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A government of millionaires for the millionaires by the millionaires

Parvin Darabi

Years ago when I first came to America and settled in California I was told that the Republican Party was the party of Lincoln and believed in the right of the individual.

After I became a citizen in 1972, I joined the Republican Party because I believed ” and still do ” in the right of individual to make choices in his or her life.

It did not take long to realize that that all individuality the Republicans stood for was for rich people to hold on to their money, guns and God. The longer I lived in America the more I realized that the Republicans, and for that matter some of the Democrats, only believe in fighting for the right of the rich, the strong and the religious right.



This is not a democracy, but a government of millionaires for the millionaires by the millionaires.

Tim Leslie, a Republican assemblyman, does not think it is proper for us to have a right on how we want to die. (“California: Another step closer to death” Sierra Sun April 20)



Just like he does not want women to have the right to their bodies. I say, Mr. Leslie, if you do not want to have a doctor give you a lethal injection and end your life regardless of how much pain and misery you are suffering that is your individual right. However you have no right to deny others this right.

Whoever does not believe in abortion doesn’t need to have one, but don’t make it illegal for girls and women in this state. We do not have to compare ourselves with Oregon or Netherlands, because we don’t have all the information regarding each of those individual cases. And frankly, we cannot believe in Republican politicians anymore. Weren’t the Republicans the ones who told us that fetuses and stem cells were viable babies? Weren’t the Republicans the ones who told us that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and that he could use Anthrax and kill us all? So why should we believe in any story a Republican politician tell us?

I am astounded that the same people who passed the Three Strikes and You’re Out laws in California and put a petty thief in jail for life are so quiet about the white collar theft of such people as Ken Lay and the likes. I am also astounded that all these people who like to err on the side of life are so quick to put people to death in their prisons? Why don’t we err on the side of life and try to understand why people commit crimes?

Spend more money on education, healthcare and give people living wages so they do not have to commit crimes. Didn’t governor Schwarzenegger, a Republican, just veto the increase in minimum wage?

A few years ago when I wrote to Wally Herger, at the time our representative in Congress, to vote against the ban on late term abortion, I received a letter on Sept. 28, 1996 from him stating that, “There are absolutely no obstetrical situations which require a partially delivered human fetus to be destroyed to preserve the life or health of the mother.”

I thought a fertilized egg was considered a baby. I believed at the time this letter to be offensive to all women. He must have believed that women are so insane that they would go through nine months of pregnancy with all the discomforts of morning sickness, weight gain and sleepless nights. And right before delivery tell their doctor to abort. Is there actually a doctor so immoral that agrees and kills the child? It also showed his lack of knowledge about the procedure. Had he listened to women who had this procedure he would have thought otherwise.

The same goes with Mr. Leslie. Perhaps he should learn more about the people who want to end their own lives and all they need is help and advice of a trained physician. We put animals to death to end their suffering why should we not extend this compassion to human being?

In conclusion all we are asking is for people like me to have a choice in how we want to live our lives and how we want to end it. I believe this is our fundamental human right.

Parvin Darabi is a

Truckee resident.


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