Ray, Ah well . . there we are. Although my economic views are probably close to those of fairly right-wing Republicans -- and certainly to the right of the present Tory party in England -- if I were American it's likely that I would vote for them as often as I've voted Tory. That is, never.
Mind you, until I joined Futurework, I was a fairly middle-of-the-road leftie-type liberal, reader of The Guardian and all that. Equivalent to your Democrats I suppose. But then, having had to think things through and, moreoever write about them, it's become quite educative. What I find disconcerting about lefties -- now that I'm an ex-, that is -- is that they're very prolific at criticism, but never quite seem to be able to construct their own case. But there we are . . . you needn't take much notice . . . I'm probably going senile anyway. Keith At 13:12 02/09/02 -0400, you wrote: >Keith, > >You are just beginning to discover the intricacies of Republican Politics. >If you think this is something, you should have been in Washington during >the Nixon era. Republicans like war. But they have to have the country >behind them for them to enjoy it. They have been angry at the Democrats >for seventy years about: > >1. The Democrats stopping the Depression by WW II. > >2. Pre-empting them on Civil Rights although some Republicans walked with >the Democrats in the Marches, Civil Rights was largely a Democrat affair in >the sixties even though the Republican party had a deep history of civil >rights from the Civil War forward. However they lost it in the early >sixties. > >3. They absorbed the most racist arm of the Democrat party (Dixiecrats) left >the Democrats during the Civil Rights marches and joined the Republicans >with Nixon. They also took the hit on Martin Luther King's assignation. > >4. The disgrace of Watergate, > >5. Iran-Contra, even though an old Republican (Judge Walsh) was the most >damning on the California and Southern branch of the Party. Remember that >the Contras were funded by very suspect drug money with the drugs eventually >reaching the streets of the Black ghetto in LA. (Not many of those old >'Walsh' Republicans left, remember the elder Bush was not one, he was a CIA >spook who also loved war, as was the editor of the National Review William >Buckley. Most of these folks long for the Cold War and the duality of >"us vs. them." They don't do well with complexity but they are into >covert special operations. It seems clear today that the Republicans are >the first party to market a President who was exhibiting the first signs of >Alzheimer's. As proof of this, they use it as an excuse for him coming >out FOR the National Endowment of the Arts in the last two years of his >administration. (This mirrored the Democrat fiasco with Wilson during the >old issue of the League of Nations when his wife and cabal ran the country >into the ground.) > >6. The sex scandals that deposed the liberal wing of the Republican >Congress > >7. Bill Clinton's seeming ability to absorb all of their worst traits and >still function through the power of his education and intelligence. > >8. Ending up on the opposite side of the last election from what they >believed. They were convinced that Bush would win the popular vote and >lose in the electoral college. Chris Matthews wrote in one of the >Republican Jewish rags what the "game plan" was. It was exactly the same >as Gore eventually used. They planned to make Gore suspect for this four >years and to subvert the economy through powerful partisanship developed >through the Cable and Radio Media. They haven't quite caught their pace >since they ended up on the reverse side with a minority elected President. > >So why wouldn't they be a bit confused. I would say that they have a >number of un-resolved issues that pollutes their action today as they >continually see the present through the dark vision of these actions in the >past. > >Ray Evans Harrell ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
