Is the Republican Party an exclusive country club or a political party? What does the Republican Party stand for? It can’t stand for freedom, because it doesn’t want its members to have the freedom to vote in a presidential primary. It can’t stand for equality, because the Republican party does not support equality for women. It can’t stand for justice and the rule of law, because only one Republican congressman, Justin Amash, stood for impeaching President Donald Trump, and Congressman Amash quit the party.
It can’t stand for clean water or clean air, because Trump doesn’t want Americans to have clean water or clean air. It can’t stand for upholding the Constitution, because Trump violates the Constitution regularly and no Republican stands up to Trump in defense of the Constitution, not even when $102 milllion allocated for Eielson Air Force Base is diverted to Trump’s wall. It can’t stand for feeding hungry Americans because Trump is cutting funding for food stamps. It can’t stand for smaller government, because Trump has made government hundreds of billions of dollars bigger.
It should come as no surprise that the Republicans in the Alaska Senate could not agree on admission to their country club when they rejected Rep. Laddie Shaw, because the attitude of exclusive entitlement is so ingrained in the elitism of the Republican Party: Six wanted to admit Rep. Shaw to the club and six did not. All politics aside, the best person for the job of state senator for South Anchorage was Dave Donley, because of his budget experience. Sadly, the country club did not select him.
— Jed Whittaker
Anchorage
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.