Is the Republican Party pushing away traditional conservatives? | GARY COSBY JR.

I like to ask questions. That’s a good thing since I work for a newspaper, but I confess that I believe it is of primary importance that we ask ourselves questions, frequently, and answer them. It is important to not only know what you believe, but why you believe something.

I do this with my faith, and I am in the midst of a long-running and very major examination of my faith. It is of critical importance to know and understand yourself, particularly in what you believe that will impact your eternity.

I do believe in extending that practice to all areas of my life. For the purposes of this column, I ask why am I a political conservative. I know why I came to the Republican Party. That is a very easy answer. As a young man in high school and college, I was inspired by Ronald Reagan. He had a manner about him that made me proud to be an American, and I largely agreed with what he said.

Back then, I viewed the Republican Party as being the morally superior political party, and I felt that my values aligned with those of the party much more closely than they did with the Democratic Party. Economically, I thought of the Republican Party as the party of fiscal restraint. Militarily, I viewed the GOP as the party that was strong on national defense. Back in the days when the Soviet Union was a threat as a world power, I viewed that as highly important.

As I look at the Republican Party today, I realize I was somewhat naive about things, particularly moral ideas. One could easily argue that the domestic spending policies of the Democrats are far more in line with the compassionate aspects of Christ’s teachings than are the Republican priorities. Of course, it is completely wrong to align either political party with Christ, but that is another column completely.

I still view the GOP as being the better of the two parties in regards to national defense, though one must admit that Osama bin Laden was brought down during the presidency of Barack Obama. The Obama administration also continued prosecuting the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, despite Obama's outspoken criticism of George W. Bush’s handling of that war during his campaign for the presidency.

The one thing that has always bothered me about the Democratic Party’s approach to governance is this idea that Americans need the government to make decisions for us. That is utter and complete nonsense. I rejected the idea of national health care for that reason in particular.

More: Racism alive and well in Alabama, rest of the Southeast | GARY COSBY JR.

I don’t think anyone in government should be making life and death decisions about my health care or my family’s health care, so I have shunned the Democratic Party approach to that issue. Now, being fair, the insurance companies are awful to deal with and you don’t even need me to cite chapter and verse on that one. Everyone has trouble with insurance companies and their approved treatments, so you can’t call the Democratic Party approach totally wrong, at least not in its ideals. It is always in the long-term outcome of their policies where one sees serious problems.

In evaluating my politics, I have generally sided with Republicans because they are mostly tougher on crime. Unfortunately, Republicans are weaker on education, the one thing that could actually reduce crime rates and therefore the need for more enforcement. Again, it’s a coin with two sides and neither party is totally right or totally wrong.

As I stand today, questioning why I am conservative, I am having a much harder time answering that in a positive way. The GOP’s unwavering support for Donald Trump has been more than just disturbing. I call it bizarre and unhealthy for the party, and I find it more and more difficult to associate myself with any group of people who have given such unmitigated support to such a morally ambiguous and corrupt person who now is under so many charges from so many different agencies.

There is an even darker side of the GOP that is really causing me to question my support and that is the hate that has been unleashed over the last decade, perhaps a decade and a half. So-called conservatives have attacked political rallies, attempted to "arrest" Democratic politicians, committed felonies, tried to overthrow the government, and are continuing to suppress free speech in places as diverse as chambers of government to public libraries.

Honestly, that’s not conservative. At least, that is not a form of conservatism of which I can be a part. That reeks of the hate that enveloped Germany in the 1930s, which led to such death and destruction.

Maybe there is no political party of which I can be a part. I don’t know just now. My hope is the conservative party in this country will regain its senses and with it its equilibrium. Right now, all I see is a party out of balance and in danger of running amok. When I ask myself, am I conservative, I still say yes, but do I endorse what the conservative party is becoming? That is a clear no.

Gary Cosby Jr. is the photo editor of The Tuscaloosa News. Readers can email him at gary.cosby@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Is the Republican Party pushing away traditional conservatives? | GARY COSBY JR.