Daily Archives: September 12, 2021

Im old enough to remember when the Republican party stood for limited government and Ronald Reagan thundered Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.

Todays Republican party, while still claiming to stand for limited government, is practicing just the opposite: government intrusion everywhere.

Republican lawmakers are banning masks in schools. Iowa, Tennessee, Utah, Texas, Florida, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona and South Carolina are prohibiting public schools from requiring students wear them.

Republican states are on the way to outlawing abortions. Texas has just banned abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know theyre pregnant. Other Republican states are on the way to enacting similar measures.

Republican lawmakers are forbidding teachers from telling students about Americas racist past. State legislatures from Tennessee to Idaho are barring all references to racism in the classroom.

Republican legislators are forcing transgender students to play sports and use bathrooms according to their assigned gender at birth. Thirty-three states have introduced more than 100 bills aimed at curbing the rights of transgender people.

Across the country, Republican lawmakers are making it harder for people to vote. So far, theyve enacted more than 30 laws that reduce access to polling places, number of days for voting, and availability of absentee voting.

This is not limited government, folks. To the contrary, these Republican lawmakers have a particular ideology, and they are now imposing those views and values on citizens holding different views and values.

This is big government on steroids.

Many Republican lawmakers use the word freedom to justify what theyre doing. Thats rubbish. What theyre really doing is denying people their freedom freedom to be safe from Covid, freedom over their own bodies, freedom to learn, freedom to vote and participate in our democracy.

Years ago, the Republican party had a coherent idea about limiting the role of government and protecting the rights of the individual. I disagreed with it, as did much of the rest of America. But at least it was honest, reasoned, and consistent. As such, Republicans played an important part in a debate over what we wanted for ourselves and for America.

Today, Republican politicians have no coherent view. They want only to be re-elected, even if that means misusing government to advance a narrow and increasingly anachronistic set of values intruding on the most intimate aspects of life, interfering in what can be taught and learned, risking the publics health, banning whats necessary for people to exercise their most basic freedoms.

This is not mere hypocrisy. The Republican party now poses a clear and present threat even to the values it once espoused.

Originally posted here:

Republicans once called government the problem now they want to run your life - The Guardian

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who was once a close adviser to former President Trump, told Republicans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Thursday evening that the party must "face the realities of the 2020 election," discredit the "extremists in our midst" and "renounce the conspiracy theories."

While Mr. Trump remains popular among a significant segment of Republicans not yet weary of his false claims of election fraud, Christie addressed those who are.

"We need to give our supporters facts that will help them put all those fantasies to rest so everyone can focus with clear minds on the issues that really matter," Christie said. "We need to quit wasting our time, our energy, and our credibility on claims that won't ever convince anyone of anything."

"All this lying has done harm to our nation, to our party, and to each other," he said, and he sought to remind the audience of the Republican Party's values, which he listed as conservatism, faith, decency, integrity, freedom, liberty, competence and truth.

The former New Jersey governor, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and lost to Mr. Trump, was invited to speak as part of the library's Time for Choosing speaker series. Former Vice President Mike Pence appeared as part of the series, and former House Speaker Paul Ryan gave the inaugural speech. Ryan, too, slammed the former Republican president and the hold he has over the party.

"If the conservative cause depends on the populist appeal of one personality, or on second-rate imitations, then we're not going anywhere. Voters looking for Republican leaders want to see independence and mettle," Ryan said, adding, "They will not be impressed by the sight of yes-men and flatterers flocking to Mar-a-Lago."

Christie also went after Republicans who indulge Mr. Trump's election claims, saying that "pretending we won when we lost is a waste of time and energy and credibility" while he urged Republican supporters to denounce the conspiracy theories and fight back against liberals with conservative ideas.

The former New Jersey governor derided GOP political operatives who he said are urging Republican lawmakers to nod and pretend to agree with the liars and conspiracy theorists. "And whatever you do, don't upset the truth deniers," Christie said.

No man or woman -- whatever wealth they've acquired or office they hold, is "worthy of blind faith and obedience," he warned.

