WHY I WALKED AWAY

  On opening weekend I was able to see the movie Unplanned and it is a powerful story. The movie is about a woman named Abby Johnson who spent eight years with Planned Parenthood. As the director of a clinic in Texas her life was radically changed after witnessing an abortion on an ultrasound. She quit her job and has since become a strong advocate for the pro life cause. Ironically the actress playing Abby Johnson found out from her mother that she was minutes away from being aborted. Her mother had already had one abortion and she was sitting in the waiting room about to abort another baby when she decided not to go through with it. The actress believes that this was divine intervention. This movie is well timed because of the movement going on in various states to protect a woman's ability to have an abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, all the way up to and including the moment of birth. There is also an attempt by Republicans in various states, such as Tennessee, to end abortions after a heartbeat is detected. This legislation is called the "Heartbeat" bill. Watching this movie and the way it depicted Planned Parenthood officials reminded me of the movie Schindler's List. Put these people in a Nazi SS uniform and they would have been right at home. It would be just as easy to imagine these monsters just as cold bloodedly marching the Jews off into the crematories. I am a very sinful man and the last thing I want to do is come across as self righteous and judgmental but for many years now I have wondered how a professed Christian can justify being a Democrat. Or for that matter anyone who professes to be a believer in God's Word such as the Jewish people for example. The abortion issue played a huge part in why I chose to walk away from the Democrat Party. Some of the best Christians I have ever known were Democrats. Two in particular were Tennessee politicians for many years. When asked why they remained in the Democrat Party their response was that that was the only way they could be elected in their districts and I suspect that they were raised by Democrat families with a long history in that party. I have told my story several times about how I walked away from the Democrat Party in the early 1980's. My conversion to Christianity happened while I was stationed in Colorado Springs in the Fall of 1971. I remained a baby in Christ until the late 1970's when I really started getting into the meat of Word. As late as the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 I still identified with the Democrat Party. I can somewhat relate to those Democrats on the night that Hillary was defeated. You know, the ones who were crying and depressed on television and social media. I was no snowflake, and I didn't cry, but Carter's defeat bothered me so much that I couldn't sleep on election night in 1980. Believe it or not Reagan had to deal with the crazy left just like Trump does. There was a " Reagan Derangement Syndrome" although not nearly as bad as Trump has had to deal with. Reagan was mocked by the Hollywood celebrities and the media. They called him a cowboy an ultra right winger, racist, bigot, simple minded, etc etc. He was too old and stupid to be president. I bought into this rhetoric and on election night that is why I was so upset. The recession of the late 1970's and early 1980's was much worse than the recession that Obama inherited in 2008. The real estate market was nearly dead because of high interest rates. Inflation was out of control, and our heavy industries such as steel and the automobile industry were nearly dead. Northerners were moving down South, and West, in droves looking for work. I was unemployed at one point in 1982 and forced to go on to Food Stamps for about a year. The only job I was able to find was making 4.50 an hour. The Reagan recovery of the economy wasn't quite as rapid as Trump's has been but by early 1983 it was obvious that Reagan's tax cuts and deregulation policies were working. Although I had voted for Carter I didn't like the defeatism that he perpetrated and the anti American sentiment constantly expressed by the Democrats. There was a renewed patriotism and pride in America. I was reevaluating my view of Reagan and by 1984 I was solidly in the Reagan camp. During this period I began to take a good hard look at the pros and cons of why I identified with the Democrat Party. In the end there were no pro's, just con's. As a Democrat I always considered myself a moderate to conservative or a Henry "Scoop" Jackson type of Democrat. From 1968 to 1972 something happened to the Democrat Party. I had noticed that the party had taken a radical shift to the left but I was hopeful that it was just a temporary phase they were going through. This is why my first vote was for the Republican Nixon. I just couldn't vote for George McGovern who was too far to the left for me. Today, I am convinced that the leftward swing in the Party is permanent and without a miracle there is no turning back for them. In 1976 I was excited about Carter because I really thought that he was a moderate and I was proud to see a Southerner that was not a racist elected to office. In addition he was a Christian and seemingly proud of it. I had hopes for Carter but he was a big disappointment. In 1980, however; I still saw Carter as the lesser of two evils compared to Reagan.

