Letter to the editor: GOP grandstanding on political traditions is a farce

By DON FOY | La Farge

Several House Republicans want to form a group to promote respect for “Anglo-Saxon political traditions.” Well, Anglo-Saxon traditions might include trial by ordeal, or combat, but perhaps these Republicans mean a near neighbor, Anglo-American political traditions. As messy as those often are, they do deserve some respect: Though they had three breakdowns — the English and American Civil Wars, and the American Revolution — they have offered relative domestic peace since about 1600. They’ve enabled bloodless transitions of power, and while sometimes backtracking, an overall expansion of voting rights. They value that “keep calm and carry on” manner. Until recently, this tradition protected us from the chronic upheavals, violence, and strong-man coups, typical of some other countries and eras of history.

So this GOP grandstanding is a farce. Currently, the GOP is pushing hard to throw the Anglo-American traditions under the bus. On the basis of nothing more than Trump’s pathological ego and their own corrupt thirst for power, the GOP agitates to discredit and overturn our recent election, to block legitimate voters from voting, and even to wink at the attack by Trump supporters on the Capitol.

Why should we be surprised at more destructive hypocrisy from the GOP?

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