Letter about why I am a democrat…
To the Editor,
Steve Colbert once commented, “The 2% of wealthy people in the United States are a ‘minority,’ therefore Democrats should be nice to them!”
I was born during the Great Depression, when F.D.R was president. Millions of Americans were unemployed. Under Francis Perkins the C.C.C (Civilian Conservation Corps) was enacted, along with a minimum wage, a shorter work week, federal laws regulating child labor and workers’ safety, and crafting the plan for Social Security.
Also at that time electricity was extended to farmers and Prohibition was repealed. F.D.R was followed by Harry Truman, who, after World War II, established a military presence in Europe and rebuilt their economy. He oversaw the Marshall Plan and the Berlin Airlift. He integrated the military and renovated the White House which was badly damaged in the War of 1812. In 1961 John F. Kennedy became president. He established the Peace Corp, confronted the Cuban Missile crisis, inspired a plan to send the first man to the moon, and proposed crafting a Civil Rights bill. He was followed by Lyndon B. Johnson who signed the Civil Rights bill into law. Medicare became law in 1965. Under Bill Clinton the economy took a leap forward. When Barack Obama became president he introduced a stimulus package to rescue a failing economy and confronted the crisis on Wall Street. He signed the “Lilly Ledbetter” Fair Pay Act into law and authorized “SCHIP” to cover uninsured children. He appointed Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.
In writing this I am not deliberately excluding the “good” done by Republicans or the “bad” things done by Democrats. I’ve attempted to show a record of a party that has demonstrated over the years a commitment to Civil Rights and pursuing a course that offers opportunity for “all” Americans.
Sincerely,
Yvonne Nyenhuis
Lanesboro, Minn.
Gerald J. Boyum says
Thanks to Kent Larson for your excellent rebuttal and description of how this “Democratic” Party was changed from an anti-communist platform to one with little or no differences from that of the Communist Party USA.
Probably the main reasons why you (Yvonne) and many other good Americans have not realized this transformation are the changed functions of much of the mainstream media from an unbiased free press to a propaganda arm for one political party. A free press acting as a watchdog for the people and keeping them well-informed is a critical part of the democratic process. However, over 2/3rds of the American people no longer trust much of the media; I have repeatedly stated that the truth is closer to the opposite of what these leftists say and write. Then we also have an education system that includes leftist indoctrination from kindergarten through grad school that is designed to teach students what to think, not how to think. Whoever controls the information provided to the people can control how they think- and vote.
Speaking of Obama, wasn’t he the first president who said on Oct. 30, 2008 that “We are five days away from fundamentally changing America”? Transforming? Isn’t that what totalitarians do, fundamentally transform what people think, their culture, values, etc.?
This particular discussion should start with the political ideology associated with any given party or candidate. The two primary choices are American Conservatism/Republican or Democratic Socialism/Democrat. All belief systems have a starting point or foundation (Ultimate Authority) that must be accepted by faith, and every human government was the product of definable political theory, which in turn was based on understanding about this foundation. This foundation is used to evaluate subsequent beliefs and actions. Key elements are:
1. Ultimate Authority/Reality. Creator God as revealed in the Bible vs. Man or his Institution, “The State” with its foundation of godless Marxism/Human Secularism. In our case, America was founded as a Christian nation by people who believed in a Creator God. The Bible was the most quoted source in political writings and speeches during the Founding Era. This philosophy is uniquely American.
2. Equality. Spiritual vs. Material. As mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, this is a spiritual equality, not a material one. All are equally subject to His Laws and Judgement. This is the source of Rule of Law.
3. Individual Rights. Unalienable vs. Alienable. Rights come from #1. They cannot be taken away, redefined or given away. The most important right is the right to life. Without it all other rights would be meaningless.
4. Government Power. Limited vs. Unlimited. Government must be limited in power if individual liberty is to be safeguarded. This is the reason for the Bill of Rights. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
5. Private Property. Essential Individual Right vs. State Ownership. Property ownership is a key part of individual liberty whereas socialists/communist consider it evil because ownership is the cause of greed and inequality.
6. Economic System. Capitalism vs. Democratic Socialism. Capitalism creates wealth, prosperity, and individual liberty. Socialism consumes wealth, limits individual liberty, creativity, and initiative. It requires total control of the economy and people.
