GOP criticized
During the many years in which I was a registered Republican, I often bristled at accusations that smeared members of it as mean-spirited and extreme. It became more difficult for me to defend against that accusation as time passed, and now, I have virtually no defense.
The leading candidate for president on the Republican ticket is a know-nothing, anti-intellectual who has adopted largely Democratic ideology in the recent past. He is applauded by his supporters for “telling it like it is” even when he engages in coarse, crude, insulting behavior toward women, members of the military, and anyone who would dare challenge him on anything or ask a legitimate question about his past conduct. What reasonable person would want Donald Trump to have the ability to launch a nuclear attack against any country whose leader irks him?
In response to petty tyrant Kim Davis denying marriage licenses to same sex couples in Rowan County, Kentucky, it is chilling to note that Republican presidential candidates including U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, former Sen. Rick Santorum, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and former Gov. Mike Huckabee, are on her side, contending that she is simply exercising her “religious liberty” by refusing to perform the duties of her $80,000 per annum job.
These individuals fail to recognize that much of our liberty is left at the entrance to the worksite if we elect to occupy certain positions. By serving to assert that decisions of the United States Supreme Court are meaningless, the individuals who favor the further marginalization of gay men and women demonstrate that they are dangerous men who would pose a threat to our democracy if, God forbid, they were elected.
It is ironic that Donald Trump, of all people, comes off as a statesman on the issue, stating that “we are a nation of laws that must be followed.”
I do not endorse the expensive, big-government vision of the Democratic Party, but I am repulsed by the actions of many of the Republicans who seek the office of the presidency. America’s future is very much in doubt.
Oren M. Spiegler
Upper Saint Clair