The Jackson County Republican Party states that Republicans are not only voting for Trump but are voting for the Second Amendment. The inference is that those who don’t agree with them are against that amendment. Many gun owners believe there should be some reasonable restrictions placed on gun ownership. I am one of them. 

They state that they are voting for the next Supreme Court Justice. That is fine, but the Supreme Court should be split between justices with liberal and conservative leanings so that decisions are made on the basis of law and rather than ideology. The current administration is packing the Court with ideologues.

They say they are voting for “the Republic we live in.” We all live in this republic and are voting for what we believe to be the best course for governance. 

They mention that they are “voting for the military, and the veterans who fought and died for this country.” What about the veterans who may disagree with their politics? They seem to believe that others do not respect veterans. We should remember that we never can repay them and we never should forget. 

They say they are voting for the right to speak their opinions and not be censored. I fail to see where anyone is being censored considering that their advertisement was placed and published in the paper. 

The JCRP states that they vote for the right to praise their God without fear. I see no churches burning or ministers arrested and imprisoned. I have seen mosques bombed, temples burned, Muslims, Jews and Sikhs harassed because of their religion. The only Christian churches that I can remember having been bombed, happened decades ago, but then they all had predominately Black congregations. 

The JCRP accuses the Democrats of murder, imply they are not true patriots, and are evil because Republicans are voting “for good against evil.” And they state that they are “voting for freedom and the American Dream.” I am voting that way, too. I am free to choose how I will vote, but my vision of the American Dream is far different from theirs.

Our politics has devolved into an “us against them” attituded.  Whatever happened to the concept of “We the People”? The advertisement placed by the Jackson County Republican Party is the most blatant and disgusting example of this divisiveness that I have observed in this election period. Their last statement in the advertisement is that they are “voting for the future of my country.”

Well, so am I, and my vision of my country includes all of the people, not just those with whom I agree.

Luther Jones

Sylva