The Republican Bullies and Thugs of 2014

The target of republican bullying is usually Obama, but lately their anger is directed at everyone else

I don’t have to go far back to show how Republican elected officials use the power of their office for personal gain or as an instrument to punish their enemies. We normally hear about Republican bullies directing their anger toward our President. I guess it hasn’t worked out that well since in the last few months, they have been directing their frustration and anger towards democratic mayors, reporters and even student voters.

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is embroiled in a scandal where he is accused of closing two lanes of traffic used by motorists crossing the George Washington Bridge. The punishment for not being endorsed by the Mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey. The most recent and condemning accusation is that he knew about it during the four days from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, when traffic between New Jersey and New York was frozen.

Another incident occurred right after the State of the Union address. “U.S. Representative Michael Grimm, a former Marine who threatened to throw a television reporter over a balcony after an interview in the Capitol, apologized and said he had overreacted.” Overreacted? He also told the reporter “I will break you in half like a boy!” Who talks like that?

How about Andy Sanborn, the New Hampshire Senator who threatened a constituent for supporting marijuana decriminalization. Why would he do such a thing? Tobacco lobbying dollars? Private prison lobbying dollars? Some kid at college wrote Sanborn about the changing marijuana laws across the United States. Well, Sanborn didn’t like the idea of being told what to do by a voter, so he threatened to revoke the kid’s scholarship.

If you get a Republican angry, should you expect them to revoke your college scholarship, close a bridge to the city you travel from, or have bodily harm done to you? Is this propensity to seek retribution or make violent threats a consistent problem with Republican candidates and elected officials? Perhaps this is why they poll so poorly in terms of honesty and trustworthiness when compared to Democratic Party members.

I wouldn’t say Democrats are perfect. President Bill Clinton is a perfect example. He faced impeachment and is lucky to have survived. I won’t even go so far as to defend him. Cheating on your wife is never good. Ever notice that when a Democrat gets in this sort of trouble, they need to be removed from office, but when a Republican does it they are forgiven for being human?

How is this for human? The now-former GOP chair of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Robert Kerns remains free after posting bond on Nov. 27, the day after he was arrested and committed to Montgomery County Prison. What crime? Rape. A former co-worker claims he slipped her an Ambien and then sexually assaulted her after a company party the night of Oct. 25.

Jesse Ryan Loskarn, a former aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) who faced charges of possessing and distributing child pornography, hanged himself and died. Court documents claim he had a video of a young girl being raped in the woods. And hundreds of others like that.

The point that I’m trying to make is that these men seem to like the abuse of others, whether it’s by their hand or not. Last October, before we even knew of these charges, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) told Republicans they’re “acting like they’re committing domestic abuse“ by refusing to fund the government or raise the debt ceiling. Perhaps some of them aren’t domestic abusers only figuratively, maybe they have violent tendencies.

So many times last year we heard Republican elected officials, pundits, and even rank and file GOP members claim the existence of a scandal involving President Barack Obama. But each time they did, it fizzled away into nothingness, conjecture or nonsense. Benghazi and the IRS comes to mind. Claiming to have “evidence that might impeach Barack Obama” is going to replace the phrase “crying wolf” because so few people choose shepherding as an occupation these days.

Last year we saw many different ways Republicans tried to bully Obama and Democrats. Holding the government hostage, holding the debt ceiling hostage, dousing him with false scandal after false scandal. I’m not saying they are giving up, but so far in 2014, it seems Republicans are taking out their anger on everyone else.