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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