The hijacked GOP

[Bfgrn]

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.

 

[editec]

The Neocons excesses and their unholy alliance with the Bible thumpers, their bumbling POTUS and the piss poor state of affairs he left the nation in seem to be destroying the GOP.

But that cabal served its purpose.

It made a lot of already rich people superrich.

Now that it's time to pay the piper they're safely sitting onthe sideline complaining that the nation's economy is in the shitter.

Yeah, it is.

But hey! enjoy those tax breaks while they last.

 

[Iriemon]

He misses a third group -- the tax cut disciples who have replaced the fiscally moderate and responsible.

 

[editec]

He misses a third group -- the tax cut disciples who have replaced the fiscally moderate and responsible.

those would be the Neocons, methinks.

They set out to bankrupt the nation by a combination of tax breaks for the superwealthy and foolish policies which left the nation going unemployed and broke.

They had help though from those Dems who FORGOT that people need to work in America, too.

Free-traders are traitors but few of them who support that stupid policy really understand that it is guananteed to ruin the American way of life.

I find that rather odd, too, since most of the advocates of FREE TRADE worship wealth, but fault workers who sought to get their fair share of the wealth they were producing through collective bargaining.

 

[Tech_Esq]

Sounds like a good read. It's certainly in-line with what I feel has happened to the party.

 

[Bfgrn]

He misses a third group -- the tax cut disciples who have replaced the fiscally moderate and responsible.

those would be the Neocons, methinks.

They set out to bankrupt the nation by a combination of tax breaks for the superwealthy and foolish policies which left the nation going unemployed and broke.

They had help though from those Dems who FORGOT that people need to work in America, too.

Free-traders are traitors but few of them who support that stupid policy really understand that it is guananteed to ruin the American way of life.

I find that rather odd, too, since most of the advocates of FREE TRADE worship wealth, but fault workers who sought to get their fair share of the wealth they were producing through collective bargaining.

That would be Grover Norquist...

Grover Glenn Norquist (born October 19, 1956) is president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.

Wednesday Meetings

Shortly after Bill Clinton was elected president of the United States in 1992, Norquist began hosting a weekly, off-the-record get-together of conservatives in his Washington office to coordinate activities and strategy. "We were sort of like the Mensheviks after the Russian Revolution," recalls Marshall Wittmann, who attended the first meeting as a representative of the Christian Coalition.

In 1994, Norquist worked with Newt Gingrich and the Heritage Foundation to draft the Contract with America....

Connections to Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff pled guilty to conspiracy to corrupt public officials, mail fraud and tax evasion on January 3, 2006. According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released in June 2006 by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) served as a "conduit" for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to surreptitiously finance grass-roots lobbying campaigns. A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds.

Notable Norquist quotes:
"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

"We're going to crush labor as a political entity"

 

[Sinatra]

Gold is a somewhat interesting figure, but largely a failure within the GOP.

He has long harbored some sour grapes.

He was thick in the "New World Order" message of HW, which had great favor among the neocon movement founded by the Democrats and then ran with by name-only Republicans.

BUT - he is quite correct that the Bush Jr. era Republicans did great harm to the brand name - harm that will take some time to remedy...

 

[auditor0007]

Unfortunately, I think this is a very simplistic view of things. While I will agree that the religious right gained too much power within the party, they have a place and right from which to promote their ideas. Fiscal moderates within the party allowed the religious right to attain so much power because they thought that without them, they would lose power. In turn, the Republican party became more about social issues than good governance.

The argument against the neocons is pretty much hogwash. Number one, it is based on the idea that people like Cheney and Rumsfeld were calling the shots, and that they had personal agendas to fullfil. The truth is that Bush's ideology led the way. While he may well have been looking for an excuse to go after Saddam, bad intelligence led the way. This has been well documented, and the "He lied" slogan doesn't wash. Bush's ideology that the way to true peace was through democratization of authoriatarian regimes probably wasn't practical in the sense that the cost did not justify the end result. By the way, we won't know the end result of our actions in Iraq for probalby another twenty years. It could prove out that disposing of Saddam, and more importantly his sons, was one of the best things to happen in the Middle East. If a reasonable form of democracy holds in Iraq and eventually spreads to Iran, it could change the way Muslims view us and the rest of the world. I won't be holding my breath however, because democracy goes against Islam, and that is why so few Muslim countries even want democratic rule.

