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How dare any trump follower call him/herself a Republican. They abandoned the Republican ideals the minute they voted for trump and made excuses for him. I have rarely seen eye to eye with most republicans throughout my life, but at least I could respect them and know they had morals and ethics. Even if I couldn't agree with their outlook and perspectives.

But this new creature that itself "Republican" is a hollow facsimile of what real Republicans stood for. There is a rung low enough on the ladder to place these political mendicants. The only place they deserve to live is in the scrap heap of discarded history. Real Republican arise and reclaim your mantle. I probably won't agree with your perspective, but at least I'll be able to respect you.

t1nick 8 Aug 16
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1

Well even pre-Trump Republicans pretty much abandoned the Republican conservative ideals. What was the entire Bush era but bigger government and higher debt?

I honestly think it is time to just split the country. We have no unity but common history and geography and half the country doesn't even agree on what history is. However I sincerely worry for anyone who is not a white Christian and is stuck in the left behind states...

1

There has only been one party for about a century.

SCal Level 7 Aug 17, 2020
1

I was hoping true republicans who actually respected American values would just start a new party.

Honestly I don't know how they recover from this.
They've alienated so many: women, black, latinx, china, lgbtia+, gender, youth, military, small business owners, true christians, farmers.

No true republican who respects American values could endure the shame of what the party has become.

They did try. But it never really took off.

@redhog and they know that any third party in the US is instant delegation of rule to Democrats and they would become as irrelevant as libertarians. If we just adopted ranked choice voting universally that wouldn't have to be the case.

@prometheus accurate as well

1

America needs two parties. No matter how strongly we hate the present hypocritical GOP that has been taken over by trump and the religious machine we need a moderate conservative counter balance to keep the Dems moderate and progressive. I hope the true secular conservative Republicans are able to rebuild their party after eliminating the trump enablers and Qanon. trump may give Republicans an opportunity to clean house and become a respected mainstream party again. Biden/Harris Make America Sane Again

I believe we need more than 2. The 2 party system is whats crippling the government. 2 parties can't agree on anything.

@redhog this is a great exposition on the US manufactured 2 party duopoly, you can listen to the podcast or read the transcript: [freakonomics.com]

Ultimately what kills our system is the undemocratic Senate which values land over people. I'm all for mass migration from blue states to red states - flip enough Senate seats to jam through electoral reform and constitutional amendments and then reboot. Maybe in 100 years we'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

@prometheus one can hope

1

I was raised to be a conservative republican. However, when I got older, the republican positions contradicted my values concerning human rights and equality.

I was raised to believe republicans stood for the values listed in the 1956 republican platform, and I was shocked to learn how many values they had abandoned.

I switched partied back when Reagan was president. Republicans have since lost a lot more of their values.

I was raised to be a blue dog Democrat but registered as a Republican instead because I felt they said what they really meant. Like you Reagan turned me into a real Democrat. He is famous for turning democrats into republicans which I think is hilarious.

@Fred_Snerd If the appreciation of nature and protecting environment were hereditary, I'd say I got my attitudes about nature from the par of me that is Native American way back in my ancestry.

1

Sorry, I tried inserting this as separate document, but the website would not let me.

Republican Platform in 1964 under Goldwater
The 1964 Republican Platform was dominated by Goldwater conservatives, which meant the platform was dominated by calls for limited government, condemnations of the Kennedy and Johnson foreign and domestic policy, calls for more open space for free enterprise, a hard-line against Communist North Vietnam, calls for reform of the United Nations, a staunch support of NATO, calls for lower taxes, a hard line against international Communism, and an accusation that the Kennedy Administration was guilty of Munich-like appeasement for having opened a hotline with the Soviet Union and not with American allies.
[en.wikipedia.org]

