Poll: FDR # 1 President

[sparky]

The GOP of 1956 would have very little to do with the GOP of today. The Republicans of then understood that the USA was part of an international order, the Republicans then understood that a social compact existed in which the better off in society were morally obligated to watch out for the less fortunate in society. The GOP then refused to make room for wackos like the John Birch Society and would not make room for the extreme elements of the Tea Party.

So how can a president be rated given the moving goal posts of party stance, and it's obvious base, public gestalt?

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What's great about this:

FDR US Unemployment 1932: 24.1%, 1933: 24.9, 1934: 21.7%, 1935: 20.1%, 1936: 16.9%, 1937: 14.3%, 1938: 19.0%, 1939: 17.2%. 8 year Average = 19.8%?

What?

What Bizzarroland definition of Greatness do you have to be using?

 

[rightwinger]

What's great about this:

FDR US Unemployment 1932: 24.1%, 1933: 24.9, 1934: 21.7%, 1935: 20.1%, 1936: 16.9%, 1937: 14.3%, 1938: 19.0%, 1939: 17.2%. 8 year Average = 19.8%?

What?

What Bizzarroland definition of Greatness do you have to be using?

Republicans once again gloating that they created a problem that the Democrats couldn't fix

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What's great about this:

FDR US Unemployment 1932: 24.1%, 1933: 24.9, 1934: 21.7%, 1935: 20.1%, 1936: 16.9%, 1937: 14.3%, 1938: 19.0%, 1939: 17.2%. 8 year Average = 19.8%?

What?

What Bizzarroland definition of Greatness do you have to be using?

Republicans once again gloating that they created a problem that the Democrats couldn't fix

See, this isn't High School anymore. Liberals don't get to give me their spin on what happened and remain unchallenged.

Hoover was a Progressive with bad ideas about taxation, spending and Soviet Style Central Planning and fucked up the economy. The numbers show that FDR took Hoover's seat at the table and doubled down on a losing bet for 8 straight years.

Again I ask, "How is that "Great"?

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Siena poll names FDR as America?s best president - The Record News: Serving Troy and its surrounding communities (Troyrecord.com)

Excerpts:
FDR leads the pack for the fifth time since the survey’s 1982 inception, followed in order by Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. That top five has remained consistent throughout each of the five times the study has been performed, with only minor shuffling among their rankings.

There was also little movement among the bottom five presidents, though George W. Bush joined their ranks at number 39, dropping from his initial 23 ranking in 2002’s poll. At number 43, Andrew Johnson has been named our worst president for the second time in a row, followed by James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Franklin Pierce and Bush.

Barack Obama entered the list at number 15,
Other recent presidents’ rankings include Bill Clinton at number 13, who moved up from the 18th slot in 2002, and George H.W. Bush holding steady at 22. Reagan dropped from 16 to 18.

If obama, who hasn't finished his time as president, is already on the list I feel the polling was skewed.

We dont know if he will end up being a good or bad president overall yet as he is still president.

 

[Foxfyre]

What the GOP "stood for" when they were playing door mats to progressives, so they could get good tee times and get invited to all the good parties.

Whoop-dee-do!

Call it whatever you need Jethro to justify your Monica Lewinsky act on the elite and corporations.

Democrat Party Platform of 1956 "Our Government Lacks Leadership. We need bold leadership, yet in the three years since Stalin's death..."

Democratic Party Platforms: Democratic Party Platform of 1956

Wow. I had never seen this before. But condensed down to the basics:

1. The Democrats will be saviors of the world, the cure for every problem and ill, and the purveyors of a chicken in every pot.

2. The Republicans are the source and basis for every problem this country has ever had - or - the 1956 equivalent of 'blame Bush'.

 

[Bfgrn]

Call it whatever you need Jethro to justify your Monica Lewinsky act on the elite and corporations.

Democrat Party Platform of 1956 "Our Government Lacks Leadership. We need bold leadership, yet in the three years since Stalin's death..."

Democratic Party Platforms: Democratic Party Platform of 1956

Wow. I had never seen this before. But condensed down to the basics:

1. The Democrats will be saviors of the world, the cure for every problem and ill, and the purveyors of a chicken in every pot.

2. The Republicans are the source and basis for every problem this country has ever had - or - the 1956 equivalent of 'blame Bush'.

Simple minds need to have simple explanations...

 

[Foxfyre]

Democrat Party Platform of 1956 "Our Government Lacks Leadership. We need bold leadership, yet in the three years since Stalin's death..."

