This letter is not about Wednesday’s siege of the Capitol. You will read plenty of those. It is about the Republican Party. I gave up on Donald Trump four years ago. Wednesday’s incitement of the mob to insurrection against the United States was the final straw. There are no words left to describe his unfitness to be President or even to be an American. Or my sadness, the greatest I have felt since 9/11.
I have left the Republican Party. I was a Republican my entire adult life, as was my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great grandfather before me. Our family’s first vote for a Republican President was Abraham Lincoln. But my and their Republican Party no longer exists. It has been destroyed by Donald Trump; by Republican Senators named Cruz and Hawley and over 120 Republican Congressman, who on Wednesday tried to disenfranchise the vote of 81 million Americans and abolish our democracy. And it has been destroyed by Trump’s enablers over the past four years.
The Republican Party I supported was led by men and women named Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Robert Taft, Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Christine Todd Whitman, Margaret Chase Smith, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Jeanette Rankin and Elizabeth Dole. It stood for truth, morality, law and order, time-tested conservative values. It stood tall for America. It also stood behind the U.S. Constitution. To defend it to the death.
The Constitution. It is hard to believe that over 130 elected Republican representatives of the people – who took an oath to defend the Constitution – tried to destroy this Constitutional Republic on Wednesday in Congress. I cannot imagine that any of them served in the U.S. Armed Services – although I know a few probably did. Hundreds of thousands of us soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Merchant Mariners took the same oath to the U.S. Constitution and were prepared to defend our democracy to the death. Many did.
Now, it seems that the Republican Party stands for nothing. Except destruction of that same Constitution, anarchy, disruption, raw ambition, chaos, mismanagement and an inability to lead. It clearly no longer believes in the will of the people, the rule of law, democracy, civil order, pride in country. Don’t get me wrong. There are clearly many Republicans in name that support these principles such as Senators Mitt Romney and Susan Collins, Representative Liz Cheney, Governor Larry Hogan, and many of my friends, neighbors and family. But their party has been hijacked by Donald Trump and his cohorts.
I believe strongly in the two party system, with all the diversity of opinions and experiences, and checks and balances it brings. I hope a new right of center party arises like Phoenix from the ashes of the party Donald Trump destroyed. To get there, We the People need at the ballot box to rid our politics those Republicans who are complicit in trying to destroy our democracy. I suggest renewal can begin at home by searching for the strongest possible candidate to contest Andy Harris in next year’s Republican primary, and then moving on from there. Plus doing everything we can as citizens to support our nation, President Biden, Vice President Harris, Senators Cardin and Van Hollen, Governor Hogan, and our state and local leaders, in getting us out of the moral, economic, Pandemic, international relations and climate morass created by Donald J. Trump and his cohorts.
Despite Wednesday’s tragic attack on America by the Trump-incited mob – our saddest day since December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001 – there is a beautiful sunrise just over the horizon, but only if we act together as concerned caring citizens and stewards of these UNITED States.
Philip J. Webster
St. Michaels
Bob Kopec says
I too WAS a lifelong Republican. The egomaniac that resides in the White House along with his 2 sons and daughter should be tried in a court of law for inciting to riot and 2 counts of murder. They should also be ordered to pay for all the damages. After 4 years of Trump I have changed party allegiance.
Willard Tod Engelskirchen says
Thank you Phil. I have been thinking about a discussion we had at a Saturday morning breakfast just after Trump’s inauguration. We disagreed. I thought that Trump’s America First talk was a little too close to the kind of thing heard in the 30’s in the United States from people like Lindbergh. IMHO Trump told us what kind of person he was when he accused a judge of being against him because he was a Mexican American. Remember Trump going down the escalator? Then talking about Mexicans being drug dealers and rapists?
This is the same man who took out an ad in the New York papers advocating the death penalty for the Central Park Five. Strange how they were later exonerated.
It is indeed hard to believe that your leaders are not what we would like to believe they are. Trump had a history if we only wanted to look at it.
Welcome back Phil.
Gregory says
Sounds like you left the Republican party long before trump
Have a prosperous
4 years with your new party ….
marian murphy says
Well I’ve been a life-long Democrat although I did think of jumping ship to vote for John McCain. Senator McCain took down the barrier I felt that stood between our two parties because I sensed a real humanity in him that eliminated that barrier and I’m grateful for Philip Webster’s letter for doing the same. It has been four long years of agony looking and listening to this parasite who attached himself to the Republican party only to feast himself and his evil and egomaniac intentions on the once respected party. I hope both our parties, and our country, can heal along with the corona virus that also infected us. Good riddance to both
John A. Sutton says
Phil – Thank you for crafting such a well written letter. As a former US Merchant Marine Chief Officer, it is welcoming to have our quiet service (Acta Non Verba) recognized equally with the armed services. Your decision to leave the GOP is significant and likely one that wasn’t done lightly. In parallel with full prosecution of the recent terrorist actors and promoters, our country needs to get back to the center. We must move beyond the current embarrassment and regain the honor of what America used to stand for and do, regardless of party affiliation. I fully agree our district can do much better than Andy Harris also. Warm Regards, John
Francine De Sanctis says
Thank you for being a voice of reason in the current Republican party. The country needs to hear more from you and others of like mind. What was once Grand Old Party has become a platform for criminal injustice, out of control spending, cronyism, ignorance of rule of law, and disrespect for our Constitution and the brave men and women who have died to uphold these principles.
I pray that the next 4 years can begin to undo the severe damage Mr.Trump has done to our great country.
Angela Cason says
My mother-in-law, a former St. Michaels resident and life-long Republican, was greatly comforted by your letter. As I said to her, “You didn’t leave the party, the party left you.” I too hope that a conservative party will rise that reflects the will of the American people and rejects the extremities on both sides.