After Reagan was elected he made me realize that I had been a conservative all along but I just didn't know it. I was a patriot, believed in a strong defense, and was pro law and order. Until John Kennedy the party seemed to represent those things. Kennedy was a war hero, a cold warrior, and established our space program. Not until I was in my thirties and forties did I began to realize the value of tax cuts and how they spur economic growth. Kennedy proposed a large tax cut that spurred one of the longest periods of economic growth in history that lasted well into the 1970's. Reagan and Trump did the same thing. His inaugural address spelled out what America should always stand for. "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty". I also love this line "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate". Then the most famous of all "My fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." Ideas that are anathema to the modern Democrat Party today. Can you imagine a Democrat today giving a speech like this? Yet Kennedy is still touted as the hero of the Democrat Party. Kennedy was a Conservative and with the values I have today I could see myself voting for him in 1960. He could be what we think of as a Conservative Republican today. There are fiscal and secular conservatives, as well as social conservatives today. Social conservatism is a fairly new phenomenon because since the 1960's the Christian - Judeo culture of America has been under an almost constant secular attack. Social Conservatives have been forced to fight back. Issues like abortion, same sex marriage, and the constant erosion of moral standards in society weren't on the radar in 1960 when Kennedy was elected. In 1960 television sitcom's like I Love Lucy, Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best portrayed married couples sleeping in separate beds. Even fiscal issues such as welfare and entitlements can be viewed on a social and moral level when you factor in the damage that these programs have done to the American family since the 1960's. They have incentivized women of all races to marry the government. As a result poverty has increased because many women no longer view a man as a necessity. As long as they can make it without a man, thanks to the government. Without a male presence in the home crime figures skyrocket. This is the main reason so many Blacks are incarcerated. It is not a racist criminal system but the lack of men in Black families that are responsible for the high crime rates among Blacks. Obama was a habitual liar but in a Father's day speech as a senator he once told the honest to God truth "More than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled — doubled — since we were children." He went on to say that these absent fathers don't realize that "responsibility does not end at conception" and are "acting like boys instead of men." Don Lemon of CNN, another radical leftist, also told the truth when he was quoted as saying that 72% of Black children are born out of wedlock. Compare this to 1965 when liberal Democrat Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan wrote a report warning that the destruction of the Black nuclear family would hinder further progress toward economic and political equality. Statistics show that people who wait to have children after they are married, and graduate from high school, will stay above the poverty level and will not be dependent on the government for support. Blacks raised in a home without a father are more likely to be a criminal and to be poor, In 1900 a Black child was slightly more likely to have been born in a two parent family than a White child. Even during slavery a Black child was more likely to have been born under the same roof with both of his parents than today. It was not slavery or segregation that destroyed Black families but Lyndon Johnson's War On Poverty program that sent workers around knocking on doors telling Black women that they were entitled to welfare provided that there was no man living in the house. The War On Poverty did not decrease poverty, it has increased it. Government welfare and the lowering of moral standards have also affected White families. In the 1960's only 5% of Whites were born outside of wedlock. We are now looking at 25% of White children being born out of wedlock today. The same percentage that Blacks were at in 1965. I personally know a White woman who has had numerous children out of wedlock by different men. Everything from the roof over her and her children's head, to the food on their plate, the clothes on their back, and the phone that she uses is provided by you and I the taxpayer. Does anyone believe that if she had been born 100 years ago she would have been so careless and irresponsible unless she was in a committed relationship with a man? The Democrat Party has continued to push these destructive welfare programs since the 1960's. 

The counterculture championed by the Democrat Party during the 1960's popularized drug use and free love. The combination of these things have also led to the destruction of families. Nothing has destroyed families more than drug use. It has also increased homelessness on our streets. Many homeless people are that way because they are so addicted they cannot keep a steady job or enter into a committed relationship with anyone. Many, if not most are mentally ill from long years of drug abuse. We have an epidemic of illicit drug use in this country and people are dying like flies. I place most of the problems that I have listed directly at the feet of the Democrat Party and partly at the feet of the Republican Party. I am not talking about the rank and file Democrat. Most of these are good, honest, decent, hard working, patriotic Americans. Because of family tradition, however; or a personal history with organized labor, and many other factors of indoctrination, they cannot sit down and take a good hard look at the evil people that are running their Party and do not share their values. If you believe in a strong national defense, a strong foreign policy, free market capitalism, good trade policies, a sound economy, tax cuts, and are a patriot then you are in the wrong Party if you are a Democrat. If you are a socialist, and hate America because you believe that we are responsible for the evil in the world, hate our military, want to disarm American citizens, hate free speech, and hate Christianity, then you should be in the Democrat Party. If you believe that abortion should be restricted, believe in our Founding Fathers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, then you should not be a Democrat. The Democrats believe that the Constitution was written by narrow minded White men and the Constitution is no longer relevant to the modern age. They look at it as a living breathing document, which is code for them being able to change it on a whim. Democrats hate elections because they can only get elected if they lie. They lose elections because they are out of step with American values. So they bypass the electorate and use the courts to do their dirty work or they overwhelm the country with illegal aliens who will change the demographics to their favor. Now they are even wanting to do away with the Electoral College, lower the voting age to 16, allow imprisoned felons to vote and pack the Supreme Court. This is also why they don't want voter ID's. It is easier to commit voter fraud in those states that do not require a voter ID.This is not a call for anyone to run out and join the Republican Party. With some exceptions they are a big part of the overall problem. Both Parties are corrupt. I see the Republicans simply as the lesser of two evils. I am an independent Conservative who only votes Republican because I can't vote the Democrat ticket and live with myself. Republicans believe in big government and the Democrat's believe in bigger government. One Party is driving toward the cliff in a Mercedes while the other is driving for the cliff in a go kart. Either way they are both headed toward ultimate disaster. Over the years I have asked various life long Democrats why they choose to remain in a Party that does not represent their values. I know them well enough to realize that their values don't match up with the Party that they blindly follow every election. Usually they are at a loss for words or they will fall back on the bumper sticker response that the Democrats support the working man and the Republicans are for the rich. It is funny that the wealthy seem to dominate both parties. I am encouraged by the # Walk Away movement and the Blexit movement which stands for Blacks exiting the Democrat Party. It is exciting to see people finally wising up.