Why I’m not a Republican
If you haven’t read my post on Why I am not a Democrat, it’s somewhat required reading for this post. If you have, keep reading and enjoy!
General Colin Powell is one of the most recognized and respected Americans around the globe, and yet his political affiliation and opinions were completely unknown until his illustrious 35 year career as an army officer came to an end. Military officers have a long tradition of keeping their political views to themselves while serving; they are also bound by law not to partake in party politics. This is a good thing. However, when officers gather at the “O Club” to toss down a few beverages together, they drop their guard. Having attended more than my fair share of such gatherings, I can personally attest that our service-members are overwhelmingly Republican.
When I left the military to work in the private sector, I took that affiliation with me. I was drawn to all the rhetoric about “rugged individualism and personal responsibility”, but mostly I appreciated the patriotic enthusiasm with which Republicans do things (and still do). I remained a registered, relatively faithful Republican for several years. Then two things happened that turned me off.
- I quickly tired of the endless disparaging of Democrats and condescending dismissal of third parties. All political parties do this to some degree, but Democrats and Republicans seem to spend an inordinate amount of time bashing each other, and seemingly refuse to ever recognize anything noble on the other side of the aisle. It gets old.
- Republican’s behavior during Bill Clinton’s second term drove me crazy. There were enough reasons to dislike Clinton, why the need to then target every single aspect of his life and even make things up? President Clinton, in a nutshell, is an extremely intelligent man with magnetic charisma and could have been great - if he only had a little self-discipline. Instead, he blew it (insert your own Lewinski joke here).
In short, I was driven away by self-righteousness and the holier-than-thou attitude that the Gingrich-led revolution ushered in (Newt is an excellent writer with a passion for American history, by the way, and I happen to be a fan). It pushed me away, so I drove down to Burlington Town Hall (where I lived at the time) and “dropped out”.
About the Author: Randall H. Miller is an American educator/blogger. He is also a former U.S. Army officer (82nd Airborne) with a M.A. in Diplomacy (focusing on International Terrorism) and a B.A. in Criminal Justice. Use the form on the right to sign up for the "Friday Morning Fix” and other timely updates. The words and ideas expressed here are 100% his own and not those of his employers or affiliated organizations.
Tim | Jun 19, 2008 | Reply Vote:
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Nobody’s perfect but I find it so excruciating that smart conservatives ruin good ideas but throwing in jabs at bleeding heart liberals or those godless socialist democrats at every turn. Somebody might actually listen to them if they weren’t so f-ing hostile all the time.
RHM
| Jun 19, 2008 | Reply Vote: 
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You make a good point, Tim. Conservatives have good arguments on some issues but the message gets killed when it’s delivered by people like Sean Hannity.
I like to call Hannity and his minions “lunch money Republicans”. Why? Because it is clear that as children they had their lunch money stolen regularly. I can only imagine the wedgies he was subjected to in high school. You’d think it would have toughened him up, instead it helped shape him into the perpetual whiner that he is today.