Democratic Party Platforms: Democratic Party Platform of 1956

Wow. I had never seen this before. But condensed down to the basics:

1. The Democrats will be saviors of the world, the cure for every problem and ill, and the purveyors of a chicken in every pot.

2. The Republicans are the source and basis for every problem this country has ever had - or - the 1956 equivalent of 'blame Bush'.

Simple minds need to have simple explanations...

Well, I was most happy to simplify it for you then. It's nice to be appreciated.

 

[Bfgrn]

Wow. I had never seen this before. But condensed down to the basics:

1. The Democrats will be saviors of the world, the cure for every problem and ill, and the purveyors of a chicken in every pot.

2. The Republicans are the source and basis for every problem this country has ever had - or - the 1956 equivalent of 'blame Bush'.

Simple minds need to have simple explanations...

Well, I was most happy to simplify it for you then. It's nice to be appreciated.

Take a crack at this one Foxfyre, and tell me were it has ANY resemblance to today's GOP.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The United States of America was founded on Liberal principals...

I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that today's Liberals have changed; they no longer share the Liberal ideals of our founding fathers...WRONG...

And...I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that the Republican Party HASN'T changed..WRONG...AGAIN...

Today's GOP was hijacked by the far right AND the far left.

The neoconservatives came from the far LEFT...yet they feel right at home with the far right theocrats...

There's an old saying..."Robins and Blue Jays don't nest together"

HERE is what the Republican Party USED to stand for...

Excerpt from:
Republican Party Platform of 1956
August 20, 1956


Our Government was created by the people for all the people, and it must serve no less a purpose.

The Republican Party was formed 100 years ago to preserve the Nation's devotion to these ideals.

On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: "The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere."

Our great President Dwight D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: "In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people's money, or their economy, or their form of government, be conservative.

"We shall ever build anew, that our children and their children, without distinction because of race, creed or color, may know the blessings of our free land.

We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs-expansion of social security-broadened coverage in unemployment insurance - improved housing- and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.

Labor
"Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: "Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country...they are America."

The Eisenhower Administration has brought to our people the highest employment, the highest wages and the highest standard of living ever enjoyed by any nation. Today there are nearly 67 million men and women at work in the United States, 4 million more than in 1952. Wages have increased substantially over the past 3 1/2 years; but, more important, the American wage earner today can buy more than ever before for himself and his family because his pay check has not been eaten away by rising taxes and soaring prices.

The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees.

In addition, the Eisenhower Administration has enforced more vigorously and effectively than ever before, the laws which protect the working standards of our people.

Workers have benefited by the progress which has been made in carrying out the programs and principles set forth in the 1952 Republican platform. All workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 millions.

Furthermore, the process of free collective bargaining has been strengthened by the insistence of this Administration that labor and management settle their differences at the bargaining table without the intervention of the Government. This policy has brought to our country an unprecedented period of labor-management peace and understanding...

Republican action created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the first new Federal department in 40 years, to raise the continuing consideration of these problems for the first time to the highest council of Government, the President's Cabinet.... We have supported the distribution of free vaccine to protect millions of children against dreaded polio.

Republican leadership has enlarged Federal assistance for construction of hospitals, emphasizing low-cost care of chronic diseases and the special problems of older persons, and increased Federal aid for medical care of the needy.

We have asked the largest increase in research funds ever sought in one year to intensify attacks on cancer, mental illness, heart disease and other dread diseases."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838


Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.
Barry Goldwater (R) Late Senator & Father of the Conservative movement

 

[Oddball]

Yeah, CLASSICAL liberal principles...As opposed to the progressive Fabian socialist fake "liberalism" you espouse and support.

 

[Foxfyre]

Simple minds need to have simple explanations...

Well, I was most happy to simplify it for you then. It's nice to be appreciated.

Take a crack at this one Foxfyre, and tell me were it has ANY resemblance to today's GOP.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The United States of America was founded on Liberal principals...

I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that today's Liberals have changed; they no longer share the Liberal ideals of our founding fathers...WRONG...

And...I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that the Republican Party HASN'T changed..WRONG...AGAIN...

Today's GOP was hijacked by the far right AND the far left.

The neoconservatives came from the far LEFT...yet they feel right at home with the far right theocrats...

There's an old saying..."Robins and Blue Jays don't nest together"

HERE is what the Republican Party USED to stand for...

