I criticize democrats more than republicans

[JohnnyRingo]

149. I despised LBJ

Back in the '60s with the Vietnam War raging, I was one of the ones chanting "hey hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today" at protests. My first vote as an 18 year old was for George McGovern. Now I look back at the Johnson administration as one of the greatest of my lifetime. The good he did on social issues far outweighed his right wing views on foreign policy. The country would be an almost unrecognizable conservative wet dream without his action on civil rights and social equality.

I didn't like Jimmy Carter while he was in office. I bought into much of the hype about what an ineffective failure he was and was quite upset that he couldn't resolve the hostage crisis. I was so disillusioned with Carter I cast the only vote in my life for a Republican in 1980. After I saw Reagan dismantle the air traffic controllers union, I realized what a mistake I'd made and vowed never to fall for a Republican smear again. Like most people, I now look back at Jimmy Carter as a great president who presided over a divided nation with a steady and tempered hand.

I kept my resolve when Clinton was in office, but the republican smear machine was in full overdrive. That smear campaign bled into the left with claims at the time that he was absolutely no friend to liberals. With legislation like welfare reform and NAFTA, it's a wonder he even saw re-election. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight we now understand that the Clinton years were some of the most prosperous and socially beneficial of my 40 year voting record.

I watch now as history repeats itself. The Republican smear machine has become a well oiled leviathan that seems unstoppable, and the chorus from the left rises once again to express disillusion and contempt for a president that will one day be remembered as one of the greatest of the new generation.

I believe much of the noise from the left that could help usher in another GW Bush in 2016 is coming from disenfranchised Hillary, Dean, and Kucinich supporters who have been playing a game of "what if" since 2008. The Kennedy dems did that during the LBJ years, the McGovern people did that while Carter was in office, the Nader folks did that while Clinton was president, and now it's predictably happening all over again.

Self hating Democrats who demand an uncompromising far left White House have historically done more to install Republicans than Grover Norquest could ever hope in my lifetime, but discontent seems to trademark our party.

Someday, even the most strident critics of the Obama Administration will speak fondly of these years, but it may take another four years of Republican rule to bring it into focus. That's how it always works, and I see no reason this time is any different.