What a wonderful Christmas gift.
Thank you for your service and welcome Home!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Whigs... and Mugwumps... and Bull Mooses... Oh my!
“When they call the roll in the Senate,
the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present'
or 'Not Guilty'.”
Theodore Roosevelt
In spite of Emily Post's admonition not to discuss religion or politics in polite company, growing up at my family's dining table, the conversation consisted of little else. This was in large part due to my mother thinking that President Franklin Roosevelt saved our country from a communist revolution and my father believing Roosevelt was for all intent and purposes, a communist. In discussing current events my mother could usually turn the topic into an another instance of the power elite's Machiavellian henchmen exploiting the poor and disenfranchised. While my father could always see the same event as an attempt of pinko politicians, communist intellectuals, and racketeering unions conspiring to bleed our country dry. The arguments on both sides of an issue often became heated and as Mrs. Post predicted, were rarely polite. Being seated in the middle of the table and the genetic product of half of each side of the discussion, I often found myself sorting through the pithy parts of their argument, weeding out the bombast and finding common ground where some resolution could be found. Speaking from experience I can say peacemakers are neither blessed nor very much appreciated. As I grew older, I often offered an alternative argument. I would foist a thesis on the table, not because it was well though out or based on any conviction, but because in our family it was good sport and I was ready to play. I became at a tender age, an independent, or as my father suggested, a Mugwump. (I'll explain later.)
200 years later my choices were similar but not as clear cut. The Republican Party represented those who either had capital or had the expectation of acquiring it. The Democrat Party, represented those who either labored in the hopes of acquiring sufficient capital, so that one day they or their children might become Republicans, or as my father suggested, felt that our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was just that, common wealth to be shared on a need basis. (I realize this is a gross over simplification and that the truth lies somewhere in middle, but I'll get back to that eventually.) 
When I asked the voter registration official if I could register as in Independent, he gave me the kind of irritated look that I thought only employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles were capable of and said, "No, there is no independent party in Pennsylvania. You have to pick a state sanctioned political party." He then showed me the choices on an approved registration form. There was the Socialist Party, The Communist Party, The American Nazi Party, Industrial Workers of the World, America First Party, The Progressive Party (Bull Moose)... Whoa, Bull Moose?
Where had I heard that name before? Of course, my grandfather. My father's father had been an ardent supporter of Teddy Roosevelt and though a life long Republican like his father and my father, he broke with his party in 1912 and actively supported Teddy Roosevelt who ran on the magnificently named "Bull Moose" ticket. In as much as I couldn't in good faith sign up as an elephant or donkey, a bull moose struck me as uniquely more American and had a certain jauntiness that appealed to me. When I asked if I could register in the Bull Moose Party, the clerk looked at the form, then looked at me suspiciously, snorted and called several associates over to confer. Finally, he reluctantly handed me back the registration form and said, " I guess you can if it's on the form. Don't know why though, you can't vote in the primaries unless they have a candidate." I smiled as I marked the Bull Moose box, feeling closer to a grandfather I'd never met.
I bring all this up as our current President invoked the spirit of Teddy Roosevelt yesterday on the 101st anniversary of his Roosevelt's famous "New Nationalism" speech and the seminal beginnings of the Progressive Bull Moose Party.
I should be quick to add that our President's predecessor, a member of the opposition party also admired and quoted TR as well. In fact every president since Taft and Wilson, has claimed Teddy Roosevelt and his principles as their own.
Theodore Roosevelt was never a "Party" man. In fact, he made his Party, The Grand Old Republican Party, nervous by claiming he had no other allegiance to political interests, then to the people he represented. Faithfulness to a constituency is not unique, most politicians make the same claim, what made Roosevelt different was he actually believed it . Ironically it was Roosevelt's honest moral resoluteness that made his Republican "Bosses" feel he couldn't be trusted.
It wasn't the first time the Republican Party "Bosses" had to adjust their game plan. The Republican Party itself grew out of an untenable corner its predecessor, The Whigs, had painted themselves into. Slavery and a state's right to maintain it (sound familiar?), were the dividing issues. Eventually the Northern Whigs abandoned the "Whig" Party and created an independent party called the Republicans. They foisted an unknown country lawyer named Lincoln and... well you know the rest of the story.