As for the tax cut junkies, there are two sides to the story. It is proven that the tax cuts actually forced the wealthy to pay a greater percentage of taxes while the poor and middle class began paying a smaller percentage of taxes. So those who argue against the tax cuts are basically saying that the poor and middle class need to pay more taxes. On the flipside, the wealthy should be paying a greater percentage of the taxes, because they are the only ones who actually saw their real incomes rise over the last eight years. If anyone wants to make the argument that real incomes did rise for everyone, then what we can definitely agree on is that real income rose much more for the wealthy than for anyone else. The only real offset to that was gained wealth through home equity. However, that too is now gone and was an inflated number to begin with.

 

[Bfgrn]

Unfortunately, I think this is a very simplistic view of things. While I will agree that the religious right gained too much power within the party, they have a place and right from which to promote their ideas. Fiscal moderates within the party allowed the religious right to attain so much power because they thought that without them, they would lose power. In turn, the Republican party became more about social issues than good governance.

The argument against the neocons is pretty much hogwash. Number one, it is based on the idea that people like Cheney and Rumsfeld were calling the shots, and that they had personal agendas to fullfil. The truth is that Bush's ideology led the way. While he may well have been looking for an excuse to go after Saddam, bad intelligence led the way. This has been well documented, and the "He lied" slogan doesn't wash. Bush's ideology that the way to true peace was through democratization of authoriatarian regimes probably wasn't practical in the sense that the cost did not justify the end result. By the way, we won't know the end result of our actions in Iraq for probalby another twenty years. It could prove out that disposing of Saddam, and more importantly his sons, was one of the best things to happen in the Middle East. If a reasonable form of democracy holds in Iraq and eventually spreads to Iran, it could change the way Muslims view us and the rest of the world. I won't be holding my breath however, because democracy goes against Islam, and that is why so few Muslim countries even want democratic rule.

As for the tax cut junkies, there are two sides to the story. It is proven that the tax cuts actually forced the wealthy to pay a greater percentage of taxes while the poor and middle class began paying a smaller percentage of taxes. So those who argue against the tax cuts are basically saying that the poor and middle class need to pay more taxes. On the flipside, the wealthy should be paying a greater percentage of the taxes, because they are the only ones who actually saw their real incomes rise over the last eight years. If anyone wants to make the argument that real incomes did rise for everyone, then what we can definitely agree on is that real income rose much more for the wealthy than for anyone else. The only real offset to that was gained wealth through home equity. However, that too is now gone and was an inflated number to begin with.

auditor0007
Fiscal moderates within the party allowed the religious right to attain so much power because they thought that without them, they would lose power. In turn, the Republican party became more about social issues than good governance.

I disagree, and I'm sure Barry Goldwater would too; it was the other way around, the religious right imposed their will on the party...part of the "litmus" test...

"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


auditor0007
While he may well have been looking for an excuse to go after Saddam, bad intelligence led the way. This has been well documented, and the "He lied" slogan doesn't wash.

YES, it does wash...

Paul O'Neill, Bush's first Treasury Secretary

And what happened at President Bush's very first National Security Council meeting is one of O'Neill's most startling revelations.

“From the very beginning, there was a conviction, that Saddam Hussein was a bad person and that he needed to go,” says O’Neill, who adds that going after Saddam was topic "A" 10 days after the inauguration - eight months before Sept. 11.

“From the very first instance, it was about Iraq. It was about what we can do to change this regime,” says Suskind. “Day one, these things were laid and sealed.”

As treasury secretary, O'Neill was a permanent member of the National Security Council. He says in the book he was surprised at the meeting that questions such as "Why Saddam?" and "Why now?" were never asked.

"It was all about finding a way to do it. That was the tone of it. The president saying ‘Go find me a way to do this,’" says O’Neill. “For me, the notion of pre-emption, that the U.S. has the unilateral right to do whatever we decide to do, is a really huge leap.”

And that came up at this first meeting, says O’Neill, who adds that the discussion of Iraq continued at the next National Security Council meeting two days later.

