This is not my party. This is not my America.

As I sit and watch the results of tonight’s primary roll in, I am aghast. I am disgusted, and I am in deep mourning for the party that I have called my home for nearly 30 years. Even as a very young, impressionable woman, I saw voting as a sacred duty. I remember the Reagan years. I was too young to vote, but my middle school conducted a mock election. I was the chairman of Reagan’s “campaign” for my class. He defeated Carter handily. Everybody got cupcakes, afterwards.

As I watch the gilded toad, Trump, walk away with wins in Florida, North Carolina, Illinois, and likely Missouri, I know there will be no cupcakes for everybody, afterwards. Kasich winning Ohio was the only bright spot from tonight. I say this as someone deeply opposed to Kasich, but he’s still preferable to the toad.

Is Trump’s path to the nomination assured? Not completely, but following the trends of the past primaries and caucuses, it appears like a dreadful possibility. A weak GOP in the House and Senate, acting more as Obama’s right arm than as the leaders they were elected to be, along with a foul and deceitful media, giving millions of dollars in free airtime for Herr Trump have contributed to this sorry outcome.

Donald Trump is the most corrupt and unqualified candidate to ever run for the highest office in the land. While many of us have pointed this out early and often, his despicable nature has struck an appealing chord inside the minds of a people who have been saturated in reality TV nonsense and pop culture hedonism for decades. We thought that we could use reason and substance-laden debate to reach them, but alas, loathsome, virtue-free behavior is no longer a quality reserved for the bowels of the Democrat party.

Welcome to the “new” GOP.

What Trump has done is to exploit the rage directed at the do-nothing powers that be of the GOP leadership, who have neglected to lead. He’s offered the flip side to Obama’s reverse-racism and abuse of his office. Trump is nothing more than Obama in white face. He’s solution-free, heavy on rhetoric, and alarmingly light on actual policy. He will ruin us.

If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin.

Samuel Adams

I know I’m not alone in my horror. The #NeverTrump movement grows larger every day. Some have declared to actively work against Trump, should he be the nominee. I don’t blame them. If Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, then at the very least, we get to try again in 4 years. However, the underground is rumbling. For weeks, the talk has grown of a third party candidate, and now, more than ever, the time is right.

The prevailing talk amongst naysayers is that a third party will give the election to Hillary. I counter, a Trump nomination will give the election to Hillary. Barring some miracle, where Cruz wrests the nomination from Trump’s slimy hands, a third party is our only hope of securing the future of our nation, for ourselves and our children. To continue to resist a third party run as a solution is a blend of apathy and cowardice, that hobbles any efforts to keep our republic from sinking into the abyss.

I, for one, am not content to sit idly by, as our nation’s freedoms dwindle away and what once made us great becomes a footnote in a history book. We have the opportunity to stand, as our forefathers did, and fight, or we can go back to looking at funny cat videos on YouTube and talking about what Kim Kardashian was almost wearing at some awards show.

Am I talking about civil war? Certainly not in the literal sense, but in the sense of those decent and rational citizens who love this nation and hate the ugliness of what Trump represents, yes. We must plant our flag on the hill of Goodness, and then we must hold the line, fighting to regain what has been lost to the Obama years, and what the Trumpidian hordes threaten to foist on us, through exploitation of our system.

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.

Abraham Lincoln

I have been quite vocal in my support of former Texas governor, Rick Perry. I supported him in 2012, and was overjoyed when he threw his hat in the ring for 2016. I never understood how he didn’t just walk away with the nomination, either time. Perry is a natural leader, a conservative icon, in the vein of Goldwater and Reagan, with a breathtaking list of accomplishments to tout. That in the midst of a crowded field he was rejected for, most notably, not being the most polished speaker, is a travesty. Any serious patriot should be embarrassed by this. Please refer to my previous statement about cat videos.

Why is it that Governor Perry’s name seems to keep seeping to the surface, amidst the talks of a third party alternative? Has it suddenly become real to people? I’ve noticed that some of the ones giving belated recognition to Perry now were largely silent while he was in the race. Could it be that the threat of Trumpism has grown out of control, and to fight a Goliath, you need a David?

Rick Perry may very well be the David this nation needs. Not to over-spiritualize the situation, but a Rick Perry third party run would be the answer to many prayers. The growing #NeverTrump movement would have someone they could feel comfortable supporting. Those who would vote for Trump only because they felt they had no other choice would be given an alternative that didn’t make them queasy in the voting booth. For that matter, Hillary Clinton isn’t the absolute, within her own party. More moderate Democrats could likely be courted over by Perry’s firm record of growing businesses, as well as his Big Tent outreach to minorities. We could very well see the successful emergence of a third party in America.

Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.

Thomas Paine

We’re not dead as a society, yet. We are, however, threatened on each side, by Socialism on the left and encroaching Fascism on the right. This is our moment in history, to prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifices of our forefathers. Our loyalties should not belong to a party, but to our countrymen and the principles that we hold dear. Donald Trump does not stand for me or my principles.

#NeverTrump

#DraftPerry