Republican platform in 1968 under Nixon
Our Convention in 1968 can spark a "Republican Resurgence" under men and women willing to face the realities of the world in which we live.
We must urgently dedicate our efforts toward restoration of peace both at home and abroad.
We must bring about a national commitment to rebuild our urban and rural slum areas.
We must enable family farm enterprise to participate fully in the nation's prosperity. We must bring about quality education for all. We must assure every individual an opportunity for satisfying and rewarding employment. We must attack the root causes of poverty and eradicate racism, hatred and violence.
We must give all citizens the opportunity to influence and shape the events of our time.
We must give increasing attention to the views of the young and recognize their key role in our present as well as the future.
We must mobilize the resources, talents and energy of public and private sectors to reach these goals, utilizing the unique strength and initiative of state and local governments.
We must re-establish fiscal responsibility and put an end to increases in the cost of living.
We must reaffirm our commitment to Lincoln's challenge of one hundred six years ago. To Congress he wrote: "The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves and then we shall save our country ."
[presidency.ucsb.edu]

Republican platform 1980 under Reagan
Our foremost goal here at home is simple: economic growth and full employment without inflation. Sweeping change in economic policy in America is needed so that Mr. Carter's promise of hard times and austerity—his one promise well kept—can be replaced with Republican policies that promise economic growth and job creation. It is our belief that the stagflation of recent years not only has consigned millions of citizens to hardship but also has bottled up the enormous ingenuity and creative powers of our people. Those energies will not be released by the sterile policies of the past: we specifically reject the Carter doctrine that inflation can be reduced only by throwing people out of work. Prosperity will not be regained simply by government fiat. Rather, we must offer broad new incentives to labor and capital to stimulate a great outpouring of private goods and services and to create an abundance of jobs. From America's grass roots to the White House we will stand united as a party behind a bold program of tax rate reductions, spending restraints, and regulatory reforms that will inject new life into the economic bloodstream of this country.
Overseas, our goal is equally simple and direct: to preserve a world at peace by keeping America strong. This philosophy once occupied a hallowed place in American diplomacy, but it was casually, even cavalierly dismissed at the outset by the Carter Administration—and the results have been shattering. Never before in modern history has the United States endured as many humiliations, insults, and defeats as it has during the past four years: our ambassadors murdered, our embassies burned, our warnings ignored, our diplomacy scorned, our diplomats kidnapped. The Carter Administration has shown that it neither understands totalitarianism nor appreciates the way tyrants take advantage of weakness. The brutal invasion of Afghanistan promises to be only the forerunner of much more serious threats to the West—and to world peace—should the Carter Administration somehow cling to power.
[presidency.ucsb.edu]

Republican platform under HAW Bush (Bush I) 1992
Unlike our opponents, we are inspired by a commitment to profound change. Our mission combines timeless beliefs with a positive vision of a vigorous America: prosperous and tolerant, just and compassionate. We believe that individual freedom, hard work, and personal responsibility—basic to free society—are also basic to effective government. We believe in the fundamental goodness of the American people. We believe in traditional family values and in the Judeo-Christian heritage that informs our culture. We believe in the Constitution and its guarantee of color-blind equal opportunity. We believe in free markets. We believe in constructive change, in both true conservatism and true reform. We believe government has a legitimate role to play in our national life, but government must never dominate that life.
While our goals are constant, we are willing to innovate, experiment, and learn. We have learned that bigger is not better, that quantity and quality are different things, that more money does not guarantee better outcomes. We have learned the importance of individual choice—in education, health care, child care—and that bureaucracy is the enemy of initiative and self-reliance. We believe in empowerment, including home ownership for as many as possible. We believe in decentralized authority, and a bottom-line, principled commitment to what works for people.
We believe in the American people: free men and women with faith in God, working for themselves and their families, believing in the value of every human being from the very young to the very old.
[presidency.ucsb.edu]

