I really don't like sounding off about the internal politics of another country. But sometimes you just can't keep quiet.
Due to where we were on our visit to the US, most of the people we met while we were there were Republican voters. And they were, almost without exception, perfectly nice, reasonable people. (There was one very nasty homophobic comment I overheard while at Barefoot Landing. As I said, almost without exception.) So I'm very well aware that there are plenty of perfectly nice, reasonable Republican voters.
But.
When the current US government implemented their "zero tolerance" policy towards immigration, and started forcibly separating children from their parents, they crossed a point of no return. Traumatising children to deter their parents from seeking asylum is unconscionable. Even attempting to justify it shames the person who tries. And it's not good enough simply to row back from that policy and carry on as if everything was now okay. As I said, it's a point of no return.
(Horrifying as it already is, it really looks like we're only just seeing the tip of the iceberg, and that it's going to get much, much worse. It is estimated that, due to bureaucratic incompetence, it will now be impossible to reunite some hundreds of those children with their parents, ever. I have seen reports that, in order to keep those traumatised children quiet and docile, they have been given very strong anti-psychotic medications that will damage them permanently. And where are the girls?)
In an ideal world, all those responsible for this - from the man at the top who ordered it right down to the people at the bottom who implemented it (who, no doubt, were "only following orders") would face trial for their actions. Alas, I'm not naive enough to believe that that will ever happen, so we'll have to be satisfied with them being driven out of office.
Which brings me back to those "perfectly nice, resonable" Republican voters. Because if Trump and his administration are to be removed, it must be at the ballot box. If the judiciary step in to impeach and remove him, that will be painted as the "liberal elite" taking action to defy the voters and prevent him "making America great again".
So, from now until this regime is swept away, it comes down to this: any vote for any Republican will be taken as a vote to endorse this regime and their actions - both by that regime and also by the watching world. They need to be starved of those votes.
(Now, I understand that, for various reasons, lots of people could never bring themselves to vote Democrat. Fair enough. But in that case, the choice is simple: don't vote. And don't be taken in by the argument that it is your civic duty to cast a vote. Sometimes, it's your moral duty to refuse.)
It must be made very clear to the powers-that-be in the Republican party that Trump and those who follow him, those who would adopt his tactics, and those who would adopt his policies are not acceptable to those nice, reasonable Republicans. That this must never happen again.
You need to reclaim your party.
