The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twelve

The former Confederate states were becoming more competitive politically, a situation that would only grow in the future, as the South's Democratic Party tradition strained under that Democratic Party's continued stand against any segregation and discrimination and its move away from absolute hard lines in foreign policy; interestingly, actually moved much to the forefront a few years before by Republican Richard Nixon in his meetings with both China and the Soviet Union.* The earlier antiwar movement was often centered in the nation's colleges and universities, with that movement also having linked to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, along with dress and hairstyle changes, trends not heartily embraced in the more tradition friendly southern states. **   

In the midterm election of 1978, Republican Thad Cochran won a senate seat in Mississippi, and this was the only party change in the former Confederate states in the Senate. In the House, Republicans gained 1 seat in Arkansas, making the delegation 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Democrats gained 2 seats in Florida, making the delegation 12 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Georgia, Republican Newt Gingrich won a seat, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in South Carolina  Republicans gained 1 seat making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Texas Republicans gained 2 seats making the delegation 20 Democrats and 4 Republicans.*** In governorships: Republicans gained the governorships of Tennessee and Texas, while Democrats retook the governor's mansion in South Carolina. This was not a party change, but future president Bill Clinton was elected governor in Arkansas.

* Nixon had gained prominence in national politics as a tough anti-communist while serving in the House of Representatives from California after World War Two, but especially so, when he ran for a Senate seat in 1950, by referring to his Democratic female opponent as, "the Pink Lady;" a reference, actually begun by her Democratic primary opponent, meant to accuse her of being "close with communists, while not actually accusing her of being a communist." This was all at a time of the early years of the conflict between communism, led by the Soviet Union and China, and "the West," led by the United States and Britain. When Nixon visited and negotiated with China and the Soviet Union, the selling line was that Americans could trust Nixon to negotiate with communist nations, because of his steadfast record against communism. It all became sort of reduced down to, "Only Nixon could go to China." I should add, in those times, China was always referred to as, "Red China."    

** Our definitions of "tradition" can be a hard chore to accomplish, as tradition based upon what era? In the former Confederacy, where the era of the Confederacy was looked upon favorably by a significant part of the population, that era had men with lots of facial hair and long hair, something much more akin to the 1960s and 1970s, where that style was more common among antiwar protesters and people advocating looser sexual mores and attitudes towards drugs, as well as support for women's rights (often called "the counterculture" by conservatives), something not so readily accepted by many in the South, where the often clean shaven and short hair of the World War Two and immediate postwar decade seems to have been the "tradition" being upheld, as well as opposition to drugs and women's rights. While I'm certainly generalizing here, I want to make the point that not all political change and openness to Republicans in the former Confederate states was about race.       

*** An interesting note in Texas: future president George W. Bush run for a congressional seat, but was defeated. 

WORD HISTORY:
Weevil-This word, related to "weave," goes back to Indo European "webh," which meant "to move to and fro, to move about;" thus also, "to weave." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "webilaz," the name for a type of beetle, "perhaps" from its motion? Or the use of its snout so as to seem to weave? This gave Old English "wifel," with the same meaning. This then became "wevel," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Wiebel," now a seemingly archaic term for a type of beetle,^ Low German "Wivel" also seems to be less used in modern times, as is Dutch "wevel," Old Norse, the forerunner of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish, had "vifill," used in "tordyfill," literally, "turd beetle;" that is, "dung beetle," but finding the use of a form in modern Danish, Norwegian and Swedish has proven to be difficult, although that doesn't mean they no longer exist, as they too, may now be dialectal or archaic.  

^ The more common modern word for a weevil in German is, "Rüsselkäfer," literally a, "snout or trunk (like of an elephant) chafer (beetle)." Weevils have a trunk-like snout. 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Ten

"Watergate" changed the political dynamic of the country, as any momentum gained by Nixon from his overwhelming reelection victory of 1972 was lost, and two senators from the former Confederacy became household names: Democratic Senator Sam Ervin, of North Carolina, the head of the Senate committee investigating Watergate, along with the top Republican member of the committee, Senator Howard Baker of Tennessee, who asked the biggest question of the investigation, "What did the President know and when did he know it?"

