OPINION
THE SOAPBOX* Stand up. Speak Up. It’s Your Turn
Former NH Speaker Bill O’Brien is taking his extreme agenda on the road to South Carolina this week. Speaking at the South Carolina Freedom Summit, O’Brien openly mocked his own party and their choice for a Presidential nominee (see video above).
The fun began as O’Brien told the crowd that he is the “Republican Leader” in the NH House of Representatives. I am sure that the Republican leadership in the NH House would beg to differ. (For those who may not know, O’Brien and his fellow “TEA Party Patriots” formed their own Republican caucus and named O’Brien as their leader.)
O’Brien was there to push for a Conservative candidate (unnamed in this event, but locally reported that O’Brien is supporting Sen. Ted Cruz) who will hold true to their Conservative principles. As O’Brien laid it out: limited government, free markets, “stopping the governments war on religion,” unalienable right of self protection, “the rights of children born and unborn,” and personal sovereignty.
“Over the years I have heard the establishment party and the liberal media tell us who we should be voting for,” said O’Brien. “The establishment and the liberal media telling us to nominate a moderate so he can win and ends up with that moderate loosing because he cannot draw any significant distinction between himself and the liberal parties candidate.”
Obviously O’Brien was not happy with Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for President.
O’Brien went on to say, “We win when we directly and unapologetically present our philosophy of liberty unimpeded by big government and founded on individual sovereignty, and we loose when we nominate RINOs [Republicans In Name Only].”
First of all, I think it should be known that Republicans are not the only ones who want “personal sovereignty.”
Democrats are also pushing for more “personal sovereignty“ and less government involvement in their personal lives.
We want the government, and the Republican Party, to keep their laws out of a women’s uterus. A woman should be able to choose if she wants to terminate her pregnancy for the reasons she and her doctor have discussed. Republicans across the country have been hard at work to strip women of their reproductive rights and force them to have unnecessary medical procedures and in some extreme cases be forced to listen to lies about abortions and the effects of having an abortion.
The freedom to choose has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States since Roe v Wade more than 40 years ago. Yet, every year Republican led legislatures, like New Hampshire, push some type of fetal personhood law to take away a woman’s freedom to choose. They pass laws that force health clinics to close, and force women to drive for hundreds of miles to have a safe and legal medical procedure.
What about the freedom to marry? Shouldn’t people have the personal freedom to marry whomever they choose? The Supreme Court will soon issue a ruling as to whether it is constitutional that a state can pass laws discriminating gay and lesbian couples from getting married.
What about “Freedom of Religion”? O’Brien says there is a “war on religion,” and to some extent, he is right. There is a war by the religious evangelical right to force their religious beliefs on the rest of the country.
What about those who do not believe in any religion, should they be forced to abide by the religious beliefs of the evangelical right-wingers?
What about those who already have a strong foundation in their own faith, like Muslim, Jewish, and Wiccan? Do they not have the same person freedoms guaranteed to them by the Constitution to practice whatever religion they choose?
There is a separation between Church and State for a reason, yet these same O’Brien-led Republicans are trying to force their religion on us through the government. Way to uphold our Constitution.
They hypocrisy is astounding. Screaming personal freedom yet actively stripping away the freedoms and rights of millions of Americans. The Republican Party is tearing itself apart – which is fine by me – because the radical right wing of the party is attacking the more reasonable and moderate Republicans.
It is fun to watch O’Brien bad-mouth his own party for nominating moderates. If the “moderate” Republican candidate like Romney was still too extreme for mainstream Americans, then what real chance do a fringe candidates, like Sen. Ted Cruz or Dr. Ben Carson, really have in the general election?
Get the popcorn, because this show is only beginning.
*Got something to say? Submissions always welcome for The Soapbox, no matter what your personal or political leanings. Just keep it clean. Email your opinion pieces, essays or op/eds to robidouxnews@gmail.com
Matt Murray is the creator and an author on the NH Labor News, news and information from a labor perspective. He is a union member and advocate for labor and progressive politics. He also works with other unions and members to help spread our message. Follow him on Twitter @NHLabor_News
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