'The People's House' - before Republicans allowed their supporters to smear feces inside.
As our great nation continues to suffer an endless assault upon our rights and governmental norms, it has bothered me that more has not been done to properly frame the damage in order to convey the irreversible harms suffered because of increasing efforts by the Republican party and their extremist supporters.
In contrast, I keep thinking about how the right mobilizes around minor grievances and transforms them into talking points they force both into the public consciousness and, much more damaging, into media dialogue.
But at a time when voting rights are being continuously curtailed, a majority of Americans are having their opinions on the right to Abortion and desire for smart gun legislation outright ignored while a continued assault occurs upon our Constitutional rights by conservative judicial extremists. Worse still, major leaders of the Republican party directly participated in and bolstered a coup with the support and assistance of a major media company. Given these continued repulsive and anti-Democratic activities, it seems time to try and provide a simple rhetorical framing that directly attacks this radical behavior while also better alerting the nation to such behavior by calling it what it is.
Simply put, the Republican party is un-American.
When you weaponize government against "We the People," you are being un-American. The Republicans, and the radical Supreme Court they fostered, fought hard for Corporations to enjoy free speech, but when Disney seeks to use free Speech in support of not just their employee’s families, but all families, Ron DeSantis and Josh Hawley attempt to severely harm Disney through dissolution of their brilliantly-managed municipality that saves Florida tax payers billions or also seek to alter copyright law aiming to toss Mickey Mouse into the public domain. Where is the outcry against the power of the government being used to bully Disney and its diverse array of employees into silencing their free speech - a tenet of America?
When Republican ruled state after Republican ruled state ignores the real needs of their populace - education, health care and employment - to instead devise cruel laws intended to undermine a handful of America's youth struggling to find their own identity in the world, they are being un-American. In fact, Republican Governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, best expressed the truth when he wrote: "Four kids and only one of them playing girls sports. That’s what this is all about. Four kids who aren’t dominating or winning trophies or taking scholarships. . . Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are part of something.” And pause to reflect upon that - the Republican Party of Utah found no greater legislative issue to pursue in a pandemic and amidst rising inflation than passing laws to harm "four kids." And it is not just Utah, but throughout our nation, that cruel, calculated policy is being crafted to directly harm children. And when Republican politicians micro-target a minority group to inflict harm with the goal of political gain, they are being Un-American.
We used to celebrate the honesty and integrity of our country’s founders and the great (albeit imperfect) individuals that helped shape our astounding nation - men like Washington and Lincoln. In contrast, look at today's Republican party. We see Utah Senator, Mike Lee, a self-described "constitutional conservative," witness an election described by Trump's own Homeland Security Under Secretary, Chris Krebs, as "the most secure election in history," but Mike Lee instead sought to subvert it by encouraging "alternative slates of electors" and ignoring not just our electoral process, but also the overwhelming will of the American people. Such treasonous actions prove Mike Lee possesses no respect or adherence to the Constitution at all. Mike Lee is Un-American.
We see Kevin McCarthy, the Republican Minority Leader of the House, stand idly by as "the People's House," the Capitol, came under siege by a rabid and ignorant, feces smearing mob at the urging of an unfit leader adamantly voted out by the American people. In private McCarthy spoke the truth about this reprehensible behavior and said that Trump "bears responsibility for his words and actions. No if, ands or buts." But in public, McCarthy cannot muster the courage or integrity to continue speaking that truth. And watching as a branch of our government is under assault and then failing to properly criticize or hold those individuals accountable, like Kevin McCarthy did, is un-American.
Worse still is a "news" outlet that previously promised "we report and you decide.” Yet when individuals like Sean Hannity are directly accessing the Oval Office to coordinate messaging, Fox News is being un-American and abusing what the founders saw as Freedom of the Press. Want proof of that abuse? How about when Tucker Carlson celebrates murderous authoritarians like Putin over our democratically elected President, Joe Biden? And, given current circumstances, how can anyone slight Joe Biden’s current priorities? The Biden administration is doing its best again economic unrest, bolstering Ukraine against Russian war criminals, battling a still-raging pandemic. Is the Biden administration perfect? Hardly! But instead of even noting the efforts Joe Biden is making, Tucker Carlson and Rand Paul continue to be featured as a part of Pro-Putin propaganda in Russia. When you, as an American Senator or as an American News Host, are being applauded by the Russian state media, you are CERTAINLY being un-American.
