There are many fair criticisms of last week’s Republican National Convention, not the least of which is the sometimes less-than-impressive presentation, even without Clint Eastwood’s rant at a chair.

However, the most notable thing about the RNC was the sheer lack of policy discussion. So, let’s look at the only Republican policy document to come out of Tampa, Fla.: the Republican Party Platform.

You see, the reason no one has heard about the platform is because the Republicans don’t want anyone to know what’s in it. They know the extremism displayed in this document would turn off most ordinary people.

But, your trusty liberal columnist is here to make sure people know what the Republican Party really stands for. It’s fairly lengthy, so I’ll list only the most shocking positions the party took this week.

First, the Akin Amendment. Putting aside Todd Akin’s incendiary comments about “legitimate” rape and women’s bodies magically sealing off their ovaries from rapists’ sperm to prevent pregnancy, there are some equally disturbing policies in the platform.

This year, the convention adopted a policy that calls for an absolute ban on all abortions in the United States, even if the woman in question has been a victim of rape or incest.

The Republicans’ position on abortion would shut down Planned Parenthood, including the clinic just off campus, and make it harder for young women who have been put in the terrible position of making that kind of decision.

The policy also includes provisions aimed at stopping Shariah (Muslim) law from being used in U.S. courts. For the record, no court in America has ever used Shariah law as the determining factor in its decisions.

Yet despite the clear lack of a problem, Republicans are careful to include in their platform that “there must be no use of foreign law by US courts in interpreting our Constitution and laws.”

While this provision would have little effect, even if it were to become law, it is a curious waste of time and signals a broader bigotry against Muslim Americans that the GOP has displayed in recent years.

Similarly, the platform rejects “the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty,” and opposes “any form of U.N. Global Tax.” Agenda 21 does not contain provisions for a global tax, and in fact, the U.N. charter bans the U.N. from demanding anything from nations — including money.

The U.N. Agenda 21 is a non-binding policy encouraging member nations to examine the environmental impact of their policies, according to a Mother Jones article from 2010.

For all the Ron Paul fans out there, the platform also calls for a federal commission to look into reimplementing the gold standard.

This has been a libertarian talking point for years, but the fact of the matter is that reinstating the gold standard would make us an international pariah and slow the entire world’s economy at a time when that is far from needed.

In a section of the platform titled, “Private Stewardship of the Environment,” Republicans try to make the argument that private companies and individuals would do a better job of protecting the environment than the government.

When left unregulated, people and entities in the private sector have been very efficient at the extraction of resources, but consistently irresponsible in the management of the environment.

Has the GOP already forgotten the BP oil spill? At the time, the party was calling it “Obama’s Katrina,” and blamed his agencies (i.e. government) for not doing enough to prevent it.

Students here at Syracuse University should be aware of these extreme and often offensive positions the Republicans have taken.  Ask yourself: Are these the people you trust to run our country?

Colin Crowley is a senior political science and philosophy major. His column appears online weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @colincrowley.

Published on September 8, 2012 at 9:00 am