Republicans 'do nothing,'
so give Democrats chance
The Republican Party is now the "Party of Trump," whether some like it or not.
Another label that could be attached to the party is the "Do Nothing Party." Their leader in the Senate will not even bring an election security bill to the floor for debate. This is a bill that is desperately needed ahead of the 2020 elections since Russia is already in motion again to hack and instigate chaos into our election system. Does McConnell hope that the Russians will help him and his commander-in-chief out again?
Trump has already said that if some other country offered confidential information to him about his opponent, he would consider taking it. That would be an act of treason, but he got away with asking for help from the Russians before with no consequences, so why not try again? Moscow Mitch should be slapped with treason as well for not carrying out his duties as head of the Senate majority (he has said he will not be addressing any gun legislation until his supreme leader gives him the green light). It is not the first time he has refused to even bring a bill up for debate on the floor.
Republicans will go down as the party that did not do anything to try and stop interference in our election by foreign players as well as the party that did nothing to stop all the mass shootings occurring so frequently now. Nothing. How about strengthening background checks? Nope. How about raising the firearm purchase age to 21? Nope. And don't even think about banning AK-47's, the go-to weapon of mass shooters who want to inflict the most harm possible. Nope. The NRA has Republican legislators in its pockets. The Koch brothers also have them in their pockets. The oil and gas lobby has them in their pockets and they will say "No" over and over again to appease all these big-money operators.
Another name for the Republican Party these days could be the "Puppet Party." Just like the president they have stood behind regardless of what he does and says, they are puppets and they don't seem to mind, as long as there is something in it for them. This includes our state Republican legislators as well. They passed several gun laws in the last few years that are so absurd that the only motive seems to be to ingratiate themselves to the NRA. Basically, the message they sent was that guns should be allowed everywhere, in churches, in universities, in stores. Wow! Even Walmart is pushing back on those stupid state laws.
Let's stop the influence of the NRA, Koch Industries and oil companies in our national and state politics by voting for Democrats across the board in the next election. Will they, too, be bought off? Well, we will never know if we don't give them a chance.
Steven Trulock
Fayetteville
Commentary on 09/18/2019