I was once a proud Republican. Being the editor of a weekly newspaper in  a highly voter-registered Republican stronghold county, one would think I would not rustle the bushes in fear of pissing readers off.

Yeah, well that ship has sailed.

In general, I feel that Americans are somewhat kind, somewhat stoic and somewhat educated. Unfortunately we are also somewhat loyal. We tend to migrate to camps that are, or have similar outlooks on life. Those outlooks can be formed by religion, parental controls (or lack of),  political leanings, location, education and various other social fabrics.

Normally, loyalty to a spouse, family, political party, state, city, county and country is a good thing. Without loyalty there are no standards, no reason to obey laws and norms.

There is a ‘but’ ,however. When loyalty breeds fear, that fear manifests into blind loyalty.

Blind loyalty flies into acceptance of what we would not normally accept. For example, would you sanction killing innocent people to achieve a goal? Would you sell 2000 pound bombs knowing they would be used in  abhorrent ways? Would you purposely deride a person to enhance your standing?

On a phone call criticizing my opinion and overall distaste for the Trump movement, a local caller said he once served in the armed forces. I asked him if his president asked him to kill innocent women and children, would he comply?

At first he stated unequivocally yes, but then thought a moment and said, probably no. His thought patterns reverted from blind loyalty to pure humanization.

Politicians, both on the local, state and national platforms glean loyalty, especially when it comes to saving their reelection, or jobs. So much so that decency is an afterthought.

Privately, they may express personal opinions and dislikes of a party stand, but publicly they are out to save their asses. That is loyalty absurdity.

Their impact upon the rest of their designated party only fuels the masses to follow. Add social media and questionable media outbursts and you now have loyalty off track.

I am very disappointed in our local politicians choosing blind loyalty over common sense. At stake is the very national structure that has been built over the decades, a working, but not perfect constitution. Is anything in our society perfect, hell no, but throwing out the baby with the bath water is not the solution.

Should Elon Musk use a chain saw approach to reducing spending? Is it okay for Trump to pardon all of the January 6th law violators? Should tens of thousands on federal employees be fired for no reason other than to fill an absurd mandate? Should we elect a president who derides other human beings? Should once-critics side with a madman just to either retain, or advance their power?

The easy way out is to go with the flow, follow the path of least resistance, but that is the coward’s way out. Our local, state and national politicians, along with party loyalists, need to fight being neutered by blind loyalty.

I still consider myself a true Republican in thought, but not one who is blind to abuse. Like it, or not, there will always be haves and have nots. There will always be inequities in any social system. There have always been homosexuals, transgenders, handicapped and special needs folks...

Here’s a kick in the ass. The Bible, Torah and Quran were written by flawed people with an axe to grind. It is far from perfect as a moral code and that also goes for presidential administrations over the decades.

I respect people, whether  they register as Republicans, Conservatives, Democrats, or non-party committal, as long as they follow their real core beliefs and not that of the rogue individuals out for only power.

I was once a proud Republican, until they lost their way.