What shocks me about George Will's leaving the Republican Party is not that he's leaving, but that he was ever a member. Whatever happened to intellectual independence? I haven't been a member of a political party since 31 July 1981, when I allowed my one-year membership in the Libertarian Party to lapse. I still have the card (click to enlarge):
In case you're wondering, I didn't change my name to "Keith Burgess-Jackson" until May 1981, many months after this card arrived in the mail.
Addendum: It occurs to me that Will may never have been a dues-paying member of the Republican Party, as I was of the Libertarian Party. Maybe he simply registered as a Republican so as to be able to vote in Republican primaries. If that's the case, then all he has done is prevent himself from voting in future Republican primaries. Why is that even newsworthy? As for whether Will's call to action will be heeded, that depends on how much influence he has. I find it hard to believe that someone will reason as follows: "I was going to vote for Donald Trump, but George Will says he's not going to, and George Will is my authority on matters political, so I won't, either." George Will is senile. Nobody cares what he thinks, says, or does. The more he writes, the more ridiculous he becomes.