Republican platform under HW Bush (Bush II) 2000
We commit ourselves to saving and strengthening Social Security. After years of neglect and delay, we will keep this fundamental commitment to the senior citizens of today and tomorrow.
We commit ourselves to rebuilding the American military and returning to a foreign policy of strength and purpose and a renewed commitment to our allies. We will deploy defenses against ballistic missiles and develop the weapons and strategies needed to win battles in this new technological era.
We commit ourselves to tax reforms that will sustain our nation's prosperity and reflect its decency. We will reduce the burden on all Americans, especially those who struggle most.
We commit ourselves to aiding and encouraging the work of charitable and faith-based organizations, which today are making great strides in overcoming poverty and other social problems, bringing new hope into millions of lives. For every American there must be a ladder of opportunity, and for those most in need, a safety net of care.
We recommit ourselves to the values that strengthen our culture and sustain our nation: family, faith, personal responsibility, and a belief in the dignity of every human life.
We offer not only a new agenda, but also a new approach — a vision of a welcoming society in which all have a place. To all Americans, particularly immigrants and minorities, we send a clear message: this is the party of freedom and progress, and it is your home.
[presidency.ucsb.edu]

Republican platform 2008 – John McCain
TAXES
Make the 2001 and 2003 tax cut permanent.
"Major reduction" in the corporate tax code.
Double the exemption for dependents.
Ban internet taxes and new cell phone taxes.
Repeal estate tax and Alternative Minimum Tax.
Issue tax credits for health care and medical needs.
Give taxpayers the option of filing under current rules or under a two-rate flat tax with "generous deductions for families."
"Religious organizations, charities and fraternal benevolent societies" should not be subject to taxation.
HOUSING CRISIS
Support "timely and carefully targeted aid to those hurt by the housing crisis so that affected individuals can have a chance to trade a burdensome mortgage for a manageable loan that reflects their home’s market value." "Government action must not implicitly encourage anyone to borrow more than they can afford to repay."
JOBS
Reduce corporate tax rate "so that American companies stay competitive with their foreign counterparts and American jobs can remain in this country." Encourage agreements to reduce trade barriers that limit market access for U.S. products, commodities and services: "Greater international trade, aggressively advanced on a truly level playing field, will mean more American jobs." New nuclear energy plants will rejuvenate industrial and manufacturing base, "with nearly 15,000 high quality jobs created for every new nuclear plant built."
BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS
Impose an immediate moratorium on the earmarking system and reform the appropriations process through full transparency. One-year pause in non-defense, non-veterans discretionary spending. Call for presidential line-item veto. "New authorizations should be offset by reducing another program, and no appropriation should be permitted without a current authorization."
HEALTH CARE
"We will not replace the current system with the staggering inefficiency, maddening irrationality, and uncontrollable costs of a government monopoly." Make insurance more affordable and more secure, and give employees the option of owning coverage that is not tied to their job. Every one should receive the same tax benefit as those who are insured through work, whether through a tax credit or other means.

MEDICARE AND MEDICAID
Revive Medicare by rewarding quality care, promoting competition, eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, and giving patients and providers control over treatment options. Give Medicaid recipients more health care options: "We envision a new Medicaid partnership with the states, improving public health through flexibility and innovation."

RETIREMENT
"No changes in the system should adversely affect any current or near-retiree. Comprehensive reform should include the opportunity to freely choose to create your own personal investment accounts which are distinct from and supplemental to the overall Social Security system."
WAR IN IRAQ
No timetable for withdrawal. The outcome is "too critical to our own national security to be jeopardized by artificial or politically inspired timetables that neither reflect conditions on the ground nor respect the essential advice of our military commanders."

AFGHANISTAN
Establish a nationwide counterinsurgency strategy led by a unified commander. Increase number of troops “both from NATO countries and through a doubling in size of the Afghan army.” “We flatly reject the Democratic Party’s idea that America can succeed in Afghanistan only by failure in Iraq.”

IRAN
Call for a “significant increase in political, economic, and diplomatic pressure” to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear capability. Tighten sanctions against Iran and the companies with business operations in or with Iran. Oppose “presidential-level, unconditional dialogue with the regime in Iran until it takes steps to improve its behavior.” “The U.S. must retain all options” in dealing with Iran.

