By Martin A. Hewitt

I always hoped this day would never come and that the proud history of past Republican presidents Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower would save the party. Unfortunately, that is not where we are. Today the Republican Party has died. It has been replaced by a soulless beast that cares about neither the people nor the planet. Its only purpose is to grow and takeover its host - the United States of America.

The party died when the Senate voted against witnesses. It was the last chance for the leadership to actually lead and provide an essential check on what has now become unfettered power in the executive branch. A trial consists of many things. Two of the most basic are evidence and witnesses. Neither were permitted and the fact that the senators abdicated their congressional duty is indicative of a lack of intellectual honesty as well as morality. It was a long time coming and, sadly, not unexpected.

We are now in uncharted territory and the good people of this country will have to find a way to move forward. We cannot return to what was with so few having so much and so many having so little.

In his farewell address, George Washington predicted that the two parties would ”become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”

And while the Republican Party has now self-destructed, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidates have abdicated their collective mission in favor of creating a circular firing squad in which the last person standing will be subject to the attack ads of their primary opponents to be used by the Republicans in the general campaign. This will ensure Trump’s re-election.

As a result of all that has transpired, including the vote to acquit President Trump, I am forced to quit the Republican Party. I feel it is time to leave the party because the party has left me and other moderate Republicans. I am most definitely socially liberal, but I am a fiscal conservative. By that I mean I want to know how we pay for that which is important to the majority of Americans and not just provide tax breaks to the wealthy.

As Theodore Roosevelt so eloquently said, during the election of 1912, “The Republican Party must stand for the rights of humanity or else it must stand for special privilege.” Once again, the Republican Party has come to stand for special privilege rather than the rights of humanity.

We can and must find a way to rise from the ashes of destruction in which we find ourselves.

We must work together, as Americans, rather than as members of either party to reclaim that which our founders gave us. This will take years and perhaps decades to achieve. For those of us of a certain age, we will not live to see the day when government works for all, but we must fight for our children, grandchildren, and future generations.

Let’s all live to see a better day. I’ll do all I can as a person of neither party. Please do all that you can and ask what you can do for our country.

Martin A. Hewitt, an attorney, was a Republican congressional candidate in 2018 in the 11th Congressional District.

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