Conservatism Unravels, Part Three
So Reagan was leaving office having negotiated some substantial deals with Gorbachev, the then leader of the Soviet Union. While Reagan has been given credit by conservatives, Republicans and some Democrats for bringing down the Soviet Union and Communism in eastern Europe, in general, it is, in my opinion, something like the Dems claiming that FDR ended the Depression; that is, there is certainly some truth, but also some exaggeration involved. Reagan developed a good relationship with Gorbachev, a man who also deserves some credit for the demise of the Soviet Union, although he probably didn't want things to actually turn out exactly as they did. Gorbachev's "openness" policy helped curb the police state that the Communist Party had developed from the very inception of Bolshevik rule, which was simply an exchange of a Tsarist police state for a Soviet police state.
While Communism lost control of various nations by the early 1990s, the problems associated with their rise didn't go away. There still remains in the world and in our own society a debate about basic treatment of workers and some sort of basic fairness to society, including income and services like health care. Remember, the old members of the Bolshevik Party didn't just decide one day to form a radical political movement just for the hell of it. They were reacting to brutal treatment by the Russian business class and by the Russian government, a government ruled by the upper class. This is not an attempt to sanitize the Bolsheviks, later called Communists, but the fact remains that what seems to have been a fairly large segment of the Russian population favored some major changes in the economic life of the country, although most did NOT favor the Bolsheviks. In fact, within the particular socialist party from which the Bolsheviks came, the Bolsheviks were a minority. That's how they got their name, as "Bolshevik" means "minority," as opposed to the far larger segment of this socialist party called the "Mensheviks," meaning "majority." Anyway, Reagan certainly helped to bring Communism to its knees in eastern Europe, with his enormous military build up, but he did so at the expense of the American budget deficit, which ballooned to extraordinary heights.
In his campaign for the White House, George Bush (Sr.) had some difficulties within his own Republican Party, as many on the far right were lukewarm, at best, toward him. The media picked up on this tension and dubbed Bush as being the dreaded "M" word, meaning "moderate,"*** primarily based upon his perceived stands on many social issues and possibly on taxes.^^^ The anti tax mantra of the Republicans had become so strong, that in his acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention, Bush felt forced to declare that he would never raise taxes, and uttered a line that helped get him elected, but which then turned on him: "Read my lips...no new taxes!!!" Of course, never to be counted out for doing something stupid, Democrats helped Bush's campaign by putting presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in an army tank, with an extra large helmet that made him look something akin to Snoopy of the Peanuts cartoon strip doing some stunt. The thing was, Snoopy was more popular than Dukakis, and Bush won handily.
I've often felt that politics is so unfair. Sometimes, the wrong people are made to pay for the sins of others. To me, thus it was with Bush. He formed a very formidable alliance, even with many Muslim nations as participants, to oust Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait. The "Gulf War" sent Bush's popularity soaring higher than any president in history, but then the American economy started to falter. The deficits incurred under Reagan became even worse under Bush, as revenues from the slow economy and spending on the war took a toll. Bush made a deal with Democrats (who controlled both houses of Congress) to raise taxes. The right wing of the Republican Party went ballistic.
As the economy sagged, so did Bush's poll numbers. Conservative Pat Buchanan chose to run against Bush in the Republican primaries and gave Bush a bloody nose, and the "read my lips" part of Bush's 1988 speech was used against him. Bush never really recovered. Further, Buchanan had proven himself to be quite popular with the hardcore conservative base of the party, and he demanded a prominent role at the Republican Convention. Buchanan's speech to the convention turned off many moderate (there's that "M" word again) voters, as he tossed out the red meat of intolerance to the social conservatives and members of the Religious Right. Ross Perot, a billionaire businessman, also entered the general election fray, and at times, led Bush in the polls. In the end, many Republicans "came home" and voted for Bush and saved him the embarrassment of finishing third. Conservatism seemed to be running out of steam... or was it? Bush lost, but Republicans actually gained seats in the House of Representatives!!! Enter...Bill Clinton, the guy conservatives love to hate. (Of course, even some Democrats aren't all that thrilled with him either, at times!) To be continued.... (Some word histories are further below)
***Bush and other Republicans had frequently dared Democrats to use "liberal" to describe themselves, with the implication being that "liberal" had become a sort of dirty word, and that Democrats were trying to disassociate themselves with the term. Bush said that Dems were afraid of the "L word." And he was RIGHT!
^^^And THEY were right! After he left office, Bush talked about being able to express his own views on many social issues, without the worry of having to placate the right wing of his party. As to taxes, just read further in the main text.
Word History:
Skill-The basic idea behind this word is "the ability to make distinctions; that is, to have the knowledge to make distinctions, discernment." It came to English during the 1200s from Old Norse "skil," which also meant "distinction, discernment." Old Norse is a North Germanic language. It is related to the Old Norse verb "skilja," which meant "distinguish, separate." It goes back to Old Germanic "skaljo," (from the root word "skel") also meaning "separate, divide." Middle Low German had "schillen," meaning "to differ," and Dutch has "geschil," meaning "difference" (the notion being, if you can separate things, you can discern the difference). Within a short time in English (by the early 1300s), the word had developed further, with the idea that if you had the mental ability to make distinctions, you were clever. Then finally that progressed quickly to the modern meaning of "being able to do something well."
