Two of the aspirants seeking the Republican nomination to run against Rep. Jared Golden in 2024 have attacked him for coming out in favor of a ban on assault weapons like the one used to murder and maim in Lewiston. Obviously, these two would not know an act of political courage if it came up and smacked them in the face.

This of course is not the only index of the moral and intellectual poverty of today’s Republican Party. I differ with President Biden as to his giving the Israelis a mostly blank check as they deal with Hamas, but I am given some hope by indications that there are limits to how far we will indulge them. At least I hope so. That is different from the Republican case, which is a blatant exercise in seeking pro-Israeli votes and money, while threatening to cut off very appropriate aid to Ukraine as it resists Russian aggression.

Above all, there is the GOP’s slavish subservience to the Felon-in-Waiting from Queens with his bombast and bullying. Future generations may well wonder how one of our two major parties sank to such a level of folly and depravity.

Ed McCarthy

Vienna