Party over Principle: Welcome to American Politics

One will never have to avoid the disdain of hypocrisy if they consistently uphold their values. However, abandoning principle appears to be a trend for political party warriors.

GOP senators like Sasse and Cruz voted in support of Trump’s unconstitutional emergency declaration.


The label ‘constitutional conservative’ leads others to assume where one’s priorities may lie. The goal to uphold the values of the document would supersede political party quarrels. The label wouldn’t be held by those who abandon said principals when their party is in power.

The true hypocrisy is shown by those who shout “But what about the constitution”, when the left side of the political spectrum tries to bypass congress and empower the executive branch. Personally, I’m old enough to remember the ‘principled’ republicans that were outraged throughout the duration of the Obama era.

Are those very same behaviors acceptable as long as your team is in charge?

However, twelve GOP senators chose to uphold their values and principles over political party goals.

Senator Rand Paul states Trump’s emergency declaration is unconstitutional because it is an abuse of executive powers, bypasses congress, and dismisses the importances of checks and balances.

Senator Thom Tillis wrote in an op-ed, “As a U.S. senator, I cannot justify providing the executive with more ways to bypass Congress. As a conservative, I cannot endorse a precedent that I know future left-wing presidents will exploit to advance radical policies that will erode economic and individual freedoms.”