An Open Letter to the Republican National Committee
When I was 13 years, 10 days old I witnessed the release of the American hostages held in Tehran and became a believer in Ronald Reagan. On that day, I became a Republican. As a college student and Gulf War veteran in 1992, I was one of the few outspoken Conservatives on campus. I was a Republican and proud. As I returned to the Army in 1995, I remained a patriot, a conservative, and a Republican because I was appalled that my country had elected a philandering, lying, narcissistic jerk to the Oval Office.
I believed in President George W. Bush and defended him as Commander-in-Chief when others would speak poorly of him. I defended the USA PATRIOT Act because I knew we needed to keep our nation safe. I believed my nation would never spy on her own citizens, and that we who had “nothing to hide” had nothing to fear at the loss of liberty inherently contained within.
I was not a huge fan of John McCain, but I held my thoughts to myself and voted for him while serving in Afghanistan. It felt like a gut blow when a Marxist was elected to the office of the presidency, as anyone who did any research was sure to learn.
I was not a Mitt Romney fan but, yet again, voted the party line in hopes of ousting said Marxist from behind the Resolute Desk. When Mitt stopped fighting and then we inevitably lost, I felt like I’d taken a dagger to the kidneys.
In 2010 and 2014, I helped change the landscape of Capitol Hill with massive landslides only to have John Boehner, Mitch McConnell, and other Republicans sit on their hands and do nothing to stop the leftward slide, always making excuses or at best token gestures.
Now the Republican Party has all but officially nominated another philandering, lying, narcissistic jerk. Donald J. Trump has declared he doesn’t need the votes of those conservatives who would campaign against him. I am here to oblige him.
I will no longer number myself among the members of the Republican Party. I will never vote for a man of such weak and dubious character to represent the nation for which I fought and for which my friends and brothers laid down their lives. He is not worth the blood they shed, and frankly neither anymore is the Republican Party.
I have known about the Libertarian Party for some time, but never seriously contemplated joining them because I had more in common with the GOP. As the commonality has slowly faded, I have begun to realize I now have far more in common with the Libertarian Party. Just as the Republican Party supplanted the Whigs in 1856-60, so too I believe it is time to supplant the GOP. You have lost your relevance, and furthermore you have lost your way.
Count me out.
Brian A. Heitman
Guest Contributor
