Republicans Soot their Own Feet Off

To Be or Not To Be

I have never considered myself either as either a Republican or Democrat. I have had some leanings both ways over the years. The Democratic Congressman from our district helped me get into West Point, so I remembered him with my vote and maintained contact for several years. I did some statistical work for the Republican Party when I was stationed in Wyoming, until my Air Force bosses suggested I refrain from any and all political activity. I do, however, recognize, that I am a fiscal conservative and tend to vote more for more Republican candidates than Democrats. I could not, however, vote for Donald Trump. His ego is too much for me. He loves himself much more than he loves our country, so I cannot support him even though I agree with much of his positions. So, I guess you could classify me as a right leaning independent. In the past few weeks, however, I am ashamed to think I ever leaned toward the Republican side of the aisle.

As I said earlier, I cannot support Donald Trump. His business ethics have been found guilty in a civil case in New York and await the final punitive judgement. He has been indicted in Georgia for interfering with state election officials. Additionally, he is awaiting the results of federal investigations into his actions in the January 6, 2021 insurrection. As part of his inauguration, Donald Trump swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I watched it on television. Four years later, he advocated overthrowing the Constitution so that he could remain in power. I could not, cannot, and never will vote for Donald Trump. I don’t understand those elected Republicans who support him in spite of his lack of character.

A day or two after the first Republican debate, Nikki Haley said in a nationally televised interview that she and the other candidates would support Donald Trump if he were nominated because, “That’s what I swore to do.” I know of no ceremony wherein she or anyone swore to support Donald Trump. As Governor, she swore to uphold the laws of South Carolina but she never swore to support Trump, at least not in public. I interpret her statement to mean she puts the Republican Party ahead of country. I find that unacceptable. If Trump is nominated, he will lose, big time, and will have done extreme if not irreputable harm to his party. But then, other Republicans seem to be bent on self-destruction as well.

Matt Gaetz led the charge to shut off all government funding because Congress hasn’t done what it could have done when both houses of Congress and the Executive Branch were controlled by Republicans. The last balanced federal budget was when Clinton was President, and he was a Democrat. Lacking the ability to make positive change, Representative Gaetz and his radical followers decided to be obstructionists and voted to evict the Speaker of the House. The last time I saw this kind of behavior was in the fourth grade when two groups were fighting over control of the playground. Just as today, adults were unable to get the two groups to either work together or share.

I am glad that I am not a Republican. I would never forgive myself if I were a member of an organization bent on self-destruction.

Frank Watson is a retired Air Force Colonel and long-time resident of eastern Washington. He has been a free-lance columnist for over 20 years.