Adieu, Shalom, Aloha, Qil xin, Wot maber, Ayoo, Salaam, Adios, Ciao, Neemazonok, and Qapla!

Breaking up is hard to do – it matters not if you are talking about an association with a person or with a group. It takes a lot of thought & insight to decide if you are having a little spat that will blow over, or if the relationship has fundamentally changed. This is a process that can take hours, days or even months. In some cases the decision to end the association can be so profound that the decision process can take years.

Over the past several months (since the end of the 2008 elections) I have had to really do some soul searching regarding my political label as a “Republican.” The GOP can trace its roots way back in U.S. history – some say all the way back to the WHIGS, but that is up for debate. The establishment of the party has its roots firmly in the 1850’s as the main opposition to slavery & the opening of the western lands at no charge with the first Republican president being Abe Lincoln.

Over the years the Republican Party has become almost synonymous with words and phrases like; “Conservative,” “small government,” “strong military,” and so on. I was very proud to cast my very first vote for Ronald Reagan and followed up with Mr. G.H.W. Bush and G.W. Bush (the first time). It took a little more thought to flip that lever the second time.

Now, we can debate about whether or not the Republican Party strayed from their ways over the past few years for quite a long time. Did the GOP’s “getting soft” cause them the election to Obama? Uh, no – it was the GOP’s being completely out of touch with the electorate that cost them the election and their response has been so amazingly wrong. The GOP has been acting like the spoiled little brat that didn’t get the pony for his birthday. The rhetoric that has followed the Inauguration has been nothing short of hateful. It has completely undermined the wonderful concession speech that Mr. McCain gave.

No longer is the GOP the party of Eisenhower, Reagan, Nixon, G.H.W. Bush and Abe Lincoln. They are now the party of Gingrich, Limbaugh, Coulter & Cheney. If this isn’t scary – I really do not know what is. The fact that the GOP is embracing a shock radio personality as their de-facto mouth piece is astounding and should be insulting to all true Republicans everywhere. Gingrich’s statement to the effect that he is not interested in being a player on the world stage is astounding given the reaction to G.W.’s policies of isolationism through invasion. The very fact that Sarah Palin is even being considered as a possibility for the Presidential spot in 2012 shows how totally out of touch the GOP has become with all but the extreme right wing.

The people are speaking to this with their most powerful “voice” – their wallet. Donations are to the party are way down. Don’t blame the economy – we’ve been through recessions before and contributions to political parties & religious organizations are the last to feel the pinch. It’s time for someone with some sense and understanding of what the U.S. wants and the place we must occupy on the world stage to come forward and get Newt, Rush, Annie & Dick off the podium. If the GOP is going to be the party of intolerance, isolation and bullying – count me out.

Does this mean I have sold my soul to the Democrats – uh, no. Those fools have their own issues and if they don’t get their grubby paws off my hard earned cash and keep giving it to fat cats and lazy bums, we’re gonna have words. America was built on free enterprise for a reason: it works. If GM is running such a bad business that it loses money on every car it sells, why should it stay in business? The stimulus package and the bailout package were total crocks and put the money in the wrong hands – it shows a complete lack of understanding of macro-economics. I could go on, but I have rambled on enough.

So, no longer a Republican, not going Democrat, and “Independent” was destroyed by folks like Nader, Larouch and McCarthy. Nope, if you want to know how I’ll vote, just put me down as “American” or, better yet, “Patriot.”

"It is the duty of every patriot to protect his country from its government" - Thomas Paine (or some variation thereof)