Submitted by Sandy Litvack
Jill Capalbo, a Cos Cob Republican, is apparently troubled by the “lunacy being spread about Greenwich Republicans” (LETTER: Democrats Are Misleading Voters and Running from Their Record, Oct 6, 2020) and she has focused her ire (in part) on Greenwich Voices for Democracy, of which I am the Chair—a fact of which I am proud and which (while she boasts she learned by “sleuthing online”) is available to anyone through our SEEC filings.
So, what is it that has Ms. Capalbo (and I suspect Dan Quigley and others) so upset and angry? Well, unfortunately for them, it is something called “The Truth.”
As has been said before, “facts are a stubborn thing”. So, let’s look at the facts—not the alternative facts but the real facts. Ms. Capalbo is angry at the suggestion that Republicans “want to end a women’s right to choose [or] embrace[s] white supremacists and support the notion of separating mothers from their children”. But here is the fact—that is EXACTLY what the Republican Party stands for. The Party’s platform (when they used to have one) says the Party opposes Roe v Wade and the appointments made to the Supreme Court by the President confirm that; further is there any doubt about where they stand on separating children from their parents at the border and putting the children in cages? That is EXACTLY what the Republican Party has done. And as for supporting white supremacists, need I say more than Charlottesville and quote the Republican President asserting that “there are fine people on both sides”? This IS the Republican Party and there really is no way to deny that and no place for them to hide.
So what’s Ms. Capalbo’s gripe? What does she say? What can she say? Well, the answer is nothing, choosing instead to fall back on the timeworn claim by Greenwich Republicans that “national politics have nothing to do with Greenwich; we are an island”.
That has worked in the past, I must sadly confess, but not this time, Ms. Capalbo. No, not this time. Not only is it wrong, it has zero credibility at this point in our history. Do the Republicans think that in 2020, after four years of Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell and their attacks on our democracy, (including the treatment of children at our border, the interference with peaceful protests for photo ops and the failure to condemn racism) that the silence of every Republican candidate in this State is unnoticed or acceptable? It is neither. Leaders lead. Leaders speak out against wrongs. Those who, in silence, go along to get along, do neither. Those are our Connecticut Republican candidates.
John Boehner, the former Republican Speaker of the House, put it succinctly and accurately, when he said, “There is no Republican Party; there is the Party of Trump”. That is the reality, as even casual followers of politics know. And the truth (here we go again, with the truth) is that except for the few proud Republicans (like Colin Powell and a few others) who have stood up and rejected Donald Trump and Trumpism, every Republican is a member of the party of Trump and all that entails. Here in Greenwich (and in Connecticut generally) NOT A SINGLE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE has stood up and dissociated themselves from the abomination that is Trumpism. Unless and until one does, each of them is rightly deemed part of the Trump train and that train has no place in Connecticut—not now, not ever! While I understand Messrs. Fazio, Arora and Kelly, along with Ms. Fiorello, want to be seated in Hartford, unless and until they standup and speak out against the Party of Trump they do not deserve to be seated!
One final note, since Ms. Capalbo (whom I do not know) seems concerned about whether I am bored or not, please be assured that I am not at all bored. It turns out that fighting for, and protecting, democracy is really very energizing. Everyone should try it.
Editor’s note: Letters to the Editor in support of local candidates in the Nov 3, 2020 election may be submitted to [email protected] for consideration beginning July 15 and with a hard deadline of Oct 26, 2020 at noon.