On Thursday, Virginia Representative Eric Cantor (R)
congratulated his fellow “Young Gun” conservative lawmaking counterpart, Paul
Ryan, saying Ryan “did a terrific job” in his speech at the Republican National
Convention earlier in the week.[1]
Cantor continued, “First of all, he laid out the context of
the debate and what has led us to this point as a country in terms of the real
difference of visions that the public’s going to have to choose come November.”[2]
Since political representatives like Paul Ryan and Eric
Cantor have ascended to political power, the Republican Party has taken on a
new, more aggressive, posture that denies the efficacy of compromise, the
scientific method, and a middle-way between public and private social
involvement.
Cantor claims he would like to “re-assume this sort of
aspirational posture of America that we’ve been missing over the last four
years.” If memory serves me correctly, the eight years that President George W.
Bush spent in the White House were far from “aspirational.”[3]
All one needs to recognize is the minimal role the last Republican president
had in the Republican convention to understand just how bad the presidency of
George W. Bush was. Even Republican’s can’t embrace him!
President Obama inherited a county lurching with economic
debt and numerous social problems left in the wake of the preceding president.
President Obama also inherited a congress whose main priority was overturning
any legislation or ideas that the Democratic Party put to the floor.
If America has in any way not reached its full potential as
the most powerful country in the world, it’s because the “Young Guns” in the
congress have seen more value in political theatre than in good political
works.
If Eric Cantor were truly interested in getting America back
on track, he would help to initiate a renewed attempt to reach common political
ground with the Democrats. Of course, Cantor won’t because the entire GOP
strategy for increasing power is based upon obstruction and vague policy
considerations.
No comments:
Post a Comment