General Discussion

johnlucas

(1,250 posts)

60. I think I missed the importance of 1968 & RFK

Tue Sep 4, 2012, 12:36 AM

Sep 2012

They kill John Kennedy in 1963 & Lyndon Johnson takes over.
Johnson carries out Kennedy's plan & powers the Civil Rights Act of 1964 & Voting Rights Act of 1965.
That purged the racists out of the Democratic Party for good & the Democratic Party we still support & hope for today comes from this.

The big mistake was Vietnam which split the party along war & anti-war lines.
Blacks wanted more from Johnson but they could be brought back into the fold since he risked major political capital to get those landmark achievements passed. Besides he gave us Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court. And Medicare was awesome.

Due to health issues & fractures in the party he sat out of the 1968 election.
Could he have beaten Nixon? I think so. It might have been tight but I think he could have pulled it off once he got past the primaries.
But he didn't run & turned the 1968 election into a free-for-all. Everything's up for grabs.

With LBJ standing aside, Robert Kennedy was the people's favorite & once he got past the primaries he would have embarrassed Nixon on the televised debates just like his brother John did. He would have been the President.
And then he was assassinated...

I believe that killed the backbone of the Democratic Party right then & there.
They didn't go as hard against the opposition after that.
Nixon gets in & starts the slow process that leads us to Reagan & the Bushes & all the Republicans inbetween.
In reaction to that Democrats start this Third Way crap giving us a shell of the former strong Progressive Democrats of the FDR/JFK/LBJ era.
So desperate we are to return to that, we'll take anything we can get from Clinton.

I really want Obama to end the Third Way appeasement style politics & turn the Democratic Party back into FDR/JFK/LBJ's vision.
There's a reason why we put up those guys by their initials only. They're THAT legendary.
One day I hope we look back on BHO.
John Lucas

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Message to Llewlladdwr & all other Southerners: Perspective on the South bashing. [View all] johnlucas Sep 2012 OP

THANK YOU Skittles Sep 2012 #1

It's easy to lose perspective when you think you're being attacked johnlucas Sep 2012 #2

The problem is that SOUTHERNERS need to be doing the correcting... Fawke Em Sep 2012 #27

You SHOULD care. But take your anger out on the ones bringing The South down johnlucas Sep 2012 #36

Yes they do, but we both know they won't and we both know why. And until Y'all stop raising your Egalitarian Thug Sep 2012 #44

OK a million and one props to all the DUers in the red states K8-EEE Sep 2012 #3

We have the "John Birchers" out here (they quit calling themselves that, though) SoCalDem Sep 2012 #50

I grew up in Alabama Scootaloo Sep 2012 #4

it wasn't a long time ago when Texas WAS a blue state... rppper Sep 2012 #6

That was back when the racists had not yet fully left the Democratic Party. Odin2005 Sep 2012 #17

Thank you for this... BeeBee Sep 2012 #5

That's rightly so, johnlucas Jack Sprat Sep 2012 #7

1948 & 1964 is what changed johnlucas Sep 2012 #25

I do not even engage with them. Manifestor_of_Light Sep 2012 #8

Hmm .. but what about my vote here in Georgia? YOHABLO Sep 2012 #9

Ah yes, that stupid argument. Zoeisright Sep 2012 #13

Can you respect that the South is my home? Llewlladdwr Sep 2012 #10

the MAJORITY of people in your "home" are racist pieces of shit scheming daemons Sep 2012 #21

No they're not. Fawke Em Sep 2012 #29

Radio is a BIG reason why it continues johnlucas Sep 2012 #46

I have said the same thing MuseRider Sep 2012 #47

Disagree. area51 Sep 2012 #11

Guilty. Hulk Sep 2012 #12

Locking. UnrepentantLiberal Sep 2012 #14

Unlocking thread. UnrepentantLiberal Sep 2012 #15

That Birtherism is concentrated in the South tells me everything... Odin2005 Sep 2012 #16

Riiight. Orly Taitz is CA. Trump's in New York. DirkGently Sep 2012 #18

Read my post about The Southern Strategy johnlucas Sep 2012 #45

Bingo TroglodyteScholar Sep 2012 #19

There is a flaw in your rationalization of South bashing aikoaiko Sep 2012 #20

That tactic is the calling card of crappy call-out rhetoric here. DirkGently Sep 2012 #24

A better way of direction. Jack Sprat Sep 2012 #55

We're closer than before, sure, but it's still a major problem johnlucas Sep 2012 #26

I whole-heartedly disagree. Fawke Em Sep 2012 #30

Let me know when it's 75% or more in any Northern state. dawg Sep 2012 #33

Well good point but here's a few that approach that number johnlucas Sep 2012 #41

It's wrong to single out any one region. dawg Sep 2012 #43

While recognizing that there are certainly progressive sufrommich Sep 2012 #22

Yes! There is a very good reason that "exceptional southerners" are considered to be...exceptional Tom Ripley Sep 2012 #32

That apparently took nearly 30 years to work. Fawke Em Sep 2012 #39

It goes back further than that, Fawke. Jack Sprat Sep 2012 #51

Here is a position with a longer history of the southern strategy Jack Sprat Sep 2012 #53

The basic problem with all of these threads is that the South is not monolithic. alarimer Sep 2012 #23

And never has been Adsos Letter Sep 2012 #28

True. So people should consider making an honest active commitment to "small" again. nt patrice Sep 2012 #34

And yet my relative moved to NC with her dark skinned cuban boyfriend and was accosted repeatedly. progressivebydesign Sep 2012 #38

Love this!!! One thing: Changing the South "as a whole", if that's what we are waiting for before patrice Sep 2012 #31

Yes you must work within your circle of influence before anything else johnlucas Sep 2012 #57

It's all way overwhelming when you look at the whole thing. Need to start believing in small things patrice Sep 2012 #58

Oh, and one more thing...: Aristus Sep 2012 #35

We do call it out and make fun of it. Fawke Em Sep 2012 #40

Thank you. Keep up the good work. Aristus Sep 2012 #48

I respect that Fawke Em. Thank you johnlucas Sep 2012 #49

Beautifully put!! I'm on the West Coast and don't take insults about it personally. progressivebydesign Sep 2012 #37

Gotta tell ya, a huge amount of the people in my part of the south originated in the NORTH. 1monster Sep 2012 #42

Sad. How is it not bigoted to bash an entire region? Skip Intro Sep 2012 #52

Why are you taking it personally? We're calling out the bigoted mentality not the region johnlucas Sep 2012 #59

Since our efforts were futile last night Jack Sprat Sep 2012 #54

I think I missed the importance of 1968 & RFK johnlucas Sep 2012 #60

Here's something about the North South conflict moving into the Civil war flamingdem Sep 2012 #56

Charlotte NC and Boston MA cwydro Sep 2012 #61