Dorothy Dumelle’s letter in the Nov. 5 Viewpoints section rightfully admonishes the Republicans for not doing their job. That job would be “governing.” That’s the intent of any political party, is it not? To govern. Ideally, we want governance — like the medical Hippocratic Oath says — to do no harm. Partisan politics, with checks and balances in place, can mitigate any extremist intent by any of the three branches of government. Right now, the GOP is clearly extremist. They are doing a lousy job of governing with respect to our proscribed constitutional democracy.
Extreme as they are, the GOP actually is doing the job they said they intended to do, if victorious in 2024, just as they literally advertised in the run-up to the election — enacting Project 2025. Yes, that sick and vile initiative, published in April of 2023 by the far, far right-wing Heritage Foundation. It was not at all a bait-and-switch job by the GOP. The “initiative” was written about and talked about long before the election took place. It was the major agenda of Trump’s candidacy though he denied it at the time.
The Democratic Party and the voters, in losing that crucial election, didn’t do their job — that being preventing Project 2025 from descending upon everyone, anywhere. We see its viciousness every day. Its lawlessness. We were fully aware of Project 2025’s intent to reshape the federal government and consolidate power in the Executive Branch of government. We did not do our job, either. Tragically so.
The recent election was, on the surface, a good day for the party that failed to stop Project 2025 from coming to life. I, for one, cannot help but find irony in the celebratory reaction to the Blue Wave of Nov. 4. Has the opposition party found its spine? Will it save us (excluding the billionaires) from the dystopia that they knew was coming and needed to, but did not stop?
Time will tell. I will keep advocating for more choices, more voices outside of Red and Blue. What happened in 2024 and what is happening now showed how both major parties aren’t very good at “doing their job.”
Caveat emptor.
Joe Harrington
Oak Park