“People forget what good the Republican Party has done in the past.”
Early Republicans stood firmly against slavery and led the fight to destroy the Confederate States of America. We can illustrate this no more clearly than to point out that after the Civil War, many freed Black slaves became enthusiastic members of the party, which was popular in the North but was anathematic in the South. (That might be a clue to something or other — make a note of that.)
The party ran on the coattails of their remarkable success during the Civil War and by bringing us one of our most honored presidents, Abraham Lincoln. His successor, Ulysses S. Grant, “succeeded” in making corruption and graft a mainstay of the party from then on. However, in all the confusion, he did manage to establish Yellowstone as our first national park. Atta boy.
But Republicans quickly learned not to overdo good things. Now they’re working overtime to “undo” good things (health care, Social Security, voting rights, labor unions, living wages, etc.).
The death knell for the Republican Department of Good Works began to sound during Theodore Roosevelt’s administration. He exhibited his GOP credentials beyond any doubt by freeing the souls of 200,000 inhabitants of the Philippines from any earthly connection when transferring Spanish rule to our own. (We relinquished Cuba after four years. We held the Philippines until 1946 and we still have Guam and Puerto Rico.)
Unfortunately, Teddy had a condition that kept him up nights — he exhibited many traits of being “woke.” He became known as an avid “trust buster” by discouraging monopolies through his regulatory reforms and prosecutions. He established and empowered agencies to regulate food safety and railroad rates. He avoided labor strikes by negotiation and settlement. And in expanding our national parks and national forests, he took much land of historical value out of the hands of prospective developers. In general, his brand of Republicanism was too much of a good thing. The Republican Party dumped him in his next presidential bid and he was forced to establish his failed “Bull Moose Party,” which eventually faded into oblivion.
Yes, good works by the Republican Party are literally “history.”
The tombstone reads:
GOP Jr.
“1854-1906,
“Rest in peace.”
“It was a long time ago.”
“They got away with it.”
“It’s time to move on.”
Dennis Shain
Centralia
