I’ve written in the past about what I believe it will take to rebuild and renew the Republican Party to once again make it a serious contender. Apparently, many Republicans are not listening to me.
These days it’s all there for the world to see: The party still searching for leadership; Michael Steele and Rush Limbaugh constantly at each other’s throat; Wealthy Republicans organizing “tea parties”; Republicans cheering when America fails in its bid to host the Olympics; Sarah “Death Panel” Palin rallies complete with chants of “niggers” and “terrorists” to describe our President and his family; Republicans mocking President Obama for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize; etc.
It’s more than just bad manners. And how can anyone possibly believe that any of this could be a source of pride for the GOP? Should we wonder why only 20% of Americans are now willing to call themselves Republicans?
I keep thinking that it can’t get any worse and that the misguided idiots will sooner or later just fade away. But the GOP nightmare seems to go on and on.
We recently saw 30 Republican Senators defending a gang rape cover up! As explained in the November 1, 2009 issue of “The Progressive Populist” (a non-corporate sponsored publication), Jamie Leigh Jones was gang raped by her co-workers in 2005 while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. You’d think that her supervisors might want to help her, but instead she was locked in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water or a bed. She was warned that if she left Iraq for medical treatment she’d be out of a job. Jones was released only after she managed to get word to her father in Houston, who raised holy hell on her behalf. But Jones was prevented from bringing charges against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.
Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oilfield services companies, certainly plays a vital role in working to secure Iraq’s oil resources for the U.S. But covering up rapes (the Jones case is by no means the first) is inexcusable and unforgivable.
Defending her honor and rights, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN.) sponsored an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense appropriations from companies like KBR “if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.”
On the Senate floor, Franken said: “The constitution gives everybody the right to due process of law . . . And today, defense contractors are using fine print in their contracts to deny women like Jamie Leigh Jones their day in court . . . The victims of rape and discrimination deserve their day in court [and] Congress plainly has the constitutional power to make that happen.”
Apparently with no embarrassment whatsoever, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL.) called the amendment a political attack on Halliburton. Senator Franken responded: “This amendment does not single out a single contractor. This amendment would de-fund any contractor that refuses to give a victim of rape their day in court.” Still, Sessions and 29 other male Republicans joined in opposing Franken’s amendment. Thankfully, it passed 68-30. The rape enablers were: Alexander (R-TN), Barrasso (R-WY), Bond (R-MO), Brownback (R-KS), Bunning (R-KY), Burr (R-NC), Chambliss (R-GA), Coburn (R-OK), Cochran (R-MS), Corker (R-TN), Cornyn (R-TX), Crapo (R-ID), DeMint (R-SC), Ensign (R-NV), Enzi (R-WY), Graham (R-SC), Gregg (R-NH), Inhofe (R-OK), Isakson (R-GA), Johanns (R-NE), Kyl (R-AZ), McCain (R-AZ), McConnell (R-KY), Risch (R-ID), Roberts (R-KS), Sessions (R-AL), Shelby (R-AL), Thune (R-SD), Vitter (R-LA) and Wicker (R-MS).
Most of these men like to tout themselves as “social conservatives” and “good Christians.” But who are they standing up for in this case? Should we now expect major defense contractors to contribute heavily to the campaigns of these “gentlemen”?
I’m not overly religious, but one of my favorite hymns from my Lutheran upbringing is “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus.” Over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that those words can get twisted to suit all kinds of “Christians.”
Today, if the GOP made it their theme song they’d have to revise the words to “Stand up, stand up for the big defense contractors, the big insurance companies, the wealthy, the big campaign contributors, etc.” Yes, it all seems embarrassingly sad and morally vacuous.
Appearing with Senator Franken after the vote, Ms Jamie Leigh Jones expressed her deep appreciation. “It means the world to me,” she said of the amendment’s passage. “It means that every tear shed to go public and repeat my story over and over again to make a difference for other women was worth it.”
If anyone in the GOP is condemning mistreatment of women, America must not be hearing it. Instead we hear demeaning words such as those in a (10-6-09) press release issued by the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be “put in her place.” To her credit, Pelosi handled the sexist affront very gracefully, saying that “they really don’t understand how inappropriate that is. I’m in my place—I’m the Speaker of the House, the first woman Speaker of the House, and I’m in my place because the House of Representatives voted me there. But that language is something I haven’t heard in decades.”
One can forgive an occasional misstep, but when there are few or no apologies, one begins to sense an attitude. Compounding the GOP’s problems, the NRCC encouraged people to check out a conservative website video comparing Nancy Pelosi to Adolf Hitler, describing it as “funny.”
If the Republican Party and its vocal elites do not show respect for women, if they care not whether women are raped or impregnated from rape, and in general, if they do not stand for the rights of women, then they will clearly pay the consequences.
Furthermore, if the GOP continues to define itself as being more about money than morals then its future looks increasingly bleak.
(Brad Pfeiffer of Heber Springs is one of the local contributors to Progressive Voice, a “liberal viewpoint” column which runs each Friday.)
Heber Springs, Ark. —
