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The Republican Apology (that we will never hear)

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Message Dan Shapiro

Below is what some brave Republican should say, and say it soon. Unfortunately, I doubt we'll ever hear it.

(written before election day, with the assumption that Donald Trump loses to Hillary Clinton in the upcoming election).

Dear American People,

I want to say something that is a long time coming. We have endured the last eight years and more of extreme partisanship, which has led to extreme political dysfunction in our country, has virtually grounded growth and brought change to a standstill. While at the exact time, the world is moving faster than ever, and important change is needed more than ever, and at a faster pace than ever before.

We are dangerously close to a major disaster in our country, with the nomination of Donald Trump as Republican nominee, and his near ascendancy to the Presidency of the United States. We have come close to the edge of the abyss, have peaked around the corner at what might have been, and we don't like what we felt and almost became.

So I have something to say to our fellow Republicans, those who have stood by their principles and values, and to the rest of the American people, who have been in shock this past year, not believing what they were seeing with their own eyes and hearing with their own ears.

You see, our country is at a crossroads. We have become more and more divided, maybe more so than any time since the Civil War. We are divided politically, culturally, ethnically, religiously, and spiritually.

We need a healing in this country, because on so many issues, and in so many ways, we are growing apart. And if we do not make a conscious effort, now, right now, to come together, I'm afraid we will become further alienated from each other, maybe to the point of no return, and self-destruct, ruining this wonderful, amazing country we all inherited.

We need a reconciliation of this great country of ours. And so today, I would like to begin that reconciliation.

So with regret, remorse and humility, for all of us who brought us to the edge of this disaster, we sincerely apologize to the American people. Our party, while not solely to blame, has been a large part of the problem, and today, here today, we want to do our part to rectify that, so we can begin the long, slow process of healing and reconciliation.

We are sorry. We are deeply sorry for the many ways our party has behaved for at least the last decade or two.

First, specifically, we apologize for having created the atmosphere where a Donald Trump could become our party's nominee. We did this by letting him begin and continue the ugly Birther movement, and although virtually none of us believed it, we let him continue on without condemnation because we thought it would be politically good for our party. It turns out it was not good for the party, and was even worse for the country. We put our party ahead of nation, and that was wrong. We deeply apologize.

Second, we personally want to apologize to President Obama and his family, and the entire African American community for not speaking out and condemning the Birther language and its subsequent innuendo. By not speaking out, we tacitly gave our approval of such behavior. It was, in retrospect, abominable. We allowed Mr. Trump and others to perpetuate the myth that President Obama was not a legitimate President. Worse than that, we sat back while the lie was continued that he was not even a legitimate citizen. This harkens back to one of the darkest silo's in our country's history, when at our founding,, without conscious of thought or feeling, we condemned an entire race of not only being non-American, but of not being human. For this, we are ashamed.

Third, we apologize for the subtle and sometimes not so subtle racism not only hurled toward African Americans, but of other ethnic groups as well in recent years, especially those of Hispanic origins and Muslim faith. Again, too many of us sat by and said nothing, while the far right element of our party, maybe in a softer or subtler way, continued on our centuries old prejudices toward non-whites. It was beyond wrong and it helped create and grow the Tea Party and eventually, the Trump phenomena. This was unforgiveable, and we sincerely apologize.

Fourth, we apologize specifically for not condemning Mr. Trump from the very beginning of his candidacy for the dozens and dozens of racist statements, misogynistic statements against women, and for his unprofessional, inappropriate, and outrageous behavior, behavior that is not befitting for a person running not just for President, but for any office, or employment in any capacity of our country. His behaviors and remarks would have disqualified him for any other government or private sector job, and the citizens of this country knew it. You were perplexed how someone so unqualified could even be in the realm of possibility of running for President of the United States. You knew he would not pass an interview for any job in the government, any executive position, any mid-management positions, or even any lower skilled job. Yet, we leaders put up with his words and behavior as a candidate for President of the United States and said nothing, or even worse, defended him. His debate appearances in the both the primaries and the general election were despicable, and he would have been reprimanded and removed from even a junior high school debate. He has embarrassed us in front of all Americans, and he has embarrassed our country to the world. For two and half centuries we have modeled freedom, capitalism, democracy, and a working two party system built on mutual respect and dignity. We allowed Mr. Trump to expose our worst tendencies, to show the worst part of ourselves. We truly, truly regret this decision.

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Dan J Shapiro is an entrepreneur, businessman, musician speaker and writer. He is a jazz pianist, and singer songwriter and has toured nationally with a major group. He has started over a dozen businesses in the assisted living world and has (more...)
 

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