I owe Joe Walsh an apology. I’m a left leaning Democrat, and during the run up to the 2016 election your name came to my attention, mostly on Twitter. My ability to have a civil disagreement was beginning to erode with the rise of Trump and his piggish rhetoric. Trump looked like a clown to me, but I didn’t fully grasp the gravity of his dictatorial Pied Piper allure, but it was becoming clearer. And Joe Walsh was helping that clarity.

I have never been one to use the dangerous hyperbole of calling politicians with whose policies I disagree a dictator, or a Hitler. In fact I often defend the likes of George W Bush from such attacks. Bush was no dictator and certainly no Hitler. But as time went by it became clear that Trump wasn’t just an ordinary callous, classless, one-hit-wonder fluke.  He’s the real thing. A dictator in the making, now he simply needs support. And he’s getting it, he’s getting it from spineless people like Ted Cruz, and true believers alike.

While questioning authority is something everyone has the right to do and should do, when the truth is evident, but is unfavorable to one’s cause, one does not attack the institution. In Trump’s position that makes him reminiscent of a despot, and his supporters sympathizers at best, thugs at worst.   I absolutely despised his supporters for supporting him.  It destroyed my once cool ability to have civil discourse, to simply disagree and try to reach out. I even lamented that your name blackened one of the greatest guitar players in history. 

But I was very wrong. While Boebert, Greene, Geatz and nearly the entire body of the GOP is vying for a seat at a despotic table, something else is going on. In months past Americans have been watching Walsh and many others, in vested interest in where this country is heading and I, for one, came to the conclusion that, much like John McCain, Liz Chaney and a few other ostracized Republicans, you care about a country that is free; where people can live under a rule of law, and shape the landscape in collective effort. One can see the humanity in Walsh and the pain of having lost his party, and most of all the bravery of standing up for this country against a tide that’s turning in a dangerous direction. This small band of Republicans have pulled me from an extreme edge to a place of common ground where, when we disagree we simply try to reach out. I say this knowing full well that, in the immortal words of Strother Martin, some people you just can’t reach. 

I don’t know if he actually reads these things but if so I just wanted to offer not only an apology but thanks, thanks for defending this country.

Before all this, in the 2008 general election I had, for the first time in my life, the opportunity to cast a vote for my choice knowing that if he lost, I would be happy with the other guy. That of course was Obama and McCain. It was a win-win. What happened? It’s probable that I would cast a vote for the other person if Joe Walsh were in a race where I was a constituent, on policy matters. However you, Mr. Walsh have my undying support and admiration as an American. You’re a good man, I look forward to seeing your Tweets in the future, and listening to White Flag podcast.  And by the way, don’t sweat the name. That variety of rock-n-roll kickassery suits you.

LR