So Steven Rogers starts (his most recent Op-Ed) with a quote from Abraham Lincoln.
“The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.”
Yet it’s dogmas of the past such as “trickle down” or “supply side” economics in which his party continues to insist on everyone. Add to that working to roll back reproductive freedom and marriage equality in the name of “family values.”
While we’re on the topic of Abraham Lincoln quotes, here’s one you’ll never hear from any Republican this day and age: “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
While Lincoln’s quotes are respectable, Rogers’s are laughable.
“Now is our time to unite and embrace the heart, soul and spirit of every citizen from all walks of life and invite them into our big Republican tent” had me laughing. While the Republican Party was a much bigger tent in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is not so much in the 21st century.
Is he talking about the same big Republican tent that wanted to ban Muslims from entering America? Or still has people in office who oppose marriage equality? Or doesn’t want students knowing there is such a thing as someone being transgender?
Or 2012 when Mitt Romney referred to 47% of the electorate as people who live off government handouts and do not “care for their lives.” Then there was the McCain adviser Phil Gramm in 2008 who referred to us all as a “nation of whiners” during the worst economy since the Great Depression.
They’re just as bad as Hillary Clinton calling Trump supporters a basket of deplorables. The Republicans may be a circus tent, but I wouldn’t call them a big enough tent that welcomes citizens from all walks of life.
Rogers sure likes to hide behind the word “freedom” and wants us to believe it is only Democrats who are tearing down our freedoms and individual rights. With the help of many Democrats including the one currently sitting in the White House, it was mostly Republicans who delivered a failed drug war and mass incarcerations for victimless crimes.
When Rogers ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 2017, he opposed legalizing recreational marijuana. He said so during a June 1, 2017 episode of the Brian Lehrer show on WNYC. You can still listen to it here www.wnyc.org/story/nj-governors-race-steven-rogers. Or, listen to the embed right below this. A true freedom lover wouldn’t share such a view.
Then there is the Patriot Act which gave the government more spying powers over American citizens. Only three Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against it. With few individual exceptions, they have not proven to be the party of individual rights and freedoms at any point in my life of 43 years so far.
While some Democrats may be a little better, not enough have been — so I’m not here to say “Vote blue don’t matter who.” I don’t care if you write in your pet dog. In fact, my response to the recent news about Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery charges is don’t blame me, I voted third party.
If more of those options were in this year’s election, perhaps more people would care about it as local offices are where such options have the most success (throughout America right now, the Green Party holds over 100 elected offices while the Libertarian Party holds over 300).
I understand a lot of Republicans and Democrats on the local level aren’t like a lot of the scum on the federal level. Regardless of our political views, we have more in common with our local politicians than we do Biden, Trump, Pelosi and McConnell. But still keep an eye out. Especially on the school board elections. Regardless of one’s political affiliation or how innocent sounding a narrative they hide behind, remember that those who want to ban books are never on the good team.
Rogers also likes to bring up the Constitution. We all know he was an adviser for Trump who on Dec. 3, 2022, called for “the termination of all rules, regulations and articles, even those found in the Constitution” on Truth social.
We now know who not to trust in protecting the Constitution.
He says “I know this Op-Ed has ruffled the feathers of some Democrats.” No, it just sparked eye rolls and face palms among people who have at least half a brain. Then he ends with “Now is our time!” Whose time? Partisan hacks like him who claim only their faulty party will save us from the other party that has many of the same corporate campaign donors as them?
It’s been their time my entire life and look where it landed us.
Now is their time to take a hike.
Andrew Miller
North Arlington
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.