The Republican Party, Embracing the "extremists" or heading towards Manor Care...... Take your pick...
Yesterday I posted a poem entitled “The Bad Old Days” , for those people NOT enamoured with poetry it represented a puzzle of sorts —- and then the illustration included was a bit puzzling. The woman depicted is wearing the “female body armor” for the 1950’s. The tight “hourglass girdle”, garters (often made of steel) that no doubt dug into the tender flesh and the pointy brassiere. I remember that I had an aunt who wore this concoction. As a five year old, my curiosity got the best of me and I poked the tip of one of her massive horizontal pyramids, hard, and was promptly removed to the “corner” —- we did not have “time out”.
But no, the good days were not always so good. I recently read an article by David Frum entitled “A tea party exit would be a blessing for GOP”. For those of you who don’t know, David Frum was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. Hmmmm……
Lets take a look at that. What would the Republican Party look like without the so called “extremists”? Well I have one idea…… maybe an all white supper gathering at a Manor Care Assisted Living Facility for sure. (Not to put down Manor Care, they provided me with one of my first jobs in college and paid me very well —- I happen to like older people, they tend to have insight — good and bad as well as interesting stories, but I digress. )
Where would the energy come from with these “middle of the roaders”? Probably from the Democrat truck running it down in the middle of the road.
I went to one such luncheon last week (I normally choose a table in the back so I can slip out, but unfortunately I am usually the only 5’11” Black woman in stilettos under a certain age at these gatherings so they often catch me and return me to my seat). The guys at the table next to me were entering that comatose level of sleep. The woman across from me was enjoying a nap and the kids that came with their high school teacher were looking as though they would have rather taken a whipping. The subject of this meeting? Who knows…… the speaker was monotone. He warned against “extremism” and argued for “conservative pragmatism”. He told the crowd, now half asleep, that Chris Christie would be the next president….. to which one of the boys at the high school table “whispered” “Oh, the guy who looks like he swallowed a space ship”? They started laughing. Ah, the youth, they are so …. youthful. They don’t have a clue how this will be “rammed through”.
One could argue that George Washington was the original “insurgent extremist”, he fought against a tyrannical “mother” government (England) -and then he had the audacity to lead that “rogue government” (America). Then you have the “fringe” of colonial days —- the colonists who sought to free themselves from British rule for example…
But the most extreme of all extremists are: John Adams, James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin. Those “bad boyz” , what did they do?
>John Adams assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, among other “extremist” activities, this could either be considered the cornerstone of the formation of our country or a “treasonous document” of extremism. Take your pick.
>James Madison is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights. Those “meanie nasty NRA loving old Bill of Rights”, that make it possible to practice what is left of our free speech, the right to own a gun, and other “extreme stuff” such as the right to a speedy trial …… This could be considered a protection of our rights as a citizens, or rampant obstructionism. Take your pick.
>Benjamin Franklin Franklin earned the title of “The First American” for his early and indefatigable campaigning for colonial unity; as an author and spokesman in London for several colonies, then as the first United States Ambassador to France, he exemplified the emerging American nation.Franklin was foundational in defining the American ethos as a marriage of the practical values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment.Wiki
Franklin would have been the “big dog” so to speak of the “home-grown” terrorists. He would have been called the “extremist’s” extremist. He was a flinty obstructionist. A non-conformist. Or maybe a brilliant statesman, take your pick.
>Not mentioned is the “Head Extremist in Charge” good old Abraham Lincoln. Who, along with his “fringe boy” cohorts found a way to kill the practice of slavery while uniting the country. His Gettysburg Address of 1863 became the most quoted speech in American history. It was an iconic statement of America’s dedication to the principles of nationalism, republicanism, equal rights, liberty, and democracy. Another “extreme document” or an important document for our Republic. Take your pick.
These people would have been purged from the rungs of this hypothetical new party suggested by Frum, the new quiet party, who are “fiscally conservative but socially liberal” — “all about money and nothing else party”. One of the things that you realize when letting people talk or write, they reveal themselves loud and clear. Frum posits: “Some yearn for a third party representing the Michael Bloomberg center: fiscally conservative and socially liberal like the New York City mayor.”
I have never heard ANYONE “wax poetic” about having David Bloomberg as a president. But then I am not allowed in the circles that Frum travels……..
So, for those people who view disagreement as “extremism”, and wish to return to the good old “checkered pants” Republican days, remember, the world is passing you by. When you listen to the Democrat party tell you what you need to do as a Republican, that is like listening to the opposite team in a football game tell you how to score the winning touchdown.
And by the way, the advice they give is the reason why there are virtually no people of color/non-majority ethnicity representing the Republican party on the state or federal level. And virtually no women. Everytime I mention this, I get the tired old mantra “We look at the content of their character, not the color of their skin or gender”. Does this mean Blacks/Hispanics/Asians and women have no character? Its is all a matter of perspective…. isn’t it?
One man’s extremism is another’s way to the future. Where would we have been without it. Certainly not in the USA.