“I have already intimated to you the danger of Parties in the State, Let me now take a more comprehensive view, & warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party, generally.
“This Spirit, unfortunately, is inseperable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human Mind. It exists under different shapes in all Governments, more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.
"As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for our own ease and convenience the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Delivered 17 January 1961 (B.Franlin's Birthday)
It is important to note that Roosevelt vigorously embodied both the spirit of the "Age of Enlightenment" and a young country about to grow into its "sea to shining sea" body. As a boy he pursued Natural History with same enthusiasm and unbridled passion, he gave to whatever interest caught his fancy. His room was filled with animals that he had learned to dissect and stuff himself. At Harvard he took an interest in naval history and went on to write a study on the US Navy and the War of 1812. A body of work that is still in print today and is a standard by which all military histories are measured. It also provided him an income that allowed him broad independence.
It was this independence that made the New York political bosses jumpy. Perhaps one of Roosevelt's greatest attributes was, that while he was a man of great moral conviction, he didn't sacrifice the goal of the greater good on the alter of idealism. He was not only one of the most intellectually gifted Presidents but one of the shrewdest too. Which brings me to the Mugwump part of the story.
The Republican Party had a remarkable run after becoming the first "Independent" party to take national office. From Lincoln to Harrison, the Republicans had control of the federal government. With time, political corruption flourished, becoming the unwritten law of the land. By 1884, many Republicans found it difficult to maintain support for their party in the face of systemic party corruption. Party discomfort culminated with the Republican Presidential nomination of Senator Blaine of Maine. Blaine, as chairman of most of the appropriation committees, had control of the federal cookie jar for sometime and had been caught repeatedly with his hand in it. Blaine had elevated influence peddling to an art form that today's politicians can only admire with slack-jawed awe. His greatness lay in his shamelessness. That not withstanding, his nomination was the breaking point for many Republicans who were having trouble maintaining a straight face, while explaining their support for Blaine to their constituents.
This gave rise to the "Mugwump" movement within the Republican Party that reluctantly supported Grover Cleveland, the Democratic Presidential nominee. Many of the moderate Republican politicians joined the movement to show their constituents that they too were opposed to the rampant corruption in Washington. One of the few northern Republicans not to jump on the "Goody-Goody" (where the expression comes from) Mugwump band wagon was Teddy Roosevelt. This puzzled not only his friends but the party bosses who thought he would be the first to throw Senator Blaine under the trolly. It turns out, part of Roosevelt's convictions included loyalty and he could not in good conscience defect to the Democrats. He would however, in his own time and way, bring about the reforms the Mugwumps called for.
Roosevelt's rise to the White House came in spite of the Republican Party bosses best efforts to keep him out 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They knew TR to be a man of principal and fervent morals. This made him a good front man but dangerous if given power. As Governor of New York, Roosevelt had already become a nuisance to the state and local GOP machines. They wanted him out of the way and you can't get much further out of the way than being elected a U.S. Vice-President, which the "smoke filled room" Republican convention boys arranged with the re-election of William McKinley as President, and Roosevelt as VP in 1901.
Like so many VP's before him, Theodore Roosevelt might have become a minor footnote in American history books, had it not been for an anarchist's bullet, that took the life of President McKinley later that year.
Roosevelt soon demonstrated to the men who controlled Washington and New York, (then as now, special interest groups) that they had every right to be nervous about him. President Roosevelt put them on notice after taking office, with a speech that would change American politics and the country.
Theodore Roosevelt
It's a historical twist of fate that about the time Alice was closing one Republican era, another Republican Presidential candidate was conjuring up the polar opposite of another.
Richard Nixon and his 1968 Presidential campaign staff came up with the "Southern Strategy". It was an effective though risky tactic, that was designed to appeal to the same passions that 110 years earlier had caused the downfall of the Whig party and nearly destroyed a nation. The "Southern Strategy" was a subtle and quiet attempt to attract a portion of southern voters known as "Dixiecrats" into the Republican tent.
Dixiecrats were southern Democrats disaffected with the Democratic Party's civil rights efforts over the last 30 years. It was a calculated move on Nixon's part and it worked.