Excerpt from:
Republican Party Platform of 1956
August 20, 1956


Our Government was created by the people for all the people, and it must serve no less a purpose.

The Republican Party was formed 100 years ago to preserve the Nation's devotion to these ideals.

On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: "The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere."

Our great President Dwight D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: "In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people's money, or their economy, or their form of government, be conservative.

"We shall ever build anew, that our children and their children, without distinction because of race, creed or color, may know the blessings of our free land.

We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs-expansion of social security-broadened coverage in unemployment insurance - improved housing- and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.

Labor
"Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: "Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country...they are America."

The Eisenhower Administration has brought to our people the highest employment, the highest wages and the highest standard of living ever enjoyed by any nation. Today there are nearly 67 million men and women at work in the United States, 4 million more than in 1952. Wages have increased substantially over the past 3 1/2 years; but, more important, the American wage earner today can buy more than ever before for himself and his family because his pay check has not been eaten away by rising taxes and soaring prices.

The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees.

In addition, the Eisenhower Administration has enforced more vigorously and effectively than ever before, the laws which protect the working standards of our people.

Workers have benefited by the progress which has been made in carrying out the programs and principles set forth in the 1952 Republican platform. All workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 millions.

Furthermore, the process of free collective bargaining has been strengthened by the insistence of this Administration that labor and management settle their differences at the bargaining table without the intervention of the Government. This policy has brought to our country an unprecedented period of labor-management peace and understanding...

Republican action created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the first new Federal department in 40 years, to raise the continuing consideration of these problems for the first time to the highest council of Government, the President's Cabinet.... We have supported the distribution of free vaccine to protect millions of children against dreaded polio.

Republican leadership has enlarged Federal assistance for construction of hospitals, emphasizing low-cost care of chronic diseases and the special problems of older persons, and increased Federal aid for medical care of the needy.

We have asked the largest increase in research funds ever sought in one year to intensify attacks on cancer, mental illness, heart disease and other dread diseases."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838


Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.
Barry Goldwater (R) Late Senator & Father of the Conservative movement

Here's the 2008 Republican platform preamble with a link to the whole thing. You can analyze that as well as I can.

Chairmen’s Preamble
Republican Party Platform of 2008

This is a platform of enduring principle, not passing convenience – the product of the most open and transparent process in American political history. We offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our Republican ideals are those that unify our country: Courage in the face of foreign foes. An optimistic patriotism, driven by a passion for freedom. Devotion to the inherent dignity and rights of every person. Faith in the virtues of self-reliance, civic commitment, and concern for one another. Distrust of government’s interference in people’s lives. Dedication to a rule of law that both protects and preserves liberty.

We present this platform at an uncertain point in time. Our country remains at war and committed to victory, but reckless political forces would imperil that goal and endanger our nation. In the economy and in society at large, it is a time of transformation. But the American people will meet these challenges. Even with its uncertainties, they embrace the future, but they are also too wise to rush headlong into it. We are an adventurous, risk-taking people, but we are not gamblers. A sound democracy trusts new leadership but insists that it demonstrate the old virtues: the character and the command that, in times of conflict and crisis, have led the Republic through its trials.

This platform likewise rests on proven truths and tested wisdom as it looks ahead, both to deal with present challenges and to explore possibilities that may sometimes seem beyond our grasp. It shows what the American people can accomplish when government respects their rights, conserves their resources, and calls upon their love of country. It is not a tribute to bigger government.

Our platform is presented with enthusiasm and confidence in a vision for the future, but also with genuine humility – humility before God and before a nation of free and independent thinkers. As the party of ideas, rather than a mere coalition of interests, we consider vigorous debate a strength, not a weakness. Indeed, we are a party – as we are a nation – of mavericks.

Yet we stand united today because we are the one party that speaks to all Americans – conservatives, moderates, libertarians, independents, and even liberals. We welcome all to our deliberations in the firm belief that the principles embodied in this platform will prove to be as compelling and persuasive as they are vital and enduring. We do not fear disagreement, and we do not demand conformity, but we do fight for our principles with confidence that the best ideas will prevail in the end.

Our party embodies a uniquely American spirit. It is the spirit of independent minds, the conviction that open and honest debate is essential to the freedom we enjoy as Americans. This platform is a testament to that freedom and stands as our promise to future generations that we will do whatever it takes to preserve it. It is grounded on our heartfelt belief that our principles, our policies, and our vision will lead our American family, not just through present dangers, but to a horizon of prosperity and liberty mankind has only begun to explore.

