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  The Republican Party he knew is gone
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ContributorThomas Walker 
Last EditedThomas Walker  May 07, 2009 04:21pm
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CategoryOpinion
News DateThursday, May 7, 2009 10:20:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionWhy I am ashamed to have been a Republican? Like my father and his father before him, I have been a lifelong republican. I have always supported the party's candidates and positions, from Barry Goldwater in 1964 to George W. Bush (twice). But something has happened.

Over the last several years the tone of the party has changed and has reached a deafening crescendo in the last few months. Loyal opposition and civility have disappeared, replaced by rhetoric that is poisonous, irrational, and unencumbered by facts.

Consider these examples. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R- North Carolina), speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives concerning the proposed hate crime legislation called the "Matthew Shepard" bill, suggested that Shepard was merely the victim of a robbery, and that suggestions that he was targeted because he was gay were all a part of "a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills." Even a cursory check of the facts shows that the crime was an anti-gay crime. By the way, Matthew's mom was in the House gallery at the time.

Or how about U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R- Georgia), who was on C-SPAN'S "Washington Journal" discussing the swine flu outbreak. Broun was a logical choice. Not only is the congressman a physician, he sits on the House Homeland Security Committee. This is what he said: "Of course, it's sad to see a 23-month-old child die from this disease. We don't have any specifics. I tried to find out this morning specifics about this child that has died — whether it was someone who is from Mexico, possibly an illegal immigrant who has been brought into this country." He apparently didn't try very hard since TV, radio, and Internet sources had all reported the fact that the child and his family were legally visiting the U. S. at the time the child became ill. Instead, he chose to make his inflammatory anti-Mexican insinuation at the expense of a dead baby.
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