Do as I say not as I say

I want to start out today by stating for the record that when I use the word "Republicans," I am referring specifically to the Washington variety. This includes both elected officials and the pundits we see on television. I do not wish to besmirch any individual citizen. When party labels and liberal versus consertive are removed from a conversation, and Americans are asked simply if they believe government should do this or that, consensus levels are around 60-70% on the concept.

Let's stipulate that neither the Republican party nor the Democratic party is mentioned in The Constitution. In fact, the current Democratic party was originally known as the Democratic Republicans. The Republican party came into existence in the 1850's. Neither party today resembles their founding principles.

Thomas Jefferson, a small government Democratic-Republican expanded government auhority in making the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from the French. Republicans proudly call themselves the "Party of Lincoln and (Teddy) Roosevelt, and yet they talk about states rights, seceding from the Union, and rail against the environment and campaign finance reform.

To be fair, things change over time, so it is not unreasonable for people to change as well. However, today's Republicans are inconsistent on an almost daily basis. During the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Elana Kagan, they asked what role international law might play in any case before the court- intimating that as Americans we don't cater to international thought. At the same time, justifying the privatization of Social Security and demonizing the Islamic cultural center in lower Manhattan, they cite Chile, and the lack of churches in Saudi Arabia.

Rebpublicans talk about the importance of "States Rights" except when a state decides to enact a policy that doesn't jibe with their culturally conservative narrative. Roe V Wade was a federal violation of states rights to restrict abortion, but Oregon doesn't have the right to pass a law voted on by statewide referendum allowing for assisted suicide for the terminally ill. California does not have the right to pass, also by statewide vote, a law allowing for cancer patients to use marijuana to enhance their appetites to counter the effects of chemotherapy.

Republicans rail against the huge deficit, and they insist that spending to aid the poor must be paid for but cutting taxes on the wealthy which also increases the debt need not be offset. The First Amendment guarantees us all the right to believe what we want to believe. Republicans want to believe what they don't believe. That's called hypocrisy.