Gerald Ford, who had replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president at the suggestion of Democratic Speaker of the House Carl Albert, became president when Nixon resigned. Just a couple of weeks later, Ford issued a highly controversial full pardon to Nixon for any crimes he "might" have committed as president. Remember, at that point, no criminal charges had been brought against Nixon; thus, the use of the word "might."

The 1974 midterm election took place just a couple of months after Richard Nixon's resignation and pardon. Democrats gained a Senate seat in Florida, while the party affiliation of other senators from former Confederate states remained the same. Nationally in the House of Representatives, Democrats made big gains, and states with party affiliation changes to their delegations in the former Confederate states: Republicans gained a seat in Florida, making the delegation 10 Democrats and 5 Republicans; in Georgia, Democrats won the lone Republican seat, giving them all 10 seats; in Louisiana Republicans won a seat, making the delegation 6 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in North Carolina the Democrats won two additional seats, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in South Carolina Democrats won one seat, making the delegation 5 Democrats and 1 Republican; in Tennessee Democrats won 2 seats, making the delegation 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Texas Democrats won 1 seat, making the delegation 21 Democrats and 3 Republicans;* in Virginia Democrats won 2 seats, making the delegation 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans. In South Carolina, Republicans won the governorship for the first time since Reconstruction. In Tennessee, Democrats retook the governorship. The election for Virginia governor was held in November 1973 and Republicans retained that governorship.       

* President Ford appointed a Democratic congressman from Texas to a federal position in 1976 and the special election to fill the seat in the spring of 1976 was won by a Republican, Ron Paul, who ran for president in more recent times. He is the father of current Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

WORD HISTORY:
Rampant- This word, related to "rumple," goes back to Indo European "(s)ker," which had the notion, "to bend, to curve, to move in a crooked, irregular or circular motion." This then produced, "(s)kremph," with the same general meaning. This gave Old Germanic "hrempanan," which meant, "to shrivel, to be or become wrinkled." This gave Frankish, an old Germanic dialect, "hrampon," with the "shrivel, contract" meaning. This passed into Old French^ as "ramper," meaning, "to climb a hill or inclined area," from the notion of "crouching to climb an incline." The present participle form of the Old French verb, "rampant," came to be used adjectivally to mean, "(animal, usually a lion) standing in a tilted (inclined) position;" that is, "standing on hind legs;" thus also, by extension, "fierce, ferocious." Borrowed into English in the 1380s. 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Nine

In the 1970 election, on the state level, segregationist George Wallace, although he was still a national political figure, returned to the Alabama governor's mansion, while in Florida and Arkansas, the governorship of each state returned to Democratic control. In Georgia, a man won the governorship, who would soon become both nationally and internationally known, Democrat Jimmy Carter. In Tennessee, a Republican was elected governor, and the year before (1969), in Virginia, where elections for governor are held in off years from national elections, Republican Linwood Holton became the first GOP governor of the state since Reconstruction.

The early 1970s saw the political situation take three major turns. First, Nixon, the highly intelligent, but far from warm and cuddly, politician, won a huge reelection victory in 1972. Second, investigations of corruption in Maryland uncovered contractor kick backs to Spiro Agnew when he served in two different capacities there, including as governor of the state. Further, is was discovered that the payments to Agnew had continued even after he was vice president. Agnew resigned and he was replaced by Gerald Ford, a long time Republican congressman from Michigan, and the Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives. Third, during the 1972 campaign, a group of five men were arrested inside the Democratic National Committee's headquarters, located in one of the buildings of the Watergate Complex,* a group of office and apartment buildings in Washington, DC. The men were part of a Republican plan to get information from the Democrats and to plant listening devices on telephones in the Democratic headquarters. The subsequent cover up of any connection to the Nixon White House by some of Nixon's closest advisers and by the President himself, led Nixon to resign from the presidency in August 1974.  

