To Speaker Paul Ryan, Governor Scott Walker, and Senator Ron Johnson

Dear Sirs,

I’m writing to request that you stand up and express the courage of your convictions. All three of you have announced that you will endorse Donald Trump in his bid for President. Your half-hearted statements of support for Mr. Trump make it clear that you are endorsing him because he is the presumptive nominee of your party, not because you believe he is a good representative of the Republican Party or that he would make a good president.

Donald Trump has performed a hostile takeover of the Republican Party. And now he is trying to use you and the Party to take over the United States. The idea of Mr. Trump as President is terrifying for numerous reasons.

1. He lacks respect for highly esteemed members of the Republican Party. For example, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez. On May 25th he attacked her. Falsely accusing her of allowing Syrian Refuges to settle in New Mexico and blaming her for the states unemployment rate. Now in June he is courting her support, claiming to have always liked the Governor. That doesn’t strike me as respect. That’s more a child who threw a temper tantrum and is now attempting to sound contrite in order to get a promised toy.
2. He lacks respect for the judicial process. What more needs to be said than Mr. Trumps racist and provocative statements about U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel who is hearing the case against Trump University. A President must uphold the constitution and respect the laws, and the Judiciary even when they may honestly disagree.
3. His belittlement of Senator McCain’s military service. “He’s not a war hero,” Trump said, “He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren’t captured.” Senator McCain volunteered to serve, and then spent 5 years as a prisoner of war. Upon repatriation he continued his career in the Navy for several more years prior to retiring as a Captain. Then he heeded the call of public service as a politician. Whether you agree with his politics or not, Senator McCain is a man who deserves respect, even when involved in an honest and open debate about the issues.
4. He is a racist. Deporting Mexicans, preventing Muslims from entering the country, and the all-out insanity of proposing to build a wall between Mexico and the United States. The United States has been built and invigorated generation after generation by immigration. Immigration, both legal and illegal, is a complicated nuanced conversation which certainly cannot be solved by building a new Berlin Wall and beginning mass deportations.
5. His utter contempt and bullying behavior towards the press. One of the greatest liberties in this nation is the Freedom of the Press. It is also one of our most important safeguards of our freedom and rights, plus a vital insurance that our government is being forthright and open with us it’s citizens. Mr. Trump refers to members of the press who don’t unreservedly support him as sleazy. He calls the political press dishonest, and routinely refuse press credentials to those journalists he deems unfriendly. He reacts with bullying, and childlike anger to open, honest questions. See his handling of his personal 1-million-dollar donation to veteran’s groups. The donation appears not to have occurred until reporters began asking questions about where the money went, and then Mr. Trump said that the reporters should be ashamed of themselves for investigating where the fundraising money had gone. Why did he fear the press investigating if he is being honest and forthright with his donations?
6. Power Corrupts. Look at what terrible choices he is making with the Power he already has; can you imagine what he would do with the power of the Presidency?
7. Trumps Own Words: I will not change. He said it himself, he won’t change to work with the Republican Party, they have to change to work with him. Why would we expect him to treat the nation any differently?

All of these behavior, and more terrify me in a way that was best explained in the Washington Post’s Op Ed from May 18, 2016 “This is how fascism comes to America.”

“Imagine the power he would wield then. In addition to all that comes from being the leader of a mass following, he would also have the immense powers of the American presidency at his command: the Justice Department, the FBI, the intelligence services, the military. Who would dare to oppose him then? Certainly not a Republican Party that lay down before him even when he was comparatively weak. And is a man like Trump, with infinitely greater power in his hands, likely to become more humble, more judicious, more generous, less vengeful than he is today, than he has been his whole life? Does vast power un-corrupt?

This is how fascism comes to America, not with jackboots and salutes (although there have been salutes, and a whiff of violence) but with a television huckster, a phony billionaire, a textbook egomaniac “tapping into” popular resentments and insecurities, and with an entire national political party — out of ambition or blind party loyalty, or simply out of fear — falling into line behind him.”

I realize that speaking out against Donald Trump is not only dangerous because Mr. Trump attacks anyone who is not with him, but also because choosing to put your beliefs over party unity could pose a huge risk to your future election and the party. But as Edmund Burke said “The only necessary thing for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.” So I beg you as a Wisconsin Resident to be the good men, and honorable Republicans I firmly believe you to be. Don’t allow evil to triumph, stand up and say, “No, I will not support Donald Trump.” Loudly and Publically. Show us the courage it took to become public servants.

Sincerely,

Telzey Felber, DVM

Resident of Monroe County, WI