Voting Republican in 2023 - Supporting the US version of Al Qaeda aka MAGA

There were 56 Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence1. At least 12 of them were plantation owners and slaveholders2. Many of the major Founding Fathers owned numerous slaves, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison3. Others owned only a few slaves, such as Benjamin Franklin3. And still others married into large slave-owning families, such as Alexander Hamilton3.  

The mindset, wealth, and even direct descendants of those people are a part of the United States, and the most extreme of them have taken over the Republican party (at least in Congress, where it matters most). Please don't ignore those extremists the next time you go vote. Even if the Republican party once represented your values (and it may again someday), right now, I find it hard to see a fundamental difference between Al-Qaeda and the "MAGA" leadership like Marjorie Taylor Greene (harassing survivors of shootings, having an affair, lying, etc.), Jim Jordan (violating subpoenas, enabling molestation of his students, practicing law without a license, lying, etc.), Chip Roy, and even whole Governors like Ron DeSantis and Kristi Noem.

Even if your state isn't one being led/controlled by those extremists, by supporting the Republican party, you increase the odds they gain and hold enough power to fix the rules so they can keep that power, shut the democratic process further below a functioning level and further self-deal. Even if 95% of the Republican leadership weren't an issue, that 5% is loud and presently telling the weakest Speaker-of-the-House (Kevin McCarthy) in our history; how they want things to be. The people aren't a concern, just the attention.

We have to be honest with ourselves and each other about the fact that there are plenty of adults who have matured in body but not in mind. Much of the time, they blend in and are indistinguishable from the actual grown-ups, but their refusal to see a reality they don't like is their calling card. When you push them on those realities, you'll get excuses, projection, lies, and outright denial. Our culture has recently developed a title for the most immature of them all. They're now called "Karens," and gender isn't a factor, as exemplified here.

These people are unable to be honest with themselves. I suspect mental laziness is a factor also, but I'm not sure how you'd identify those who aren't honest with themselves because they don't care [and are thus mentally lazy] and those who "can't" be honest with themselves due to psychological factors.

I once believed the 2nd amendment was there to protect "the people" from the government. I didn't appreciate the hate and ignorance that existed then (far worse before the Internet existed.) I now realize that for the people to remain safe, the government must be able to handle extremists who want to take freedom from those they "feel" don't deserve it (like woman and those of color.) US individual gun-ownership is already WAY beyond the ability to keep the government in checks. Now the government needs to protect the people from themselves in many cases.

We must vote, and we must account for the character of the people we vote for because they may choose our fate. Politics isn't a thing that exists separate from us or that's out of our control. The more we vote, the more our views will be reflected unless we allow those who don't see a vote as important to take over.

Freedom is not free and we are all responsible for paying our portion if we want to keep it; something that's cost more lives than any of us can comprehended and won't appreciate until it's gone.

Here's another take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FsKxmk-DCM 

For those who don't know me and are reading this with no other context; know that I'm a disabled veteran of the US Marine corps. I've been near-death multiple times, have had to learn to walk and live again, and I have been left to die by the V.A. (and the votes that allow it to remain as it is). I have 3 children I'd give my life for, am a responsible gun-owner. In the past, I did identify more with Republican "values". That has changed since it's clear they have none. It's not about "parties". It's about putting people in power that actual care and will do their job, not stage theatrics for Fox (who has now admitted to lying, to the tune of >$780,000,000) or try to overthrow the republic.