. In the meantime, it’s fun to watch the Republicans fail.
Cy Martz is a senior majoring in public relations. Comments can be sent to cmartz@cc.usu.edu.