Read more:

In speech taking on Trump, Christie calls on Republicans to renounce conspiracy theories and discredit extremists "in our midst" - CBS News

Nobody would ever confuse Boston with a Republican stronghold; the city hasnt elected a GOP mayor since the 1920s, and these days the party almost never bothers even to run a candidate in mayoral or city council elections. This year, all five major candidates are Democrats.

Still, almost half of Bostons voters backed Republican Charlie Baker for governor in 2018. Even Donald Trump won 45,000 votes in the city, about 15 percent of the electorate, with clusters of support in South Dorchester, West Roxbury, and South Boston.

With this years preliminary mayoral campaign entering its final days, and polls predicting an extremely close race, those numbers loom large. Boston might not have enough Republicans or Republican-leaning voters to actually elect a mayor but its still a rich, often-overlooked trove of votes that could help boost one of those Democrats.

Openly courting Republican votes, of course, carries risk, since it could antagonize far more numerous Democrats. But Republicans are choosing sides, in ways that reflect their own divisions.

Jennifer Nassour, the former chairwoman of the Massachusetts Republican Party and former Boston City Council candidate, is a self-described social progressive who supports abortion rights and gay marriage. Nassour believes many voters in the city who identify as Republicans are unenrolled, a group that makes up 45 percent of registered voters. Yet, she said, it always seems like issues are skewed all the way to the left. But we [Republicans] are here, and we have issues that are important to us that arent political . . . . Its quality-of-life issues. You cannot put a political party on quality of life.

Nassour is openly supporting Andrea Campbell for mayor. As for how her Republican fellows will vote, she said that she encourages them, [E]ven if you cant get a candidate who is exactly like you in all policies, its important to find a candidate who represents the character of the person youd like to see in office.

Nassour said she has hosted virtual house parties with her friends, who are probably unenrolled and lean more right-of-center, she said. I think their interests in the city are education, housing, making sure that our roads are safe, that our streets are safe, making sure that quality of life is good.

But not every GOP voter would fit in at one of Nassours house parties. Perhaps the most passionate, or at least the most identifiable, shade of Republican voter is the Trump supporter. Consider one of the superPACs backing councilor Annissa Essaibi George, Real Progress Boston, which is led by former Boston Police commissioner William Gross. Its top donors: police unions and Jim Davis, the New Balance chairman who donated almost $400,000 to Trump in 2016. This week, Essaibi George sought to distance herself from the PAC, telling the Dorchester Reporter that shes not happy about the PACs ties to Trump.

Then theres the perennial candidate for mayor in the city, Robert Cappucci, who also made Tuesdays ballot. The last time Cappucci ran, in 2017, he drew nearly 7 percent of votes, or roughly 3,700. The retired Boston police officer and former elected school committee member is a conservative Democrat, but his positions may be more aligned with those of a Republican voter: He is antiabortion and also against sanctuary cities.

Cappucci may very well earn the vote of Trump supporters in Boston. But those voters may not represent the traditional Republican view.

I think that most Republicans like myself who happen to be super invested in the city are going to vote for a mayor whos going to be there in the long term, Nassour said. We want to make sure the mayor is going to be responsive to what we want as residents of the city despite the letter next to our name. Someone who is not in bed with the unions and someone who is not opportunistic. Someone who really truly knows the hardships of the city.

Although theyre hardly unified, Boston Republicans are the largely silent voting minority that may tip the scale in Tuesdays preliminary election.

Marcela Garca can be reached at marcela.garcia@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @marcela_elisa.

Read more:

Dont count out the Republican vote in the Boston mayoral election - The Boston Globe

Republicans like to say that theyre the party of small government and local control, but as with their claims to be the party of fiscal discipline, they often fail to follow through when it runs afoul of their other priorities or simply becomes politically inconvenient.

Weve seen this in recent years with a number of issues, when Republican-led state governments either impose additional restrictions on local governments or refuse to grant them additional flexibility to set policy as they see fit. Usually, when Republican-led governments intervene in this manner, they frame it as a matter of intervening to protect their constituents individual constitutional rights from being trampled by some local entity. While it might be nice to think that Republican politicians always have this noble intention when they run roughshod over local governments, there are a couple of problems with this argument.