The 1972 election: Richard Nixon carried all former states of the Confederacy by two, three and four times the number of votes his Democratic opponent, George McGovern of South Dakota, received. In the Senate, North Carolina elected a man whose name became nationally known over time, highly conservative Jesse Helms, who had just recently switched to the Republican Party from the Democratic Party. In Virginia, Republican William Scott defeated Democratic incumbent William Spong. In the House, where the districts were reapportioned according to the results of the 1970 Census, Republicans gained a seat in Alabama, where there was one less district due to redistricting, making that state's delegation 4 Democrats, 3 Republicans; in Florida, which gained three seats by the Census, the delegation was 11 Democrats and 4 Republicans; in Georgia, which had the same number of districts as before the Census, the Democrats regained a seat, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 1 Republican; in Louisiana, which had the same number of seats as before the Census, the Republicans won a seat, making the delegation 7 Democrats and 1 Republican; in Mississippi, which had the same number of seats, the Republicans gained two seats, making the delegation 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in South Carolina, where the number of seats stayed the same, the Republicans gained one seat, making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Tennessee, which lost one seat due to the Census, the delegation was 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats (previously 5 to 4 Republican); in Texas, which gained one seat, the delegation was 20 Democrats and 4 Republicans (previously 20 to 3 Democratic); in Virginia, which had the same number of seats, the Republicans won one seat, making the delegation 7 Republicans and 3 Democrats. In North Carolina, a Republican won the governorship for the first time since the late 1800s.

* The investigations into the Nixon administration's illegal activities, some of which were not directly related to the break in at the Watergate offices, all came to be included under the term "Watergate" in the public mind and the media. 

WORD HISTORY:
Mansion-This word, distantly related to English borrowings, "remain" and "permanent" (both are Latin derived words borrowed by English from French), goes back to Indo European "men," which had the meaning, "to stay," also in the sense, "dwell." This gave Latin "manere," meaning, "to stay, to dwell," which produced the noun, "mansio," meaning, "a dwelling, a place for lodging," with the accusative case being, "mansionem." This was passed to Old French as "mansion," meaning, "house/home," then, "a large house for the clergy," then, "for a lord." English borrowed the word from French in the 1300s.

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Eight

The nation continued to be terribly divided as antiwar and civil rights protests combined to become more liberal, anti establishment protests,* and Republicans Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew emphasized law and order** as the country moved toward the midterm election of 1970. Vice President Agnew, especially, went around the country criticizing the press, university professors and protesters for what he and Nixon felt were liberal biases. While George Wallace remained popular in the former Confederacy, Nixon and Agnew grew in popularity there, and the stage was set for both the President and the Vice President to campaign extensively during the election of 1970, asking for the support of "the silent majority," a term Nixon began using about a year prior to the election. The expression was Nixon's way of saying that most Americans didn't go out and protest in the streets, but that the press gave the protesters more coverage than they deserved and that the election was a way for people to voice their opposition to protests and to show support for his administration.

1970 was a Census year; thus, the election that year was the last to be held under the former apportionment of seats per state for the House of Representative and for state legislative districts in each state. When the rough and tumble campaign ended and the votes were counted in the former Confederate states:

Republicans gained a Senate seat in Tennessee (Bill Brock defeated Al Gore, Sr.; yes, the father of the future vice president), giving Republicans BOTH Senate seats in that state. In Virginia, long time Democratic senator, Harry Byrd, changed his affiliation to "independent," although he continued to caucus with the Democrats. In the House of Representatives, the congressional delegations ended up: Alabama: 5 Democrats, 3 Republicans; Arkansas: 3 Democrats, 1 Republican; Florida: 9 Democrats, 3 Republicans; Georgia: 8 Democrats, 2 Republicans, Louisiana: 8 Democrats; Mississippi: 5 Democrats; North Carolina: 7 Democrats, 4 Republicans; South Carolina: 5 Democrats, 1 Republican; Tennessee: 5 Democrats, 4 Republicans; Texas: 20 Democrats, 3 Republicans; Virginia: 6 Republican, 4 Democrats.

