I think it happened sometime between 1992 when the Republicans took control of the House and Senate during the Clinton administration (thereby allowing a sitting president to face impeachment for having an affair...but the current president lied us into a war and faces no repercussions.) and today, when Barack Obama is dissed by the righties as being "elitist."
This is part of a diary that appeared recently on the DailyKos. An Obama supporter was out canvassing a conservative neighborhood, and he found an older gentleman, sitting on the porch. The man invited him to sit down and they chatted. The man said he had been a Republican until recently, and he went on to explain why. This is part of that explanation, and I think it might speak to some people who have just always been Republicans, so they continue to vote that way, without really noticing that perhaps that party doesn't represent them that well anymore.
"Back in the 60's, before either of you young folks were born there was a guy named Barry Goldwater. He was the GOP nominee that LBJ beat in '64. He was an intellectual. He was a big believer in rational government and making government smaller. He was of the belief that the American people were the best judges of what was good and not good for them but wanted and fought for them to have the right to choose for themselves. Barry Goldwater was far from perfect though. He had his faults as all men do but he was also a man who was very much about ideas and liberties and not about policies and programs. He liked the idea that America was a place that you could talk about big things and have big ideas that made big achievements. It was really something.
"When Reagan won in 1980 it was almost a vindication of those beliefs. You have to understand that for many of us who voted for Reagan it wasn't so much about his policies as it was about his ideas. Back then Conservatives talked about policy and ideas like they were important. They valued intelligence and education. They believed that if they presented their ideas pragmatically and logically that people would respond and we could unite the country. Regan did that. Not perfectly of course but he did it.
Then something happened. Nixon played to it of course but it really came into play in the 1990's and even more this past decade. Republicans turned their backs on smart people. Just like that, being smart was less important than being 'real'. Being qualified was about being ordinary. New ideas and thoughtful discourse was something to be ridiculed and not something to be examined. A good education and vocabulary became something to disdain and not something to celebrate. The Republicans stopped being leaders and started becoming drum bangers. Oh, they'd pull out their tanks and missiles like they were penises and pretend that asking questions was akin to treason. Scary."
He stopped for a moment and took another sip from his mug. "The Republican party is the party of the bowling alley. It's the party of the poker game. It's the party of pseudo patriotism and talking points masquerading as a platform. It's the party of shrillness and fear and I couldn't in good conscience be a part of that smoke and mirrors any longer."
Needless to say, Shannon and I were stunned. It was very quiet for a moment as we allowed what this smart and friendly older gentleman had just said to sink in. Finally we found our voices again and asked him if he had any questions about Senator Obama or his platforms. He gave us a shrewd wink and replied, "I do indeed son, but I don't think they are ones anyone can answer until he's in the job." Taking this as our cue, we both got up and thanked Dave for the chat and he replied with an airy wave of his mug. "What you are doing is important. It's important to stand up for something you believe in." We said our goodbyes and started down the steps when he called out to us again.
"And you can pound one of those signs in the lawn on the way out if you'd like."
One more down. More to go. America is waking up. And it was such a beautiful day."
No comments:
Post a Comment