An Open Apology to My Children and Grandchildren

I’m sorry…

I’m sorry for enabling the 2016 Republican Party to nominate the person they did to become their candidate for President of the United States.  I know I can’t accept full responsibility; however, I feel that I and my generation let you down.

We were the generation that grew up in the sixties and were going to change the world.  We were the “love generation” and the students who protested an expanding “war”, bad government, and a President who lied to the citizens.  We said we wanted to make peace and love in the world.

Well, I’m sorry to say we sold out and didn’t keep our eye on the ball.

We allowed our government to become dysfunctional.  History I’m sure will show that this isn’t the Democrats fault or the Republicans fault.  We’ve all colluded to little by little let the system break down.

And now, we are allowing ourselves and our country to go back in history and resurrect some of our worst times.  Minorities such as Blacks, Hispanics, Muslims, etc. are now being called out and denigrated because of their race or religion.  Many are condoning women being treated like they were in the 1950s.  Racists are being emboldened to act out.

I can’t speak on behalf of the entire Baby Boomer generation, but I can ask as many of them as possible to remember what we once fought for and step up and take action and vote.  Remember, we once made a big difference.

We now have many years of experience and wisdom to apply to the many challenges facing our Country.  We should challenge ourselves to step up to the task with the same level of passion we had in the 60’s.

I believe the first and most important step is to make sure the current Republican candidate does not get elected as President of the United States.  If this should happen, it would totally negate any possibility of making up for the past and charting a better future for our children and grandchildren.

Please, go back and remember all of the people the Republican nominee has denigrated over the course of this campaign:

  • Mocking how women look and behave
  • Mocking handicap people
  • Calling people names
  • Making negative comments about one of our Senators who was a prisoner of war
  • Picking a verbal fight with the parents of a Gold Star family
  • Openly boasting about his ability to get women whenever he wants, married or not, because he is a star

I could go on and on, but I honestly can’t take any more.

Why would we believe this behavior would, or even could, change in a person who is his age and has so many years of practicing these behaviors?

My passionate plea to my Baby Boomer Generation is to step up to the simple task of voting to ensure this person never gets into office.

And, now that I’ve apologized to you, my children and grandchildren, I plead with you to understand the severity of the situation and join us in this effort.  Please get out to vote!  Tell your friends and colleagues to do the same.

I promise that I will do my best to step up to the task to right the wrongs that got us to this point.  I also hope that my generation will join me spending a portion of our later years in this effort.

Again, I offer my sincere apologies.  I have learned from the experience.

Love,

Dad and Grandpa