In Memory to Kevin Rogers of the Modern Whig Institute

By Daniel Nardini

Lawndale News Chicago's Bilingual Newspaper - CommentaryIt is with deep regret and sadness that I learned about the passing of Kevin J. Rogers, the director and one of the founders of the Modern Whig Institute, and a good friend. He had been ill for some time with cancer, and he quietly passed away. I had known him for four years, and we both agreed that there should be a third force, a political movement where Americans can find more in common than fight over the differences that has divided our nation. Hence, Kevin believed that this salvation was in reviving the Whig movement that had existed in the 19th Century. Kevin believed that we Americans have more in common than all of the issues that divide us. He believed that it is necessary to work together and compromise for the greater good for all of us.

Like me, he saw the growing radicalism and extremism in both the Democratic and Republican parties that have torn America into two angry camps. The result has been a downward spiral of which side “wins” in the culture wars. But in the end, no one wins because a house divided will eventually collapse. The divisions in America are now so bad that the United States has simply become a land of conflict rather than a nation for all its people. This has forced America to turn inward and for the United States to shirk its obligations to the rest of the world. In the end, many of America’s allies no longer trust us, no longer look towards the United States as an ally or protector or even a reliable partner against the hostile forces that be. Domestically, it means that Americans can no longer hope the government will be an effective institution to protect their freedom and liberty and provide the services it should to the needy and the suffering.

Kevin Rogers saw all of this, and he wanted to help change the equation for the salvation of this country. He and many other like-minded Americans believe that this great country has lost the center; the middle of the road approach where we knew that working together was a far more effective means of bringing about change and prosperity without conflict and breaking away into armed camps. His idea of a Modern Whig movement in my view is now needed more than ever. Whether it will have any influence in our present or near future I do not know. One thing is for sure, and that is there are a lot of independents in America, and I am sure they feel the same as Kevin Rogers did, and I hope that like-minded people can create a mass movement to find solutions to make America whole again. I hope that we all can help make the United States a truly great country that our ancestors had done and meant for it to be for the sake of our children, grand-children and future generations. Rest in peace my dear friend Kevin Rogers. We who are alive today will carry on your legacy and work!

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