It's Time For Me to Explain Why I Can No Longer Say I Am a Conservative

Long thread by Molly McKew (60 separate posts, link to the whole thing below), and she has captured exactly how I feel.

First, my thoughts. When I first started voting, I was a Republican. That's the family and the area I was raised in and it felt wholesome, honorable, and right. I still believe in many of the tenets of conservatism from back then; individualism, accountability, efficient government that doesn't interfere in our lives.

But, it has been corrupted.

I switched to the Democratic Party during my college years. They felt more the party of the People, that they cared and worked for those in need. I saw in their policies enabling those in need to lift themselves up without being judgemental, and be given the opportunity to decide for themselves who they wished to love and the ability to decide medical decisions for themselves. However, I saw them getting too cozy with Wall Street, and not setting limits for financial support to keep those in need from abusing the system. I saw greed become entrenched with Citizens United passing, and fearmongering and partisan rhetoric the norm in order to pass laws that infringe on our rights in the name of protection and hoped that a 3rd party could break that momentum, be it Libertarians or the Green Party.

I saw corruption, and so I left and became Unaffiliated.

I started voting 3rd party more and more so as to reduce the power that our two-party system has built so as to cocoon itself from change, to keep the status quo of dark money from PACs and lobbyists flowing that caused our representatives to not work for us but those interests that helped only them personally to the detriment of our environment, rights, health, and safety. I started researching candidates' records and platforms more deeply and voting for individuals I thought best for office rather than down the party line.

But then I witnessed the 2016 campaign for the presidency.

A TV celebrity and failed businessman who gained popularity by demeaning and insulting fellow Americans. Who refused to release his taxes or divest himself of his businesses. This was no time for voting based on optimism and wishful thinking, and so I went with a woman who, though I detested her ties to Wall Street and distrusted what seemed to be far too many scandals associated with her and her family, seemed competent, knowledgeable, and who listened to people (sometimes to the point of being paralyzed with making a decision which is just as bad). More importantly, I thought she would be the best at leading our country against our enemies who really seemed to really have it out for her. That alone outweighed all other considerations, and so I voted Democratic.

What I have seen in the 2 years since is an incomprehensible slide of ethics, morals, and integrity, and effort to sideline our law enforcement and justice system, and trample on our basic and Constitutionally guaranteed rights. I've witnessed a president who has advocated for overruling our Constitutional rights, violated human rights laws and traumatized children and families, profited from business dealings using the Office of President, left us vulnerable to attack from our enemies, and disrespected the values that make us who we are. I've watched as Republicans in office, who currently control all branches of government, continue to harm the majority of their constituents with lopsided unfair policies, try to remove healthcare coverage for pre-existing conditions, balloon our deficit, and talk about gutting Social Security and Medicare for which we ourselves pay but they raided and don't want to pay back.

They claim combating climate change and raising the minimum wage will bankrupt the economy, but have no plan for how we will pay for cleaning up our increasing environmental disasters due to extreme weather and fires. They decry people on financial assistance but don't enact policies to help people earn a decent living wage when the cost of goods and services keep rising.

When those with wealth and power seek to make the system unfair, and concentrate wealth and power for themselves rather than keeping equal opportunity, we undermine the foundations this country was built on escaping such a system. Further, it weakens our economy if we no longer have a vibrant middle class for they are the backbone of said economy.

To overcome all this will require us to come together for truth, justice, and equal opportunity for all. To embrace that we are Americans first, and party affiliation second. To stand up to racism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, sexism, and continued erosion of the middle class by policies that benefit the wealthy and connected. To make our elections fair, secure, and voting accessible to those who wish to participate. We are our institutions, and we must continually work to shore them up from outside interference and keep them running fairly and effectively.

We either succeed at this or we succumb to that which has been inevitable to all other nations prior; the end of this grand experiment of a representative democracy. As Molly and others have stated, there are no white horses coming to save us. Not even Robert Mueller can accomplish that. It is up to us to fight for our country, by voting, by protesting, by showing up to town halls and actively getting involved in our government. Join citizen boards, write and call our representatives on issues, and VOTE.

Do I think that the Democratic Party is our savior? No, no one party is that, nor will they ever be. Absolute power corrupts, and unless there is balance in opposing ideologies, there will be absolute power in all three branches. At this moment in time, there is no balance and we need to counteract that immediately because sadly Congress has failed in its duties to provide a check and balance to the Executive Branch.

Without further ado, an excerpt from her missive:

I'm on a long, reflective train ride today, north back to DC through a corridor of abandonment and desolation, and I think it's time for me to explain why I can no longer say I am a conservative. /1

I cannot support a party whose elected officials spread toxic conspiracies to mindf**k their fellow Americans with fear and bigotry in order to gain fame & following. I cannot support anyone who ignores this danger to our nation for their own vain bullshit. /27

I cannot support an ideology that demonizes the "other" to isolate, diminish, radicalize us; to redefine what it means to be an American, & who is not; b/c the bigoted view that It's too hard to defend our rights & values for others inevitably means we compromise them at home/28

I cannot support any of these things, which, at their core, argue that not all people are equal, and not all people should be defended by and represented by their government in the same way. /29

I've heard every possible explanation from my republican friends about why they have to stay silent on Trump, or how exhausted they are of having to denounce his loathsome actions, or how they would rather focus on the "good" he has been doing while president. /48

Newsflash: the two Trumps are the same Trump. You do not get to extricate one from the other. You've signed on for the whole ride. /49

And if this was the vehicle to get your policy agenda enacted, maybe it was garbage in the first place /50

We are better than this.

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1058487061626474498.html

With all due respect homeagain, I believe we have that engagement now. What has been happening the past 2 years has energized the public out of their apathy; the numbers of early/absentee ballots coming in across the U.S. is rivaling that of the 2016 presidential election!

thehill.com/homenews/campaign/414098-you...urge-in-early-voting

www.electproject.org/early_2018

This election is a referendum on Donald Trump's corrosive impact on our politics
I wish Republicans had checked Trump and been faithful to the Constitution. But my former party failed. Democrats are better bet to preserve democracy.
Tom Nichols, Opinion columnist
Published Nov. 4, 2018

The midterm election Tuesday is not a primarily a choice between conservatives and liberals or their policies. It would be, in the words of Ernest Hemingway, “pretty to think so,” but it is not true.

Yes, there are some important issues pending as we head into the 116th Congress: health care, an idiotic trade war, an arms control treaty. Yet they pale in comparison to what should be the overriding concern of every American citizen of any party or affiliation: the preservation and protection of our constitutional system of government.

This is a serious claim. How much damage, really, can any one member of Congress, or any state or local official, make to our way of life?

Take a moment to consider how far we fallen from even our most basic standards of political conduct in just a few years.

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