The article “A Republican’s Point of View on the Election” sounded like someone trying to convince herself that voting for Trump made sense. And, though it tried to explain why nice people voted for him, I still don’t understand how these same nice people could have betrayed our most fundamental common interests.
There are three things I would have thought all Americans could agree on, regardless of their political leanings. The first is national security. We all want it. Having someone in charge who is level-headed, thoughtful, and grounded in reality would seem to be rudimentary. So how is it that the party that claims to be big on national security can elect someone who is inexperienced, unpredictable, vindictive, prone to conspiracy theories, and goes by his own set of “facts” to be in charge of the military and our nuclear arsenal. It’s hard to believe. None of us can be secure while we have a loose cannon at the top.
Secondly, our constitutional rights and the institution of democracy. We all need them. Now we have a president-elect who threatens to limit freedom of speech and religion, endorses torture, has no trouble with conflicts of interest and questions the validity of elections unless he wins. There are so many red flags here I don’t even know where to start. While Republicans have been vocal about defending our right to bear arms, they have been conspicuously silent about the rest of them. It is not in our collective best interest to pick and choose which rights we want to defend.
And finally, the care of our planet. How did caring for the environment become a partisan issue? We all depend on clean air, water, and a viable climate. To elect someone who isn’t even interested in beginning to do anything about climate change, something that affects all of us, makes no common sense. There is nothing “conservative” about Republican’s position on this issue. The appropriate word is “reckless.”
No, Republicans have traded in key components of our collective well-being in hopes of furthering their political agenda. And I am still left trying to reconcile that, while I like many of my Republican friends and neighbors, I feel they have betrayed our common good.
Eric Hall
Lopez Island
