By Jim Heffernan
I just can’t help it, I’ve been thinking a lot about the Republican party. I grew up in a household that venerated Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman and barely tolerated Eisenhower. I pretty much marched lock-step with the Democratic party until I started my reading binge in 2020. Exposure to authors such as David French, David Brooks, Yuri Laval, Alexandra Hudson, Thomas Frank, and Peter Wehner, among others, have mellowed my views. They remain among my favorites and they showed me that Republicans have some pretty good ideas, too. They also taught me that my beloved Democrats had fingerprints all over our current problems.
I can never really be sure if I’m seeing things clearly or if I’m in the thrall of doom and gloom journalism, but I believe we are at a pivot point in history. We can either work for the progress of our nation and our planet, or we can descend into the depths of demagoguery and despotism. It’s our choice.
I recently came across a 1956 quote from President Eisenhower “If a political party does not have its foundation in the determination to advance a cause that is right and that is moral, then it is not a political party; it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.”
I fear today’s national Republican party has ceded control to Donald Trump and his MAGA followers. In doing so, they have changed the party into “a conspiracy to seize power”.
When Liz Cheney had the political courage to speak out against Donald Trump she was effectively banished from the Republican party. They called her a RINO (Republican in Name Only). I think she displayed the courage and integrity we normally associate with the “party of Lincoln”. I think anybody who embraces the MAGA banner, are the real RINO’s.
I hope and pray that when our choice comes up in November, we can emerge from our echo chambers long enough to choose for progress and kick demagoguery to the curb forever.
