The Third Political Party

Until recently, I was a lifelong Republican. I chose the party when I was first able to vote because the party was conservative, stood for freedom, and small government, and was focused on the individual. It was a party I was proud to be part of. A lot has changed in the past 50 years.

What I see now is that we have a three-party system in place of what used to be only two. We have Democrats, Republicans, and the third party, the Magaites (for lack of a better name). The confusion is that the Magaites have co-opted the Republican Party. They originated as the "Tea Party" but soon found that most Americans were not prepared to accept the new party or its extreme agenda. So, they abandoned the name and infiltrated the Republican Party, taking the name without the values the party has had for my whole life.

There are still a lot of Republicans in America with the values of the "Good Old Party". And for some reason, they have allowed this infiltration without being checked. Many, if not most, also have the attitude that "I always vote Republican". As a result, the Magaites found fertile ground in the party and quickly replaced the original party's morals, values, and focus. In a sense, the Magaites are what they call, with disdain, "Rinos" Republicans in name only.

Real Republicans believe in the individual and have a positive outlook on our country and its future. They are generally honest people with conservative beliefs, morals, and convictions. They don't want the government to make decisions for them about the way they live or the choices they make. Almost everyone I have gone to church with has been a Republican. All of them are good people.

The Magaites have thrown all of this away. To watch the sparring between politicians today is like looking at a name-calling contest in 6th grade. We used to care about positions and policies. Now it is a contest to see how demeaning you can be to your opponent. It is revolting.

Honesty is also gone from the party. Don't get me wrong, there can be dishonesty in all parties. The Magaites, though, spin conspiracy theories like spiders spin webs. It is as if it does not matter if it is true or not, it only matters if they can convince us that it is, and more importantly if it can manipulate us and make us angry. Winning and the power that comes with it are more important than being honest about world events, their opponents, or even simple truths. Anything goes.

In the 1984 Republican Platform, they stated:

The Democratic Party [...] thinks our country has passed its peak. It offers Americans redistribution instead of expansion, contraction instead of growth, and despair instead of hope. In foreign policy, it asserts the rhetoric of freedom, but in practice, it follows a policy of withdrawal and isolation.

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/republican-party-platform-1984

This better describes the Magaite Party than it ever described the Democratic Party. They want to sever ties with longtime allies and praise the works and governments of strongman countries such as Russia (Putin), Hungary (Viktor Orbán), China (Xi Jinping), North Korea (Kim Jong-un), and others. They even say that they don't care what Russia does to Ukraine. There is even talk of leaving NATO. These world leaders are not good examples of democratic leadership. They are authoritarian bullies. There is not one of those countries that I would like to live in. Magaites wish to isolate the US and rule, not lead.

They also believe that our country is weak and failing. This is a fear tactic and could not be further from the truth. We have one of the best economies in the world. Our prices are lower than in just about any other place. Millions of good-paying jobs have been created in the past few years. Violent crime is way down. We are actually in a good place as a country, contrary to what is being espoused by the Magaites. 

One of the things that bothers me the most, though, is blatant bigotry. When you call a race of people "poison" and single out a particular religion as evil or lie that a class of people are eating pets, you are a bigot. There is no middle ground there. They don't care at all about the people who are hurt by the lies. They turn us against ourselves by filling our minds with hate for people that God created in His image. People of any race, religion, or lifestyle are not "poison", and they are not eating pets.

Magaites complain that the Democrats are pushing socialism. They use a word that very few people understand. But it is a big bad word, and it catches our attention. I agree that we do not want socialism. I do, however, feel we need to care for the middle class and the poor. If I have learned nothing from the Bible, it is that God loves the middle class and the poor. And He expects those who are wealthy to take care of them. He punishes those who do not.

I look at what the Magaites are offering this election cycle. There is nothing for the poor or the middle class. They get to pay 20% more for the tariffs that are planned. There is no plan for medical coverage, but there is a desire to remove affordable healthcare coverage from millions. There are few meaningful tax breaks for the non-wealthy and big breaks for big businesses and millionaires/billionaires. The non-wealthy are used to make the wealthy richer.

I will close on immigration. Yes, it is a problem. Yes, the current administration should have done something sooner. That said, they did try to fix the problem. They developed a bill that would have done much to solve the problem. It was one of the few things that were constructed by both Democrats and Republicans working together. It was going to pass and become a law. Then, it was killed by the man running for president because if the immigration problem were fixed, he would not have the fuel he needed for his bigotry and hate-mongering. Winning is more important than fixing a real problem.

I will vote for the Democratic candidate this year. Were there a Republican candidate, I might vote for them. But, there is not. There are only two to vote for: a Democrat and a Magaite. I will never vote for a Magaite. As the Republican mayor in Mesa Arizona, John Giles, says, "Voting for a Democrat does not make you a Democrat, it makes you a patriot. It's ok to vote for change"