The heart of the Republican Party was best expressed when Abraham Lincoln asked in his first inaugural address, that we "Not to be enemies" and prayed that we might be touched, "by the better angels of our nature.", with those words Lincoln lay the foundation for a political platform that evolved into a century of tradition founded on compassion and reason.
Nixon's Southern Strategy opened the back door of the Republican Party and put out a welcome mat that appealed to the "lesser angels of our nature". It provided a political safe haven to those with darker passions and baser interests. It would be the beginning of the end of my Father's Grand Old Party.
Now 40 years later the "Chickens have come home to roost" for the Republican Party, or to borrow another quaint phrase that plays well in the South, "That dog don't hunt."
Over time, the corrosive effect of the religious and moral right, on a political party founded on the tenets of the "Age of Reason" and "The proposition that all men are created equal", began to take its toll. The once "Silent Majority" slowly began to be heard and as their voices rose, the voices of reason and moderation began to become lost in the din.
Love of country, as in love of family, trumps everything else. It's time to stop hating and blaming, and start showing some love and compromise, for the good of the country. If the elected officials we have don't understand that, it is time to elect men and women who do.
Vote early and often.
the Senators do not know whether to answer 'Present'
or 'Not Guilty'.”
Theodore Roosevelt
In spite of Emily Post's admonition not to discuss religion or politics in polite company, growing up at my family's dining table, the conversation consisted of little else. This was in large part due to my mother thinking that President Franklin Roosevelt saved our country from a communist revolution and my father believing Roosevelt was for all intent and purposes, a communist. In discussing current events my mother could usually turn the topic into an another instance of the power elite's Machiavellian henchmen exploiting the poor and disenfranchised. While my father could always see the same event as an attempt of pinko politicians, communist intellectuals, and racketeering unions conspiring to bleed our country dry. The arguments on both sides of an issue often became heated and as Mrs. Post predicted, were rarely polite. Being seated in the middle of the table and the genetic product of half of each side of the discussion, I often found myself sorting through the pithy parts of their argument, weeding out the bombast and finding common ground where some resolution could be found. Speaking from experience I can say peacemakers are neither blessed nor very much appreciated. As I grew older, I often offered an alternative argument. I would foist a thesis on the table, not because it was well though out or based on any conviction, but because in our family it was good sport and I was ready to play. I became at a tender age, an independent, or as my father suggested, a Mugwump. (I'll explain later.)
It was only natural then, when I went to register to vote for my first time, I had difficulty in choosing a political party that best represented my thinking on a broad range of issues. Our friend Dr. Franklin and I both vote or voted in the same state. At the time, Franklin voted, there were two primary political interests, The proprietors (large land holders) and the merchants/tradesmen and small farmers (middle class). As we all know Franklin was a prominent member of the later. After Franklin retired from his printing business, he went on to promote the interests of the middle class in Pennsylvania and a number of other colonies, in London. He was successful far beyond anyone's expectations (certainly the proprietors).
200 years later my choices were similar but not as clear cut. The Republican Party represented those who either had capital or had the expectation of acquiring it. The Democrat Party, represented those who either labored in the hopes of acquiring sufficient capital, so that one day they or their children might become Republicans, or as my father suggested, felt that our Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was just that, common wealth to be shared on a need basis. (I realize this is a gross over simplification and that the truth lies somewhere in middle, but I'll get back to that eventually.)
When I asked the voter registration official if I could register as in Independent, he gave me the kind of irritated look that I thought only employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles were capable of and said, "No, there is no independent party in Pennsylvania. You have to pick a state sanctioned political party." He then showed me the choices on an approved registration form. There was the Socialist Party, The Communist Party, The American Nazi Party, Industrial Workers of the World, America First Party, The Progressive Party (Bull Moose)... Whoa, Bull Moose? 