With gratitude for eight years of honorable service from President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the Republican Party now stands united behind new leadership, an American patriot, John McCain. In support of his candidacy and those of our fellow Republicans across the nation – and ever grateful to Almighty God for the political, religious, and civil liberties we enjoy -- we, the representatives of the Republican Party in the states and territories of the United States, offer this platform to the American people.
http://www.gop.com/2008platform/

 

[Wry Catcher]

Yeah, CLASSICAL liberal principles...As opposed to the progressive Fabian socialist fake "liberalism" you espouse and support.

Does Dude post idiotgrams as a means to censor the opinion of others? Notice one-line comments by he follow substantive posts too often to be considered coincidental.

 

[Oddball]

You wouldn't know substantive if it ran you over, Carlin.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yeah, CLASSICAL liberal principles...As opposed to the progressive Fabian socialist fake "liberalism" you espouse and support.

Does Dude post idiotgrams as a means to censor the opinion of others? Notice one-line comments by he follow substantive posts too often to be considered coincidental.

Does your second sentence make sense to you?

 

[Bfgrn]

Well, I was most happy to simplify it for you then. It's nice to be appreciated.

Take a crack at this one Foxfyre, and tell me were it has ANY resemblance to today's GOP.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The United States of America was founded on Liberal principals...

I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that today's Liberals have changed; they no longer share the Liberal ideals of our founding fathers...WRONG...

And...I continue to hear over and over the argument from the right that the Republican Party HASN'T changed..WRONG...AGAIN...

Today's GOP was hijacked by the far right AND the far left.

The neoconservatives came from the far LEFT...yet they feel right at home with the far right theocrats...

There's an old saying..."Robins and Blue Jays don't nest together"

HERE is what the Republican Party USED to stand for...

Excerpt from:
Republican Party Platform of 1956
August 20, 1956


Our Government was created by the people for all the people, and it must serve no less a purpose.

The Republican Party was formed 100 years ago to preserve the Nation's devotion to these ideals.

On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: "The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere."

Our great President Dwight D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: "In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people's money, or their economy, or their form of government, be conservative.

"We shall ever build anew, that our children and their children, without distinction because of race, creed or color, may know the blessings of our free land.

We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs-expansion of social security-broadened coverage in unemployment insurance - improved housing- and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people.

Labor
"Under the Republican Administration, as our country has prospered, so have its people. This is as it should be, for as President Eisenhower said: "Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country...they are America."

The Eisenhower Administration has brought to our people the highest employment, the highest wages and the highest standard of living ever enjoyed by any nation. Today there are nearly 67 million men and women at work in the United States, 4 million more than in 1952. Wages have increased substantially over the past 3 1/2 years; but, more important, the American wage earner today can buy more than ever before for himself and his family because his pay check has not been eaten away by rising taxes and soaring prices.

The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees.

In addition, the Eisenhower Administration has enforced more vigorously and effectively than ever before, the laws which protect the working standards of our people.

Workers have benefited by the progress which has been made in carrying out the programs and principles set forth in the 1952 Republican platform. All workers have gained and unions have grown in strength and responsibility, and have increased their membership by 2 millions.

Furthermore, the process of free collective bargaining has been strengthened by the insistence of this Administration that labor and management settle their differences at the bargaining table without the intervention of the Government. This policy has brought to our country an unprecedented period of labor-management peace and understanding...

Republican action created the Department of Health, Education and Welfare as the first new Federal department in 40 years, to raise the continuing consideration of these problems for the first time to the highest council of Government, the President's Cabinet.... We have supported the distribution of free vaccine to protect millions of children against dreaded polio.

Republican leadership has enlarged Federal assistance for construction of hospitals, emphasizing low-cost care of chronic diseases and the special problems of older persons, and increased Federal aid for medical care of the needy.

We have asked the largest increase in research funds ever sought in one year to intensify attacks on cancer, mental illness, heart disease and other dread diseases."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838


Equality, rightly understood as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences; wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.
Barry Goldwater (R) Late Senator & Father of the Conservative movement

Here's the 2008 Republican platform preamble with a link to the whole thing. You can analyze that as well as I can.

Chairmen’s Preamble
Republican Party Platform of 2008

This is a platform of enduring principle, not passing convenience – the product of the most open and transparent process in American political history. We offer it to our fellow Americans in the assurance that our Republican ideals are those that unify our country: Courage in the face of foreign foes. An optimistic patriotism, driven by a passion for freedom. Devotion to the inherent dignity and rights of every person. Faith in the virtues of self-reliance, civic commitment, and concern for one another. Distrust of government’s interference in people’s lives. Dedication to a rule of law that both protects and preserves liberty.