WIRETAPPING
"Although our country has thwarted new terrorist attacks since 2001, those threats do persist. That is why our reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was so vital, and why the Democrats’ opposition to it was so wrong."
[nytimes.com]

Republican platform 2016 – trump
But the platform does reflect his vision on trade and immigration — and that’s a big change. Back in 2013, the RNC put out a post-election "autopsy" report urging the GOP to moderate on immigration after Mitt Romney’s defeat. This year’s platform basically rejects that autopsy report entirely. The platform includes:

A wall on the Mexican border: The platform calls on a wall covering "the entirety of the southern border [that] must be sufficient to stop both vehicular and pedestrian traffic." Of course, the "wall with Mexico" may be Trump’s best-known policy. (The 2012 platform mentions the Berlin Wall twice and Wall Street once, but doesn’t suggest building one on the Mexico border.)
Calling immigrants "illegal aliens": This isn’t a policy shift, but the new platform changed language from "illegal immigrants" to "illegal aliens."
The platform also clearly bears Trump’s mark on trade, including:

"America first" trade policy: CNN reports that the platform adopts sharp Trump-like language on promoting an "America first" trade policy. "Republicans understand that you can succeed in a negotiation only if you are willing to walk away from it," the platform says.
Aggressive stance toward China on trade: Multiple news outlets have also said Trump’s calls to take a tougher stance against China over trade made their way into the platform. "We cannot allow China to continue its currency manipulation, exclusion of U.S. products from government purchases, and subsidization of Chinese companies to thwart American imports," the new platform states.
The platform also moves right on a bunch of non-Trump issues
But while the party moved in Trump’s direction on trade and immigration, the platform also moves right on issues that Trump didn’t seem to have a particular stance on one way or another. As Matt Yglesias noted, the platform includes "a lot of more or less wacky notions that highlight the continued influence of talk radio" over more traditional Republican activists.

Those include:

Support for Israel: The platform calls for an "undivided" Jerusalem, "removing a reference to Palestine in support of a two-state solution," according to CNN. (The 2012 platform says "we envision two democratic states — Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine — living in peace and security." )
Teaching the Bible in public schools: In 2012, the platform’s only reference to the Bible was to opposing any bans on it in military forces. Now the GOP platform encourages state legislatures to offer Bible studies as an elective course in high schools.
EMPs as a real threat: The party also adds a fear that "an EMP is no longer a theoretical concern," and urges the federal government to take action over the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons. (The party is wrong about this, as Vox has previously reported.)
Coal is a "clean" energy source: The GOP platform calls coal "an abundant, clean, affordable, reliable domestic energy resource." In 2012, the GOP merely called coal "abundant" and "low-cost."
"Auditing" the Federal Reserve: The platform also adopts Ron Paul’s once crankish call to "audit" the Federal Reserve. According to Yglesias, the legislation that goes under this name isn’t really about auditing, which already happens.
Lawmakers must consider religion: The platform also calls lawmakers to use religion as a guide when drafting legislation, and says "that man-made law must be consistent with God-given, natural rights."
Calling abortion "aborted children": The platform committee also edited a reference to "aborted fetuses" to instead refer to "aborted children," according to Ball. (The 2012 platform does not mention "aborted children." )
Some observers thought Trump might moderate the party on some of these social issues. But the results from the platform debate suggest that Trump couldn't take on its more far-right factions — or didn't care enough to try.
[vox.com]

Like all platforms, a lot of it is rhetoric used to attract and keep the Republican base.

1

Never let them forget it either. Whenever Trump leaves office you know they're going to start back pedaling.

2

They lost the moral authority alright and that hypocritical race-baiting xenophobic bigot Lindsey Graham has run the country to "hell" with Trump.

From one of the related videos: "the hardest thing to watch is the evangelical Christians' sell out to this false prophet".

3

Republicans have been sucking since Nixon, but I'll grant your point, from a Trump supporter to an old style Reagan Republican would be a step up, but that's still a really damned low bar.

3

Raised in Oregon, and first registering Republican, we had some half-decent ones. I was rarely bothered by their demands for fiscal responsibility, except when getting their hands of federal funds … but did part ways over their continued promotion of cold war era national religious tests..

Reagan was the beginning of the end. He cultivated and harvested the radical religious votes and (young) ignorant military votes, while continuing as a mouthpiece of corporations over citizens. After he killed The Fairness Doctrine in broadcasting, it opened the Republican floodgates for AM Hate Radio and eventually FOX Entertainment to broadcast nonstop far-wrong propaganda across the Public Airways.