7. Borders/Nation. Controlled vs. Open or Sovereign Nation vs. One-World Globalism. “A nation that cannot control its borders [and people entering] is not a nation.” Ronald Reagan
8. Real World Experience. Liberty, Truth and Prosperity vs. Death, Torture, Misery, Lies, False Promises, and Poverty. Application of American Conservatism as a political ideology with the respective elements as listed above has resulted in the greatest country to ever have existed. Socialism and its end game of Communism has failed wherever and whenever it has been tried, sometimes catastrophically with over 100 million people killed by their governments in their quests for a manmade utopia with countless millions more living in misery and poverty.
This is why I’m a Conservative who will vote “Republican” as long as they adhere to the founding principles that made America great and will keep America great for us and future generations. It should not be a difficult decision at all for people who understand what really counts and who can sort through all the lies and false promises promoted by people looking strictly for political power and the wealth that eventually follows! If the “end” justifies the means”, we will quickly find out that some self-designated so-called elites are “more equal” than others.
Dale Jones says
Opps, here’s the URL to Reagans statement on Medicare.
https://youtu.be/Bejdhs3jGyw
Dale Jones says
I was alive during the Johnson Administration. We’re you? Think Medicare, Medicaid, Pell Grants, Food Stamps and much more.
Listen to Reagan stating the same talking points that your expressing. Yet we haven’t confiscated the means of production.
Dale Jones says
Opps, here’s the URL to Reagans statement on Medicare.
https://youtu.be/Bejdhs3jGyw
Kent Larson says
This writer is unfortunately under an ignorant delusion. The Democratic Party no longer exists as it was portrayed even 20 years ago. It has been infiltrated by Marxists and is now thoroughly Communist. This ideology’s goal seeks the shredding of the U.S. Constitution and the extermination of America’s Judeo-Christian heritage…
Dale Jones says
That’s what we heard during the McCarthy era. Same old song which is entitled, “Fear over Reason.”
I’m left of center and I personally don’t know a single human being that believes the government should own the means of production. Your boggy man has always been the most effective way to keep the plutocrats grinning.
Kent Larson says
This writer is totally uninformed about the present state of what used to be the “Democratic Party”. I grew up ensconced with this party’s persuasion. However, as the years wore on, this party has consistently moved left to where now it has fully embraced the Marxist agenda of tyranny and I left. John Kennedy would be totally unwelcome in today’s Democratic Party, in fact he would be more in line with GOP principles. At its 2012 National Convention this party confirmed its changing ideology that moving forward the acknowledgement of the Biblical foundation of this country was taboo. They voted three times on the question of re-inserting the acknowledgement of the LORD as a plank of their platform. That used to be a foregone conclusion, but no more, as the pre-convention platform committee deleted it from the platform. A Methodist minister offered a motion to restore that plank. It was voted down by voice vote three times. But to show just how corrupt this party has become, the co-chairs decided between themselves that they would pass it anyway because the optics didn’t look too good. Under the leadership of Pelosi, Schumer, AOC, Omar, Taib, and Waters, this party is completely defiled. It is anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and anti-life in its ideology. It embraces anything that is immoral, illegal, and ignorant. Its leadership seeks the extermination of the Constitution, jeopardizes national security with their “open borders” policy, promotes ties to Maoist Communist China, seeks the destruction of Israel as a nation state, and absolutely detests this nation’s founding heritage of freedom. The mark of Communist destruction of a culture is the annihilation of its heritage. This was clearly demonstrated in the toppling of statues, the censoring of free speech, the harassment of anyone’s free assembly who is not in their camp ideologically, and the support of its paramilitary wing, the anarchist Antifa and the Marxist Black Lives Matter movements. The “Democratic Party” is thoroughly evil. This country already is becoming a police state under its leftist tech purges of conservatives. It embraces the Sharia of Islam, an anti-Christ spirit (1 John 2:22) which calls for the murder of anyone who dares to leave it and becomes a follower of another faith or not. (Reliance of the Traveller o8.1-4). It is saddening to see the blinders on these poor souls who are so self-deceived… .