Monday, October 4, 2010
A Scrub(bing) of History
I think that we've all gotten accustomed to Keith Olbermann's partisan presentations. But a comment of his last week went really, REALLY, over the top. He starts off by saying that the Republican Party won the Civil War, and then, in an obvious smearing of the grand old party, cuts it off at that. They haven't had an accomplishment in 150 years, in other words...........................................................................................I guess, folks, that he's forgotten about the six national parks that Teddy Roosevelt established, his signing of the Antiquities Act, his trust-busting rampages, etc.. Ditto, he evidently hasn't heard about Civil Rights Bill of 1957 that Eisenhower signed, the fact that he developed the interstate highway system and ended the Korean War. And, yes, what about Ford cutting inflation from 12.2% to 4.6%, the fact that he granted clemency to draft dodgers, Nixon normalizing relations with China and ending the draft, Reagan reducing inflation from 12.4% to 1.1% and signing the INF Treaty with Gorbachev, Bush 1 signing the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clean Air Act, his brilliant conducting of the first Iraq War (yes, Mr. Perot, I know, he "created" Saddam Hussein in the '70s but, still)? Do not ANY of these things count as accomplishments? Hell, folks, even the second Bush did a good thing by tripling humanitarian aid to Africa (yes, there have in fact been questions as to how effectively the money's been spent)..............................................................................................Now, I am not in any way saying that the Republicans are perfect (they're certainly FAR from perfect currently). But for Olbermann to say that they haven't accomplished anything for nearly a century and a half is just plain ridiculous.....Here's to hoping that the programmers at MSNBC will at least consider a modicum of balance down the road.
I agree with you on everything from Nixon onwards, but do you honestly believe Teddy Roosevelt and Ike would be allowed in the current republican party? Hell I would have to throw Ford in that list as well.
ReplyDeleteBeck has called TR a "weird progressive" and yes I heard him directly say it on his Fox News show. Anyone who doubts me either didn't watch the show or is a damn liar. Back when I was a conservative I also directly heard Limbaugh go on rants about Ford, for some reason he had real issues with the guy as well as General Powell back in 1996 when there was speculation Powell would make a run for president.
As for Ike I have not heard any on the right attack him but given how they are about purity I see him being treated the same way Powell is now.
BB......its a big tent....they all fit....unlike the dems.
ReplyDeleteTeddy Roosevelt...fits,Ike....fits,Nixon..fits,Reagan...fits,Bush I...fits,Bush II...fits,Romney....fits,Huckabee....fits,McCain....fits,Graham...fits,Palin....fits,Jindal...fits,Christie...fits,Rubio...gonna fit,Haley...gonna fit!!!!
Yes its a big tent indeed,there's room for all...come on in.
Damn Keith Olbermann! He certainly SHOULD have turned the entire hour into a history lesson wherein he extolled all the wonderful accomplishments of the Republican Party. Here's to hoping you wake up and realize "balance" isn't the goal of the programmers at MSNBC. Give me a break.
ReplyDeleteYes its a big tent indeed,there's room for all...come on in.
ReplyDeleteExcept for all the RINO's you complain about ... ;)
You've never heard me complain about a "RINO."I'll complain about a position but never the person.I follow Reagan's 11th.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure everyone here agree's the Republican party is way more accepting then the dems.I mean its just common sense.We've accepted people like Rockafeller to Goldwater to Reagan to Graham to McCain to Paul....think about that for a minute.
ReplyDeleteThe dems run off a good guy like Joe Lieberman.
Your party just ahd a purity pledge drive Rusty.
ReplyDeleteBut as William Buckley said, vote for ther most conservative they have to offer.
Republicans would tolerate Hitler if he had an R beside his name.
Russ, I have to agree with double b on this one. I don't think that even Reagan himself would be tolerable to this Republican Party.....Then again, you do make a good point about the Dems. Now that Bayh has retired and Lincoln will probably lose, they're pretty much down to Webb, Nelson, and Landrieu for moderate Senators (there are, I still believe, a fair number of blue-dogs in the House). Both parties seem to be purifying.
ReplyDeleteWrong sparky....what Buckley actually said was "vote for the conservative with the best chance to win." In other words a candidate like Marco Rubio.
ReplyDeletewd, he doesn't have to extol the virtues of the Republicans. I'm just asking him not to whitewash history completely.....Truth, I love ya', baby. But I don't think that the Republicans would accept Hitler anymore that the Democrats would accept Stalin. Both sides have totally hunkered down, but I don't think that they've haven't gotten that bad yet.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the difference Rusty? I didn't use quotation marks.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is the right will use anyone it can. You're one of their dupes.
Its America Will,you can agree with anyone you like.But Ronald Reagan would fit right in today...he would embrace candidates like Marco Rubio and Nikki Haley.