He got briefing materials under this cover sheet. “There are memos. One of them marked, secret, says, ‘Plan for post-Saddam Iraq,’" adds Suskind, who says that they discussed an occupation of Iraq in January and February of 2001. Based on his interviews with O'Neill and several other officials at the meetings, Suskind writes that the planning envisioned peacekeeping troops, war crimes tribunals, and even divvying up Iraq's oil wealth.

He obtained one Pentagon document, dated March 5, 2001, and entitled "Foreign Suitors for Iraqi Oilfield contracts," which includes a map of potential areas for exploration.

“It talks about contractors around the world from, you know, 30-40 countries. And which ones have what intentions,” says Suskind. “On oil in Iraq.”

During the campaign, candidate Bush had criticized the Clinton-Gore Administration for being too interventionist: "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road. And I'm going to prevent that."

“The thing that's most surprising, I think, is how emphatically, from the very first, the administration had said ‘X’ during the campaign, but from the first day was often doing ‘Y,’” says Suskind. “Not just saying ‘Y,’ but actively moving toward the opposite of what they had said during the election.”

Bush Sought ‘Way’ To Invade Iraq? - CBS News

 

[amrchaos]

One problem with the above critique

The "Theorcrats" of the Right were used only to help the GOP gain power. After that, you only seemed false gestures by them during the BUSH years.

Now for the Neo-cons as being referred to as leftists--That is some convient propaganda for Republicans, is it not? I mean, they are Ultra conservatives when the GOP is in power, but Leftists fools when the GOP is out. I doubt that the author believes that crap.

 

[Bfgrn]

One problem with the above critique

The "Theorcrats" of the Right were used only to help the GOP gain power. After that, you only seemed false gestures by them during the BUSH years.

Now for the Neo-cons as being referred to as leftists--That is some convient propaganda for Republicans, is it not? I mean, they are Ultra conservatives when the GOP is in power, but Leftists fools when the GOP is out. I doubt that the author believes that crap.

I doubt the author can avoid the truth...

The "commies", the Marxists and Trotskyists...are ALL in the GOP...

Ronbo Reagan welcomed them into OUR government ...The NEOCONS

Irving Kristol

Widely referred to as the "godfather" of neoconservatism, Mr. Kristol was part of the "New York Intellectuals," a group of critics mainly of Eastern European Jewish descent. In the late 1930s, he studied at City College of New York where he became a Trotskyist. From 1947 to 1952, he was the managing editor of Commentary magazine, later called the "neocon bible."

By the late 1960s, Kristol had shifted from left to right on the political spectrum, due partly to what he considered excesses and anti-Americanism among liberals. Kristol built the intellectual framework of neoconservatism, founding and editing journals such as The Public Interest and The National Interest.

Kristol is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and author of numerous books, including "Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea." He is the father of Weekly Standard editor and oft-quoted neoconservative William Kristol.

Key figures

US News / Special: Empire Builders | Christian Science Monitor

 

[Red Dawn]

What the fuck is this dude whining about?

"Hijacked". LOL

Nobody "hijacked" the republican party. The theocrats, ex-dixiecrats, and religious nut jobs were willingly INVITED into the party, to be used as willing dupes to build a republican majority.

You can't be a majority national party with the bullshit the GOP was selling. Deregulation, privitizing social security, and gutting environmental protections. That shit doesn't sell. The GOP had to used abortion and race wedge issues to become a majority party, by duping the theocrats.


this dude can fuck off, and spare me the whining. The GOP knew what it was doing when it allied itself with the rightwing extremist nutjobs.

 

[Indiana Oracle]

Victor Gold needs a hot toddy. He is just trying to make a buck off old ground. As Red Dawn said, no one hijacked anything party-wise. The Reps left the reservation of good governance and fiscal responsibility. They paid the price.

 

[MaggieMae]

Unfortunately, I think this is a very simplistic view of things. While I will agree that the religious right gained too much power within the party, they have a place and right from which to promote their ideas. Fiscal moderates within the party allowed the religious right to attain so much power because they thought that without them, they would lose power. In turn, the Republican party became more about social issues than good governance.