And, should anyone need a reminder for why Republicans and Fox New continuously applaud Putin and his anti-American tactics, we can never forget that it was the Trump administration that welcomed Putin's money and Putin’s assaults on our democracy before forcing the Republican party to embrace these pro-Russia platforms. And when Republicans accepted Putin's help in undermining our election process and ignored their weaponization of American Social Media, they were being un-American.
We also see a litany of Republican candidates with Domestic assault accusations or histories - Hershel Walker in Georgia, Eric Greitens in Missouri, Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania, Madison Cawthorn in North Carolina, among others. And don’t overlook the misdeeds of indicted Attorney General of Texas, Ken Paxton, who, despite being charged with felony crimes, has inexplicably gone seven years without ever being forced to stand trial. Truly, how do ANY of these individuals deserve to serve the American people? Somehow, it seems that Republicans no longer believe that such repugnant criminal behavior is disqualifying for higher office (and please don’t get me started on Trump's 30,573 lies spewed during his term or the 26 Sexual Misconduct allegations against him). But focusing in on just those Republicans with assault accusations and histories, if Republicans vote for candidates demonstrably unable to treat individuals close to them with honor or respect and fool themselves into believing that those flawed individuals will not also inflict their abhorrently-poor judgement upon their electorate, they are deluding themselves. And to support any candidate for office that not only doesn't honor or elevate women, but more often viciously harms the women in their personal life, is un-American.
And speaking of integrity, where is the integrity of the signers of the leaked draft destroying Roe vs. Wade? The majority of those judicial extremists had each expressed UNDER OATH TO CONGRESS that a woman's right to abortion had been “settled as precedent.” Yet, after 50 years of having the Constitutional right to body autonomy, women are very likely going to be stripped of this freedom. Consider also that the majority of citizens in all states believe that Roe should not be overturned, yet these reckless right-wing judges foisted upon us by the Republican party are using legal philosophies from "Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century English jurist whose writings and reasonings have caused enduring damage to women for hundreds of years." Frankly, in the year 2022, if you are using the advice of a "witch trial judge" who promoted theories that "a married woman cannot be raped by her husband" to determine what is best for modern American women, you are being un-American.
And for those Republicans that say they believe in the importance of carrying all babies to term, it is time to demonstrate consistency: You cannot say that you believe in the sanctity of life, yet do not believe in supporting that same newly-delivered child with health care, nourishment, education and equal opportunity to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To do otherwise is to be un-American. And in light of the most recent senseless shooting, don’t those lives matter too – at least enough to support with common sense gun legislation? But given the audacity of this Supreme Court that, again, Republicans imposed upon us, marriage rights (same-sex and inter-racial) and other privacy acts (like contraception) are next in line to fall despite also being issues long "settled as precedent."
And finally, when Republicans create policy to support ‘The Big Lie’ and overturn votes they disagree with, erode access to voting or seek to shape the electorate in manners that maintain their power, they are being un-American. The American dream was crafted on the sacrosanct notion of a representative democracy with one citizen having the right to cast their one vote to choose the representatives best able to work on their behalf while in office. But when Republicans limit polling places, pack districts with voters who do not support them to dilute their electoral impact or even make handing a water bottle to someone forced to needlessly wait in line for hours to act upon their right to vote, those Republicans are being un-American.
Truly, there is no simpler way to frame it. Since Republicans continuously do not uphold and elevate core Constitutional principles, Republicans are being un-American and we MUST never stop calling them out on it.
We are often told – “When we see something, say something.” And in the same way we need to continuously call out and admonish racism whenever we see it, I also strongly encourage that calling-out Republicans for being Un-American is a practice we all need to start as well.
