Dallas Darling: From Radical Republicans to Rich Republicans?
[Dallas Darling is the author of "Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action," "Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision," and "The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace." He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' Daily Digest at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.]
Many would not know it today, but at one time in our nation's existence the Republican Party was on the right side of history. After the Civil War, the Radical Republicans, a formidable group in Congress, fought hard to grant freedom and political rights to newly freed slaves. Although some had ulterior motives, like wanting to win future elections by securing the black vote and preventing Confederate leaders from regaining power, they still battled a racist president and past by overriding vetoes and passing the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. These amendments granted freedom, citizenship rights, due process and equal protection under the law for millions. The Radical Republicans also established the Freedman's Bureau to provide blacks with educational and employment opportunities. They also expanded the federal government by sending troops into the South to protect the freed slaves.
It seems between the Lincoln and McKinley administrations, in which six of the eight presidents were Republicans, that something happened to the Republican Party. When power vacuums are created in democratic societies, radicals often become rulers. The rise of monopolists caused Republicans to pursue policies of graft (getting money through dishonest means) and patronage (giving jobs to those who helped them get elected). The opening of the West and the California Gold Rush, with its enormous sums of mineral and agricultural wealth, turned the Republicans into a party of the elite backed by wealthy bankers. Genocidal policies against Amerindians fueled the Republican Party to seek even more territory through conquest. The Gospel of Wealth, in which riches determined God's favor, along with Christian missionaries who wanted to evangelize and civilize the world, created a party obsessed with superiority, exceptionalism and triumphalism. Republicans went from a party that included slaves and expanded civil rights, to excluding the poor, oppressed, immigrants and that reversed civil rights...
... Reaganomics and Bush's Compassionate Conservatism were only dressed-up policies of the enormous economic disparities developed during the Gilded Age, and which some Republicans unfortunately supported. So, too, is the current Republican Party's arguments against a public option plan, or universal health care coverage. Several Republicans, who have received hundreds of millions of dollars from health care corporations and lobbying groups, are even conjuring up images of death panels and euthanasia. By using fear and intimidation, Republicans are trying to rule through emotions and ignorance. This time, the Republicans are tragically on the wrong side of history. They have become insensitive and isolated to the plight of the working class and poor. Will they ever regain their radicalism, and stop pressing down upon the brow of the sick this crown of thorns? Will Republicans ever cease crucifying the oppressed on a for-profit-only-health-care-industry cross?
Read entire article at Truthout
Many would not know it today, but at one time in our nation's existence the Republican Party was on the right side of history. After the Civil War, the Radical Republicans, a formidable group in Congress, fought hard to grant freedom and political rights to newly freed slaves. Although some had ulterior motives, like wanting to win future elections by securing the black vote and preventing Confederate leaders from regaining power, they still battled a racist president and past by overriding vetoes and passing the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. These amendments granted freedom, citizenship rights, due process and equal protection under the law for millions. The Radical Republicans also established the Freedman's Bureau to provide blacks with educational and employment opportunities. They also expanded the federal government by sending troops into the South to protect the freed slaves.
It seems between the Lincoln and McKinley administrations, in which six of the eight presidents were Republicans, that something happened to the Republican Party. When power vacuums are created in democratic societies, radicals often become rulers. The rise of monopolists caused Republicans to pursue policies of graft (getting money through dishonest means) and patronage (giving jobs to those who helped them get elected). The opening of the West and the California Gold Rush, with its enormous sums of mineral and agricultural wealth, turned the Republicans into a party of the elite backed by wealthy bankers. Genocidal policies against Amerindians fueled the Republican Party to seek even more territory through conquest. The Gospel of Wealth, in which riches determined God's favor, along with Christian missionaries who wanted to evangelize and civilize the world, created a party obsessed with superiority, exceptionalism and triumphalism. Republicans went from a party that included slaves and expanded civil rights, to excluding the poor, oppressed, immigrants and that reversed civil rights...
... Reaganomics and Bush's Compassionate Conservatism were only dressed-up policies of the enormous economic disparities developed during the Gilded Age, and which some Republicans unfortunately supported. So, too, is the current Republican Party's arguments against a public option plan, or universal health care coverage. Several Republicans, who have received hundreds of millions of dollars from health care corporations and lobbying groups, are even conjuring up images of death panels and euthanasia. By using fear and intimidation, Republicans are trying to rule through emotions and ignorance. This time, the Republicans are tragically on the wrong side of history. They have become insensitive and isolated to the plight of the working class and poor. Will they ever regain their radicalism, and stop pressing down upon the brow of the sick this crown of thorns? Will Republicans ever cease crucifying the oppressed on a for-profit-only-health-care-industry cross?