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By Chris Honoré February 08. 2016 12:01AM Chris Honoré: Questions for the GOP, rarely asked or answered We are entering what will soon be the high season of politics. Soon, both the Democratic and Republican fields will have been winnowed — a process not to be missed — and there will be two candidates left standing. The differences will prove stark and the stakes for America couldn’t be higher. But for now, find below some questions I would dearly love to ask those GOP candidates still in the race, interrogatories touching on issues that are often blatantly or cleverly avoided during debates, or not asked at all. Should a Republican candidate be elected, he or she (a nod to Carly Fiorina who is still in the race) may have one or two Supreme Court nominations to make. Do you have a litmus test? Comment: Nominations to the court are the gift that keeps on giving, and this election will not be just about electing one person as POTUS, but will shape the court for decades to come. Would you explain your position on a woman’s right to choose as codified in Roe v. Wade, and if you are not pro-choice, would you make an exception for rape or incest? Comment: All of the Republican candidates are against a woman’s right to choose and would like to overturn Roe v. Wade. Some (Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina) believe life begins at conception and thus feel any form of contraception, such as the morning after pill or an intrauterine device, should be illegal and are tantamount to an abortion. Would you comment on the lead poisoning of Flint, Mich., and how it might be connected to the Black Lives Matter movement? Comment: The response of the administration of Gov. Rick Snyder (R) regarding the citizens of Flint, especially its children, borders on criminal negligence. It also sends a message to the black community that if in America you are poor and black, your life is devalued. How else can it be interpreted? Do you believe in the separation of church and state and that an individual’s religion (or lack thereof) should be private as well as immaterial to his or her ability to perform the duties of POTUS? Comment: When Ted Cruz won the Iowa Republican caucus vote his first words were: “To God be the glory,” and he pointed heavenward. He also referred to Psalm 30:5, saying, “Weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.” The tension arises when those in public office insist on America being a “Godly government,” Godly being defined in Judeo-Christian terms. Ted Cruz has iterated that man’s rights do not come from government or from the people but from our “creator,” as he narrowly defines that word. Do you believe one of the still unfinished civil rights issues of our time involves women? They continue to be sexually assaulted in our military, on college campuses and domestically. They are still treated as a minority and are underrepresented in Congress. Equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender, is but one example. Comment: Civil rights for women are actually a vast and intractable global issue. In too many countries women are viewed as property, many are trafficked and enslaved, many physically abused. It requires a tortured explanation to give logic to requiring a woman to wear a full burka, not allowing her to drive or go to school. Nicholas Kristof recently wrote in the New York Times, “About every 90 minutes, an ‘honor killing’ unfolds somewhere in the world, usually in a Muslim country,” wherein a woman is killed by relatives for disobeying a strict norm or law. According to Kristof, Pakistan alone has more than 1,000 a year, and the perpetrators are rarely punished. Much of the world is still a patriarchy, even our own country. A potpourri of questions: If you would tear up the Iran nuclear deal, what would you replace it with? Ditto the Affordable Care Act. Do you believe in the science of global warming? Would you defund Planned Parenthood? What about our crumbling infrastructure? Ready to reform campaign financing? Please explain your reasoning in detail. Chris Honoré of Ashland is a Daily Tidings columnist.                   http://www.dailytidings.com/article/20160208/OPINION/160209901 © 2016 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->