The Republican Party and its standard bearers do not care enough about all of the people of this country to demand and deliver true equality for all. I speak not only of racial/cultural equality, but of housing/employment equality, gender/sexual equality, justice equality, environmental equality, economic equality, etc. Republicans continue to pander to the wealthy, while trying to pacify the other 90% with the tiresome trickle-down rhetoric that has never worked. The result is inequality fallout of every kind. Republicans manipulate the system however they can to keep it that way.
In the early 1990s, George H.W. Bush attempted to steer the Republican Party toward a more “compassionate conservatism,” but was met with such vehement resistance by the far-right wing of his party that it never took root. Since that time, alt-right radicals have garnered the attention of many, to the demise of Republican mainstream conservatism, which still fell short of real justice and equality, but at least sometimes looked like a respectable attempt.
This extremist element turned much darker in January 2017 when a so-called Republican took over (without the popular vote) to lead this country down a dangerous path away from democratic principles that Americans have always cherished. Trump has hijacked the Republican Party and is holding all of us hostage as he marches us down his path of destructive authoritarian control. On any given day, Trump’s behavior ranges from narcissist to malignant narcissist to sociopath to psychopath. His personality and behavior have been compared by many to another mentally ill dictator from the 1930s. Trump is the most serious domestic threat to American democracy since the Civil War.
On Nov. 3 if we do not vote this fascist dictator out of office, the ramifications of this grave irresponsibility will haunt us for decades to come. It could tear this country apart, as it did Germany for generations that followed. Vote, people. It could be our last stand for democracy. It’s now or never.
Larry Schoeff, Ivins