Where had I heard that name before? Of course, my grandfather. My father's father had been an ardent supporter of Teddy Roosevelt and though a life long Republican like his father and my father, he broke with his party in 1912 and actively supported Teddy Roosevelt who ran on the magnificently named "Bull Moose" ticket. In as much as I couldn't in good faith sign up as an elephant or donkey, a bull moose struck me as uniquely more American and had a certain jauntiness that appealed to me. When I asked if I could register in the Bull Moose Party, the clerk looked at the form, then looked at me suspiciously, snorted and called several associates over to confer. Finally, he reluctantly handed me back the registration form and said, " I guess you can if it's on the form. Don't know why though, you can't vote in the primaries unless they have a candidate." I smiled as I marked the Bull Moose box, feeling closer to a grandfather I'd never met. Several weeks later I received a notice from the state, informing me my registration form was woefully out of date and the Bull Moose Party was no longer an approved political party, and that until further notice, I was an "unaffiliated" voter and as such could not vote in Pennsylvania's primary elections. The implication was clear, pick a major party and stop annoying them.
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| Every President since Taft wants to be TR |
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| Roosevelt's success lay in his conviction of "Country first" |
I should be quick to add that our President's predecessor, a member of the opposition party also admired and quoted TR as well. In fact every president since Taft and Wilson, has claimed Teddy Roosevelt and his principles as their own.
I'd like to take a moment to explain why.
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| An accomplished pugilist - TR would have loved a round with Russia's PM V. Putin |
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| First Republican President was a Whig who defected |
America has a long history of political bosses getting nervous. In fact, our first and most illustrious President, George Washington, warned our country of the impending danger partisan politics posed to our fledgling democracy.
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| Washington warned of the pernicious nature of political parties |
“This Spirit, unfortunately, is inseperable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human Mind. It exists under different shapes in all Governments, more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed; but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.
...And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate & assuage it. A fire not to be quenched; it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume."
Excerpts from George Washington’s Farewell Address
September 19, 1796 I doubt it was a coincidence that Washington waited to warn of us of the danger of partisan politic parties, until he was packed up and retiring from public life. It is far easier to call a spade a spade, when the problem is in your rear view mirror, then looming in front of you.
Another man who warned us of the political dangers that lay ahead of our republic as he departed public office, was another great general and the most widely respected U.S. President in my lifetime.
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| Eisenhower was a paragon of public service |
... In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Farewell Address Delivered 17 January 1961 (B.Franlin's Birthday)
Like Washington, Eisenhower warned the nation as he was leaving town. Eisenhower's Farewell Address reminded me of someone moving out of their old house, handing the keys to the new owners and telling them to keep an eye out for those pesky termites in the basement.
New home owners and new office holders both have their hands full with the problems they know about, like mortgages or Federal budgets. The potential problems take a back seat. Of course, this is what makes soft threats so insidious. They rarely announce themselves until it's too late to easily fix them. For the homeowner it means remodeling, in politics it means reform.
Reform is one of the innate principles of a democracy. Democracy by definition, is a politically self-correcting mechanism that will periodically adjust itself through the will of the governed. By and large, I agree with the principle, just as I believe in the principle of love. But as we are all painfully aware, democracy like love, is often a messy business.
This brings me back to our man TR.
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| TR with his "Rough Riders" - Cuba |
As I mentioned, Teddy Roosevelt made career politicians nervous. Actually, by all accounts Teddy Roosevelt made everybody nervous. He was a perpetual whirling dervish Renaissance man . His mind and his body were in constant motion, as he pin-balled his way through a political career that took him from state assemblyman to the White House.
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| A prolific writer - these are the complete works of T.R. |
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| "Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground" - TR |
The Republican Party had a remarkable run after becoming the first "Independent" party to take national office. From Lincoln to Harrison, the Republicans had control of the federal government. With time, political corruption flourished, becoming the unwritten law of the land. By 1884, many Republicans found it difficult to maintain support for their party in the face of systemic party corruption. Party discomfort culminated with the Republican Presidential nomination of Senator Blaine of Maine. Blaine, as chairman of most of the appropriation committees, had control of the federal cookie jar for sometime and had been caught repeatedly with his hand in it. Blaine had elevated influence peddling to an art form that today's politicians can only admire with slack-jawed awe. His greatness lay in his shamelessness. That not withstanding, his nomination was the breaking point for many Republicans who were having trouble maintaining a straight face, while explaining their support for Blaine to their constituents.
