A p ril 7, 2010
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GOP Antics Signal its Demise
They stand against everything Obama suggests
D onald K aul
O n environm ental and
H e re 's the q u e s ­
energy issues, it backs the
tion o f the day: D o
p olluters and the ex trac­
w e really need a R e­
tion industries.
p u b lican Party? A nd
A t ev ery turn o f the
if so, w hy?
road for the past 30 years
O n ce the party o f
the G O P has favored the
g ian ts like A braham L incoln, rich over the poor, the few o v er
T e d d y R o o s e v e lt , D w ig h t the m any. D uring that tim e, the
E is e n h o w e r ,
and
N e ls o n party has n ev er seen a w ar or
R o ck efeller, it's now led by p o ­ elite p rivilege it didn't like.
litical L illip u tian s like M itch
A nd now , it seem s to have
M cC onnell, John B oehner and lost its grasp on reality.
Jo h n M cC ain.
T he reaction o f R epublicans
O n ce the party o f the an ti­ and their m edia m outhpieces to
s la v e r y a n d e n v ir o n m e n ta l the passage o f P resident B arack
m o v em en ts, it has b ecom e the O bam a's historic health-care bill
an ti-im m ig ran t, anti-civil rights has been nothing short o f h y s­
Party o f N o, b ack w ard s-lo o k in g terical.
and o bstructionist.
In truth, there's nothing that
In the health -care d ebate, it the D em ocrats o r O b am a could
sided w ith the insurance co m p a ­ have done to w in the c o o p era­
nies.
tion o f an y R epublican, let alone
In the fight for the refo rm o f a significant nu m b er o f them .
o u r financial system , it supports
T h e G O P is c o m m itted to
the b anks and W all S treet fin an ­ standing to g eth er against ev ery ­
ciers.
thing O bam a suggests. R ep u b li­
by
C ap ito l's balcony and p lay ed to
the tea party m ob outside, h o ld ­
ing up placard s like c h ee rle ad ­
ers at a h o m eco m in g rally.
F o r another, the m o d em R e­
pub lican P arty—hav in g w o rk ed
to w in th e su p p o rt o f w h ite
so u th ern ers in the afterm ath o f
d e s e g re g a tio n -is built on the
ruins o f an ideology that w ould
deny equal rights to all. It's ro t­
ten at the core.
It's alm ost laughable to see
angry R epublicans w arn D em o ­
crats ab o u t g oing ag ain st the
public will.
T he G O P is a party that has
lost the popular vote to the D em o­
crats in four o f the p ast five
p resid en tial elections, and yet it
has the nerve to claim to know
the p u b lic's will.
I f there's any ju stic e in the
w orld, the R epublicans are g o ­
ing the w ay o f the W hig Party.
B on voyage.
cans th in k that is the path to
victory in the co m in g elections.
A nd it m ay well be. The A m eri­
can people are fam ous for p u n ­
ishing politicians w ho do the right
thing. W hen L yndon Johnson, in
an alm ost u n p reced en ted act o f
political courage, got his civil
rights legislation th ro u g h C o n ­
gress in the 1960s, he knew it
w as going to cost the D em o ­
crats th eir hold on the South.
A nd it did. W hen Bill C linton
passed the tax increase that set
the stage for the g reatest e co ­
nom ic b oom the nation has ev er
seen, he did it w ith hardly a
single R epublican vote. A nd in
the next election the R epubli­
cans took o v er the H ouse.
T hat trick m ight w ork again,
but I don't think so.
For one thing, these R ep u b li­
c a n s a r e n 't s e r io u s p e o p le ;
they're a bunch o f clow ns. W hile
M inutem an M edia co lu m ­
the health -care votes w ere g o ­ nist D onald Kaul lives in Ann
ing on, th ey w an d ered out on the Arbor, Mich.
We Must Monitor Armed Militias
Danger from
extremist groups
far from over
J udge G reg M athis
L ast w eek, the federal
g o v ern m en t arrested sev ­
eral m em bers o f a M id ­
w est m ilitia w ho alleg ed ly
p lan n ed to kill a M ichigan p o lice officer
then w reak havoc at his funeral by a tta c k ­
ing those w ho attended. T h eir goal? To
ju m p -sta rt a w ar against the federal g o v ­
ern m ent.
W hile these in d iv id u als are in custody
and w ill soon have th eir day in court, the
d an g er that groups like them p resen t is far
from over.
A ccording to the S outhern Poverty Law
C en ter, an o rg an izatio n that tracks hate
groups, the nu m b er o f radical extrem ist
gro u p s has trip led o ver the last year. The
by
P o rtla n d (ObscrUer
g o v ern m en t m ust ded icate reso u rces to
m onitoring such activ ities and w ork to
keep citizens safe.
O ver the last several decades, m ilitias
have been know n to carry out p aram ilitary
train in g in rural areas; they train th eir
m em bers so that they are ready to engage
in war. M any o f these groups hold true an
e x trem e id eo lo g y , w h e th e r it be w h ite
s u p r e m a c is t
or
a n ti - g o v e r n m e n t ;
o ftentim es, these view s are based on som e
tw isted idea o f C h ristian ity .
D o m e s tic t e r r o r i s t s lik e T im o th y
M cV eigh, w ho w as resp o n sib le for the
1995 bom bing o f a federal b u ild in g in
O klahom a w here 168 people w ere killed,
and others have expressed sim ilar v iew ­
points and, at one point or ano th er, alig n ed
them selves w ith these radical groups. I f
the governm ent put m ore energy into m o n i­
toring the activ ities o f the m em bers, v io ­
lence could be prevented.
This is not a call for the governm ent to
infringe on the rights o f individuals to gather
Established 1970
USPS 959-680 _______ ___________________________
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
E ditor - in -C hief , P ublisher : Charles H. Washington
E ditor : M ic h a e l L e ig h to n
D istribution M anager : M a rk W a s h in g to n
C reative D irector : P a u l N e u fe ld t
and express their views. Rather, the govern­
ment needs to correctly identify organiza­
tions that pose a real threat to the safety o f the
people. We want our leaders to focus their
energies on legitim ate dom estic terrorists
and work to put an end to their violent plans.
A d d itio n ally , the gov ern m en t m ust ad ­
dress the factors that foster hate and allow
such gro u p s to thrive. E conom ic d e p re s­
sion, easy access to w eapons in certain
areas o f the co u n try and lack o f u n d e r­
stan d in g o f d ifferen t cultures, races and
relig io n s all play a part. E lected o fficials
c ertain ly cannot control or im pact all o f
these but jo b creatio n , com m u n ity -b ased
d iv ersity and sen sitiv ity train in g and real
gun control law s can help.
In th is re c e n t c a se , the g o v e rn m e n t
in terv en ed in tim e and saved lives. I f e f­
forts are. m ade to stop the grow th o f these
e x trem ist gro u p s, w e m ay not have such a
close call in the future.
Greg Mathis is a retired Michigan District
Court judge and syndicated television judge.
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