The extreme right political conservatives cannot continue to be ignored. I was a lifelong Republican, but this is no longer “my Republican Party.” Increasingly, this is a group that has highjacked the Republican Party and is intent on ending democracy as we know it. Make no mistake, these are not patriots, these are anarchists.
Last week, at the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) conference, activist Jack Posobiec (Norristown native and Temple graduate) joyfully hailed the “end of democracy,” further emphasizing the extremists Republicans’ apparent desire to completely overthrow America as we know it.
Posobiec, who helped popularize the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory, appeared at CPAC’s opening day on Wednesday, February 21st. He spoke during a panel moderated by former Trump White House adviser and white supremacist Steve Bannon.
“Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely,” Posobiec said as the event began.
“We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this, right here,” he said, gesturing to the crowd and holding up a cross in his fist.
As he spoke, Bannon laughed and said, “Amen!”
We can no longer ignore this very real threat to our democracy. This threat, from the extreme right, if not confronted, could assure our children and grandchildren will never know the responsibility and rewards of maintaining a democracy and enjoying the sweet taste of freedom.
In 1963, I sailed west under the Golden Gate Bridge on a troop ship with five thousand other souls. Our mission, to protect someone else’s freedom. I could not have imagined that one day the greatest threat to our democracy since the Civil War would again come from within. I do not stand as straight now as I did then, but I am no less determined to defend our democracy from this looming threat.
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