MY TURN: Regan wannabe Republican

Mr. Regan wrote in his recent My Turn: “George Orwell notoriously observed that language controls thought and thought controls action. If you can control the words, you can control people.”

Control the people with words. As in telling them who to vote for?

Regan wrote: “Our laws must have clear definitions that can be understood by the citizens without requiring interpretation by “experts.”

So let the Chairman and top people make those definitions for the “uninformed” masses?

Regan wrote: “But what is a Republican? Political parties have platforms which are a formal set of beliefs and goals that define the party. The Republican Party Platform articulates the essential characteristics of a “Republican.”

Soooo, if a person doesn’t adhere to the definitions/”characteristics” of a Republican, per the party platform, they can’t be a Republican?

Regan wrote: “But how is the platform determined?”

Regan wrote: “Each precinct elects a Precinct Committeeman to serve on the county’s Central Committee.”

Do you know who your Precinct Committeeman is, let alone, have you met that person? I have asked literally hundreds of people those two questions and the answer is 99+% don’t know and have never met that Precinct Committeeman.

Regan wrote: “The Republican Party Platform is the only defining standard for what it means to be a Republican.”

So, anyone who hasn’t read the Party Platform, can not truly be a Republican, because how do they know what the definition is if they haven’t read the Platform?

Regan wrote: “Some people wrongly believe that if they say they are a Republican, they can also define what it means to be a Republican. They may have been a Republican for years, or even decades, but that does not grant them the right or authority to say who is or who isn’t a “true” Republican.”

Only the Chairman led group of Committeeman, who the overwhelming percentage of citizens don’t know and have never met, get to tell people whether they can call themselves “true Republicans?” Really?

Regan wrote: “Grassroots Republicans object to politicians who claim to be conservative Republicans but govern as liberal Democrats.”

“…govern as liberal Democrats.” Says who? Mr. Regan?

Regan wrote: “The Democrats have a stealth policy of running candidates for every office, and they have been successful.”

Horse manure. Look at the average election results when Democrat v. Republican. At least 75%-80% Rep to 20%-25% Dem. Not exactly a takeover?

Regan wrote: “Republican vetting exposes these stealth candidates.”

“Exposes,” “Stealth,” more of the fearmongering that has a conspiracy around every corner and spies behind every door.

Anyone not marching lock-step to the platform, which 99+% of people have not read, are then considered “stealth liberal candidates?”

Regan wrote: “The Republican Party has a fiduciary obligation to protect the Republican brand from abuse. When a citizen votes for a Republican, they should get a Republican and not just a liberal or Democrat claiming to be a Republican.”

As I read what Mr. Regan wrote, only those who have read and adhere to the Republican Party Platform are true Republicans, and everyone else, who does not adhere to the Party Platform (which those who have not read the platform can’t adhere to it, because they don’t know what the platform says) is a RINO, woke, stealth liberal. That means that probably 99+% of registered Republicans can not be true Republicans, because they have not read the Party Platform?

I play golf 4-5 times per week and make it a point to ask several questions. Are you Republican? The answer is probably 90+% yes. Do you know who your Precinct Committeeman is, and if so, have you ever met that person? The answer is at least 99+% No. Have you read the Republican Party Platform? I have yet to have one person say that they have read the Republican Party Platform. So, by what Mr. Regan wrote, these are all “wannabe Republicans.”

So here is the question for Mr. Regan: Do you want the votes of those people that can’t be considered true Republicans? As you suggest, only those who live by the Party Platform, can be true Republicans, and probably 99% of the registered Republicans in Kootenai County do not, and have not. So I am sure that you don’t want those “wanna be Republicans” voting for those that you endorse?

Wouldn’t it be hypocritical to want “wannabe Republicans” voting for your endorsed candidates, when you don’t feel that those same people wouldn’t be qualified to be Republican candidates? Should those “wannabe Republicans” all vote for whoever opposes your “true Republicans?”

It’s just common sense.

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Ed DePriest is a Hayden resident.