Mark Small

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

The GOP opposed accumulation of great wealth in a few hands (1854 origins; T. Roosevelt’s “busting” of “trusts”) and was extremely aggressive as it sought to protect the rights of those newly freed from slavery. 10/17

Women’s reproductive rights were protected by Roe v Wade - a decision written by Justice Blackmun. The Court’s vote was 7-2. Five GOP-nominated justices, including Justice Blackmun, were amongst the seven. 11/17

The other candidates oppose strong central gov’t - gov’t the necessity of which the Civil War demonstrated - in favor of a notion of States’ rights. The Declaration of Independence makes clear: people, not governments, have rights. 12/17

The so-called tea party movement hacked GOP & wrested control that has passed to hands of large, corporate wealth - an irony given that the original Tea Party in Boston was carried out against one of the largest corporations of the day. 13/17

The too-recent 2010 hack of the GOP by the so-called tea party, and imposition of “ad hoc” values resultant chaotic nature of the GOP, can be contrasted with the traditional values of the 156 years prior. 14/17