I have noticed over the past decade or so, it has become very fashionable for conservatives and Tea Party members to proudly proclaim “I’m NOT a Republican!” I have often wondered what the Republican party had done, or failed to do, to deserve this scorn by people who often vote Republican.
What in the history of the Republican party should people feel embarrassed and ashamedabout? Was it Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, TR or Eisenhower that committed some unforgivable crime? Nixon was an embarrassment, I clearly see. But it was Republican senators who encouraged him to resign. Perhaps it was Ford, who pardoned Nixon. Even this, I doubt, enraged the conservative wing of the party. They even got angry with their favorite, Ronald Reagan, from time to time. The conservatives let it be known they were nothappy with either Bush 41 and 43. So it would seem the hard right didn’t care for any Republican president other than Reagan, who they were only lukewarm about.
Then, I had another epiphany. The crime was against the great conservative icon Barry Goldwater. Many Republicans did not really support the Arizona senator and as the results showed, neither did most Americans. My parents,who are more conservative than I am, hated Goldwater.
You know, hard conservatives, you really need to get over the Goldwater loss. The history of the Republican party is that of fi ghting for freedom, liberty and equality under the law for all Americans. I’m proud to call myself a Republican. If you are not, then maybe you should found your own party.
ROBERT YEAKLEY
Springdale
Opinion, Pages 5 on 06/14/2013