Good folks, abandon the GOP

If I had been a teenager in 1930s Germany, I might well have joined the Hitler Youth movement. It initially espoused principles that I personally value; honor, patriotism and self discipline, for example.

But the organization was part of a growing Nazi movement, which slowly, then more rapidly, steered Germany into unspeakable evil as the man at the top consolidated his power. Those who joined the Youth and/or the Nazi party for idealistic reasons were forced to ask themselves, as they witnessed one new atrocity after another; “should I drop out of this organization?” Unfortunately, many continued along with it. There were always rationalizations why this or that evil deed was really okay and the government deliberately encouraged the hate-filled segment of the population to emerge from the shadows and wreak havoc on people and ideas they despised.

I invite honest principled Republicans who joined their party for idealistic reasons (that I could agree with) to consider the parallels between the present-day GOP and the Hitler Youth. As the man at the top has consolidated his power and become progressively more vicious, GOP leaders and the Fox News apparatus have obediently rationalized outrage after outrage. The list — contempt for rule of law and separation of children from immigrant parents are examples — is long and getting longer. Now your leader is helping to spin a cover story for a Saudi journalist’s murder. How much more do you need to see, to abandon the GOP and join the opposition?