Democrats Going the Way of the Whigs
Geoff Metcalf
Monday, Feb. 7, 2005
There may be a place for partisanship "¦ but NOT in the middle of a war and NOT in the wake of historic elections of representative governments in
Afghanistan
Ukraine
Iraq
and even municipal elections in Saudi Arabia
Now is NOT the time to focus on the "˜us' vs. "˜them' acrimonious petty whizzing match.
Sycophant Democrats are still so wrapped around partisanship, they are incapable of recognizing the self-destruction they are fueling.
The river "˜Denial' runs wide and deep. The "˜leaders' of the party (Kennedy, Reid, Pelosi, Biden, Kerry et al.) are puking rhetoric not only counter to the wants, needs and desires of their constituents, but also counter to sustaining the political viability of their dysfunctional club.
It is not, and should never be, a question of WHO is right or wrong about anything of significance "¦ but rather WHAT is right or wrong.
The Democrat Party has become a bunch of really smart men and women doing real stupid stuff:
The stonewalling abuse of process on judicial nominations was a dumb idea. It cost Tom Daschle his leadership position AND his Senate seat "¦ and added seats to the opposition.
The mean-spirited, counterintuitive assault on Dr. Condoleezza Rice's nomination to be the first black woman secretary of state was beyond myopic.
The similarly petty slowdown of the Alberto Gonzales nomination to be the first Hispanic attorney general was dumb.
The religiosity of their support for abortion and opposition to guns is hurting them.
Aubrey T. DeVera once said, "Prejudice, which sees what it pleases, cannot see what is plain." So it must be prejudice that is the cancer eating away at the essence of the Democrat Party.
It is said that "˜crazy' is doing the same thing with the same negative results over and over again and anticipating a different outcome. Frankly, it demonstrates an inability or unwillingness to learn from mistakes.
Democrats' dream quest to ban guns reportedly cost Al Gore the brass ring (and Oval Office). The pro-abortion stance is becoming so unpopular that even Hillary Clinton has smelled the coffee.
The Whig Party was created in 1834 primarily as an opposition party to the policies of President Andrew Jackson. They were the "˜Jackson Bad' party "¦ kinda like the contemporary Democrats have become the "˜Bush Bad' crowd.
Eventually they got around to developing an actual platform (protective tariff, creation of new Bank of the U.S., public land use) and elected a president (William Harrison) who served only 31 days before dying of pneumonia. John Tyler succeeded Harrison and then pretty much vetoed most of his own party's legislation.
The Whigs (like the Democrats of today) suffered a double whammy: internal dissent/disunity and increasing American prosperity, which made their activist agenda seem unnecessary. They got hammered in congressional elections and lost control of the House. The parallel to the Democrats is striking.
The Compromise of 1850
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compromise_of_1850 fractured the Whigs along pro- and anti-slavery lines.Today we see wedge issues which have traditionally been Democrat rallying points (gun control and abortion) creating the same political environment.
In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas-Nebraska_Act) divided the Whigs even further.
The anti-immigration Know-Nothing Partty (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know-Nothing_movement) cut deeply into the Whig vote.
The newly formed Republiccan Party won support from disaffected Democrats and Whigs.
In 1856 the remaining Whigs threw their support behind the Know-Nothing Party.
In 1860 a few Whig diehards regrouped as the Constitutional Union Party.
Ex-Whig Abraham Lincolnm of the Republican Party won, triggering the American Civil War and bringing an end to the Whigs.
Liberal Democrats have become the "˜Bush Bad/Anti-War gang. They preach stale 1960s bromides that ring hollow or are perceived as flat-out wrong by the very constituency they are trying to win. Liberal Democrats have become the contemporary personification of the Whigs "¦ and, like the Whigs, are marching to oblivion.
Recycled cyber-flotsam observes:
It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51-day operation.
It took less time to find Saddam's sons in Iraq than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Teddy Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sunk off Chappaquiddick, killing a young woman.
It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!!!
And, excuse me, but there have been elections in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iraq.
Rutherford B. Hayes said, "He serves his party best who serves the country best." Democrats would do well to ignore the fact that Hayes was a Republican and embrace his sound advice.
Democrats Going the Way of the Whigs
