I am the only Republican in my family. Technically, I am currently registered as an Independent. I did that to stop being pestered by political telephone calls. I still favor the Republican Party.
In the late 1950s, while earning a bachelor’s degree in finance at the University of Oklahoma, I learned that Republican policies were more favorable to the success of businesses and the economy. During my decades of working, I personally discovered that to be true.
On January 6, 2021, I watched television in amazement as President Donald Trump addressed a rally of his supporters outside the White House in Washington, D.C. He was espousing the delusional idea that he had won the recent presidential election by a landslide even though his numerous lawsuits and challenges to that effect had been refuted by the courts. I believe numerous illegal votes are cast in every election, but not to the extent he was claiming. Nevada’s voting system is particularly susceptible to large-scale abuse.
At the conclusion of Trump’s lengthy tirade, I heard him incite his supporters to march on the Capitol Building to protest Congress’s actions in certifying the electoral college votes that would make Joe Biden the next President of the United States. I continued to watch the unfolding events escalate into a full-fledged riot. The so-called protestors became a mob of domestic terrorists bent on destroying the sanctity of the great symbol of our democracy. The thugs did not accomplish what Trump had encouraged them to do. They did make fools and criminals of themselves.
Throughout his presidency, I approved of President Trump’s economic policies and his handling of foreign affairs. I disapproved of his tweets. It is an unacceptable way to communicate with the country. I particularly disliked the way he publicly abused individuals who earned his displeasure. Such actions were petty and selfish.
President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6, 2021, have not only soiled the reputation of real Republicans but they have destroyed his own legacy. I voted for Trump twice, not because I particularly liked him, but because I did not trust his opponent in either of the two elections. My choice in both elections was to select the lesser of two evils. Neither primary political party in the United States has recently advanced sterling candidates for the office of President.
I want the record to show where I stand in this matter. The attack on the Capitol Building is not acceptable. The performance of Donald Trump is not presidential. Let us hope that some real leaders will emerge from the chaos that has been created by both political parties in recent years.
A certificate documenting the award will be presented by Johnny D. Boggs, Editor, Roundup Magazine, during the 2020 Western Writers of America Convention in Rapid City, South Dakota, scheduled for June 17-20, 2020. Hopefully, the present problems created by the Corona virus will not disrupt this planned, annual event.
I wrote about the Roundup article in a blog posted to this website on April 10, 2019. In that blog there is a link that allows you to read the article online. Go to the sidebar of this website and select April 2019 from the drop-down list that appears under Archives.
Quite by chance, while surfing the television channels last evening, I caught the start of the movie One-Eyed Jacks. I had never seen this 1961 film starring and directed by Marlon Brando until last night, but I feel a personal connection with the film. The movie received mixed reviews even though it was nominated for an Oscar for best cinematography. When the movie was released, I was stationed with the Army in France. The Army and Air Force Motion Picture Service brought movies to Europe for the service men and women, but I do not recall this being one. Charles Neider was the author of the novel, The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones, on which the movie script, One-Eyed Jacks, was based. Neider is named in the movie’s credits as one of the screenwriters.
I met Charlie in January 1977 when he was in Antarctica on a grant from the National Science Foundation to write a book about the frozen continent. That book, Beyond Cape Horn—Travels in the Antarctic, was published by Sierra Club Books in 1980. Charlie mentions me in the book when he describes our travels together from McMurdo Station to Palmer Station on board the USCGC Burton Island. I parted company with Charles when I departed Palmer Station onboard the RV Hero for my first journey across the Drake Passage. We never met again.
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