Marco Rubio’s tweet is a prime example of a disconnected political party

 

On Fathers Day, Marco Rubio took to Twitter to declare the following:

"Every major social problem in America can be linked to fatherlessness. Wherever involved fathers are rare, crisis is certain to follow and billions in government spending is no substitute for fatherhood."

This tweet is incredibly tone-deaf, especially to lesbian couples or single mothers. Same-sex couples are adopting more and more children every year, which we should support as a society. Anytime a child can be taken out of the system and placed into a loving home is a win. And what about single mothers who left due to an abusive partner? Rubio seems to have overlooked entirely several other categories of the family unit. Isn't America's greatest strength that we are a melting pot of different races, religions, beliefs, and family structures? Conservatives are always the loudest to yell about how great America is but always the first to forget what makes it so.

But that's not surprising considering the republican party has been neither kind nor inclusive to these sorts of families. Conservatives have never really strived to be a party of inclusion. In fact, in the past ten years, one could argue that conservatism is more about what you "aren't" than what you "are," e.i. not socialist, not lazy, not elitist, not Hollywood, not Antifa, not "woke," not liberal. Hate for liberals better defines the modern-day GOP than any other description.

What is only slightly more shocking is how ridiculous the claim is that "every major social problem" could be fixed by simply having more fathers around. Homelessness? Jobs? Education? Clean air & water? Access to healthy food? Healthcare? Child care? College access? While one could very easily argue that several of these issues could be linked back to the very clique definition of a "broken home," making a blanket statement that having fathers inside a house will solve all of society's problems is absurd. The party of "personal responsibility" strikes again. Which, let's be honest, is just a cop-out; it's effortless to blame society for its faults instead of engaging in meaningful conversations about real-world solutions. "Well, only if fathers were around more, we wouldn't have the student loan crisis." See how ridiculous that sounds?

But ignorant and blanket judgmental non-substantive statements are the earmark of what the conservative party in America does. Instead of debating the merits of climate change legislation, they would rather claim that Biden is "coming for your hamburgers." Instead of supporting a thorough investigation of the insurrection that led to the deaths of several officers, they would rather claim that it was Antifa disguised as Trump supporters. Always an excuse. Always a distraction.

Marco Rubio's tweet is an excellent summation of the GOP in America today: never a substantial argument or conversation, never a real solution, always just an exaggerated problem.