Maybe I Never Knew You?

or

Reverse Metamorphosis

I have been working on this post for several weeks now and have never come to a decision as to which words above should be the title. So, I will just keep both. This post is about what has happened to the Republican Party since the last time I voted in that category. Either I never knew them or they have done a complete change in who they are and what they represent. I suspect some of both.

The first time I voted for president was in 1968 and that was for Richard Nixon. I will admit that as a 22-year-old I didn’t put much effort into understanding politics. I more or less just chose the one I ignorantly thought I would be more comfortable with. Hubert Humphrey just seemed too institutional for me. After Watergate, I voted for Gerald Ford, another Republican, to replace the disgraced Nixon. That would be the last time I voted for a president of that party.

Then Ronald Reagan came on the scene. His gross conservatism and hate for government totally turned me off. His quote “government isn’t the solution, it’s the problem” just didn’t make sense to me. If there was no government then who would build the roads, protect us from each other and give a helping hand to those who fall on hard times? Little did I know that Reagan would start of the current reverse metamorphosis of the GOP.

In 2000 George W. Bush tried to label himself a “compassionate conservative”. He proved that those two words should never be said in the same sentence. Even if he didn’t get the majority of votes the Supreme Court ruled that he was president. I can only imagine that if Al Gore had occupied the Oval Office in those years we would not be in the climate change crisis that we find ourselves in now. Bush put us into two very unnecessary wars that are still going on twenty years later with no end in sight.

Then the bottom fell out of the party in 2016 when a despicable narcissist conned, bullied and lied his way through the Republican field to kidnap the nomination and eventually the Oval Office. But the most tragic part of this particular story is that the Republican Party then gave up all their previous principles to totally back this idiot. In the process they have destroyed their party’s legacy.

It will be interesting to see what fills the space that they have abandoned. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, this may be the time to consider some pretty drastic changes in how we select our leaders. Things like how we vote, the elimination of the electoral college, term limits, and mandatory retirement for elected officials will certainly be on that agenda. Reorganizing our States to be more equally represented is something else vitally needed but will probably be something for the distant future, however long that is. 😎

When I get out of the war mode on November 4 I hope to start discussing these issues and a few others that have nothing to do with politics. Won’t that be nice?