With that, hardcore Republican fanatics began perging their party of so-called ‘RINO’s,’ “republicans in name only.” Now, only the most radical of candidates get through their extremist promoting primaries.. Most of the now ‘Independent’ voters came from the moderate republican ranks, but remain too deeply programed to join the Democrats … so they basically stand back.. ..throwing rocks at both parties, while making the ignorant claim that ‘they’re both alike.’

There are aspects of the Democratic Party that irk, even sicken me.. But when weighed against the overwhelming ignorance and hostility of the Republican Party ...I’ve never looked back 😕

Varn Level 8 Aug 17, 2020

I concur with your assessment. Especially related to Reagan.

0

Terrill, the GOP did not suddenly become what it is. In 1974 in Arizona I ran in a GOP legislative primary election and followed the details. Briefly, here are the changes.
1950s — The most conservative members started expelling moderates.
1960s — The remaining conservatives recruited the conservative Dixiecrats
1980s — Reagan invited evangelicals into the GOP and they elected Repubs
1990s — The national GOP did nothing to reward them.y
2000s — The exploited evangelicals rebel, forming the Tea Parties.
2010s — The demagogue Trump united the angry evangelicals.

That sounds about right. The Evangelicals didn't become embroiled in politics until the mid-80's with Falwell and the Moral Majority. The Tea Party, while still in existence has been surreptitiously replaced by the Freedom Caucus.

1

By John Patrick, Understanding Democracy, A Hip Pocket Guide (Oxford University Press)

Republicanism is a theory of government that emphasizes the participation of citizens for the common good of the community. The responsibilities and duties of citizens are paramount, and the exemplary citizen readily subordinates personal to public interests. In contrast to liberalism, which is concerned primarily with the personal and private rights of individuals, republicanism stresses the public rights and obligations of citizens to cooperate in support of theircommunity.

Essential characteristics of republicanism are beliefs or assumptions about the relationships of individuals, the community, and government, including the following ideas:

the needs of the community are considered superior to the claims of the individual,
citizens are obligated to participate extensively and cooperatively in public affairs,
the common civic identity is primary over diverse and particular identities,
political and civic unity are valued more than diversity or pluralism in the community,
citizens are equal in their duties, responsibilities, and rights,
participation by citizens is the means to accountability in government and to personal fulfillment,
popular sovereignty is the foundation of good government,
good government carries out the general will of the people,
all citizens are capable of self-rule,
all citizens are capable of civic virtue and are obligated to cultivate it,
good republican government depends upon the continuous civic and political participation of virtuous citizens.

[annenbergclassroom.org]

Republicanism may also refer to the non-ideological scientific approach to politics and governance. As the republican thinker and second president of the United States John Adams stated in the introduction to his famous Defense of the Constitution,[1] the "science of politics is the science of social happiness" and a republic is the form of government arrived at when the science of politics is appropriately applied to the creation of a rationally designed government. Rather than being ideological, this approach focuses on applying a scientific methodology to the problems of governance through the rigorous study and application of past experience and experimentation in governance. This is the approach that may best be described to apply to republican thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli (as evident in his Discourses on Livy), John Adams, and James Madison.

[en.m.wikipedia.org].

Terrill, how much of all that do you accept as true?

@yvilletom

Define what you mean, please. Are they being followed, or were they truly followed by the masses, like any philosophy not really. Are they doctrinal like the Bible in that they are supposedly a prescription for believing, that seems more like it.

@t1nick

Terrill, In the 1960s, if I’d been studying political science I would have read works like those you cited above. In the 1980s I was a retiree in my fifties and in conversations with several college professors I learned a lot, including that:

  1. studying political science now requires a semester of work in political campaigns,
  2. politics is about economics and the two parties are about equally corrupt,
  3. sociopaths anywhere can be dangerous, especially those in public office, and
  4. I will be a political activist until my health fails.

@Bobby9 Very little of what is correct? Everything in the discussion?

1

At this point Republicans are extremely partisan and angry. This president has set the tone for hostile discourse.

Only closet Republicans exist today

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