People on Twitter and friends of mine here, in Indiana, purportedly a very “red” State, ask how the [Expletive deleted] I can run as a candidate for the United States House of Representatives from Indiana’s 5th Congressional District - or any office - in the Republican Party (GOP).
As I started to write this blog during the evening of January 7, the results of the actions of the current occupant of the Oval Office were playing out on TV. Twice I have watched, in real-time on TV, attacks in the Middle East that involved U.S. military forces.
The second time was Gulf “War” II in 2003. The first time was Gulf “War” I in January, 1991. In each case the Oval Office was occupied by the GOP: George W. and George H.W. Bush, respectively.
For too long progressives - people who, amongst other basic policies, believe in human rights, oppose militarism and the huge corporate state, and favor intelligence - have seemed to sit back, politely, as forces of stupidity, ignorance and hatred dominate one of the two “major” political parties, the GOP.
In 2010, the so-called tea party used the mechanism of the political primary - and transformed a noun into a verb - to challenge candidates in the Republican Party (“GOP”) who, in the views of the tea party, were not sufficiently doctrinaire, i.e., right wing.
Both the Democratic Party and the GOP, over their histories, have embraced policies and philosophies on the continuum from “liberal” to “conservative.” At various times each has had conservative and liberal wings.
Some who label themselves “conservative” and decry any approach to “socialism” have cheered as the current occupant of the Oval Office has gutted programs for clean air and water, housing for the poor, and public schools.
If one believes such programs are socialistic, then the last “socialist” President of this country was Richard Nixon, who, despite many - many, many, many - flaws, was proud of these policies and to have been a lifelong Republican.
The 2010 play by tea party people to take over one the GOP and force it to be ideologically pure was both cynical and strategically savvy. Each party, in 46 States and four commonwealths, is a corporate entity. Corporations are not people.
The current occupant of the Oval Office - I do not like to write or speak his name; I’d call him Voldemort, but do not want to insult death eaters, so I used lower case initials instead, “dt” - made a move similarly cynical when he decided to run for Prez.
In 1987 he registered as GOP; 1999 he switched to Independence Party of New York; 2001 he became a Democrat; 2009 he rejoined the GOP; 2011 he marked "no party affiliation"; finally in 2012 he rejoined the GOP.
In 2004, he told CNN: "In many cases, I probably identify more as Democrat ... It just seems that the economy does better under the Democrats than the Republicans. ... we've had some pretty bad disaster under the Republicans." these from Wikipedia.
Corporate entities are legal fictions created by the State. If Machiavelli were alive, he probably would see dt’s vacillations for what they are and applaud; I doubt he would work for dt. Machiavelli had morals.
dt did not win the popular vote in 2016. He lost by 3 million. He got close enough that Russia helped him flip votes in three States so that dt could take the majority of the electors. He was able to utilize the anger felt, mainly by white people, who believe the USA has gone downhill.
This country caught glimpses of greatness with the events dt’s supporters see as USA failings. When people of color, women, and indigenous peoples began to gain their rights, and when the American people said “enough” to fraudulent war and put a stop to Vietnam, the values at play were those we have supposedly valued.
But dt cussed, made fun of others, and appealed to people who wanted to take out their anger. They have taken over one of the two major political parties, even though they are a definite minority of the voters.
I am running in the GOP. I think it’s wrong to sit back and allow hatred and ignorance to keep a stranglehold on this country through their stranglehold on the GOP.
GOP people for get Roe v Wade was written by a GOP-nominated SCOTUS justice, that at one time Nixon and Dr King were friends, and that the penultimate conservative in recent American history, the late Barry Goldwater said the evangelical effort to take the GOP was a terrible thing.
I run as a Republican, with a platform that reflects what the GOP has held as values since its founding in 1854. I live in a “red” State. There are people here who want to vote for a pro-choice, anti-war candidate, but never would vote for a Democrat.
That is why I am running. This might seem like I’m tilting at windmills, but we - the real majority of people in the USA - cannot afford to abandon one-half of our political structure to the chaos created by ignorance and bigotry.
Chaos is what Putin wants. That’s what he has gotten. We have to reverse course.