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It is with great regret that I announce the passing of a once great institution: the National Republican Party. The party passed away on Feb. 4, 2022, with no true believers in the foundations and ideals of the party at its bedside.

The party had lingered ill for some time. But it took a turn for the worse when it censured two Republican members of Congress for sitting on a committee whose mission is to determine what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U. S. Capitol.

The actions by current party leadership all but condoned the attack on the Capitol and gave its seal of approval of an attempt to overturn a proven legitimate presidential election and, with it, the will of the people and our democracy.

Born on March 20, 1854, the Grand Old Party informally known by friend and foe alike as The GOP was the child of factions of the Whig Party that differed on the issue of slavery. As the GOP grew, it became a formidable opponent to the well- established Democratic Party.

Following the Civil War, the young GOP led the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments that, collectively, were some of the greatest civil rights initiatives in the nations history. The three amendments prohibited slavery, granted citizenship rights to all people born or naturalized in the United States regardless of race, and prohibited governments from infringing on voting rights based on race or past servitude.

The party continued to serve the nation well until the late 1920s and the Great Depression. By 1932, the Democratic Party had regained its strength and controlled presidential politics for the next 40 years.

During the 1980s, the Republican Party, under the leadership of one of its heroes, Ronald Reagan, cemented itself as the party of small government, lower taxes, free trade, balanced budgets and little, if any, government intrusion in the lives of individuals.

These principles stood for the next 30 years. One could always count on the Republican Party and knew where it stood. But as time passed, many saw a change in the GOP. Yes, it was older, but it took on an element around 2010 that made it look less attractive, even ugly.

A cousin of the GOP, the tea party, began to convince its older and wiser relative that things needed to change, that people who looked different needed to be viewed differently, that people who worshiped differently needed to be questioned, that everyone really did not need to vote anymore.

Over the next several years, these changes continued to grow and even appeared to overtake the GOP. Those most familiar with this type of ailment saw the GOPs body breaking down. By 2017, it was clear the party was not doing well.

The ideals upon which it was founded and grew began to disappear. The disease metastasized to all parts of the party, to the point that it was unrecognizable.

Those close to the patient knew by 2020 there was no hope, that even basic democratic values such as voting rights for all citizens were being stripped away by the partys cousins in many states.

Then, after the partys presumed leader promoted, if not planned, an insurrection of the U.S. Capitol by thousands of his cult-like followers because he simply did not win an election, the transformation was complete.

To many, this faux obituary may seem a bit humorous, and it would be if it were not true. But sadly, the Republican Party that I once knew, respected and on occasion admired, is dead.

On Feb. 4, the party leadership passed a resolution censuring U.S. Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their participation on the House of Representatives Jan. 6 Committee by saying the two were participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse, and they are both utilizing their past professed political affiliation to mask Democrat abuse of prosecutorial power for partisan purposes

Ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse? Are you serious? Anyone who witnessed the riotous actions in the Capitol that day knows we came as close as ever to losing our democracy. They would never describe what occurred as legitimate political discourse. It is scary to think that party leaders and those who sit in high level government positions believe that verbiage.

Regretfully, this abhorrent rhetoric has existed for quite a while now.

We have seen rioters who smashed their way into the Capitol referred to as tourists, or those charged with a multitude of crimes caught on camera as political prisoners, and conditions they have faced in jail for their crimes as inhumane.

But when the Republican National Party censures two of its own? Both of whom have long practiced and adhered to tried-and-true Republican values? For attempting to learn the truth about what happened on one of the worst days in our nations history? It demonstrates the rottenness to the core of this once great political party.

Jim Hart, of Pinehurst, spent 38 years in Washington, D.C., as a lobbyist and chief of staff to four U.S. congressmen.

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Column: What Once Was Grand Old Party Now Is Shadow of Its Former Self - Southern Pines Pilot