THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610180002
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 32 lines
Editor's note: This letter to the editor ran in The Virginian-Pilot 24 years ago. The writer submitted it again, saying, ``It is as timely today as it was in 1972.'' The letter quoted George W. Milias, a California assemblyman in 1964, as saying:
Any time that we try to compartment the many variations of Republican thinking we take one more step in the fragmentation that will, if allowed to continue, destroy the very basic fundamentals upon which the party was founded.
``The Republican Party is not just a party for `big business.' It is, rather, a party against `big government.' It is a way of life that says a man should have the dignity and courage to fight for his place in the sun with his own talents, his own brawn and his own brains. These are his inherent rights under the Constitution. He is entitled to all the benefits of free enterprise and, by the same token, recognizes his responsibilities under the system. He does not want the government in competition with his business by using his own tax dollar to establish this competition. He believes in the dignity of man and the rights of the individual. To believe in all this he is against Socialism in all its forms. He does not need a `Big Brother' poking into every facet of his life from cradle to the grave. If these are his basic fundamental beliefs, he is a Republican uncluttered and unhyphenated.''
I am proud to be a Republican, uncluttered and unhyphenated.
RAY ESTES
Virginia Beach, Oct. 8, 1996 by CNB