Josh Barro, Senior Editor at Business Insider and MSNBC Contributor, wrote a scathing indictment of the Republican Party this weekend. He also sent out an epic tweet to publicize it.
‘Why I Left The Republican Party’
Barro has been a Republican his entire adult life. Though not a conservative, he writes:
“I became a Republican as a teenager because of my upbringing in Massachusetts, a state where the GOP has produced five good governors in my lifetime … I stayed a Republican because of my background working in state and local government finance, a policy area where a well-functioning Republican Party can bring important restraint …
I don’t think it was ridiculous to be in a party that I disagreed with on a lot of national issues. Change is made through party coalitions, and I thought the Republican Party was where I was more likely to be able to improve ideas at the margin in the long run. Being a member of a party does not obligate you to vote for its bad candidates in the meantime.
But what this election has made clear is that policy is not the most important problem with the Republican Party.”
In those sentences, Barro says exactly what so many people have been thinking.
Though Barro lays out all the reasons for his exit in his article, he summed it up beautifully in his tweet:
Fuck it, I'm out: Why I finally left the GOP to become a Democrat. https://t.co/1IRqhOqUTz
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) October 16, 2016
That says it all.
Supporting Trump For Reasons Of ‘Strategy, Careerism, Or Cowardice’
Barro directs most of his ire at those who recognize the danger of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump but continue to endorse him.
His targets include people like Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and, most of all, Paul Ryan. Barro writes:
“[Ryan is] a man who runs around the country pathetically trying to pretend that Trump does not exist and that the key issue is his congressional caucus’ ‘Better Way’ agenda. And he’s a man who, of his own free will, seeks to help Donald Trump become president.”
He is careful to say that these men are not “fools like Ben Carson.” Rather, they are people who claim to love this country. However, in Barro’s view:
“I can only conclude from the available evidence that they love their careers more than they love America. And they are why I quit the Republican Party this week.”
From what I’ve seen during this election, Barro is correct. I am also a former Republican. Though nearly two decades have passed since I switched my affiliation, I understand his position. The Republican Party is no longer the party of Lincoln. Hell, it’s not even the party of Reagan anymore. It is, as a whole, a far-right extremist party. The man at the top of their tickets is celebrated by white supremacists. He routinely incites violence and is attempting to subvert the democratic process with his warnings of a “rigged” election.
As for Mr. Barro, I’d just like to say: welcome to the light. We have cookies.
Watch Barro discuss Trump’s response to the Orlando shootings this past June. He’s never been a fan of Trump!
Featured Image via screenshot from YouTube video
