Years ago, I had a girlfriend who had a serious drinking problem.

When we were dating, we’d go out on a weekend night and have some drinks like so many others do. And yes, there were times we were overserved.

But we were young and horny, and it seemed like the thing to do. I didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary. After a night of drinking on a Saturday night, we would have a glass of champagne in bed on Sunday morning. A little hair of the dog, if you will. It seemed romantic.

After we moved in together, things started to get worse. Gradually, that glass of champagne on a Sunday morning turned into her drinking half a bottle of wine before she went to work.

I didn’t know what an enabler was at the time, but I soon became one. I’d make excuses for her drinking. I would hope she wouldn’t drink so much if I drank with her. I did all the classic things an enabler would.

Eventually I had enough and moved out. I joined Al-Anon looking for an easy way to get her to stop her behavior. It was there that I learned there was nothing I could do to get her to stop unless she wanted to stop. I learned that the only thing I could control was myself.

Years later, her family and friends held an intervention for her. She got the help she needed, and I’m happy to report she’s been sober now for decades. She returned to the way she was before the drinking took over and temporarily ruined her life.

I tell you that story because it’s time for voters to hold an intervention with the Republican Party. Have them get back to how they were before they became drunk with power.

I hope enough Republicans in this state have hit rock bottom with what the party has become and are ready to sober up.

Take a look at some of the candidates who are running.

The Republicans have a candidate for Governor and Attorney General who don’t respect the very voters that put them in power four years ago. 71% of Nebraska voters said yes to legalizing medical marijuana, yet Pillen and Hilgers thought they knew better than them and said no to the voters.

The man the Republicans nominated to be the next Secretary of State is an election denier who will oversee the elections. Tell me that’s not the kind of irrational behavior an alcoholic would do. If you vote for Scott Petersen, you are enabling that crazy behavior.

As far as voting for our Senator or Congressmen, Pete Ricketts, Brinker Harding, and Mike Flood will enable the President to continue to run the country into the ground. Ricketts and Flood haven’t stood up to the President once, and Brinker will be beholden to him as well if he gets in office.

My old girlfriend is a good person who got wrapped up in drugs and alcohol. It took a while for her to get tired of that life. For years she denied she had a problem. When I left, she found other enablers. Finally, things got so bad she couldn’t deny it any longer. Her friends and family held one more intervention, and this time it took.

She got the help she needed and is now living a happy and healthy life.

I see the similarities between what she went through and what the Republican Party is going through. Her addiction made life difficult for the people around her, just like the MAGA addiction to the president is making life difficult for the rest of America.

In about a month, America will hold an intervention for our country. To really make that intervention work, a large number of Republicans and right-leaning independents who are sick and tired of being sick and tired are going to have to do something about it.

They can hold their nose and vote for a Democrat or third-party candidate or stay home and not vote at all.

If my old girlfriend had continued down the path she was on, she’d be dead by now. I fear if America keeps going down the path we are on, the same thing could happen to us.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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