I think that most historians would probably agree that the current Republican Party is the diabolical opposite of the great party that gave the United States of America highly principled leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan. The republican party of these four great leaders made us feel hopeful, confident, God-fearing, and in charge of our lives, our environment and our natural resources. We knew that we were on our way to becoming "the shining city on the hill."
Before I became a centrist, I was a republican ― by accident. I didn’t plan on becoming a republican; it simply happened by coincidence. It just happened that during that particular time I lived my life in accordance with the principles that the republicans (I knew) believed and practiced. They included honesty ― being truthful with yourself and others; respect – showing that you value yourself, and confirming that you are courteous and considerate to others; trustworthiness ― demonstrating that you are dependable and honorable; effort ― proving that you will always try to do things to the best of your abilities; family ― participating 100 percent in the most loving and caring unit to which you belong; community ― working together with neighbors and friends to build, maintain and promote neighborhoods that supports and assists families; and , moral values ― living in accordance with scriptures and one’s religious beliefs.
Before I became a centrist, I was a republican ― by accident. I didn’t plan on becoming a republican; it simply happened by coincidence. It just happened that during that particular time I lived my life in accordance with the principles that the republicans (I knew) believed and practiced. They included honesty ― being truthful with yourself and others; respect – showing that you value yourself, and confirming that you are courteous and considerate to others; trustworthiness ― demonstrating that you are dependable and honorable; effort ― proving that you will always try to do things to the best of your abilities; family ― participating 100 percent in the most loving and caring unit to which you belong; community ― working together with neighbors and friends to build, maintain and promote neighborhoods that supports and assists families; and , moral values ― living in accordance with scriptures and one’s religious beliefs.
In those days, 40 to 50 years ago, the republican position on issues always seemed to be more closely aligned with the intent in the Constitution of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, and basic Christian values. It is important to remember that the Republican Party was President Abraham Lincoln's party during the Civil War. Many of the southern states that are now republican states were members of the Democratic Party. The years between the period known as Reconstruction, which started in the early 1860’s, and the period known as the Civil Rights Movement, which started in the early 1960’s, black Americans were terrorized, raped and murdered, without consequences their offenders. During these 100 years following the end of the civil war, segregation, Jim Crow laws, civil rights violations, lynching, bombing, intimidations, . . . were the works of these southern democrats or Dixiecrats. African-American neighborhoods were “red lined” or prevented from getting business loans, good jobs, access to hospitals and doctors, the rights to vote, etc. Most dixiecrats were active members of the Ku Klux Klan.
Rugged individualism, the rights to bare arms, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, a unified central or federal government, conservation, and a strong defense were the works of republicans, during those years.
The republican and democratic parties most drastic changes began in 1964, soon after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law: It started greater black voter participation as registered democrats, and greater white voter exit from the Democratic Party. Eventually it led to the creation of the New Right by Governor George Wallace (D – Al), which later infused itself in the Republican Party.
Today I write about the Republican Party, which I consider to be dexiecrat wolves in republican sheep clothing: Their dominant ideologies, in my judgment, are the same as the ones they held as southern democrats, prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Their policies concerning voting rights, jobs, equal opportunity, individual rights, education, fairness, and social justice are based on ideas that were the bedrock of the Jim Crow Laws of the pre-civil rights 1960s. Yes, the Republican Party has lost its moral compass, its Christian values, and its soul, and I personally hate it!
I personally hate the unfair, un-Christian doctrines that are now the central ideas in the Party of President Abraham Lincoln and President Dwight D. Eisenhower. I hate what they have done to my party!
Today I am a centrist because it is the only honest political ideology any well-informed American can truly embrace. I will continue to point out unfair, unjust, un-Christian policies – especially when they are being offered by dexicrats, who are brazenly trying to turn back the clock!
By
James A. Porter
