Republicans
are fond of claiming to be the party of Lincoln. It gives them a sense of
respectability that Nixon and Joseph McCarthy never could provide. The last
time they were the party of Lincoln was seven score, ten years ago if it was a
day. So, the obvious question is what has the party of Lincoln done for us
lately.
For a good part of the 20th century, Democrats
struggled to remove racism from within their own party. When they finally
exorcised their demons, those who couldn’t stomach reform, who thought giving
blacks actual citizenship rights, just one century after giving them full
citizenship was moving too fast, sought refuge in the GOP.
Republicans
were only too happy to welcome them, just as they would grudgingly welcome
other hate groups when there were political gains to be had. Clearly “big tent”
means something different for Republicans. Today’s Republican Party is not the
party of Lincoln. It is the party of Strom Thurmond.
For
the last fifty years, the nation has tried to move toward tolerance and
acceptance and away from racism and bigotry, not just for blacks, but for all
minorities.
During
this same period, the Republican Party has relocated to a place where its main
constituency is now old white men with money and/or attitude and young, less
educated white men with mostly attitude. Oh, and Evangelicals, who used to be
all about GOD have also found a home in the GOP.
When
Civil Rights legislation was still in its incubator stage, Nixon was putting
together, his “law and order southern strategy.” The once solid Democratic
south has morphed into the new solid Republican south. Racism and bigotry are
the glue holding it together.
The
1976 election wasn’t so much about enforcing law and order or advancing civil
rights. Gerald Ford was burdened by blow-back to the Nixon-pardon-baggage. It allowed
a southern Democrat who was neither racist nor law-and-order to win the
election that even Republican Lincoln would have had difficulty winning.
By
1980, bigotry was back on track. Reagan gave his first post-convention speech
near Philadelphia, Mississippi, sight of the 1964 murder of civil rights
workers. Republicans claim the location was insignificant and only
coincidental, as was his references to states’ rights. No one, in either party,
was fooled.
The
Republican Party has spent the last 30 years since Reagan was its figurehead
working behinds the scenes, sometimes shrouded by smokescreens, to dismantle
anti-discrimination legislation and actual civil rights achievements. Knowing
they have a problem with minorities, they’ve continually vowed to improve their
relationships with them—just as soon as they’ve stopped Blacks from voting,
slowed down immigration, and stop catering to people with disabilities.
Republicans
would have us believe they are the party of small government, low taxes and
individual freedom, but their biggest concerns always seem to be enacting
discriminating policies against minorities, protecting gun rights and shifting tax burdens away from the wealthy.
Republicans repeatedly oppose anti-discrimination laws
benefiting gays, transgender, blacks, Hispanics, woman and just about any other
group looking for not much more than acceptance and equal treatment under the
law.
At
the same time, their discriminatory practices in the 30 or so states where they
control government have led to countless voter ID laws under the pretense of
preventing voter fraud. I’m not sure what fewer voting locations and shorter
voting periods have to do with stopping voter fraud, but it sure makes it more
difficult to vote.
How
bad is this fraud? Very bad say predominantly Republican state legislatures.
What
do the actual numbers tell us? Out of 197 million votes cast in federal
elections between 2002 and 2005, only 40 voters were indicted of voter fraud
and 26 convicted. That’s a conviction rate of 0.00000013. Probably more cases
went undetected. I will admit that. Certainly not enough to justify all the
money and time that has been spent making voting harder for legitimate voters.
The
only national election decided by a single vote in the history of our nation
was the five-four vote by a Conservative Supreme Court to elect a Republican
president in 2000.
The only fraud being committed, is by Republicans who under
the pretense of making it fairer, make it more difficult.
Today,
few Republican leaders are willing to speak out against the obvious bigotry of
their presidential nominee. I’m not saying they are bigots. Perhaps, gutless
hypocrites is a better word. Trump is able to succeed, not despite his racist
comments, but because his racist comments seem to find such a welcoming
audience among his supporters. They’ll be the first to say he speaks to them,
that he says what they are thinking, what they want to hear.
Obviously
not all Republicans feel this way, but enough of them do to cause Lincoln to
turn over in his grave and demand they stop using his name in vain.
Grass-roots Republicans—upset that their leaders have
failed to fulfill promises, either ignore or don’t understand how hard the
Republican establishment has worked for the last 50 years to turn back
anti-discrimination movements. The fact that it hasn’t totally succeeded in
spite of their efforts isn’t their fault. They tried. They are still trying. It
is a tribute to those Americans, who not only say they aren’t racist, but
actually aren’t racist, that the struggle for equal rights continues.
Electing
a black president did not signal the end of racism in America. It only gave
racists more stuff to complain about. Racism is alive and well, and has found a
home in the Republican Party. The party of Lincoln continues to deny this, even
as white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi groups, and most militias
continue to pledge their support to the Republican Party.
The
party of Lincoln is now the party of Donald Trump because Republicans have
handed it over to him on a silver platter.
Postscript:
Trump challenged Blacks with the words, “What have you got to lose?” He has
spent the last two years answering his own question. He’s belittled black
athletes, business leaders, staff people, and Congresswomen. He’s called them
dogs, questioned their intelligence, their patriotism. He’s lied about how well
they have done under his presidency.
He’s treated
Hispanics with outright scorn, to the point where some families separated at
the southern border may never be reunited.
He jumps on every opportunity to divide
the nation, pitting one class against another, one state against another, one
party against the other.
He’s denigrated the Justice Department
and Intelligence community—once the darlings of the “law and order” party to
the point where the whole country—well, most of it—are shaking their heads in
disbelief.
The party that thrived on the Cold War
in the fifties and ended it in the eighties, now finds its leader standing on
the same stage with Putin and Jung-un and talking about what great guys they
are—even as Putin attacks our elections and Jung-un threatens to attack our
west coast.
Republicans haven’t opened the door for
Trump so much as they paved the way for him.
Simply put, the GOP has fallen victim to
the MAGA scam. As Yogi Berra might have said, it’s SNAFU all over again.
