I will plant myself like a tree beside the river of truth and, since the Republican Party no longer resides there, I must stand there alone and independent.

This article is Justin’s decision in the wake of his viral tweet and viral article nearly a week ago.

Nearly 250 years ago, subjects of the British Empire living in the American colonies had at last had enough of the abuses perpetrated by their monarch and by the British Parliament. This rag-tag group of colonists had no established government, no standing army, and no real hope of thwarting the might of the British Empire. All they had were their lives, their fortune, and their sacred honor. Still, they declared their independence. They made a choice to stand on their principles and do what they felt was right, against all odds and despite the worst possible consequences. It was enough.

I, too, have been faced with a choice. A long chain of abuses, perpetrated by a Republican President and cheered on by Republican voters, has turned the party I belong to away from limited government values and towards a shocking embrace of autocratic and nationalist tendencies.

I have long maintained my affiliation with the Republican Party because there seemed to be no other viable and established party to turn to, no surging alternative movement or vision to join, and no real hope of thwarting the direction of American politics from without an established party.

But I have no place in Trump’s Republican Party. For however much I didn’t want to leave the GOP, the GOP has clearly left me. I have raised my voice and penned countless articles over the last four years, trying to reassert traditional conservative values. My repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. When I raise my opinions to fellow Republicans, I have been met with anger, hostility, and derision.

I have attempted to be patient and humble. I have tried to be prudent and pragmatic in my approach. I have tried to demonstrate my conservatism and my loyalty to the Republican Party in hopes my arguments might soften the hearts of fellow Republicans.

Above all, I have endeavored to encourage a truly transactional relationship between the party and the President, the transactional relationship so many claimed undergirded their support for him. But Donald Trump, ostensibly a “lesser of two evils” in 2016, is now championed as a greater good. There is no longer any independent thought or any deviation from Trump’s wishes allowed in the ranks of the Republican Party.

The developments over this last week have demonstrated in stark clarity the truth of my words. The world watched the US Senate, once considered the most deliberative body in the world, assent and acquiesce to an unrestrained executive.

No, I did not expect the President to be removed, but I expected the Senate to perform its duty. I expected them to discharge their oaths as impartial jurors. I expected them to execute a fair and thorough trial, to follow the truth to where it took them. A partisan acquittal reflects poorly enough upon Republican Senators, but to do so after suppressing witness testimony and further evidence is a damnable offense.

And just to be sure I understood the writing on the wall, there was more. I had to witness an unrepentant President parade himself before Congress and bask in the adoration of total party devotion. I watched as the highest civilian honor went to a talk show host who amounts to little more than a propaganda arm of the President. Worst of all, I witnessed angry and hostile attacks from the top to the bottom of my own state’s Republican Party against Mitt Romney, one of the only members of Congress to demonstrate he still operates on a set of principles and values.

I am clearly already a Republican in exile. It has been made abundantly clear there is no room in the Republican Party for an independent voice, for a voice unconverted to Trump’s regime. So, would a declaration of independence be anything but an embrace of reality?

In the viral article I posted nearly a week ago, I posited four questions I was asking myself. I have arrived upon the only possible answers.

The Republican Party has become a Nationalist Party, a party that now sees itself only as an extension of its leader. This has occurred despite my every protest and my every attempt at reason; my membership has accomplished nothing in regards to the direction of the party. My continued membership in the party would only serve to demonstrate that I am unserious in my protests, that my values and principles don’t matter as much as I say. I have arrived upon the conclusion that the only thing I need in order to champion my political vision is truth. In the words of George Washington, “Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.” I will plant myself like a tree beside the river of truth and, since the Republican Party no longer resides there, I will stand there alone and independent.

I may no longer have a party, I may no longer have a movement, and I may have seemingly little hope of thwarting the statist and authoritarian direction of American politics. But I choose to stand on my principles and do what I feel is right, against all odds and despite the worst possible consequences. Today I declare my independence. All I have is my life, my modest talent for writing, and my sacred honor. Who knows, maybe it will be enough.

Justin Stapley is the owner and editor of The Liberty Hawk and the voice of The New Centrist Podcast. As a political writer, his principles and ideas are grounded in the ideas of ordered liberty as expressed in the traditions of classical liberalism, federalism, and modern conservatism. You can follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

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