I thought I knew the Republican Party. It was the party of family values I once supported because they represented the people’s welfare and were compassionate conservatives. But they’ve changed. The change has been gradual, until the party is now unrecognizable.

I can’t understand how this Republican Party has mutated into a distorted version of the proud national party it once was. Politics is a breeding ground for corruption. Only integrity and morality prevent corruption from flourishing. Recent events reflect a failure of those values as this party denies honest election results and encourages violent behavior and future election disruption.

They talk of ending Social Security and Medicare for millions of dependent seniors and would renege on the U.S. pledge of support to a democratic country invaded by an autocratic dictatorship. They support arbitrary bans on books and archaic bans on women’s rights to reproductive choice.

Republican policy includes opening the Arctic wildlife refuge to drilling while sidelining the real threat of climate change and ignoring recent catastrophic weather events. It is impossible to deny the reality and serious nature of the threat. Climate change is happening now!

I question whether these leaders serve the people or themselves.

Patricia Fogg

Greene, Maine

The writer is a Pittsburgh native.

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