when I discover that even good white folk haven't traveled as far as I have. Sometimes I believe as one of my racist grandparents believed, white folk are inferior; only inferior folk would believe others inferior.
No avail when I tried to point out the absurdity.
Some may accuse me of being a DINO.
I was a conservative in Greenwich Village among folk, some friends now 50 years, whose friends heard from me true conservative arguments, saw these ideas accepted and mainstreamed.
They heard my vehement, radical opposition to abortion. I'd never marry a woman even now who'd have an abortion even if pregnant after a rape, say, even now. Balanced some say by my vehement and radical opposition to the state interference with a woman's right to choose.
I learned in high school social studies that one's own beliefs, religious, moral, mores of sub culture should not necessarily become laws that affect all.
The Republican party always had its kooks, some pissed by the New Deal because of their greed, but it was somewhat balanced by true conservatives, libertarians, moderates, and some liberals, mostly northeast.It had respect for life of brain, and civility, the example of Buckley Jr and Galbraith I remember.
Yet even then I could see the social conservatives, the resentful believers among capitalists, the kooks, and racist malcontents were more than stirring; they plotted to take back at least one party, then their country. The philosophical and some biological descendants of the Robber Barons fueled the fires with cash.
The 64 Civil Rights Act began the move of more racist to the GOP; before that the Democratic Party was the strange amalgam of most racist party and party of the people, the common people.
Republicans - strange, eh Lincoln - became the southern party, even in the red non southern states, and contains the bulk of the racist residual.
2008 I voted the first straight ticket ever in my life, Democrat, though technically still Republican. I didn't vote for President Obama because he's black (by Americas social definition.). I voted for him to counter the deafening thunder from the spurious right in the Republican Party because I realized - my Village friends seemed to know - I'd moved left.
Still a libertarian, though realized it takes a community to sustain Libertarianism, and a moral code still beyond human capability.
So same with Socialism.
You have to live almost a saintly life to truly practice Libertarianism or Socialism. It takes high moral standards to know when to curb your own greed, to not let your freedom poison your neighbors property rights, especially her body, and constrain other damages to their own self ownership. It takes the same high morality to live the communal life of Socialism, to reject the almost reflexive selfishness we animals live.
The right has run out of good social ideas and their fiscal ideas are not affected by truth and facts: government is not a business; it's goal is to promote "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
Government is to create an environment that encourages fulfillment and discourages religious, moral, political, and social fraud.
I knew that the President was not a liberal, my newly discovered me, but I voted for him. I was not surprised that he didn't advocate a single payer health care system, either all medicals worked for government, as in Britain, or all payments to medicals came from government, my favorite, to private medicals as in Germany.
Medicare for all, no requirement to join, no need for it. How many folk reject Medicare? Medicare for all plus a dozen or so free medical schools, the latter only requirement good grades and contract to work four years after in civilian or military. After obligation, no debt, so you may choose pediatrics instead of boob doctoring.
Businesses should not provide medical insurance, that’s a communal government function. Business is to make profit, constrained by reasonable, practical, and enforced rule of law.
I promoted Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine as someone to oppose President Obama in the Democratic Primaries, but no one save a dozen noticed or cared. Someone from Maine said stop! I wanted a progressive to run. Democrats wanted to win again.
I voted for the President even though there were better folk in the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
There are no liberals in the Republican Party, few, silenced, moderates, and no vocal true conservatives or libertarians in the Republican Party. There are lots of vocal racists, though coy, homophobes, and anti women advocates who are not coy about their opposition to women exercising rights.
Sometimes I believe that racist white males would accept black males if the black males only join them in stripping women of the vote and other rights.
Dont be foolish enough to believe that couldn't happen. Ask your mama or your wife.
So now we have a party, diverse racially, genderly (yeah, I did it. Google it in a year.),
and politically versus a racist, homophobic, anti woman, propelled by avarice, and the desire to remain in power by even unconstitutional means Party.
What Democrats have to do, we must not do to them what they do to us today. Let the Republican Party die a death of natural causes. We do not need to stomp the old white folk to death when we have the power.
Though I feel the temptation to do so and exult, exalt to the imaginary high heavens as joyous.
If I as a saint feel this, know that you are truly dangerous beasts.