Conservatism is about caution, and moral cowardice. Neoconservatism is the bluster of the bully who is a frightened baby inside. I've seldom heard a sillier notion than "heroic" conservatism. "Quick, Cuthbert and Muffy, let us form a human chain about this water fountain lest the negroes drink from it and forever sully its alabaster purity!" Oh, yeah, I have visions of brave Republicans holding the line against temptations of compassion and wisdom that might upset the delicate balance of intolerance and privilege this nation was founded upon. The most heroic thing a conservative does is lie to his priest when they encounter each other on the Sunday back nine. "I was beating the hedgerows with my putter for backsliders, father! We must save their souls even if it kills them, and their families too! Jesus understood collateral damage and forgave us for it before we did it!" Where can I find this book? In the humor section?

The segregationists were DEMOCRATS! Not Republicans.

Learn your history, you pathetic loser.

The segregationists were Southerners, fool. When the Democrats supported civil rights, they all left for the 'Heroic' Republican party. Sheesh... What else did Rush tell you?

Conservatism has exactly one item on its agenda: take money from the poor and middle class and give to the rich.

By that measure, Bush's presidency is a fantastic success.

I'm pretty progressive, but I can still see merit in the old school, 'cautious' conservatism. Those who come along claiming solutions are often just as bad as those empowered in the old system. That should be a prime lesson of neo-conservatism.

On the other hand, I think political weeklies like NRO and the American conservative often slip into the outright reactionary when they aren't selling their soul by hacking their arguments to the Republican political establishment.

irae:

The segregationists were Southerners, fool. When the Democrats supported civil rights, they all left for the 'Heroic' Republican party. Sheesh... What else did Rush tell you?

You're still an idiot. When Johnson forced civil rights legislation through congress, the majority of dems voted against it. It only passed because of overwhelming minority Republican support. Learn some actual history.

bigbuck623:

Conservatism has exactly one item on its agenda: take money from the poor and middle class and give to the rich.

By that measure, Bush's presidency is a fantastic success.

What? Any actual examples? Or are you just mad about tax cuts?

The segregationists were Democrats at the time; they're Republicans now. That is how the south shifted from being a Democrat lock to a republican lock; the Democrats (belatedly) backed civil rights. The Republicans took in and encouraged the racists (see Southern Strategy), and the white south embraced the GOP.

If you want to talk about what the parties were 50 years ago, then the Democratic Party was the home of segregationists. If you want to talk about what the parties are now, the racists moved...

[The Republicans took in and encouraged the racists (see Southern Strategy), and the white south embraced the GOP.]

Name some names, please. It's easy to throw around theses kinds of charges after the fact. But the simple fact remains that every single piece of significant civil rights legislation in this country, from the abolition of slavery onward, passed because of Republicans over the objections of Democrats.

Now, after all the hard work is done, all of a sudden Dems want to claim that they are really the party of civil rights. Well, tell you what. Get rid of Robert (KKK) Byrd, and maybe I'll take you seriously.

when LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he said "the Dems have now lost the South for a generation."

yes, those southern Dems all scurried over to the Repub party.

Do the names Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms ring any bells?

"In the 1960s, the courting of white Southern Democratic voters was the basis of the "southern strategy" of the Republican Party's Presidential Campaigns. Republican Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater carried the Deep South in 1964, despite losing in a landslide in the rest of the nation to President Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Johnson surmised that his advocacy behind passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would lose the South for the Democratic party and it did. When the Democrats pushed for civil rights, the Republicans reaped the political benefits of a Southern white backlash. The only Democratic presidential candidate after 1956 to solidly carry the Deep South was President Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.

Senator Strom Thurmond switched parties and became a Republican as a result of his support for the Barry Goldwater campaign in 1964. Jesse Helms also switched his party registration to Republican in 1970 and won a Senate seat in North Carolina in 1972. Phil Gramm of Texas, at the time a member of the House of Representatives, switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican in 1983. Several other Southern senators, such as Richard Russell, Jr. of Georgia and James Eastland and John Stennis of Mississippi remained in the Democratic Party. They went on to become prominent senators who served multiple terms in the service of their respective states. These long careers in the Senate elevated their seniority and put them in positions of power and prestige.

Into the late 20th century, the South changed from a Democratic monolith to a majority Republican sector of the country with GOP gains in state legislatures. This change, which became quite evident in 1972 with the electoral success of Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy", peaked with the elections of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George Bush in 1988. It was consolidated in 1994 when Republicans gained a majority in the House of Representatives under the leadership of Newt Gingrich."

I'm a registered Independent. I support the war, deplore the way

it was conducted. My big concern today is that I find myself

waiting for my 65th birthday so I can access my tax-sheltered

savings without a sizeable tax penalty. I've actually reduced the

number of my bills, have no new expenses but am spending more

on the old recurrent expenses.

What tax-cuts?!!!

I think you're right.

I've actually reduced the number of my bills, have no new expenses but am spending more on the old recurrent expenses.

What tax-cuts?!!!

No tax cuts for you! The wealthy even now are eying your retirement account and licking their chops. The Huckster has his vehicle all revved up and ready to go. His "Fair Tax" would continue the good work begun by the Bush tax cuts, transferring ever more of the tax burden away from the wealthy and onto the rest of us.

But the GOP base won't mind, even though it will stick it to them equally (after all, it will be "Fair"), because he is a "good man". Just like Bush was a "good man". How'd that work out for you?

OldGaffer:

Do the names Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms ring any bells?

"In the 1960s, the courting of white Southern Democratic voters was the basis of the "southern strategy" of the Republican Party's Presidential Campaigns. Republican Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater carried the Deep South in 1964, despite losing in a landslide in the rest of the nation to President Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas. Johnson surmised that his advocacy behind passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would lose the South for the Democratic party and it did. When the Democrats pushed for civil rights, the Republicans reaped the political benefits of a Southern white backlash. The only Democratic presidential candidate after 1956 to solidly carry the Deep South was President Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election.

Senator Strom Thurmond switched parties and became a Republican as a result of his support for the Barry Goldwater campaign in 1964. Jesse Helms also switched his party registration to Republican in 1970 and won a Senate seat in North Carolina in 1972. Phil Gramm of Texas, at the time a member of the House of Representatives, switched his party registration from Democrat to Republican in 1983. Several other Southern senators, such as Richard Russell, Jr. of Georgia and James Eastland and John Stennis of Mississippi remained in the Democratic Party. They went on to become prominent senators who served multiple terms in the service of their respective states. These long careers in the Senate elevated their seniority and put them in positions of power and prestige.

Into the late 20th century, the South changed from a Democratic monolith to a majority Republican sector of the country with GOP gains in state legislatures. This change, which became quite evident in 1972 with the electoral success of Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy", peaked with the elections of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George Bush in 1988. It was consolidated in 1994 when Republicans gained a majority in the House of Representatives under the leadership of Newt Gingrich."

Okay, you named names, fine and good. But I was hoping for a list of names attached to racist policies or actions they supported. Robert Byrd is a former member of the KKK, and he's still a Democrat, after all. What racist acts are you accusing these republicans of committing or supporting?