First The Dems Lost Me And Now So Did The GOP
By
Leonard Zwelling
On June 20, The New York Times had a small article on page A13 about the Texas Republican Party convention in Houston. The convention adopted the following as tenets of the state party.
President Biden is not the legitimate President of the United States as the election of 2020 was stolen from Mr. Trump.
The party rebuked Senator John Cornyn, a stalwart conservative, for working on sane gun legislation with his Democratic Senate colleagues.
The party declared homosexuality “an abnormal lifestyle choice.” It’s not.
It called for students to “learn about the humanity of the Preborn Child.”
In summary, the Texas GOP has been captured by the far right Trumpists and this portends a real problem for middle of the road voters like me who reject the “wokeism” of the extreme left and had hoped that Republicans would come to their senses and strike a balance that we centrists could live with. Forget about it.
And yet, despite the GOP saying that the election was a fraud and Trump really won, they want their minions to go out to vote. This is exactly how the Republicans lost the two Senate seats in Georgia—by having their voters stay home after the far right swore the whole system is fixed. What sense does that make? Can’t the GOP learn?
I do not see how the country recovers from the two extremist positions taken by the majority members of the two major parties. Either one party or both will come to its senses or a third party will arise which hasn’t worked in the United States in over a century.
There is real danger here.
This is a critical time for members of the two parties in Washington to work together to try to get the economy back on track, gas prices down, inflation tamed, and hold off a deep recession. None of that is taking place. Rather the Republicans are digging in their heels claiming voter fraud and stolen elections despite over 60 law suits having failed to confirm this. And of course, the Democrats were ready to give away the store with the Build Back Better Bill at a time when tax revenues might decrease if the economy stagnates.
The culture wars on guns, gender issues, abortion, and what constitutes truth have raged on for years. Lying on the part of our government goes back at least to LBJ and Vietnam, Nixon and Watergate, Reagan and Iran-contra, George H. W. Bush and “read my lips,” Bill Clinton about everything, and George W. Bush and WMDs in Iraq. Of course, there was also Obama and “if you like your doctor you can keep him,” and Mr. Trump on virtually everything he said about Covid, Mr. Obama, and his own wealth.
The American people can be forgiven for not believing anything they hear from their leaders. However, to adopt an outright lie as the platform of major political party in an important state like Texas is really too much.
So, here’s my plan. In Texas, you can declare which party’s primary you wish to vote in on election day. I will vote in the primary that is most contested and in which I think any good candidates may be running. It’s all that’s left to me as both major parties have deserted sanity.
Personally, I just hope the January 6 Committee gets its work done quickly and provides the Department of Justice with all of its evidence so that a grand jury can be convened to determine whether or not Mr. Trump is culpable for the January 6 riot. Did he commit any crimes? I think he did, but what I think doesn’t matter. This needs to go to a grand jury and then maybe a real jury.
The next great challenge for the government of the United States will be to hold a presidential election in 2024 the results of which we can all agree upon. If we can get just that far, that will be progress.
2 thoughts on “First The Dems Lost Me And Now So Did The GOP”
I share your frustrations.
As a lifelong, moderate, “Eisenhower,” Republican, I would describe myself, as you do, as an Independent Centrist, except few politicians seem to be there anymore.
The 2024 Presidential Election worries me. Will Trump be back on the ticket? Who will represent the Democrats. We hopefully will avoid a Biden-Trump rematch. That could be a worse shambles than 2020.
As Garrison Keillor said in his recent audiobook (Serenity at 70, Gaiety at 80), “At my age, all of this ain’t my problem anymore.” I will vote, but I plan to avoid wasting time on gnashing of teeth. Let’s seize each day with gratitude, curiosity, and generosity to ourselves and to others.
But, that is why the Jan 6 Committee is so crucial. If it pushed Merrick Garland to try and indict Trump, it all will have been worth it.