Rick Wilson, a former Republican strategist, said that Donald Trump was a magnet for criticism. And yes, he was, but the GOP didn’t see his immoral behavior, his juvenile passion for name-calling and his mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic as something worth criticizing. And Trump’s treasonous attempt to overturn a legitimate election was nothing more than a walking tour of the capitol, a political discourse.
Now that Joe Biden is our president, their criticism juices are boiling over. And in the Rio GrandeValley we have the Coronados proudly leading the charge.
One of the things President Biden is being criticized for — get this — is for being a “humanitarian do-gooder.” For wanting to educate immigrant children and for wanting to help college students pay off their student loans.
The tax dollars that would pay for these “do-gooder” things seems to be the sticking point. If tax dollars come back to the people in the form of excellent highways, railroads, bridges, water ports, a strong military, clean air, clean water, etc., why not provide immigrant children with an education and forgive the monstrous student debt that anchors the progress of college students? You say this is too much of a “do-gooder” thing? Maybe, but as my father-in-law would always say, “You lose more fighting the wars.”
I’ve heard some millionaires brag that they pay no taxes. Ironically, it’s these “sin verguensas” who benefit most from the infrastructure that we taxpayers pay for. Is this something the GOP should be looking into? But why? They themselves don’t like our government. Paying taxes to them is nonsense. Besides, if some of them had the cojones to look into it, they’ll be demoted in a jiffy, or even fired! So, fugetaboutit! Hoo-boy.
Don’t bother these guys with petty stuff like “clean air” and “clean water” regulations. That’s not their thing. Anti-regulations, anti-abortion, anti-books, anti-immigrants, anti-government, anti-gay and anti-whatever is their thing. Praying in public schools and more laws that suppress our voting rights is something they are for. And, get this, a GOPer, Ted Cruz, has come up with a great solution to end the mass murdering of school children: Yeah! Get this! more guns and fewer doors! Brilliant!
Republicans tell people that Democrats are “humanitarian do-gooders” who want to turn America into a socialist country. Socialism, they say, is a really bad thing. Socialist programs already exist in this country and millions of Americans benefit from them, including those who inexplicably demonize them.
Some GOPers are not OK with the greatest of all countries doing good things for people here and around the world. If you’re one of them, fine, vote Republican. If you’re a millionaire, I guess your reasoning is understandable. But if you’re not a millionaire, don’t complain when you realize you voted against your own interests.
Italo J. Zarate lives in Brownsville.
