[Consider subscribing to my Substack, on which this is cross-posted]
Ox is Gored Republicans lack any sign of compassion until they or someone close to them is affected. Then, they become an advocate for government action -- but limited to the particular area in which their "ox is gored." For example,
-
Senator Pete Domenici opposed most government programs, but co-sponsored a bill to provide mental health parity, citing his daughter's struggle with schizophrenia.
-
Senator Rob Portman suddenly "came out" for gay marriage upon learning that his son was gay.
-
Senator Mark Kirk had a stroke and opined that maybe others should get the physical therapy his insurance paid for.
-
Jeb Bush repeatedly vetoed Alzheimer's bills. But when his mother-in-law is suffering from the disease “We need to increase funding to find a cure. . We need to find more community based solutions for care.”
Representative Anna Paulina Luna joins this list in A New Republican Mom Wants to Change House Rules for Postpartum Voting. Early last year, she opposed proxy voting, which had been adopted by Democrats. But now
Despite her intention to have what she referred to as an all-natural “granola” delivery and quickly return to her duties on Capitol Hill, things did not go according to plan. She suffered from pre-eclampsia and had to have labor induced, then experienced a difficult delivery and developed mastitis afterward. Pumped full of blood-pressure medication and antibiotics, she was prohibited by her doctor from traveling.
“You’re being forced to choose between your career and having a family,” Luna complained, despite her record opposing almost anything that would permit that for the vast majority of moms who want to work.
But at the same time, she said at a hearing “It’s Time to Bring Back Family Separation.” This shocked even the right wing CATO Institute witness David Bier, who laughed when Luna “questioned whether any real trauma took place when children were separated from their “quote unquote parents.” Luna said “you have no idea” if they are the real parents. Bier said “I do have an idea. I’ve met with—” Luna interrupted:
“You have no idea if these people are their intentional parents or not. Really? Are you psychic? Have you won the lotto, Mr. Bier?”
It’s at this point that Luna revealed what she really thinks.
“The reason why we want family separation until we can confirm if they are their actual biological parents—”
(Emphasis supplied.)
Like Charlie Kirk, who now attacks Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Luna is saying the quiet part out loud.
Paulina Luna is also known for making George Santos style claims, such as that she was raised as a “Messianic Jew,” and is a “small fraction Ashkenazi,” which family members deny. Not only that, but they say it’s well-known in the family that her grandfather fought in the Wehrmacht for Nazi Germany.
Ox-is-Gored Republicanism is much worse than hypocrisy. It’s showing their cramped, narrow and cruel outlook, where compassion is a foreign concept for anyone except them and their families. For others, like migrant children, the burden is on them to prove their parents are real.
Otherwise, it’s fine to traumatize them by tearing them away.