An open letter to Hillary from one of the deplorables
Dear Hillary,
I am one of those people you called a deplorable, bigoted, homophobic, women-hating, gun nut just because we oppose you and support Donald Trump.
First off, I am none of those things. I spent my life working in the inner-city and volunteering in Appalachia. As a U. S. history teacher, I incorporated both African American history and women's history into the curriculum. Ernest Green, John Lewis and Diane Nash are among my heroes.
As a Catholic living alone in eastern Kentucky in 1973, I know what it is like to experience prejudice. I am hardly a bigot. And the last time I ever fired a gun I was in ROTC in 1969.
I grew up a Democrat. I actually carried a sign for Adlai Stevenson at the end of my driveway on election day, 1956, heard John F. Kennedy speak in 1960 and cast my first presidential vote for George McGovern.
I've voted for Jimmy Carter, Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis and your husband, Bill Clinton.
It was not until your husband vetoed the partial-birth abortion ban did I stop voting for Democrats. Up until then I believed that it really didn't matter since both parties basically paid lip service to their positions on abortion and did nothing. After all, it was a Republican who appointed Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter to the Supreme Court.
I didn't actually vote for a Republican candidate until the 2008 primary season when you and Barack Obama argued about who was the most pro-abortion - as if it was a good thing.
I support Trump as the lesser of two evils, not because he is such a great candidate. In fact, I voted for John Kasich in the primary. I wish I could vote for you, but not with your abortion policies.
There are a great many problems facing this country. More than a good president, we need the help of God. I believe that as long as we continue to slaughter babies, to push abortion overseas and force innocent people to support abortion through federal funding, God will not bless this country.
If that makes me a bigot, a deplorable or whatever you want to call me, so be it. At least when I face God he won't call me a killer of the innocent.
The writer lives in Little River.
This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 5:01 PM with the headline "An open letter to Hillary from one of the deplorables."