The GOP is undoubtedly in meltdown mode. Many Republicans are refusing to support their party’s presidential nominee, while others are officially abandoning the Party of Lincoln.

Like other Americans of conscience, Chris Ladd, Texas Republican and founder of the website goplifer.com, is leaving his political party of thirty years. Below is his letter of resignation as a York Township Republican committeeman:

“The Iraq War, the financial meltdown, the utter failure of supply-side theory, climate denial, and our strange pursuit of theocratic legislation have all been troubling. Yet it seemed that America’s party of commerce, trade, and pragmatism might still have time to sober up.  

Remaining engaged in the party implied a contribution to that renaissance, an investment in hope. Donald Trump has put an end to that hope.

From his fairy-tale wall to his schoolyard bullying and his flirtation with violent racists, Donald Trump offers America a singular narrative – a tale of cowards. Fearful people, convinced of our inadequacy, trembling before a world alight with imaginary threats, crave a demagogue. Neither party has ever elevated to this level a more toxic figure, one that calls forth the darkest elements of our national character.

With three decades invested in the Republican Party, there is a powerful temptation to shrug and soldier on. Despite the bold rhetoric, we all know Trump will lose. Why throw away a great personal investment over one bad nominee? Trump is not merely a poor candidate, but an indictment of our character. Preserving a party is not a morally defensible goal if that party has lost its legitimacy.”

“Fast-forward to our present leadership and the nature of our dilemma is clear. I watched Paul Ryan speak at Donald Trump’s convention the way a young child watches his father march off to prison. Thousands of Republican figures that loathe Donald Trump, understand the danger he represents, and privately hope he loses, are publicly declaring their support for him. In Illinois our local and state GOP organizations, faced with a choice, have decided on complicity.


Our leaders’ compromise preserves their personal capital at our collective cost. Their refusal to dissent robs all Republicans of moral cover. Evasion and cowardice has prevailed over conscience. We are now, and shall indefinitely remain, the Party of Donald Trump.


I will not contribute my name, my work, or my character to an utterly indefensible cause. No sensible adult demands moral purity from a political party, but conscience is meaningless without constraints. A party willing to lend its collective capital to Donald Trump has entered a compromise beyond any credible threshold of legitimacy. There is no redemption in being one of the “good Nazis.”

I hereby resign my position as a York Township Republican committeeman. My thirty-year tenure as a Republican is over.”

Photo | videezy.com

Just when you think Trump couldn’t get any lower, out pops his golden shovel and the Republican presidential nominee just digs a deeper hole for himself.

No one knows what rock bottom is for the real estate tycoon, turned TV celebrity, turned cult leader, but suggesting his gun-loving, “Second Amendment” enthusiasts resort to gun violence in order to stop a President Clinton from appointing liberal judges has to be pretty close.

Of course, Trump’s rabid group of followers is defending him and blaming the media for deliberately misrepresenting his words in order to stir up a controversy where none exists.

Here are Donald Trump’s exact words:

“Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know,” Trump said.

This is not the first time Trump has spoken about “Second Amendment” rights or remedies.

At an Arizona rally this past April, Trump told a cheering crowd, “We’re going to win with our Second Amendment. We’re gonna win big league with our Second Amendment!”

If you believe many Trump supporters are nothing more than textbook cultists hanging on to his every word, be worried … be very worried.

Trump may have once just been a bombastic buffoon and a great source of entertainment, but he has now clearly evolved into a national security threat. Realizing this, some responsible members of his own party are  determined to stop him at all costs.

By alienating moderate Republicans, independents, women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims, the disabled, and veterans, there is no way Trump could ever win a general election.

So what could he possibly be thinking?

The one conclusion many have drawn from Trump’s dangerous and erratic behavior is that he is building up his base for a media empire to be created once he is crushed at the polls come November.

Of course, Trump will claim the system was rigged against him and that he’s still a winner. And his cultists will believe it.

(AP Photo)

The 2016 presidential election is unprecedented for a number of reasons. Republicans have a candidate who single-handedly, and without bloodshed or violence, hijacked the Party of Lincoln. A self-absorbed, self-described billionaire and political novice is carrying the GOP’s hope of regaining the White House.

For Democrats, we have a political candidate who has been around so long, and accumulated so much baggage, that her standard mode of transportation is not a limo but a semi. And oh, the Democratic presidential nominee is trying to become the nation’s first female Commander in Chief.

As unusual as this pair of presidential candidates may be, there is one singular fact that is truly unparalleled – with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, we have two of the most disliked presidential candidates in U.S. history competing against one another!

While it not unusual for a candidate to be disliked by members of the opposing party, both Trump and Clinton are hated by a significant number of voters from within their own party!

According to RealClearPolitics averages, Trump has an unfavorable rating of 65 percent. Clinton has 55 percent.

It seems with each passing day, Republicans are running away from Trump like rats on the sinking Titanic. Not only are some refusing to endorse their party’s nominee or give him their vote, an ever-increasing number are publically stating they will vote for Clinton.

On the Democratic side, for many disappointed voters who supported the Bernie Sanders revolution, the game plan is to sit out the election or vote for Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. Some diehard Bernie or Bust enthusiasts have even vowed to vote for Donald Trump.

With such a bizarre election cycle, the White House may go to the candidate with the least number of defections from within their own party!

The election of 2016 is shaping up as a field day for presidential historians.

Photo | abcnews.go.com

Speaking at last week’s Democratic National Convention, Sarah Silverman was roundly booed by Bernie or Bust supporters when she called for party unity.

The booing only increased when Silverman, a Bernie Sanders supporter, said, “Hillary is our Democratic nominee and I will proudly vote for her.” She concluded her speech by saying,” “As I continue to be inspired and moved to action by the ideals set for by Bernie, who will never stop fighting for us, I am proud to be a part of Bernie’s movement, and a vital part of that movement is making absolutely sure that Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States.”

As the booing became mixed with chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!,” comedian Sarah Silverman had had enough.

“Can I just say to the Bernie or Bust people,” scolded Silverman, “you’re being ridiculous!”

Suffice it to say Sarah’s admonition to Bernie supporters did not go over well. She was labeled a traitor to the cause and an out of touch elite.

What Sarah failed to realize is that you do not change hearts and minds by belittling people. You do not get people to come around to your point of view by implying they are stubborn or stupid.

But perhaps Silverman’s attempt to talk sense to Bernie enthusiasts was an exercise in futility in the first place. It appears some Bernie supporters will never change their minds, no matter the reasoning. They will never vote for “Crooked Hillary” who they see as the embodiment of all that is wrong with our politics. Hillary to them is just another corrupt, untrustworthy establishment hack out to line her pockets and those of her Wall Street buddies. Regardless of what Bill may call her, Hillary, to them, is no “change-maker.”

The argument often used to get Bernie supporters to see the light – that their actions or inactions could lead to a President Trump – holds no sway. To them, if electing Trump hastens their political revolution, then bring it on!

Bernie or Bust supporters do not think they are being “ridiculous.” They see themselves as true, principled patriots – left wing Teabaggers, if you will. They believe they are involved in something bigger than any one person, even Bernie Sanders. That many of these revolutionaries are labeling Bernie a sell-out and fraud for endorsing Hillary tells you how passionate these people are about their movement.

The only good news for Democrats is that for every diehard Bernie or Bust voter who vows to sit out the election, vote for the opposing candidate or third party, there is an equal number (perhaps more) of Republicans threatening to do the same.

Photo | thegodlessliberal.blogspot.com