Dear Friends,

As I reflect on CFRW President Janet Price’s speech at our Anniversary Luncheon on May 18th, “Fueled Forward by Conviction,” and as we race towards our June 7th California Primary, I worry about the continued division in our country. We conservatives know we are on the right side – of just about everything, but that makes it so we aren’t on the “good side” of so many. If you have lost family and friends over Trump and the stolen election, or over the war on covid masking and vaccines, will what I believe is an assured victory in 2024 make relationships any better? Even before Trump was elected president, my sister, who lives in Iowa, and I had a shouting match which caused me to leave and get my own hotel room. My sister-in-law in Phoenix has asked to postpone our trip to visit twice (and now indefinitely) because we aren’t vaccinated. We are visiting Austin in June and my husband has two nephews living there who have blocked all communication with him. It’s sad. I even have a close friend in prison in Michigan who has suffered relentlessly under Covid lockdowns – and he like the Stockholm Syndrome is siding with his captors. All for the good of everyone. When will it stop? When will people see big government is not the answer to our problems? When will people know our country was founded to allow men to thrive individually – not as a collective? Government that encourages and allows people to accept responsibility for their decisions, the consequences of their mistakes – is a good government, teaching people lessons they can learn from to better themselves and their loved ones. It’s not oppression to go to jail because you committed a crime, or fail a test because you didn’t study. There are costs for ignoring these truths and we see it in the downhill slide of our education system, our economy, our safety and societal values. While we may never recover our broken relationships, the bigger picture is to recover our country. We can and we will Make America Great Again, Again!

Sincerely,
 
Pat Peterson
President