We present this platform at an uncertain point in time. Our country remains at war and committed to victory, but reckless political forces would imperil that goal and endanger our nation. In the economy and in society at large, it is a time of transformation. But the American people will meet these challenges. Even with its uncertainties, they embrace the future, but they are also too wise to rush headlong into it. We are an adventurous, risk-taking people, but we are not gamblers. A sound democracy trusts new leadership but insists that it demonstrate the old virtues: the character and the command that, in times of conflict and crisis, have led the Republic through its trials.

This platform likewise rests on proven truths and tested wisdom as it looks ahead, both to deal with present challenges and to explore possibilities that may sometimes seem beyond our grasp. It shows what the American people can accomplish when government respects their rights, conserves their resources, and calls upon their love of country. It is not a tribute to bigger government.

Our platform is presented with enthusiasm and confidence in a vision for the future, but also with genuine humility – humility before God and before a nation of free and independent thinkers. As the party of ideas, rather than a mere coalition of interests, we consider vigorous debate a strength, not a weakness. Indeed, we are a party – as we are a nation – of mavericks.

Yet we stand united today because we are the one party that speaks to all Americans – conservatives, moderates, libertarians, independents, and even liberals. We welcome all to our deliberations in the firm belief that the principles embodied in this platform will prove to be as compelling and persuasive as they are vital and enduring. We do not fear disagreement, and we do not demand conformity, but we do fight for our principles with confidence that the best ideas will prevail in the end.

Our party embodies a uniquely American spirit. It is the spirit of independent minds, the conviction that open and honest debate is essential to the freedom we enjoy as Americans. This platform is a testament to that freedom and stands as our promise to future generations that we will do whatever it takes to preserve it. It is grounded on our heartfelt belief that our principles, our policies, and our vision will lead our American family, not just through present dangers, but to a horizon of prosperity and liberty mankind has only begun to explore.

With gratitude for eight years of honorable service from President George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the Republican Party now stands united behind new leadership, an American patriot, John McCain. In support of his candidacy and those of our fellow Republicans across the nation – and ever grateful to Almighty God for the political, religious, and civil liberties we enjoy -- we, the representatives of the Republican Party in the states and territories of the United States, offer this platform to the American people.
http://www.gop.com/2008platform/

Empty platitudes and bluster...perfect for an empty vessel like Sarah 'empty vessel' Palin...

"Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the Republican party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them."
Barry Goldwater


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Victor Gold, former speechwriter for George Herbert Walker Bush is a Goldwater conservative...his book explains how the GOP was hijacked away from conservatives by far right theocrats and far left neocons...starting in 1980...

Book Review:

Invasion of the Party Snatchers

By Victor Gold

After four decades as a Republican insider, Victor Gold reveals how the holy-rollers and the Neo-Cons have destroyed the GOP. Now he's fighting to get his party back.

As a man who served as press aide to Barry Goldwater and speechwriter and senior advisor to George H. W. Bush (in addition to co-authoring his autobiography), Victor Gold is absolutely furious that the Neo-Cons and their strange bedfellows, the Evangelical Right, have stolen his party from him. Now he is bringing the fight to them.

Invasion of the Party Snatchers is a blistering critique not only of the Bush-Cheney administration but also of the Republican Congress. Gold is ready to tell all about the war being waged for the soul of the GOP, including the elder Bush's opinion of his sons work domestically and abroad, the significance of the newly elected Congress, and how Goldwater would have reacted to it all. Gold reveals, among other explosive disclosures, how George W. has been manipulated by his vice president and secretary of defense to become, in Lenin's famous phrase, a "useful idiot" for Neo-Conservative warmongers and Theo-Conservative religious fanatics.

Although there have been other books by dissident Republicans attacking the Bush-Cheney administrations betrayal of conservative principles, none have been by an insider whose political credentials include inner-circle status with Barry Goldwater and George H. W. Bush.

Review:
"Make no mistake: author Gold, a former speechwriter for George H.W. Bush and aide to Barry Goldwater, is one disgusted Republican. The GOP of the 2006 midterm election, he writes, is 'a party of pork-barrel ear-markers like Dennis Hastert, of political hatchet men like Karl Rove, and of Bible-thumping hypocrites like Tom Delay.' Gold looks to Goldwater, 'a straight-talking, freethinking maverick,' as the yardstick by which to measure just how far the party of Lincoln has fallen.