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| Sen. Blaine's financial indiscretions revealed to the party faithful |
This gave rise to the "Mugwump" movement within the Republican Party that reluctantly supported Grover Cleveland, the Democratic Presidential nominee. Many of the moderate Republican politicians joined the movement to show their constituents that they too were opposed to the rampant corruption in Washington. One of the few northern Republicans not to jump on the "Goody-Goody" (where the expression comes from) Mugwump band wagon was Teddy Roosevelt. This puzzled not only his friends but the party bosses who thought he would be the first to throw Senator Blaine under the trolly. It turns out, part of Roosevelt's convictions included loyalty and he could not in good conscience defect to the Democrats. He would however, in his own time and way, bring about the reforms the Mugwumps called for.
Roosevelt's rise to the White House came in spite of the Republican Party bosses best efforts to keep him out 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. They knew TR to be a man of principal and fervent morals. This made him a good front man but dangerous if given power. As Governor of New York, Roosevelt had already become a nuisance to the state and local GOP machines. They wanted him out of the way and you can't get much further out of the way than being elected a U.S. Vice-President, which the "smoke filled room" Republican convention boys arranged with the re-election of William McKinley as President, and Roosevelt as VP in 1901.
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| Political violence was never far from Roosevelt's mind |
Roosevelt soon demonstrated to the men who controlled Washington and New York, (then as now, special interest groups) that they had every right to be nervous about him. President Roosevelt put them on notice after taking office, with a speech that would change American politics and the country.
Square Deal Speech (excerpts)
"In the history of mankind many republics have risen, have flourished for a less or greater time, and then have fallen because their citizens lost the power of governing themselves...
The outcome was equally fatal, whether the country fell into the hands of a wealthy oligarchy which exploited the poor or whether it fell under the domination of a turbulent mob which plundered the rich. In both cases there resulted violent alternations between tyranny and disorder, and a final complete loss of liberty to all citizens --
There must be ever present in our minds the fundamental truth that in a republic such as ours the only safety is to stand neither for nor against any man because he is rich or because he is poor. We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less."
Theodore Roosevelt
State Fair
Syracuse, New York
September 7, 1903
It was Roosevelt's intimate knowledge of the history of democracy in ancient Greece and Rome, that made him acutely aware of how fragile representative government was. That fragility was underscored by the fact that Roosevelt had become President, not by the will of the people but by an assassins bullet. This was a point TR took pains to make clear to those on Wall Street who opposed his progressive policies. When J.P. Morgan complained that his shareholders would not be pleased with Roosevelt's labor policy, TR rejoined, "I have shareholders too, considerably more than you and they can live with it." This is in keeping with the council he often gave to his good friend and confident the Russian Ambassador, Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen. Roosevelt cautioned him, if the Czar and his court did not moderate their control of Russian wealth and encourage the middle class to prosper, as well as expand their role in government, there would be blood in the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Apparently the Czar didn't get the message.
Within 7 years, Roosevelt had done more to change the American Presidency, than any man since George Washington. Roosevelt felt confident his hand picked successor Howard Taft, would continue the progressive policies that TR had set into motion. When it became obvious that Taft was drifting back to politics as usual, Roosevelt made his "New Nationalism" speech as a reminder to the Republicans, not to surrender the moral high ground. And if the party would not finish what he started, he could.
It was Roosevelt's intimate knowledge of the history of democracy in ancient Greece and Rome, that made him acutely aware of how fragile representative government was. That fragility was underscored by the fact that Roosevelt had become President, not by the will of the people but by an assassins bullet. This was a point TR took pains to make clear to those on Wall Street who opposed his progressive policies. When J.P. Morgan complained that his shareholders would not be pleased with Roosevelt's labor policy, TR rejoined, "I have shareholders too, considerably more than you and they can live with it." This is in keeping with the council he often gave to his good friend and confident the Russian Ambassador, Baron Roman Romanovich Rosen. Roosevelt cautioned him, if the Czar and his court did not moderate their control of Russian wealth and encourage the middle class to prosper, as well as expand their role in government, there would be blood in the streets of St. Petersburg and Moscow. Apparently the Czar didn't get the message.
