TheWiseOldFart

I’ve read all the suggestions and analys e s of the Democratic Party, and, in my estimation, they are all full of shit.   I have watched the changes in both polit i ca l parties for about 68 years, a nd I can tell you what is wrong with both of them .   For Republicans, it began in 1981 with the beginning of Reagan’s first term. Reagan demanded absolute loyalty, no dissent from any Republican was allo wed: Reagan’s word was infallible. During this     same period, support for what would be come the Christian Religious Right, and for the super-rich be came part of the party’s platform : trickle-down economics.  Over the next 44 years, it would move further and further to the right.     To win elections, Democrats also moved further to the right, abandoning their   principles and being the party of positive change: of moving bravely forward into the future. They forgot that Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the most popular president in history ...

Op-ed by TheWiseOldFart   At the ripe old age of 77, I feel lucky to have witnessed a few great leaders in America. In 1956 I watched “Ike’s” second nomination at the Republican National Convention. Although I do not consider Eisenhower a “great president,” he did have some impressive accomplishments, including the interstate highway system. He was a loyal American who loved his country. I was just beginning high school when John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected as our 35 th president. He was murdered on November 22, 1963 when I was a senior. He was the last great leader in my lifetime. My generation was devastated when he was taken from us too soon. My senior class dedicated a bust of President Kennedy to our Senior Court when we graduated. There were other men and women who were impressive and accomplished great things, including Richard Nixon, the former Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. This is the primary prob...