It’s safe to say that Republicans could be forgiven if they have difficulty identifying with the Republican Party as of its 2016 convention.
Older Republicans may not recognize today’s party as the party of Dwight Eisenhower. Ike took his commitment to the Constitution very seriously. He did not emulate President Jackson by telling the Supreme Court to implement its decisions. Ike put teeth in the court’s decision to desegregate schools after the Brown case, threatening Gov. Faubus with federal troops if he prevented African-American students from attending a public university. He knew the importance of a strong infrastructure for the nation’s economy. He fully understood the need to support science, discovery and exploration by taking the initiative to establish NASA.
Internationally, Ike knew the difference between France as ally and France as receding colonial power when he refused to help France in Vietnam. He knew how to defend Israel’s right to exist without supporting its aggression (along with allies Britain and France) against Egypt. He understood the dangers of a rising military-industrial complex. He told the nation that America’s greatness would not be measured by the strength of its armed forces, but by the good that Americans do around the world.
The last Republican president was a far cry from Eisenhower. The administration of George W. Bush introduced disasters in the U.S. economic system that eventually paved the way for the financial meltdown of 2008. His regime dealt severe blows to citizens’ constitutional rights by condoning water-boarding and other war crimes. It also started an era of perpetual wars by invading Iraq and Afghanistan, and attempting to create economic and political dependencies wherever possible, or to begin a period of chaos where occupation was difficult to achieve. Armed resistance movements and violent terrorist groups are now prevalent. Today’s Republican Party does not know whether to praise George W. Bush or to condemn him. The party’s leader at the National Republican Committee (Reince Priebus) cited the battle of Fallujah in the same sentence that he mentioned the Battle of Gettysburg, but the party’s new leader, candidate Donald Trump, thought the war was a huge mistake. He promised to abandon such wars and policies of nation-building.
The Republican Party thinks terrorism is one of the main threats to our survival, or at least to our national safety. The current Democratic president thinks the Islamic State is like a junior-varsity terrorist organization, not worthy of the possible sacrifice of American lives. The current administration has flown over 50,000 sorties over Islamic State positions, but has not yet defeated it. The convention offered a great platform to tell the nation how a Republican administration can do better. The convention did no such thing.
The Republican presidential candidate instead attacked the sitting president because President Obama did not use the same language used by Republican leaders, such as “Islamic terrorism.” Republican leaders never stopped to ask why Obama never uses this term. Islam is a religion like any other. Some Muslims may be terrorists, but their faith is neither terrorist nor anti-terrorist. The British government considered IRA fighters terrorists, but the faith of the IRA, be it Christianity, Protestantism, or Catholicism, was never itself described as terrorist, despite the role that religion played in the conflict.
This prejudice against Islam may not be new in America, but it becomes identified with the Republican Party when Trump calls for prevention of immigration from Muslim countries (“until they prove that they love our people”) and presidential candidate Ben Carson declares he would not appoint any Muslim to his cabinet. In a country where adherents of many religions live and work together, there is a major political party that, based on optics, seems to welcome only those of a single faith.
The current shape of the party appears to cater to those who are anti-science, and esteems those who disregard facts, logic and mutual dialogue. Speakers at the convention seem to have been selected for their doctrinaire views. One heard clichés repeated often, but heard far less respect for facts or scientific findings.
This convention was dominated by fear. Too many Republicans say that they are afraid. They are afraid of African-Americans defending black lives. They are afraid of Hispanics working for better treatment of undocumented aliens. They see terrorists everywhere. They cite the number of killed policemen, but not the number of citizens killed by police. They say that illegal immigrants commit most U.S. crimes. They claim that waves of Syrian refugees have inundated our country. There are no verifiable facts to justify such fear, of course.
It is easy to feel alienated by racist statements made by party leaders such as Sens. Rubio, Cruz, former House Speaker Newt Gringrich and Donald Trump. They all seem to agree with Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa, who proclaimed on national media that only European Christians have contributed to human progress. All of us should feel sorry for the congressman, since he knows so little about human history. If this party is committed only to white European Christians, then it follows that the majority of Americans do not belong in the party. We might as well forget about Lincoln, Eisenhower, or even Bush, Sr.
If this is who the party is, then the pool of future Republicans becomes smaller and more removed from American constitutional ideals.
Dr. Fuad K. Suleiman holds a doctorate in International Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School, Tufts and Harvard Universities. He worked for over three decades on behalf of several U.S. government agencies in sixteen Arab countries, most recently Iraq. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
