Those who have read or watched the film version of Thomas Berger's "Little Big Man" know that, among the Cheyenne Indians during the 1800s, there were individuals called "contraries" who, for spiritual reasons, did everything in reverse. They said "good morning" at sunset, said "no" when they meant "yes", and even rode their horses backwards.
Similar individuals can be found on the modern American scene - we call them "Republicans"!
For instance, Republican presidential-contender Mitt Romney recently said he "will work for 100 percent of the American people." In "contrarian," this translates as "I don't care about 47 percent of the American people" who "don't work and depend upon government for food, housing, whatever." ... During the Denver debate, Romney said "I love Big Bird." This means he really hates Big Bird and wants to add him to the ranks of the unemployed ...
Romney says he would "get tough with China". This means that he's in a "tough" spot because a company he owned shipped American jobs to China! Mitt recently said that "hope is not a foreign policy", but, back in May, he said that there was "no hope" for the people of Palestine, and that "the best we can hope for" is to "kick the ball down the field" in that region ...
Congressman Bill Johnson says that he wants to "preserve Medicare." This means that he supports the Ryan Plan, that would "starve" Medicare and replace it with a "voucher" system by 2025 ... Both Johnson and State Representative Andy Thompson say they would "work with the EPA." What both of these candidates mean is that they will "work harder" to get rid of the EPA so that their wealthy backers in the energy industry can receive a blank check to pollute without interference from federal or state agencies.
Romney, Ohio Senate candidate Shane Thompson and U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel have said that they want to "save jobs in the coal industry." This may be correct! However, the "jobs" they seem most interested in "saving" are those of the coal-company executives who posed as "miners" in some Romney ads, and forced real miners to act as unpaid "stand-ins" at a Romney rally in Beallsville back in August ... When these folks say that they "support miners", they really mean that they don't support miners who belong to labor organizations like the UMW ... When they say they "support coal", they mean that they believe that the more lucrative natural-gas industry will eventually render coal-mining obsolete ...
In various states across the nation, Republicans say that they are not "at war against women". But they are "at war" against women's contraceptive rights and healthcare needs ... Congressional Republicans say they don't like "big government," but they love big government when it tells people whom they can marry, or tries to block citizens from voting in places like Columbus. Paul Ryan says that he wants to "save Social Security" - which, in "contrarian" means that he wants to "privatize" Social Security.
Several local candidates are "contrarians." These tea-party-endorsed folks love to say how much they "love freedom and liberty"! But at least one local county commissioner candidate, Ron Feathers, has gone on record (in a Aug. 25 letter to The Times) saying that "America is not a democracy"!
Does the "contrarian" nature of many Republicans suggest that, in the end, they will vote "no" on State Issue One, and "yes" on State Issue Two? One can only hope!
Fred O'Neill
Marietta
