Today’s Republicans have lost their moral compass

I am socially liberal and fiscally conservative. I used to respect the Republican Party even when I disagreed with their policy positions. Good people can have honest disagreements. But today’s Iowa Republican party is much different from the party of Robert Ray and Jim Leach.

I was disappointed with the results of the last Iowa election cycle, but what is quite troubling is that Iowans elected Briana Bird despite her qualifications being iffy at best. She works part-time and has never even tried a felony case. How in the world could she defeat a well-respected, highly-experienced, and very effective Tom Miller? Clearly, it was merely because Bird had an R next to her name.

That kind of blind party loyalty is disgusting. As is the party’s loyalty to a morally challenged Donald Trump. And their hypocrisy. A case in point: the Iowa delegation in Congress is downplaying the work of the Jan. 6 committee. These are the same people who were cowering in their offices pleading for help that day. Or, in Grassley’s case, being whisked away for his own protection.

They say that an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power is not something to investigate. This is the same Republican Party that celebrated the seven Benghazi hearings (which even Chairman Trey Gowdy admits accomplished nothing). Yes, I have lost respect for the vast majority of today’s Republican Party. They have lost their moral compass. Thank God some, like Liz Cheney, have not.

Rex Clemmensen

Iowa City