The first is a fundamental misunderstanding of what it means to say that something is unconstitutional. While we all have our own views of what should and should not be considered constitutional, until the issue is actually considered by the courts, thats simply a matter of opinion. The constitutionality of a particular governmental policy is settled by the courts after a legal challenge, not by the opinion of activists or politicians. While its perfectly valid for an elected official to oppose a policy because they think its unconstitutional, theyre not the ultimate arbiters of constitutionality: The courts are. If any government implements a policy that harms an individual, theyre free to challenge it in court and make their constitutional arguments there. Thankfully, as a constitutional republic, we have a well-established process to do that in this country. Anyone who depends on politicians to protect their own individual liberties is bound to be sorely disappointed.

Another issue with this approach is that it essentially short-circuits the democratic process at the local level. When local governments make policy, their own constituents have every opportunity to have their voices heard throughout the process. If a decision is made by elected officials, citizens can appeal to them directly to reverse or modify the policy. If that fails, in many jurisdictions they may take it to the ballot box via a referendum campaign and overturn it themselves. If thats not available as an option, they can always use it as an issue in the next election in order to oust the local elected official(s) and reverse that decision. This isnt simply a theoretical process: Weve seen it play out time and time again in Maine. Selectmen and school board members have lost re-election because they dismissed staff without adequate explanation or implemented some controversial policy. These same opportunities exist during, and after, an emergency like the current pandemic.

So, the usual explanations for Republicans to intervene in local governing are little more than excuses: Theyre not the only option for people to have their voices heard or have their rights protected. Instead, as is often the case in politics, in fact the opposite is true. If a state government restricts a local government on a constitutional basis, its often because they dont think the courts are likely to side with their position. Theyre also probably not intervening because they have a lack of faith in the local democratic process, but because they know their supporters are unlikely to prevail at the local level. For the most part, these explanations are little more than bad-faith justifications for policy based on ideology designed to appeal to one partys base.

In the course of ordinary events, that would merely make for justifiable charges of hypocrisy that could be debated throughout the next campaign. During an emergency, though, hamstringing the ability of local governments to effectively respond could be a matter of life and death. Weve seen this during the pandemic, when Republican states have restricted or attempted to restrict local governments from imposing measure that may well be necessary for public safety.

The continued importance of local control during an emergency goes in both directions: Just as urban areas in Republican-led states may need more restrictions, rural areas in Democratic-led states may need far fewer. Our federalist constitutional principles shouldnt be abandoned during a crisis, but neither should a particular ideology be elevated over legitimate public safety concerns. The response to any emergency ought to be a practical matter, rather than becoming yet another issue thats the subject of partisan political debate.

Jim Fossel, a conservative activist from Gardiner, worked for Sen. Susan Collins.He can be contacted at:[emailprotected]Twitter:@jimfossel

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Jim Fossel: Republicans should be the party of local control - Kennebec Journal & Morning Sentinel

According to one of Mr. Ahmadis passengers, a colleague who regularly commuted with him, the ride home was filled with their usual laughing and banter, but with one difference: Mr. Ahmadi kept the radio silent, as he was afraid of getting in trouble with the Taliban. He liked happy music, the colleague said. That day, we couldnt play any in the car.

Mr. Ahmadi dropped off his three passengers, and then headed for his home near the airport. I asked him to come in for a bit, but he said he was tired, the last passenger said.

Although U.S. officials said that at that point they still knew little about Mr. Ahmadis identity, they had become convinced that the white sedan he was driving posed an imminent threat to troops at the airport.

When Mr. Ahmadi pulled into the courtyard of his home which officials said was different than the alleged ISIS safe house the tactical commander made the decision to strike his vehicle, launching a Hellfire missile at around 4:50 p.m.

Although the target was now inside a densely populated residential area, the drone operator quickly scanned and saw only a single adult male greeting the vehicle, and therefore assessed with reasonable certainty that no women, children or noncombatants would be killed, U.S. officials said.

Read more:

Biden tells Republicans threatening to sue over vaccine mandate: Have at it as it happened - The Guardian