While Communism lost control of various nations by the early 1990s, the problems associated with their rise didn't go away. There still remains in the world and in our own society a debate about basic treatment of workers and some sort of basic fairness to society, including income and services like health care. Remember, the old members of the Bolshevik Party didn't just decide one day to form a radical political movement just for the hell of it. They were reacting to brutal treatment by the Russian business class and by the Russian government, a government ruled by the upper class. This is not an attempt to sanitize the Bolsheviks, later called Communists, but the fact remains that what seems to have been a fairly large segment of the Russian population favored some major changes in the economic life of the country, although most did NOT favor the Bolsheviks. In fact, within the particular socialist party from which the Bolsheviks came, the Bolsheviks were a minority. That's how they got their name, as "Bolshevik" means "minority," as opposed to the far larger segment of this socialist party called the "Mensheviks," meaning "majority." Anyway, Reagan certainly helped to bring Communism to its knees in eastern Europe, with his enormous military build up, but he did so at the expense of the American budget deficit, which ballooned to extraordinary heights.
In his campaign for the White House, George Bush (Sr.) had some difficulties within his own Republican Party, as many on the far right were lukewarm, at best, toward him. The media picked up on this tension and dubbed Bush as being the dreaded "M" word, meaning "moderate,"*** primarily based upon his perceived stands on many social issues and possibly on taxes.^^^ The anti tax mantra of the Republicans had become so strong, that in his acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention, Bush felt forced to declare that he would never raise taxes, and uttered a line that helped get him elected, but which then turned on him: "Read my lips...no new taxes!!!" Of course, never to be counted out for doing something stupid, Democrats helped Bush's campaign by putting presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in an army tank, with an extra large helmet that made him look something akin to Snoopy of the Peanuts cartoon strip doing some stunt. The thing was, Snoopy was more popular than Dukakis, and Bush won handily.
I've often felt that politics is so unfair. Sometimes, the wrong people are made to pay for the sins of others. To me, thus it was with Bush. He formed a very formidable alliance, even with many Muslim nations as participants, to oust Saddam Hussein's army from Kuwait. The "Gulf War" sent Bush's popularity soaring higher than any president in history, but then the American economy started to falter. The deficits incurred under Reagan became even worse under Bush, as revenues from the slow economy and spending on the war took a toll. Bush made a deal with Democrats (who controlled both houses of Congress) to raise taxes. The right wing of the Republican Party went ballistic.
As the economy sagged, so did Bush's poll numbers. Conservative Pat Buchanan chose to run against Bush in the Republican primaries and gave Bush a bloody nose, and the "read my lips" part of Bush's 1988 speech was used against him. Bush never really recovered. Further, Buchanan had proven himself to be quite popular with the hardcore conservative base of the party, and he demanded a prominent role at the Republican Convention. Buchanan's speech to the convention turned off many moderate (there's that "M" word again) voters, as he tossed out the red meat of intolerance to the social conservatives and members of the Religious Right. Ross Perot, a billionaire businessman, also entered the general election fray, and at times, led Bush in the polls. In the end, many Republicans "came home" and voted for Bush and saved him the embarrassment of finishing third. Conservatism seemed to be running out of steam... or was it? Bush lost, but Republicans actually gained seats in the House of Representatives!!! Enter...Bill Clinton, the guy conservatives love to hate. (Of course, even some Democrats aren't all that thrilled with him either, at times!) To be continued.... (Some word histories are further below)
***Bush and other Republicans had frequently dared Democrats to use "liberal" to describe themselves, with the implication being that "liberal" had become a sort of dirty word, and that Democrats were trying to disassociate themselves with the term. Bush said that Dems were afraid of the "L word." And he was RIGHT!
^^^And THEY were right! After he left office, Bush talked about being able to express his own views on many social issues, without the worry of having to placate the right wing of his party. As to taxes, just read further in the main text.
Word History:
Skill-The basic idea behind this word is "the ability to make distinctions; that is, to have the knowledge to make distinctions, discernment." It came to English during the 1200s from Old Norse "skil," which also meant "distinction, discernment." Old Norse is a North Germanic language. It is related to the Old Norse verb "skilja," which meant "distinguish, separate." It goes back to Old Germanic "skaljo," (from the root word "skel") also meaning "separate, divide." Middle Low German had "schillen," meaning "to differ," and Dutch has "geschil," meaning "difference" (the notion being, if you can separate things, you can discern the difference). Within a short time in English (by the early 1300s), the word had developed further, with the idea that if you had the mental ability to make distinctions, you were clever. Then finally that progressed quickly to the modern meaning of "being able to do something well."
Labels: Communism, conservatism, English, etymology, George H.W. Bush, Germanic languages, Pat Buchanan, Ronald Reagan
posted by Randy at 4:05 PM
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