People’s perception of freedom never ceases to amaze me. French revolutionaries sent the ruling class to the guillotine, only to enslave themselves to the class structure of socialism. The Russian Tsars were chased out of their own country so that “freedom fighters” could live under the tyranny of communism. And, after more than a century of civil liberty battles and triumphs, African-Americans are flocking to the party that opposed every measurable civil rights initiative since the Emancipation Proclamation. It should stun historians that the party of the Ku Klux Klan and segregation now has an undeniable stranglehold on black America.
In fact, a quick Google search will yield thousands of results claiming the mantel of moral superiority in the name of Democrats. The Left’s self-righteous proclamation of compassion is matched only by their insatiable eagerness to twist history. It was the Republican Party – the party established on the abolitionist platform – that passed the Civil Rights acts of 1866 and 1875. The founders of the NAACP were all registered Republicans. Dwight Eisenhower (a Republican) is the president who sent troops to Arkansas to de-segregate schools. Republicans carried the Civil Rights acts of the ‘50s and 60’s to the President’s desk. Richard Nixon wrote the US commission on Civil Rights in 1975. It was George W Bush who appointed more minorities to his cabinet than any President before him.
And despite the fact that the Democrat party supported the KKK, instituted Jim Crow laws, fought for “separate but equal” southern laws, and opposed Martin Luther King Jr.’s march on Washington, they claim to be the party of the downtrodden. Perusing through websites like Salon, the New York Times, and the Huffington Post, one can find an endless number of articles describing the GOP as a party of rich, and racist, white men.
Today’s Party of Barack Obama and Harry Reid, ignores FDR’s history of opposing anti-lynching laws. They ignore John F Kennedy’s vote, as a Senator, against the 1950’s era civil rights laws. They even ignore the egregious violence and lawlessness that plague some of America’s most Democrat cities. (Such as Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC and Los Angeles.)
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In a raging display that resembles the clinical definition of “denial”, the American left claims that Republicans have abandoned their civil-rights-minded past. They assert that the right wing of America is nothing more than racist, backward thinking rednecks who “cling to their guns, religion, and an antipathy toward people not like them.” (Remember Obama saying that?) But nothing could be further from the truth.
Conservative values – values that were intrinsic in American democracy long before the Republican Party – have always been the core of the right wing. Limited government, individualism, and equality are three values that helped spur the Republicans onto the national scene; and ultimately lead to their success in the fight for civil liberties. Today’s conservative causes continue the traditionally Republican heritage of promoting a better life for every American:
Welfare reform was not an assault on poor people of color. Rather, it was about lifting people (of any race or creed) out of poverty. Conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, Ronald Reagan, and even Calvin Coolidge, always believed the success of a welfare program should be judged by how many people no longer need it. While Newt Gingrich worked on reform that would limit welfare payments, Democrats looked at ways to make poverty more comfortable. Ninety-nine weeks of unemployment (today’s standard) is not designed to promote self-sufficiency; but it is certainly a populist and pandering attempt for votes. Wouldn’t a truly successful nation have little need for government-funded lunch programs, long-term unemployment benefits, and taxpayer-funded entitlements? Had Liberalism succeeded in lifting the afflicted out of victimization, wouldn’t cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia be centers of prosperity and affluence for minorities?
School vouchers are about lifting children from failing schools. While Republicans continue to fight for a parent’s right to send their children to the school of their choice, Democrats continue to defend the failing status quo. Voucher systems would enable the poorest children to attend the same school as some of the most privileged. And while the reform would undoubtedly benefit the poorest among us (and disproportionately aid African Americans as well as other minority groups) the American Left would rather stand behind the millions of dollars’ worth of political donations from the Teacher’s Unions. (Apparently, protecting a union job is more important than sending an inner city youth to the school of his or her choice.)
Even the Conservative opposition to Affirmative Action is based off of the Republican Party’s long history of protecting minorities. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that “The worst forms of racial discrimination in this Nation have always been accompanied by straight-faced representations that discrimination helped minorities.” He was speaking, of course, about the American Left’s assumption that a person of color is incapable of acceptance into an Ivy League School without government intervention. For some reason, people on the left believe that minorities are so incapable of achieving, they can only experience something close to “success” with the help of the all-powerful government.
That gem, Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, equated Republican efforts at voter ID laws with Jim-Crow laws. (Ironic. . . Given that she belongs to the party that tried to legislate discrimination for over a century.) However, it is the disenfranchised voters (the elderly, the poor, and – yes – minorities) who are most likely to be victims of voter fraud. . . You would think a law that applies at least a moderate layer of protection for legitimate citizens to cast their vote with confidence would be welcomed by all parties.
Conservatism, and the GOP, have always been the party of the individual. Individual liberty and freedom is the defining measure of national freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. did not dream of a world where his children were treated different simply because of the color of their skin; he dreamed of a world that judged them on their intellect, their effort, their success and “the content of their character.” (Oh, and by the way, he was a Republican.)
As the American Left sells their ideas of affirmative action, standardized schools, and race-based political correctness, we as Americans are not supposed to judge them on the impacts of their policies. Democrats claim to fight for the oppressed minorities in violence plagued urban cities. But, how dare we point out the failure of the Democrat leadership, Liberal initiatives, Leftist gun control, progressive teacher unions, and socialist rhetoric in those very same urban areas.
It’s not as if Republicans are responsible for the woes of Detroit. . . There are no Republicans in charge.
It’s not as if Conservatives are to blame for Chicago. . . Liberals run it.
It’s not as if the Right Wing was engaged in voter fraud in Philly. . . Democrats won 100 percent of the vote in multiple districts.
Democrats, the left, and progressives have always been the party of permanent class status. Where would the Democrat’s be without the “exploited” worker? Where would they be without the “struggling” man? The American left has exploited, plundered, and manipulated their way into power since they first justified laws that banned freed slaves from owning weapons for self-defense. Democrats have built their image off of class warfare, race-based-politics, and envy. They promise, in every election, to better the lives of the afflicted by afflicting the affluent. Their entire philosophy is based, not off of individual empowerment, but off of gaining comfort through government dependency.
The GOP has always been focused on individual rights; because individual liberty is the ultimate empowerment for the poor, the afflicted, and the oppressed. Only Government can successfully crush the spirit of the ambitious, or tax the wealth of the successful. Individual liberty is the power to make of your life what you would like, and take ownership of your rewards. This is the foundation upon which prosperity has historically been built. When the individual is free of government oppression, wealth soon becomes abundant throughout society. By contrast, larger government erodes property rights, encourages dependency on the state, and ultimately strips away the upward mobility upon which successful societies depend.
In short: Conservatism proudly declares that rights are granted by God, and every human being is capable of prosperity. Government’s role, is to protect the individual from oppression, and guard our individual rights to life, liberty and property.
Liberalism declares rights are gifts from Government. The American Left appeals to those who identify themselves as victims in the same way socialists and communists appealed to the oppressed masses of Europe and Russia. The truth is, their policies only promise the destruction of the powerful, not the empowerment of the oppressed. And thus, the “victims” will forever remain “victims” of urban violence, failing schools, deteriorating infrastructure and welfare dependency.
The Republican Party hasn’t changed. Only the way it is perceived has evolved over the decades.
And likewise for the Party of the KKK.
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