“As much as I reject Donald Trump as our party leader, he did not create the political culture of the United States on his own.”
–Former Republican presidential candidate and governor of Florida Jeb Bush, in an op-ed published in The Washington Post where he denounces Donald Trump, saying he does not reflect “the principles or inclusive legacy of the Republican Party.” But Bush says that it is President Obama, not Donald Trump, who first escalated the conflict, by abusing his power to push liberal policies over the wishes of the American people.
“Eight years of the divisive tactics of President Obama and his allies have undermined Americans’ faith in politics and government to accomplish anything constructive,” Bush writes. “The president has wielded his power — while often exceeding his authority — to punish his opponents, legislate from the White House and turn agency rulemaking into a weapon for liberal dogma.
“In turn, a few in the Republican Party responded by trying to out-polarize the president, making us seem anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-science, anti-gay, anti-worker and anti-common-sense,” Bush continues. “The result has been the vanishing of any semblance of compromise or bipartisanship in our nation’s capital. Simple problems don’t get solved. Speeches happen; the important stuff doesn’t. The failure of elected leaders to break the gridlock in Washington has led to an increasingly divided electorate, which in turn has led to a breakdown in our political system.”
Bush then uses the bulk of the rest of the column to propose conservative ideas meant to solve major issues facing the country. Bush argues that Republicans can win back the White House with “the power of our ideas,” such as term limits, a balanced-budget amendment, line-item-veto authority, a tough approach to terrorism, and promoting free markets. While Bush says he will either vote Libertarian or write someone in for president, he urges House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) and the Republican-controlled Congress to serve as a check on the president, regardless of which candidate eventually wins the White House.
Bush also attacks Trump’s “abrasive, Know Nothing-like nativist rhetoric,” calling out the business mogul over his lack of serious policies, his use of Twitter to disparage opponents, and his embrace of tactics that “cynically feed” people’s angst and fear. But he also takes aim at presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, arguing that she would only “continue the disastrous foreign and economic policies of the Obama administration, as well as its hyper-partisanship.”
“She has gone as far as to say Republicans are her “enemy” — a clear sign she doesn’t have any more interest in doing the hard work of forging consensus than her former boss does,” writes Bush in a dig at both Obama and Clinton.
Thanks to my dad's career, the Army was a huge part of my upbringing. When I was little, vaccinations, swimming lessons, and commissary shopping meant a trip to Fort Belvoir, Virginia. My elder brother followed in our father's Army footsteps, becoming an Army helicopter pilot. My stepfather was in the Navy during World War II, serving on a submarine in the Pacific.
When I hit 18, when I was most likely to consider joining the military myself, even "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a few years away. If you were found to be gay, out you went. Poring over reams of court documents, during a college internship, regarding the murder of Naval officer Allen R. Schindler Jr., assured me that I was better off as a civilian. Schindler, who was gay and born the same year as me, was beaten to death by two shipmates during shore leave in Japan.
Justice Department had demanded Boston Children's Hospital hand over patients' and employees' personal information under the guise of combating medical "fraud."
A federal judge has quashed a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice demanding that Boston Children’s Hospital turn over private medical information on youth receiving gender-affirming care, blasting the request as a “fishing expedition” aimed at prosecuting doctors under the guise of investigating health care fraud.
In his ruling, Judge Myong Joun, a Biden appointee, said the Justice Department sought an “astonishingly broad array of documents and information that are virtually unlimited in scope,” including patients’ Social Security numbers, home addresses, and personal details, as well as the complete personnel files of all 2,000 Boston Children’s Hospital employees, regardless of whether they had any involvement in providing gender-affirming care to minors.
President Donald Trump has commuted the 87-month prison sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), the openly gay congressman who pleaded guilty in August 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
By commuting his sentence, Trump allows the 37-year-old former congressman to walk free and resume his life. Before his imprisonment, Santos had been earning money on Cameo, charging up to $350 for personalized video messages -- from birthday greetings to shout-outs for special occasions.
Elected in 2022 amid a Republican "wave" in New York, the one-term congressman admitted to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of nearly a dozen people -- including relatives -- to fund his campaign.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.