Somebody moved my party

By Don Loranger

Like many Republicans, I took great comfort under the "small government, fiscally conservative" tent erected by Ronald Reagan. To be sure, the tent flaps were disturbed from time to time, but in large measure it was a cozy environment that gave us shelter as we confronted many challenges-the Cold War, economic prosperity and respect for individual liberty being but a few of the more notable among them. Equally as important, the tent was filled with a diverse group of citizens committed to free-market based economic progress, maintenance of a strong and surgically capable military judiciously used to foster U.S. national security interests around the world, and morally committed to making our increasingly connected world a better, safer place to live.

Though the complexities of our world defy my limited ability to precisely pinpoint the time, it is nonetheless true that though my vantage point is generally where it was back in those heady days, somebody has both moved and shrunk Ronald Reagan's tent. They moved it to a point that has fostered a free-spending federal government fully sixty percent larger than it was eight years ago, a free market economy that morphed into endorsement of unfettered greed by the few and an exploding fiscal disaster greater than any in my lifetime for most everyone else. Moreover, we also pursued a national security policy that was either prompted by misinterpreted intelligence at best, or a contrived manipulation of the American people and our defense policy apparatus at its worst-resulting in a robbery of our national treasury, the sacrifice of far too many lives and limbs of our bravest citizens and a significant diminution of our nation's hard earned position as a beacon for goodness and righteousness throughout the world.

Add to all of this the steady erosion of our rights as American citizens and the sad notion that we can somehow remain a global beacon of fairness and individual liberty while officially sanctioning and committing torture of others-vile enemies or not.

Sad and inexcusable as all of that is, nothing more jeopardizes our nation's future than the fact that our political discourse has sunk to a new, uncompromising low. Name calling, blatant racism, and an internet facilitated phenomenon where truth and integrity are not regarded as essential components of the decision to click the "send" button are but a few examples. You see exemplars of this nonsense in local papers on an almost daily basis; letters written by obviously articulate persons frequently focus on hate and personal attacks rather than any meaningful treatment of the issues that confront us.

This atmosphere of ugliness translates elsewhere as well. While attending this year's Grizzly homecoming, a Flathead Valley area businessman grabbed and pulled at the campaign button I was wearing saying he was going to "tear it off" and acting as if he were going to do so. He did not, but as evidenced by the anger he expressed to my wife and me, it was only just barely. Surely, he had seen the tent move and shrink too-only he elected to move with it and demand that others follow suit. For him, unflinching party loyalty trumps the very ideals on which this nation was founded.

And outside the bounds of any legitimate political tent, a few months ago another successful area businessman shouted at me that he would never "vote for a f——g n—-r". For different reasons, I feel sorry for both of these people, but I am sustained by the belief that we are blessed in both parties by many citizens of greater intellect, clarity and honor. Let us hope that they prevail, for if not, our Republic is in great peril.

Irrespective of the results of our upcoming election, we must not lose sight of the fact that voting — and doing so absent attempts by others to intimidate or coerce — is a sacred trust that many in this nation's history have sacrificed to attain. I will not give it up, and neither should you!

Our next President will face daunting challenges-among them are Social Security and Medicare funding, illegal immigration, energy policy, education, economic vitality, global warming, and restoration of our position of enlightened global leadership — all areas that share in common the fact that we have allowed them to unrecognizably deteriorate over the past eight years. Happily, with the exception of certain aspects of energy policy and global warming, their resolution will not require new science, or even unexplored policy principles. Rather, to succeed, we will need a President with the leadership ability and vitality to bring the American people, The Congress included, together toward a common purpose based on those principles that have served us so well in the past. Our President will need put to his arms around all of us, irrespective of race, creed, color, income group, and lead us to a "fair and balanced" compromise.

I would close with a "by name" endorsement of my candidate for President as representing the best hope in my lifetime for returning us to some shared sense of pursuit of the common good. However, based on the above, you already know my choice. Why is that?

Don Loranger is a retired Air Force Major General and a resident of Bigfork.