In 2016, the Republican Party declared internet pornography a “public health crisis” and voted to insert that phrase into the official party platform. Republican delegates ratified that document at the very convention they would nominate Donald J. Trump, a man who allegedly had an affair with an actual porn star and paid her $130,000 to be quiet about it, to be their candidate for president of the United States.

ADVERTISEMENT

This article was originally published at HuffPost

That contradiction and moral flexibility pretty much defines today’s Republican Party. Which is a big reason why, last winter, I made the decision to leave the party after more than 15 years to become a member of the Democratic Party.

Candidly, I’m still getting used to the idea of calling myself a “Democrat.” Whenever I talk or write about Republicans, my first instinct is to use the pronoun “we” instead of “them.” But the more I see from the Republican Party in this time of Trump, the more I am convinced that this is a political party I want no affiliation with in any way, shape or form.

As time has gone on, the Republican Party and those who align with it have proven to be, to put it mildly, ideologically inconsistent and all too willing to apply different standards to different people.

For years, Republicans like House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin were rhetorical champions of fiscal restraint and responsibility. Yet in reality, Ryan and his Republican cohorts have happily increased budget spending and budget deficits when it suits their personal priorities.

On the one hand, Trump and congressional Republicans doled out more than $1 trillion in tax cuts, mostly for millionaires and billionaires. On the other, this week, Trump informed Congress he was rescinding a pay raise for civilian federal workers because “we must maintain efforts to put our Nation on a fiscally sustainable course.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Vice President Mike Pence famously made a show of walking out of an NFL game in 2017 because he would “not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag, or our National Anthem.” Where was this concern for dignity and our soldiers when Trump declared that the now-late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) was “not a war hero because he was captured.” Where is the concern for our servicemen, servicewomen and families when the Trump-Pence administration has just eliminated financial protections for military members who are targeted by predatory lenders?

Speaking in support of making then-Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) the attorney general, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) accused the Obama Justice Department of putting “politics ahead of national security, and demonized those who protect us. It’s time to end the politicization of the Justice Department and start defending the rule of law.”