Good-bye



In September of 1955 President Eisenhower took a vacation in Denver, Colorado.  On the 23rd, Ike was playing golf at Cherry Hills Country Club when he complained of what he thought was indigestion.  He went home, had an early dinner and retired, but continued to feel ill.  In a scenario that seems impossibly “quaint” by modern standards, his wife, Mamie, drove the President to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital at 2:00 a.m. where he was diagnosed with his first heart attack.
            I was nine years old and living in Denver at that time.  My grandparents were coming for a visit and we were waiting for them at the train station.  I had hopped on a coin-operated horse in the lobby of the station and was pretending to ride it.  Two men in business suits were having a conversation near-by when one of them turned to me and said “Do you want an ‘I Like Ike’ button little girl?”  He pinned it on my coat, smiled at my Mom and left. 
            I have been a Republican ever since. 
            Being a Republican is like being a Christian or a vegetarian.  Saying you are doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t act like one.  So I have always worked for the Republicans.  I walked door to door in Colorado winters to pass out literature for Goldwater.  When I moved to St. Louis I did more door to door work.  I alphabetized lists, made phone calls, addressed envelopes.  I got up early on election days, worked the polling place for two chilly hours, voted and then went to my day job. 
            This effort culminated in my being appointed to the Reagan/Bush speakers’ bureau in 1984 and then a worker for the White House advance staff for George H. W. Bush in 1988 and 1992.  I had a low level security clearance, got to work with the secret service, rode in a motorcade.  Fun stuff!  I still have the copy of my personal invitation to the 1989 inaugural.  I was always a volunteer.  I never had money to give the party, so I gave them time and talent instead. 
I live by Republican ideals.  I don’t whine about having to work; I use it as an opportunity to better myself.  I don’t blame others for my problems; I accept life as it was and worked to make it better.  I don’t give in to self-pity; I develop self-discipline.  Personal responsibility, not governmental dependence, is my personal goal.  I know that the United States of America is a special place where mankind has its best hope to evolve freedom and growth to their highest level.  To me, the Constitution is holy writ.
Today I am, officially, no longer a Republican.  I will not support a party that supports Donald Trump.  This man is has made multiple statements that show disregard for the Constitution.  He is ignorant of basic issues on foreign affairs and how the economy works.  I have heard him disparage Sen. John McCain and other prisoners of war.  He has supported liberal causes with his money and his words.  I have heard him say things that are racist and sexist.  He has not disavowed members of the KKK.  His followers (vast numbers of which, according to CNN and the New York Times, have been registered Democrats up to this year) act uncomfortably like Nazis. 
Don’t tell me how bad Clinton is.  I already know.  But she has fewer flaws than he does. 
I will not abet Trump’s venomous attacks on the Constitution and American values.  Today I will keep the faith by saying good-bye. 

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