Within 7 years, Roosevelt had done more to change the American Presidency, than any man since George Washington. Roosevelt felt confident his hand picked successor Howard Taft, would continue the progressive policies that TR had set into motion. When it became obvious that Taft was drifting back to politics as usual, Roosevelt made his "New Nationalism" speech as a reminder to the Republicans, not to surrender the moral high ground. And if the party would not finish what he started, he could.
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| Not a coincidence Roosevelt choose this occasion to warn Republicans |
Excerpt from New Nationalism Speech
August, 1910
"I believe in shaping the ends of government to protect property as well as human welfare. Those who oppose reform will do well to remember that ruin in its worst form is inevitable if our national life brings us nothing better than swollen fortunes for the few and the triumph in both politics and business of a sordid and selfish materialism...
...If our political institutions were perfect, they would absolutely prevent the political domination of money in any part of our affairs. It is particularly important that all moneys received or expended for campaign purposes should be publicly accounted for, not only after election, but before election as well. One of the fundamental necessities in a representative government such as ours is to make certain that the men to whom the people delegate their power shall serve the people by whom they are elected, and not the special interests. I believe that every national officer, elected or appointed, should be forbidden to perform any service or receive any compensation, directly or indirectly, from interstate corporations; and a similar provision could not fail to be useful within the States."
With this speech, the Progressive Party (Bull Moose) took life. In the following Presidential election, The Progressive Party nearly accomplished what the Republican Party had done to the Whigs 55 years before. Unfortunately, Roosevelt narrowly lost and a Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, was elected. Once again, it was business as usual in Washington.
In spite of losing, Theodore Roosevelt's progressive policies were adopted and re-branded by both parties as being their own. TR's influence in Washington was palpable for the remainder of the century
This was in no small part due to his daughter Alice, who was every bit her father's daughter. Alice Roosevelt married a prominent congressman and
held social court in Washington D.C. up through the 1970's. Few Washington politicians of either party rose to prominence, without first seeking and receiving Alice Roosevelt Longworth's blessing.
In spite of losing, Theodore Roosevelt's progressive policies were adopted and re-branded by both parties as being their own. TR's influence in Washington was palpable for the remainder of the century
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| Alice is credited with: "If you can't say something nice | , then sit next to me." |
held social court in Washington D.C. up through the 1970's. Few Washington politicians of either party rose to prominence, without first seeking and receiving Alice Roosevelt Longworth's blessing.
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| Nixon, with "Checkers", the most influential dog in American history |
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| Dixiecrat was a PC term for segregationist |
Dixiecrats were southern Democrats disaffected with the Democratic Party's civil rights efforts over the last 30 years. It was a calculated move on Nixon's part and it worked.
The heart of the Republican Party was best expressed when Abraham Lincoln asked in his first inaugural address, that we "Not to be enemies" and prayed that we might be touched, "by the better angels of our nature.", with those words Lincoln lay the foundation for a political platform that evolved into a century of tradition founded on compassion and reason.
Nixon's Southern Strategy opened the back door of the Republican Party and put out a welcome mat that appealed to the "lesser angels of our nature". It provided a political safe haven to those with darker passions and baser interests. It would be the beginning of the end of my Father's Grand Old Party.
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| "... for whatever one sows, that will he also reap." |
Over time, the corrosive effect of the religious and moral right, on a political party founded on the tenets of the "Age of Reason" and "The proposition that all men are created equal", began to take its toll. The once "Silent Majority" slowly began to be heard and as their voices rose, the voices of reason and moderation began to become lost in the din.
By the 1990's the Republican Party was dominated by a coalition of special interests that coalesced during the Clinton administration. These were a curious collection of "born again" Christian leaders, socially conservative activists, and Zionists.
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| Odd Republican bedfellows, indeed ! |
Collectively they became known as Neo-conservatives or NeoCons. The NeoCons worked best behind the scenes and strategically placed themselves in the back offices of popular elected Republicans. This culminated with election of George W. Bush. Nine months later in the aftermath of the tragic events of 9/11, the NeoCons were provided a dramatic opportunity to step forward and implement their foreign policy ambitions. Rational discussion of who was attacking us, why they were attacking, and how best should the United States respond to the attack, was condemned by the NeoCons as exhibiting weakness and lack of resolve. This it was argued, would encourage our enemies, who ever they might be, to continue their fight. Not long after, the White House announced the United States had gone to war with Islamic "Evil Doers", and that this amorphous threat had to be eliminated at any cost. A cost that would measured not only in lives and treasure but in citizen's rights as well.
