Trump is leading GOP over a cliff

There’s an astonishing scene in Thomas Hardy’s "Far from the Madding Crowd" which, for those who are not sanguine about the prospects and trajectory of the latter-day Republican Party, has special significance.

One of Hardy’s characters, Gabriel Oak, is a shepherd. In spite of hardship and failure Farmer Oak has managed to cultivate a large flock. Then one night, for reasons that are unclear, one of Oak’s sheepdogs starts harassing and chasing the flock.

As sheep are wont to do, the animals allow themselves to be guided entirely by the dog, and are driven headlong over a cliff to their deaths. The dog remains perched above, unperturbed by the fact that everything farmer Oak has worked to achieve has been destroyed.

Our country — our democracy — needs a viable conservative party, the Republican Party. Since 2016 the Republican Party has been dominated by a man who is neither a conservative nor a Republican — he is in fact the ultimate RINO (Republican in name only.)

Like Gabriel Oak's flock, the party of Lincoln is being led toward a cliff, and certain ruin. For the sake of our country, let's hope the scales will fall from our eyes before it's too late.

Daniel Baldwin

Decorah