Republicans: A vote against SCHIPS. Then another vote to prevent it from being renewed, a Republican presidential veto on the same bill, then another. A Republican campaign against all-out health care reform, then another, then lies about Granny being bumped off, then more lies, then tax breaks for billionaires.
A war against a country, Iraq, that we had overrun in six weeks under a military and an earlier President who had had some experience with war. Then a major war that we should have eventually walked away from after delivering enormous punishment, a war against a bunch of rag-headed fanatics who got lucky once because a President would rather play golf in Texas than read a briefing paper saying that the country he was supposed to be running at the time was in danger.
A Republican vote against allowing Americans to get less expensive drugs from Canada or Mexico, even though a lone, courageous Republican from Minnesota pointed out that Germans bought drugs for less than a third of what Americans pay in some instances. A vote to expand Medicare to give pharmaceutical companies a huge windfall, hundreds of billions of dollars in drug purchases, and no requirement to lower prices. In fact, a President who said…no way will Medicare be allowed to negotiate for better prices! Then a Great Republican Recession!
A Republican revolt against regulations that would harm Wall Street. Even though the lack of regulators and the unbridled greed of Wall Street sent this country into an economic tailspin that put 8 million more people out of work, cost us an additional $700 billion a year to run our country, cost hundreds of millions of Americans about half the equity in their homes and sent 3 million a year into foreclosure….and is not even close to being over…and may in fact, if Republicans keep up their political nonsense, drop us into a second Great Depression.
A Republican attack on unions has caused the average American to wonder…caused “reasonable doubt” as to whether unions are greedy bastards, run by thugs, who only want to create big incomes for union officials, and push managements around, causing great inefficiencies in the economy. Of course, the truth is that corporations are not obligated to their employees or the public. They want to maximize their return on investment to their stockholders. And who are they in most cases?
Statistically, they are about 40% pension funds, individual investors in mutual funds and insurance and investment funds for a variety of organizations, like college endowments. But most of the investors are very rich individuals who are invested in the company because either they or someone in their family or the investment company–which they own–has put up the money for this company or bought out the people who originally put up the money. Management works for those rich individuals and unions are a pesky problem because unions do not work for themselves; they represent workers, thousands of them. Republicans support the corporations against the workers. They do it for the huge campaign contributions.
The Republicans want to take over the courts. Under Karl Rove’s guidance, the Bush Gestapo installed Federal Society approved district judges all over the country. Then they looked around for solid Fascist judges, that is, Neoconservative judges who could be relied on to follow the Party line and always support the Republican Party, the large corporations, the military industrial complex and the super-rich against the People. After handling the appointment of all the appeals court judges that they could replace with True Neocon Believers, they found Justice Roberts, a corporate shill and Justice Alito, a super corporate shill to complement their Dutiful Duo of Fascist-son Antonin Scalia and dimwit Neocon-partisan camp follower, Clarence Thomas.
In addition to railroading the governor of a state, even a state like Alabama, convicting him in a kangaroo court on trumped-up charges after an election stolen in the middle of the night, the Republicans, under Neocon Gestapo chief Karl Rove, working illegally out of the White House, installed 93 U.S. Attorneys around the country and used them, or tried to use them, to attack Democratic candidates in the 2004 and 2006 elections. Only when Rove went too far and had his stooge, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, fire 8 of them did the public discover that they were actually working as political operatives for Karl Rove.
These are just some of the things the Republicans have done to enrich the rich and decimate the middle class and the poor, the elderly, and minorities.This exposition of Republican activities could fill an encyclopedia. But the real point is this. The only good Republican is a dead Republican.
Robert La Follette is a dead Republican. Here’s why he was a good Republican. First of all, practically the first thing he did when entering politics was to reject a bribe from a member of his own party. He then went on to reform and improve primary elections, support unions, women’s sufferage, worker’s compensation and many other Progressive causes. He fought tirelessly against the lumber and railroad interests who were looting his state and fought against what he said were no more than 100 rich men who wanted to control America.
Teddy Roosevelt is a great dead Republican. He led the fight against huge corporations monopolizing industries and very publicly forced anti-trust actions that set the tone for even more under another Republican William Howard Taft. He steadfastly worked for fair treatment under the law, improved wages and conditions for mine workers, added millions of acres to the National Parks, and set up regulations to make the country safer, like the Pure Food and Drug Act.
Senator William Proxmire of Wisconsin was a literate, articulate spokesman for the average American. He was an opponent of the Viet Nam war and a constant critic of Pentagon spending. He was a true fiscal conservative and social Liberal, in which–being an intelligent man with several post-graduate degrees–he saw no contradiction. He was the originator of what he called The Golden Fleece Award for useless or wasteful uses of government research grants. He was an early advocate of campaign finance reform and in his last two campaigns refused to take any contributions, and was said to have funded them entirely with only $200 out of his own pocket.
President Dwight David Eisenhower could just as easily have been a Democrat. Yet he is considered by many in retrospect to have presided over a growing economy precisely as he should have. He was a strong advocate of business, but business paid its taxes. He was a friend of corporations, but unions thrived under his Presidency. He was fiscally conservative, but he presided over one of the country’s most successful infrastructure achievements, the Interstate Highway system. He cut the military budget, started NASA and expanded Social Security. He was a man of the people, a man who was strong, positive and dedicated his life to his countrymen.
President Richard Nixon is a dead Republican, and good riddance many will say…but not so fast. Yes, he was too political, a little bit racist, and vindictive. But what about his goals and accomplishments? Well, first of all, he did end the Vietnam War. It took him some time and a lot of political pressure and a great deal of any reputation he might have had even if he had not had Watergate…but he was the one who ended it. He opened relations with China, and they were staunchly Communist at the time that he did it. He further advanced de-segregation, encouraged more advancement for women including signing of Title IX which forbade discrimination against women, initiated the Clean Air Act and started the Environmental Protection Agency. He was too paranoid and too political but he did some good things and paid a terrible price for the bad things that he did.
So these are merely a few of the Dead Republicans who were great men. We could go all the way back to Lincoln and Grant but we’ll just say that the memory of these great dead Republicans is the only thing that gives us hope about those now living.