The argument against the neocons is pretty much hogwash. Number one, it is based on the idea that people like Cheney and Rumsfeld were calling the shots, and that they had personal agendas to fullfil. The truth is that Bush's ideology led the way. While he may well have been looking for an excuse to go after Saddam, bad intelligence led the way. This has been well documented, and the "He lied" slogan doesn't wash. Bush's ideology that the way to true peace was through democratization of authoriatarian regimes probably wasn't practical in the sense that the cost did not justify the end result. By the way, we won't know the end result of our actions in Iraq for probalby another twenty years. It could prove out that disposing of Saddam, and more importantly his sons, was one of the best things to happen in the Middle East. If a reasonable form of democracy holds in Iraq and eventually spreads to Iran, it could change the way Muslims view us and the rest of the world. I won't be holding my breath however, because democracy goes against Islam, and that is why so few Muslim countries even want democratic rule.

As for the tax cut junkies, there are two sides to the story. It is proven that the tax cuts actually forced the wealthy to pay a greater percentage of taxes while the poor and middle class began paying a smaller percentage of taxes. So those who argue against the tax cuts are basically saying that the poor and middle class need to pay more taxes. On the flipside, the wealthy should be paying a greater percentage of the taxes, because they are the only ones who actually saw their real incomes rise over the last eight years. If anyone wants to make the argument that real incomes did rise for everyone, then what we can definitely agree on is that real income rose much more for the wealthy than for anyone else. The only real offset to that was gained wealth through home equity. However, that too is now gone and was an inflated number to begin with.

You're wrong if you think neoconism was all Bush's idea. You need to read both of Woodward's earlier books on the Bush Administration, the first one "Bush at War" which details the first 100 days following the attacks of 911 (the one that largely praises the decisions made with regard to Afghanistan), and the followup book "Plan of Attack" which raises major questions about the hidden agendas outlined in the first book. For both, Woodward had almost uncompromised carte blanche sideline attendance at many of the internal meetings among the principles, so none of it is hyperbole based on a mishmash of facts.

To read (in lay terms) how the events unfolded (Afghanistan, then Iraq) meant to understand that George Bush relied almost totally on Cheney and Rumsfeld. Both Powell and Rice became condescending players, period, and the Bush "team" rarely called in other more experienced brains for feedback in formulating strategy. Cheney sold the "softer" side of the Iraq invasion to Bush who fell for it--the we'll be greeted with flowers by people dying for democracy crap.

 

[MaggieMae]

One problem with the above critique

The "Theorcrats" of the Right were used only to help the GOP gain power. After that, you only seemed false gestures by them during the BUSH years.

Now for the Neo-cons as being referred to as leftists--That is some convient propaganda for Republicans, is it not? I mean, they are Ultra conservatives when the GOP is in power, but Leftists fools when the GOP is out. I doubt that the author believes that crap.

I don't even consider the Republican neocons as fiscally conservative or humanitarian (theocrats). Their agenda was simply to expand the military industrial complex and if, in the process, we created happy Muslim nations, all the better. If not, tough. We'll take your resources anyway. Why? Because we can.

 

[Toro]

I'm finishing this book now. Its a pretty good read.

 

[Xenophon]

The left sure is determined to kill off Reagan's memory.

Bad news kiddies, most people rightfully remember those years as a golden age for america.

It went south after Ronnie, not at the start of him.

 

[garyd]

Sorry absent the so-called holy rollers the GOP wpould have been a permanent minority. Absent Roe they likely would have been anyway. Not every evengelical is or was a conservative.

 

[Gunny]

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.

*yawn*

Is this called trying to take everyone's eyes off the ball? Rant after rant about the GOP. Here's your sign:

"The GOP is no longer in power."

The Democrats are and your party is writing a check that won't be paid off in our lifetimes. That's happening NOW, as opposed to you thinking it's still 2003, Rip van Winkle.

 

[Bfgrn]

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.

*yawn*

Is this called trying to take everyone's eyes off the ball? Rant after rant about the GOP. Here's your sign:

"The GOP is no longer in power."

The Democrats are and your party is writing a check that won't be paid off in our lifetimes. That's happening NOW, as opposed to you thinking it's still 2003, Rip van Winkle.

Rip Van Winkle...you're the one *yawning*...