He traces the beginning of the end to the 1980 Republican National Convention and the presence of 'a militant new element...personified by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.' The other half of the equation, the neoconservatives, are embodied by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, 'two cuts from the same Machiavellian cloth.' In efficient prose, Gold scrutinizes a significant swath of recent GOP history, in particular Newt Gingrich's 104th Congress and the Bush II White House, without losing momentum.

He also has choice words for 'the Coulterization of Republican rhetoric,' the revolving door between Capitol Hill and K Street, and 'sideshow' legislation like the Flag Protection Amendment. Gold sees a promising future for the Republican Party, but not until they lose some major elections and are able to keep down a slice of humble pie; for those disillusioned with the state of the GOP, this quick, uncompromising polemic provides substantial support, along with a large dose of cold comfort." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:
The last real Goldwater conservative in America attacks the current state of his movement and his party.
Powell's Books - Invasion of the Party Snatchers: How the Holy-Rollers and Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP by Victor Gold

Victor Gold grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he attended the public schools, and Tulane University. After working as a reporter-correspondent for the BIRMINGHAM (Alabama) NEWS, he earned his law degree (J.D.) from the University of Alabama. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, 1950-52.

In 1958 he moved to Washington, D.C., and joined the public relations firm of Selvage & Lee. Six years later he became Deputy Press Secretary to Senator Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential campaign.

In 1965 Gold opened his own political public relations firm in Washington, listing among his clients then-Republican House leader Gerald Ford and Senator Bob Dole. At the Republican conventions of 1968 and 1976 he worked with press secretary Lyn Nofziger on behalf of the presidential candidacy of then-California Governor Ronald Reagan. During the Nixon administration he served as press secretary to Vice President Spiro T. Agnew until January, 1973.

In 1980 Gold joined the staff of Republican presidential candidate George H. W. Bush as a speechwriter and senior advisor, a position he held during the Reagan-Bush campaigns of '80 and '84. He served on the Bush vice-presidential staff in 1981, and as a Bush advisor in the campaigns of 1988 and 1992. In 1992 he received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Political Communication from his alma mater, the University of Alabama.

In 1989 Gold served as a member of President Bush's election-oversight delegation to the first free Romanian elections.

A frequent speaker on the national political and campus circuits, Gold has also appeared on numerous network television shows. His articles, covering politics and sports, have appeared in NEWSWEEK, HARPER'S, ATLANTIC MONTHLY, PLAYBOY, CONNOISSEUR, READERS' DIGEST, NATIONAL REVIEW, THE WEEKLY STANDARD, NEW REPUBLIC, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, and THE WASHINGTON POST.

 

[Oscar Wao]

Well, I shall tell you, beyond not caring about people's behavior, Goldwater wouldn't like the actions of this admin.

 

[Oddball]

People like Goldwater and Hayek are only useful to tovarich Bfgrn insofar as grabbing the scattered rare quotations, which tend to agree with his unvarnished hatred of republicans.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Yeah, CLASSICAL liberal principles...As opposed to the progressive Fabian socialist fake "liberalism" you espouse and support.

Does Dude post idiotgrams as a means to censor the opinion of others? Notice one-line comments by he follow substantive posts too often to be considered coincidental.

Does your second sentence make sense to you?

It does, only because I know what I meant, not that what I wrote made it clear. How's this:
Notice the one-line comments made by Dude, they usually follow posts which conflict with the platitudes he holds dear, so in a childish effort to move the post from the immediate view of readers, he posts one-line idiotgams.

 

[Bfgrn]

Does Dude post idiotgrams as a means to censor the opinion of others? Notice one-line comments by he follow substantive posts too often to be considered coincidental.

Does your second sentence make sense to you?

It does, only because I know what I meant, not that what I wrote made it clear. How's this:
Notice the one-line comments made by Dude, they usually follow posts which conflict with the platitudes he holds dear, so in a childish effort to move the post from the immediate view of readers, he posts one-line idiotgams.

Dude's phone

Press One for English
Press Two for DudEbonics
Press Three for conversion of DudEbonics to English

 

[JakeStarkey]

You wouldn't know substantive if it ran you over, Carlin.

You are a character of a pig from Animal Farm, dude. Such elitism is dangerous to the republic, and that is why you will never have the opportunity to put your wack principles into play.