Three decades after becoming a Republican Party activist, a member of the York Township Republican Committeemen’s Organization resigned from the party citing the rise of Donald Trump as GOP's choice for president in the November election.
In a resignation letter posted to his blog, GOPLifer, Chris Ladd writes about his longtime history with the party in Texas, including his friendship with former Texas Gov, Rick Perry, which dates back to their college days.
But now Ladd has had enough, and wrote a devastating takedown of the Republican Party including some of its leaders.
Addressing the chairman of the York Township Committee, Ladd wrote, "Almost thirty years ago as a teenager in Texas, I attended my first county Republican convention. As a college student I met a young Rick Perry, fresh from his conversion to the GOP, as he was launching his first campaign for statewide office. Through Associated Republicans of Texas I contributed and volunteered for business-friendly Republican state and local candidates."
Having established his history, he continued "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," he wrote. "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."
"Evasion and cowardice has prevailed over conscience. We are now, and shall indefinitely remain, the Party of Donald Trump," he continued. "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,'" he concluded.
Ladd then added a YouTube video of fellow Texan Willie Nelson singing, "The Party's Over."
