Mark Small

1) 8:40 “Prayer, Pledge, Sponsor recognition.” This is a secular society with people of many faiths and many beliefs about our place in our Universe. If the “prayer” is to a specific deity, it is discriminatory. 2/17

The late Sen Barry Goldwater warned “if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party ... it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me.” If prayer is to some generic entity, prayer is meaningless. 3/17

By “Pledge” I infer you mean The Pledge of Allegiance. I became a citizen of the United States and the State of Indiana when I was born in St Joseph’s Hospital. I shall not recite a pledge as a threshold to speak. 4/17

To recognize “sponsors” is to condone money as a factor in our system of elections. The decision in Citizens United v FEC brought us an unfettered power of money in campaigns. In 1894 the Montana GOP pushed limits on contributions to campaigns. 5/17

Efforts of that State’s GOP: founded in values trad’l & of much longer standing than these most recent erosions of public trust. To laud donors by levels of $ contributions is anathema to open elections. To require candidates to pay tribute exacerbates problems. 6/17

2) your most recent e-mail: each of the 15 candidates will be given one-and-a-half minutes as an introduction. This is adequate time only for each candidate to vow an oath of allegiance to the individual who currently occupies the Oval Office. 7/17

My presence could B misconstrued as agreement w/views of ppl outside def’n of conservative: Predisposed 2 trad'l attitudes, beliefs & teachings; favoring established traditions, social stability & gradual developments as opposed to abrupt changes. Black’s Law Dictionary. 8/17

For decades GOP stood as force 4 civil rights (Lincoln, Reconstruction, opposed Dixiecrats in 1950s), protection of environment (T Roosevelt; EPA under Nixon), use of military as last resort. (Taft’s isolationism, Ike’s warning re military-industrial complex.) 9/17