GOP Temple Crumbling, From the Top Down
Sue Pickwell was quoted in the April 11 issue of Newsweek as saying, “I hope that people learn how to truly appreciate and have compassion for people and love one another and not fight.” Though her sentiment could have been an emotional reaction to any one of a number of current affairs—the war in Iraq, perhaps—what made it so instantly quotable was not its obvious earnestness, but rather its second half: “Terri would not have wanted that.”
Pickwell, you see, was a friend of Terri Schiavo, the 41-year old brain-damaged Florida woman who died March 31 after 15 years in a vegetative state, following hospitalization for complications related to an eating disorder. What made Schiavo’s story so remarkable was not the medical, ethical and scientific issues involved, but rather the political wrangling that took place on her behalf in the last weeks of her life, and continues still. Since her death, media focus on the Republican Party has increased, and it hasn’t been too favorable.
Before prominent GOP leaders like DeLay, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania insinuated themselves, the Schiavo case centered around a fierce disagreement between family members. Hers was a classic case of myriad emotional factors converging. In the end, however, the extraordinary media attention made it anything but common.
The transition of the case from local tragedy to political lightning rod kicked off a frenzy of top GOP lawmakers pushing legislation and calling for reforms that would limit or remove altogether the influence of so-called “activist judges.” A behind-the-scenes campaign had begun to finally take on—and take over—the judicial system.
But the conservative attack on the courts is indicative of a greater trend within the GOP. With an agenda that used to be swathed in layers of party-line rhetoric or shrouded behind the banner of the war on terror, the sizable far-right faction of the party has, in the wake of Bush’s re-election, become emboldened. The phrase “God, Guns and Gays” has gone from a whispered joke to a full-blown party platform.
BULLYING FROM THE PULPIT. After DeLay offered a scathing indictment of the judges involved in the Schiavo case – “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,” he said – even some of his GOP colleagues have second-guessed his ability to tone down his attack-dog rhetoric. House Republican Chris Shays of Connecticut has called for DeLay’s resignation in the wake of both his comments and the numerous scandals—which include possible ethics violations, illegal fund-raising, questionable overseas travel and shady lobbying.
Newsweek also captured an image of the embattled DeLay at an NRA fundraiser holding an antique rifle. He noted how nice it was to have friends “who are armed.” Two of DeLay’s Republican cronies appointed by Speaker Dennis Hastert to the House ethics committee investigating the Majority Leader have contributed $15,000 to his legal defense fund. Adding insult to injury, DeLay’s wife and daughter have turned up on the payrolls of his campaign and political action committees, splitting over half a million dollars between them. Newsweek also quoted a White House source as saying, “I’m not sure his strategy is helping us – or him for that matter.”
New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd pointed to a recent column by U.N. Ambassador John Danforth as evidence that perhaps, like those wary of DeLay seem to indicate, there are deeper divisions within the party. Danforth writes that the GOP “has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.” Dowd dutifully noted that Danforth is an Episcopal minister and a former Republican senator from Missouri.
Yet DeLay is not the only GOP suit garnering headlines.
THUG RULES IN THE HALLS.Senator Santorum (PA), who is best known (and widely reviled) for his inflammatory comments on homosexuality (he famously compared gay sex with bigamy, incest, adultery and bestiality), has been chest-thumping and proselytizing to the tune of $104,500 in campaign contributions from Floridians, following his hand-in-hand prayer session with Schiavo’s parents outside her hospice. Unafraid to call out his own party pals, Santorum has said publicly that DeLay has some explaining to do and Frist had better stick it to the Dems, further proof that on the GOP playground, no one has anyone’s back.
John Bolton, former Undersecretary of State and Bush’s nominee for U.S. Ambassador to the U.N, is being pilloried for, among other things, his vehement opposition to the mere existence of the U.N. His former boss, Colin Powell, has even confided to top Republicans Lincoln Chafee and Chuck Hagel that Bolton is a loose cannon, “a smart but very problematic government official.” Bolton displays in his office a grenade happily proclaiming him “the Truest Reaganaut,” underscoring his reputation as a bully likely to pull the pin if given reason.
Bill Frist, who is said to be among a handful of GOP contenders for the White House in 2008, taped an appeal to the religious right on the perils of Democratic filibusters, calling them “… against people of faith.” How Frist handles increasing pressure from GOP colleagues to press ahead and end filibusters will prove critical to his presidential prospects.
Bush is trying to ignore the fact that his approval ratings have matched his lowest since he took office. Nor did he get the reception he had hoped for after a recent whistle-stop tour of the nation meant to resuscitate flagging support for his Social Security privatization plan. The vicious insurgency in Iraq isn’t subsiding, gas prices are astronomical and the pageant-queen sash of infallibility Bush has worn for some time is beginning to tatter at its edges.
Without so much as a wink and a nudge, the GOP has helped bring government thuggery to the American doorstep. Gone are the salad days of civilized dialogue, compromise and progress.
In addressing his comment on judges following Terri Schiavo’s death, the tone of DeLay’s hollow apology spoke volumes about the GOP’s recalcitrant strategy. “I said something in an inartful way,” he began, “and I shouldn’t have said it that way.” So, in the chasm between saying something and meaning it, a man and his party could have crafted something more artful, more deceptive. Something, perhaps, a bit further from the truth. VS
Brett Kell is a freelance writer, poet and picture framer. He and his wife Lauren live in Milwaukee.
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