This "shoot first - ask questions later" approach gave the NeoCons the right to define the enemy to be whom ever they decided to start shooting. It also initiated America's first religious/ cultural war. It was precisely this reason our country's predominately deist Founding Fathers made the "First Amendment" of our Constitution, first. Not since the issue of slavery, has the Republican Party and subsequently the country been more divided.
10 years later, nothing illustrates the fragmentation of the GOP more than the Republican Presidential candidates being paraded before the American public today. The depth and caliber of the candidates is nothing short of a national disgrace.
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| Republican Primary Presidential nomination run |
Their lack of character and qualifications would be an embarrassment even at the local level. The fact these people are contending for the most powerful office in the world is beyond disgraceful, it's a threat to our national security.
Every democracy needs a strong and vigorous choice between candidates and political philosophies. The Republicans are serving up the same smorgasbord of silly candidates that used to be a Democratic specialty. The Republican run up to the state primaries, has for all intent and purposes taken on the look of a circus "Clown Car" act. The few sensible candidates in the field are so handicapped by their "reasonableness", that they have to disingenuously misrepresent it. If a candidate cannot stand behind his or her record, they should not be in the fray. Waffling and confabulation is not a formula for showcasing a candidate's character.
Every democracy needs a strong and vigorous choice between candidates and political philosophies. The Republicans are serving up the same smorgasbord of silly candidates that used to be a Democratic specialty. The Republican run up to the state primaries, has for all intent and purposes taken on the look of a circus "Clown Car" act. The few sensible candidates in the field are so handicapped by their "reasonableness", that they have to disingenuously misrepresent it. If a candidate cannot stand behind his or her record, they should not be in the fray. Waffling and confabulation is not a formula for showcasing a candidate's character.
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| What Gandhi didn't know, "after that they shoot you". |
The only consistent candidate in the running is Texas Congressman Ron Paul. However, his foreign and fiscal policy positions, make him, like our friend TR, unacceptable to the existing power structure.
This is evident by the media blacking out his candidacy.
Ron Paul maybe fortunate that he is merely being ignored. If he continues to gain popular support, in spite of his being treated like an unwanted red headed step-child by the media, the NeoCons will escalate to full attack mode. Initially this will merely entail dismissing Paul as fringe or crazy, just an old dotty eccentric Texas wacko. However, if he continues to gain traction don't be surprised if you hear that Congressman Paul had young women disrobing for him while touched them in the most inappropriate of places. (Ron Paul was a obstetrician/gynecologist and delivered over 4,000 babies.) Whatever accusations are foisted, they will be vicious and constant.
While I may not agree with all of Ron Paul's positions, I do know that if there is a concerted effort on a broad front to silence the man, he must have something important to say and I would like to hear it.
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| On the abyss... again ? |
I can only pray (presumably to the same address the religious-right send their prayers to.) that the Republican Party can either snap out of this self-mutilation mode before its too late, or pack it in and hit the reset button. I suspect that like the Whigs before them, it may be time to reinvent themselves under a new brand. Lord knows, there will be plenty of sensible Democrats (my father would say that is an oxymoron) weary of the same self-serving politicians eager to join them. Speaking on behalf of all Independents who have been waiting since 1910, we are more than ready to jump on a band wagon that TR could be proud of. It may be time to make the Republican Party the third party.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, growing up, I watched my parents argue politics far more vigorously and colorfully than anything blaring on cable talk news today. The difference was, that at the end of the argument, there was never any question of loyalty or motivation. My parents both loved this country beyond question. They both wanted what is best for it. They just had different perspectives on the same question. We all do. And in the end, compromise and respect for one another is what will carry the day.
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| "A Republic, if you can keep it." B. Franklin, when asked what kind of government the Constitution provided for. Philadelphia, 1787 |
Vote early and often.
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