* The antiwar cause remained the dominant purpose of the protesters and in May of 1970, members of the Ohio National Guard fired on antiwar protesters at Kent State University in the suburban Cleveland/Akron area. Four students were killed and nine were wounded.

** While I don't want to overstate this, in those times, the business element of the Republican Party was very prominent, and it was much associated with the GOP, and generally speaking, business people like stability, which tied in with the Nixon "law and order" theme, a theme which just a bit earlier was used to garner white votes, particularly in the South, as many of the protests in the nation at that point were about civil rights for black Americans.  

WORD HISTORY:
Ramp-This word, related to "rumple," goes back to Indo European "(s)ker," which had the notion, "to bend, to curve, to move in a crooked, irregular or circular motion." This then produced, "(s)kremph," with the same general meaning. This gave Old Germanic "hrempanan," which meant, "to shrivel, to be or become wrinkled." This gave Frankish, an old Germanic dialect, "hrampon," with the "shrivel, contract," meaning. This passed into Old French^ as "ramper," meaning, "to climb a hill or inclined area," from the notion of "crouching to climb an incline." This then produced the French noun "rampe," meaning, "a slope, an incline," and this was borrowed into English in the second half of the 1700s. The expression "ramp up," meaning, "to increase production of something," "seems" to come from the idea of "incline;" that is, "move upwards."     

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Seven

While parts of this information does not just pertain to the former Confederacy, it is necessary to explain what was going on in the country and to set the stage for the political events in the southern states.

During the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement began to often blend with anti Vietnam War protests on college campuses and in many cities. In the former Confederate states, where many white citizens already opposed the Civil Rights Movement, many of the same white citizens felt very comfortable opposing the antiwar protests, too. The overlap of protests (and many protesters), which often times ended in confrontations with police or campus authorities, made a number of Americans feel that there was a breakdown in law and order. As President Johnson prepared to run for reelection in 1968, he faced serious challenges from within the Democratic Party, primarily over his handling of the Vietnam War. After a narrow win in the New Hampshire Primary over Senator Eugene McCarthy (of Minnesota), Johnson made an announcement that stunned many Americans; he was withdrawing from the presidential race.

1968 proved to be a violent year, as the war continued, and with the assassinations of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee in April* and Robert F. Kennedy,** the brother of assassinated president, John F. Kennedy, and a Democratic primary candidate himself, in June. Protests at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago turned violent and Americans were stunned by the images on their television screens of the violence outside the convention hall. Richard Nixon was the choice of Republicans to lead their ticket and he chose Spiro T. Agnew of Maryland as his running mate. Democrats finally had settled on Minnesotan Hubert Humphrey (who was the sitting vice president), and he chose Senator Edmund Muskie of Maine as his running mate. As if to confirm how divided the country was at the time, segregationist George Wallace of Alabama entered the presidential race under the banner of the American Independent Party, an action which struck at the very core of the Democratic Party coalition and which gave Nixon an excellent chance at winning.

George Wallace drew lots of support in the former Confederate states, and even elsewhere, as his typical speech played off of the prejudices of supporters, not only about race, but against the changing clothing and hair styles, as bell-bottom jeans and long hair were becoming increasingly common among men. Wallace's appearances drew protesters and as they shouted obscenities at Wallace, he would turn to them and say, "There are two four-letter words you people don't know: (and he would spell out) W-O-R-K and S-O-A-P." For a time, polls showed Wallace running ahead of Democrat Hubert Humphrey, but as election day approached, more Democrats got behind Humphrey and, when the votes were counted, it was pretty close.

