The Feb. 28 editorial “Embarrassment to the county: Councilor Madore spurns compromise, attacks those who disagree with him,” does not speak only to David Madore. The current Republican Party embraces a view that leaves no room for gray area, no room for compromise, no room for the subtlety that is required to effectively govern. Its ineffectiveness is an embarrassment to the country.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., tells us the party can’t consider a President Obama appointment to the Supreme Court. No matter who it is, it’s rejected, sight unseen.
Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, parrots the party line. We can’t build a new bridge. Unlike generations before we can’t pay a toll, even temporarily, to pay for that bridge. She conflates a minority generally opposed to the bridge based on how far they live from it with every resident.
The Columbia River Crossing isn’t a failure, it’s a monument to a generation of Republican politicians who only see what can’t be done. I am sick of only hearing what we can’t do from people like Madore, McConnell and Pike. We have not lost faith in those who promote a new river crossing, we have lost faith in the party of can’t, which can’t let this country accomplish anything more than hanging the words “In God We Trust” over a short-sighted, mean-spirited and divisive pair of party hacks who don’t believe in the worth of this country.