ReplyDeleteYou and BB bring up this B.S. about a "current Republican Party,"but seem to fail to mention that the present dem's would never accept JFK or Tip O'Neil,they would cast them out like they did Lieberman.
Dupes? Speak for youself....you're the people who embrace the likes of Grayson,Wasserman-Schultz,Sharpton...yet cast out Lieberman.
ReplyDeleteRuss, I would be willing to bet that guys like Bob Dole and Howard Baker would have been primaried (and lose) in today's climate. You cannot tell me that there hasn't been a significant turn to the right.
ReplyDeleteHistory repeats it self Will.The 1979 Republican Party was the one of moderates like Nixon and Ford.1980 brought Ronald Reagan and the conservative movement.Over the past 10 years the party has lost its bearings with the likes of McCain,Graham and yes even W to some extent.Now today one month from the mid-terms the dems are calling conservatives ulta rightwing radicals.I ask you...is Bobby Jindal a radical? Is Nikki Haley a radical?Is Marco Rubio a radical?Is Gov.Christie a radical?
ReplyDeleteDont be scared...its just gonna be 1980 all over again...relax,take a deep breath....its gonna be morning in America!
If Lieberman was "cast out" why is he still in the Senate instead of Ned Lamont?
ReplyDeleteIf he was "cast out" why did Democrats welcome him back with open arms, completely forgive him for endorsing the Republican in the Presidential election, and allow him to keep his Homeland Security chairmanship?
Don't forget that during the health care debate, the Dems proposed adopting Lieberman's proposal to open up Medicare to additional people. After he flip flopped on his previously held position, the Democrats withdrew that proposal.
The Democrats couldn't possibly do more to bend over and give this a-hole everything he wants.
He ran as the candidate from the "Connecticut for Lieberman" party.... it would have been the "Lieberman for Connecticut" party but this guy obviously doesn't get the PUBLIC SERVANT concept.
Lieberman isn't a "good guy", he's a corporate sell out. You can't say a Democrat who has seriously considered switching his party affiliation to Republican to have been "cast out". It's ridiculous.
Nobody failed to mention JFK or Tip O'Neil being rejected by the current Democratic party because it wouldn't happen. Republicans are "big tent"? What a joke.
Russ, wd, give me some credit here. There aren't a lot of bloggers out there who could rile BOTH of you guys up....and do it in a single thread......Seriously, though, I do have to confess. I was, for a long time, a Leibermann supporter (he, McCain, and Colin Powell were actually 3 of my idols). But because of my strong distaste for the neocon policies of the previous decade, I decided to split and vote for Ned LaMont in 2006. If it makes you feel any better, Russ, I also voted for Republican Jody Rell in the governor's race.
ReplyDeleteAbout every 15-20 years americans forget history and go out to the garage,take the cover off it and decide to take liberalism out for a bit of a spin.They quickly realize how costly and bad a ride it is,take it back to the garage,put it up on blocks,put the cover over it and say,I'd forgotten was a piece of crap that thing is.
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to put liberalism (the hard-core version of it at least) on the shelf for a while. But I'd also want to put neoconservatism (the Perles and Wolfowitzes of the world) on the shelf, too. This, Russ, in that I just don't think that we can continue/afford to fight these crazy wars. The credit card is totally frigging maxed.
ReplyDeleteRusty, sorry I'm late but you bring up a good point. JFK and Tip would not fit in well with the likes of Olbermann and Maddow. Lib
ReplyDeleteOn another subject yes, Nikki is a radical. SC is pure republican country and somehow after 20-some odd years of GOP control her commercials whine about government being in the way. Plus, you wrote about the GOP being a big tent, thats seriously funny.
You bring up Lieberman, and all I can say is that the republicans ran off Crist. In reality both left their parties because the lost in the primary.
It (the grand old party) used to be a big tent. But, yeah, you're right, double b, it isn't so much of a big one anymore.
ReplyDeleteBut, yeah, you're right, double b, it isn't so much of a big one anymore.
ReplyDeleteHence my "RINO" comment,
Lincoln Chaffee is a very good example of this.
The tea baggers and other far right hard liners in the republican party are running the moderates off.
Rusty was the one who said that it WAS a big tent, not me. I, personally, would like to see MORE moderates.
ReplyDeleteLincoln Chaffee a moderate?????
ReplyDeleteHe's a friggin dem,hell he's more liberal then Pelosi.
Jim DeMint....now there's a moderate.
Hey Russ, that reminds me of one of my all-time favorite Mark Russell (I saw that son of a bitch live once - he killed!!) joke, "It's great to be back in the great state of Connecticut, where Democrats are old style Democrats....and so are the Republicans." Yeah, I guess that you could probably say the same thing about Rhode Island, huh?
ReplyDelete