Before we get in-depth of the new GOP, we must look at how it got this point. Ever since Ronald Reagan christened “Morning in America”, the GOP has prided itself on phrases such as “family values” and “morals”. George W. Bush, in particular, called himself a “compassionate conservative” and prospective followers have also touted their “family first” outlook on life.
The GOP of 1980-to-2008 was the party that crusaded against abortion rights, turned gay marriage into a national issue (in time of war) & made superstars out of self-righteous but horrifically discriminatory people such as Rick Santorum, Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich. It seemed that the “Family Values” Party was the end result of the GOP’s transformation from the likes of Nelson Rockefeller to “The Party of State’s Rights” as the GOP acquired disgruntled Dixecrats from the South.
As the GOP “integrated” (disgruntled Southern Dems merging with the regular GOP) against integration, their platform changed to adapt to their new members. The Democrats had a stranglehold of federal power since FDR took over for Hoover (case in point with the exception of Dwight Eisenhower, Herbert Hoover was the last GOP President until Nixon) and the Republicans, fresh off the shellacking that conservative Barry Goldwater received; needed an injection of power.
Then came the followers of Southern Governors such as Ross Barnett, George Wallace & Senator Strom Thurmond who voraciously fought against integration and the Civil Rights Voting Acts of ’64 & ’65. After decades of Democratic loyalty, these people broke and joined ranks with the Republicans and essentially giving the GOP the Deep South ever since.
However, after Nixon’s resignation, Jimmy Carter was elected and became the 39th President of the United States and the GOP was set to transform again. However, this time the party was set to transform courtesy of long-time conservative icon Ronald Reagan.
The former actor was talked about as a Presidential candidate since 1968, but conservative activists couldn’t get Reagan elected. In fact, after losing Iowa to George H.W. Bush in 1980, it looked like the “true conservatives” were in danger of losing their appeal from the GOP.
But as we all know, Reagan came into office and ever since the GOP has been lustfully throwing him in the Holy Trinity. Reagan, even when transforming the GOP from a state’s rights party to the party of religion, seemed to be foreshadowing the future of the party.
The GOP has always been tight with big business and staunchly against “socialism” or “communism” or really any political word that ends with “ism”. The GOP has branded itself to conform to hatred and turn people away from government. This isn’t a new phenomenon even though their tricks and methods have gotten far more sinister.
But with “Reaganomics”, which promptly gave superiority to the rich and a sort of “fight-for-yourself” mentality to the middle class, the GOP started its slow shift towards being the Party of Billionaires.
What has the GOP taught you since they catered to the violent racism of the South? They perceived themselves to be “one of the common people” and tell you that government is entirely evil and “doesn’t think you are smart enough to make your own decisions”. Yes, the party that desperately wanted to be in power, continue (to this day) to tell you that government is evil and everyone should fend for themselves.
This mentality is has made deities out of the mega-rich and the corporations that they created. A common belief amongst progressives is that we want to slightly raise taxes on the richest people in the country to help run our country. We aren’t talking draconian measures at all, but simple proportional taxation.
But, the GOP knowing how everyone hates taxes, turned that belief into an attack on the Founding Fathers or something of that ilk. With their long-repeated talking point of “government is BAD”, they have transformed a simple belief into a crusade against the fibers of this country. The party of the “commoners”, have somehow brainwashed these people into thinking that any government interference of any kind is an automatic death sentence for the future of America; and if you disagree with them? SOCIALIST.
Also by turning government into a crusade against civil liberties (never mind the fact that DOMA is more “interfering” than the Affordable Care Act), they are using every word that President Obama says as an attack on capitalism. By continuing to paint Obama and new-age Democrats as “anti-capitalists” (instead of anti-American), the Republican Party has rebranded itself as the party of the .01% who somehow control the poorest sections of our country.
The GOP has now changed again, which makes sense. The GOP changed following Goldwater’s trumping, Reagan’s mammoth wins & now after Obama’s clear triumph of 2008. But hopefully we do not let them take advantage of this.
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