"Walk A Mile In My Shoes"

 The main difference, perhaps, between someone willing to vote for a Republican at the midterm, and someone dead set on putting them out of power, is the willingness to walk in other people's shoes. 

In one of Ben Franklin's final essays, he parodied himself. Earlier in his life, he had written a letter in an attempt to reclaim one of his slaves, one that he wrote could not survive on their own. In his later parody, he writes about Muslims not releasing their Christian slaves because they just could not get by on their own. Franklin, as with all the Founding Mothers and Fathers, creates a portrait of modern American Republicans as the most naive people in history, clearly.

The right to vote, the right to pursue happiness and yes, diversity, equity and inclusion, are all aspects of the liberty that the colonists fought for. Thomas Paine's Common Sense, an English commentary on life underneath a King and Queen, led the way. So to have an American Republican Party in 2026 questioning the value of Democracy, questioning why the state is separated from Christian faith, questioning the basic balance of powers and undermining the pillars of liberty that have existed for 250 years, is quite sickening. Donald Trump and the Republicans are maybe the greatest democratic backsliders in history, placing them in the realm of illegal regimes and dictatorships. 

Think about this. A few moral Republicans on the Court, or in the Senate, could have let Jack Smith have at Trump, or even erased him years earlier via impeachment. Yet the Republicans have leaned into Trump the King instead of learning any lessons on how close they are to fully undermining The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. This has to be the crux of the midterm. The American voter will have to show up and vote for Democrats as a way of preserving their liberty. Because not only did Trump avoid prison and or the treason firing squad, he has begun to murder whoever he wants and put the rest in prison. 

The people of America have to take back their future from the Republican Party. The Republicans have displayed no morals. Right now, the Republicans have deployed ancient military equipment all over the world, as if they're a colonial power, fully ignoring our democratic roots and values. Meanwhile the world is at war with drones and tech, not quite the war toys of yesteryear that Vance, Rubio, Johnson and Thune approve of throwing out there in 2026. These Republicans have overseen the total destruction of government agencies and put all the power and all the titles in their own laps. This is perhaps their most anti democratic act. And boy do they look weak because of it. The Republicans have literally sent people with no business being there to negotiate with Putin, Iran, etc. Steve Witkoff is nobody. Nobody. 

And Bill Pulte is nobody. Every one of Trump's handpicked sycophants seem to always lack experience and often Congressional approval. There are no experts in the last two Republican administrations, just wealthy men from the Epstein Files. We get Howard Lutnik instead of boring bureaucratic experts that study the details every day. Instead of inspectors general ensuring democratic nuance, we get Fox News' Pete Hegseth offending every ally, every American and every aspect of decency. Elon Musk goes from DOGE to history's wealthiest individual, based on a company that hasn't made money, just republican friends in the government. The standard balance of power and Congressional oversight is just fine, thank you very much. 

The wealth of Pulte and Musk perfectly prove it's unnecessary for Republicans to stack the deck if literally one person benefits. Musk needed Democrats to build charging stations for his cars. Now he needs Republicans to let him build methane power plants for his tech, which they are allowing. The Republicans are funding infrastructure for billionaire's tech projects everywhere, yet cannot seem to invest in any kind of power grid upgrades, green technologies or any major upgrades for the public. And perhaps no single individual is connected to bringing more undocumented workers to American soil then Bill Pulte. But does this man celebrate the tax paying migrant, or even thank them for making his family rich ? No, he partakes in rounding them up into prison camps, and ultimately supports the Supreme Court in declaring them illegal. There is no disputing this is what Musk and Pulte are, it's not an argument. The choice the Republican Party is presenting is clear. You can vote for Democracy and the Democrats at the midterm. Or you can vote for whatever this is, whatever we are mired in right now.

The median personal income in America is between 45k-65k. At the midterm, the voters will remind Vance, Rubio, Thune and Johnson that people work hard for their money. 

Greg Gunther aka Lex Luthor

Snow Hill, MD