LETTER: What is it to act like a Republican?
What is it to act like a Republican?
The chairman of the Washington County Republican Party had an interesting op-ed in the Jan. 1 edition, in which he criticizes the omnibus federal budget President Biden signed into law.
He laments the legislation was driven by political self-interest, which of course it was. When isn’t it? In a trillion-dollar budget, it’s easy to identify spending items one believes are frivolous. He cites the allocation of $65 million for the coastal salmon industry as an example. I guess he doesn’t like fish, but I suspect there are Republican fishermen who think this is a good idea.
He’s also critical of more money for Ukraine, some of which he theorizes will undoubtedly come back to U.S. politicians. I presume he means only Democrats.
Ironically, his most vitriolic comments were for the senators of his own party who voted for the budget. He accuses them of being unprincipled and selling out, saying things would have been better if only they would have “acted like Republicans.” But what does Ball think it is to act like a Republican? Is it denying the results of the 2020 election, or saying the Jan. 6 insurrection was just legitimate political discourse or a normal tourist visit or a peaceful protest? Is it accusing the FBI of political persecution because it retrieved top-secret documents from a private citizen who had no right to them?
The Republican Party could become a champion of cooperation and respectability, but not as long as its leadership, and the Dave Balls of the world, function on revenge and rebellion and believe governing should be “my way or the highway.”
Maybe those senators believed being a Republican really meant choosing country over Party.
Bob Willison
Rices Landing