Barry Goldwater - 100 Years since his birth

[dbackjon]

amazing man. man of principles.

He warned what would happen to the Republican Party if it got away from it's principles, and warned against letting the evangicals have too much influence.

[HI54UNI]

A couple of good Goldwater quotes that are fitting right now.

* And here we encounter the seeds of government disaster and collapse — the kind that wrecked ancient Rome and every other civilization that allowed a sociopolitical monster called the welfare state to exist.

* For the past twenty-five years the apostles of the welfare state, some Republicans, some Democrat, have been busy transforming that stern old gentleman with the top hat, the cutaway coat, the red, white, and blue trousers, from a symbol of dignity and freedom and justice for all men, into a national wet nurse, dispensing a cockeyed kind of patent medcine labeled "something for nothing," passing out the soothing syrup and rattles and pacifiers for grateful votes on election day.

[HI54UNI]

amazing man. man of principles.

He warned what would happen to the Republican Party if it got away from it's principles, and warned against letting the evangicals have too much influence.

Goldwater:
On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in "A," "B," "C" and "D." Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?
And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of "conservatism."



The underlined part is a huge problem in the republican party right now. The evangelicals only care about abortion and gay marriage. And if you waver they will badmouth and bash you even if they agree with you on every other issue possible. And they wonder why the Republican party is losing elections. SMH

[Cap'n Cat]

I just finished reading A Glorious Disaster: Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign and the Origins of the Conservative Movement and was personally surprised to come away with a very positive opinion of the guy. It was a very intimate portrait of him and his politics, despite the Conk leaning.

Too bad people like Dubya and Reagan and Falwell and Pat Robertson, et al, prostituted his message and, thereby, corrupted his legacy.




BTW, if anyone wants to read it, I'll send it to you.