General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHistory of Repuglican dirty deeds to cheat the elections - HCR
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-5-2020Her Letters from an American should be required reading for anybody that cares about where we've been and cares about the lessons to be learned.
To what end? Why are Republicans accepting this anti-American behavior from Trump?
It seems to me they are unwilling to risk losing Trumps voters in the future because they are determined to regain power. They dont much care about our democracy, so long as they have a shot at keeping Trumps people on their side. But then, again, to what end? If Republicans regain power in 2022 or 2024, what will that look like? Do we have any reason to think they will then begin to defend our democracy? Do we have any reason to think they are interested in anything but even more legislation that moves wealth upward?
We have been in a spot much like this before. In 1884, Americans turned against the Republican Party because it had abandoned its support for ordinary Americans in favor of the industrial leaders who put money into Republican lawmakers political war chests, as well as into their pockets. Voters put Democrat Grover Cleveland into the White House, the first Democrat to hold the presidency since James Buchanan was elected in 1856.
Horrified, the Republicans flooded the country with stories of how Democrats were socialists who would attack the rich by ending the legislation that protected businesses. If Democrats continued to control the government, Republicans said, they would destroy America. In 1888, they suppressed Democratic votes and created modern political financing as they hit up businessmen for major donations. Despite their best efforts, voters reelected Cleveland by about 100,000 votes, but Republicans managed to eke out a win for their candidate, Benjamin Harrison, in the Electoral College. Harrison promised a BUSINESSMANS ADMINISTRATION, and indeed, in office, he and his men did all they could to cement the Republican Party into power so it could continue to defend business (among other things, they added six new states to the Union to pack the Electoral College).
But voters still didnt like the Republicans platform, which seemed more and more to funnel money from hardworking Americans upward into the pockets of those men who were increasingly portrayed as robber barons. In 1892, they voted for Cleveland in such numbers they couldnt be overridden in the Electoral College. Voters also put Democrats in charge of Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
handmade34
(22,819 posts)so much cheating, suppression, exploitation, lying, etc... by the Republican Party over the years... yes, I am aware that Democrats are not immune from despicable behaviors, but it seems not by the numbers, nor the level of Republicans... (we can be honest and discuss)...
was thinking about it after reading about Richard Nixon's Senate race in 1950 against Helen Gahagan Douglas
"...Nixons campaign passed out half a million pink sheets, leaflets printed on pink paper, printed with vague but ominous suggestions that Helen Douglas had secret communist ties. In the days before robocalls, human Nixon campaign staffers would call voters at home and ask if they knew that Helen Douglas was married to a Jew and suggest that she was just another movie Jew trying to take the country away from real Americans. And white communities were mail-bombed with postcards in support of Helen, signed by the Communist League of Negro Womena completely made-up organization whose name alone was crafted to strike fear in the hearts of white homeowners..."
...I am truly sickened by what we do to each other and the levels we stoop to, in order to gain power and money
WePurrsevere
(24,259 posts)Interesting and often educational and enlightening. This is one of her best out of many 'bests'.
Hermit-The-Prog
(36,146 posts)DU actblue link for Warnock, Ossoff, Fair Fight
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/dufor2020runoff