Looking For a Republican Point of View
Please explain what the hell happened to you
This is a deadly serious post. Perhaps the most serious that I have written in my 6 or so years on Medium.
As a child in the 1960s and 70s, I was surrounded by a pretty conservative group of relatives. My Uncles, in particular, were staunchly Republican. In my teens, during the era of Vietnam War protests, I began to move toward the left and found my voice in debating with my much-loved family about politics.
I can clearly remember arguing about campus protests, claiming that it was a just and moral stance to take to oppose the violence of that war. The response at the time was, “If you break the law you have to face the consequences.” The Republican point of view in those days was, for me, not so much wrong, as it was rigid. There was good and there was bad. There were upright law-abiding citizens and there were reckless, out-of-control radicals. There was no room for nuance.
The GOP of my memory is the GOP of absolute adherence to the law. It was also the party that demanded a pure morality of its candidates and officials. Adultery, lying, cheating; these were the signs of a corrupt soul that could never be admired, supported, or voted for.
Where are you, Republicans of the past? Where are you? You used to drive me crazy with your…
