The Great American Ironies

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

Arlen Specter was born in Wichita and Bob Dole was born in Russell.

The 'candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid' whom Nixon buried in 1972 being from a Great Plains state and often coming across as some sort of Methodist preacher has got to count for something.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

That Arlen Specter, a Jewish Republican from Philadelphia, was born in the same heartlandier-than-thou town as Bob Dole.

Arlen Specter was born in Wichita and Bob Dole was born in Russell.

The 'candidate of amnesty, abortion, and acid' whom Nixon buried in 1972 being from a Great Plains state and often coming across as some sort of Methodist preacher has got to count for something.

My bad. Specter moved to Russell as a kid and graduated from Russell H.S.

Really! In that case the point stands. Weird.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Perhaps the greatest irony of all: blacks vote 90% Democrat, when the Democrats fought consistently throughout history against their freedom and equality and Republicans who fought for it.

Yes, it's quite ironic that blacks today care more about economic issues and which President had the Civil Rights Act passed than what positions the parties took in the 19th century.

Those positions continues into most of the 20th century.  Johnson was an outspoken racist who only signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act because of public support for it.  Shortly after signing the bill, he was reported to have said to a group of Southern governors, "I'll have those nig**rs voting Democrat for the next 200 years."  He opposed nearly every civil rights bill before that, including voting againstthe 1957 Civil Rights Act and fighting to make it nothing but a nominal piece of legislation that meant little in reality.

Fine. We're not in 'most of the 20th century' any more.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Perhaps the greatest irony of all: blacks vote 90% Democrat, when the Democrats fought consistently throughout history against their freedom and equality and Republicans who fought for it.

Yes, it's quite ironic that blacks today care more about economic issues and which President had the Civil Rights Act passed than what positions the parties took in the 19th century.

Those positions continues into most of the 20th century.  Johnson was an outspoken racist who only signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act because of public support for it.  Shortly after signing the bill, he was reported to have said to a group of Southern governors, "I'll have those nig**rs voting Democrat for the next 200 years."  He opposed nearly every civil rights bill before that, including voting againstthe 1957 Civil Rights Act and fighting to make it nothing but a nominal piece of legislation that meant little in reality.

Fine. We're not in 'most of the 20th century' any more.

True, but the history still matters.  Remember, "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  It's partially because of this history that I am a proud Republican.  And please don't give me these excuses like, "the segregationist Democrats all became Republicans" or "Republicans pandered to racists in the Southern strategy."  The only major segregationist to switch from Democrat to Republican was Strom Thurmond, and the Southern Strategy was an attempt to convince pro-civil rights Southern moderates to vote Republican as a protest against the segregationist policies of the Democrats:
 http://www.wnd.com/2002/12/16477/

1. No.
2. Regardless of who did and didn't individually switch, those people are no longer in the Democratic Party.

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Actually, thinking of welfare as exclusively or even necessarily primarily a 'black thing' is racist, but whatever.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Welfare is not only a black thing, but Democrats through their campaigning to blacks, have made it appear as one.

Actually no, that was Republicans through their campaigning against welfare.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Actually, thinking of welfare as exclusively or even necessarily primarily a 'black thing' is racist, but whatever.

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you here, but African Americans are disproportionately recipients of welfare programs. If you for instance were to for cut government subsidized housing, the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world would be out screaming racism since blacks would be disproportionately affected. Likewise many Democrats assume that requiring voters to show a photo ID is racist because it would disproportionately affect African Americans. By this logic it is racist to say more blacks are on welfare but not racist to say more blacks are unable to afford a photo ID.

I'm just saying it goes both ways.

More blacks are on welfare as a percentage of blacks, but more whites are on welfare as a percentage of welfare recipients (then again, there are a lot more whites than blacks in contemporary America).