Republican Nixon won 301 electoral votes and slightly less than 43 1/2% of the popular vote. Of the former Confederate states, Nixon won Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Democrat Humphrey won 191 electoral votes and slightly more than 42 1/2%, but he carried only Texas among the Confederate states. American Independent Wallace won 46 electoral votes and 13 1/2%. He carried five former Confederate states: Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. In the Senate, the Republicans (Edward Gurney) won a Florida race for the first time since Reconstruction. In the House of Representatives delegations, changes came in three of the former Confederate states, as Republicans made gains: North Carolina had 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans; Texas had 20 Democrats and 3 Republicans; Virginia had 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans.         

* Reverend King was shot and killed by racist James Earl Ray, who died in prison in Nashville, Tennessee in 1998.

** Robert Kennedy was shot and killed by anti-Israel Jordanian Sirhan Sirhan, who had lived both in Jordan and in the United States. Kennedy was shot in Los Angeles in June, 1968 and he died the next day. Sirhan, now in his 70s, is serving a life sentence in California.  

WORD HISTORY:
 Lyre-The origin of this word for the stringed "harp like" instrument is unknown, but Greek had "lýra," which was used for the instrument. Latin borrowed the word as "lyra," and this was passed to Latin-based Old French as "lire." English borrowed the word from French in the early 1200s. The word is pronounced as if, "liar," so if you say you can play the instrument, but you can't, that would be, "Lyre, lyre, pants on fire!" 

How Big Is Voter Fraud?

This was first published in 2012.

As some of you may already know, recently there have been attempts by some states to remove people from the voter rolls. Further, there have also been modifications in some states as to how registered voters are actually permitted to vote, with some sort of photo identification being required by some, before a person can actually cast a ballot.*

I've tried to research these issues by checking what I consider to be non-partisan or objective sources, but these seem to be view and far between, and I really deemed nothing satisfactory. Most stories seem to come from either very conservative individuals or groups, or from very liberal individuals or groups. That doesn't mean the articles are incorrect, but I really haven't seen what I consider an in depth article dealing with the subject and presenting both sides of the arguments. To be quite honest, there are probably more than two sides to some of these arguments, but for the sake of simplicity, I'll use two basic points of view.

The basic argument by Republicans is that there is a major problem with voter fraud in America. To halt "non-citizens" from voting, they want proof that we are citizens. Republicans in Florida for instance, want some list of non citizens from the Department of Homeland Security. Further, if I understand this correctly, Republicans also seem to feel that non-registered people are voting in place of people legally registered, but who may be too ill to vote or may even be deceased, or that some people are voting more than once in any given election. In Ohio, there have also been attempts to curtail the "absentee voting" period, where people can vote by mail, or even in person at county election bureaus, in advance of the election.

Democrats argue that "voter fraud," in general, is an issue created by Republicans when the problem is very small and that is it an issue in search of a problem. They feel Republicans are overreacting. Further, Democrats believe Republicans are trying to suppress voter turnout among poorer, and often minority, voters, who tend to be Democrats.

Just a little history here: the 1960 election was extremely close between Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat John Kennedy. In the end, Kennedy won the national popular vote by just over 100,000 votes out of about 70 million votes cast.** Actually these numbers are irrelevant, "in a sense," because American presidents are not elected by the overall popular vote, but by electoral votes, which are votes cast by electors from each state,*** thus making presidential elections a state by state campaign, rather than a true national campaign. Kennedy won the electoral vote with 303 votes (the winner needed a minimum of 269 at that time).

Not only was the national popular vote extremely close, but in several of the truly important state contests the vote was razor thin for one candidate or the other. In Hawaii, for example, Nixon won the state during the initial vote count, only to lose it to Kennedy by about 100 votes in a recount.**** Similarly, Kennedy was thought to have prevailed in California, a state with lots of electoral votes, but when absentee ballots were counted after election night, Nixon eked out a win. Illinois was carried by Kennedy in a highly controversial election. Kennedy led by less than 10,000 votes out of more than four and one half million votes cast in the state. Nixon carried much of the state, but in solidly Democratic Chicago, known for "vote early and often," Kennedy piled up a heavy total to overcome Nixon's strength in other parts of the state. Voter fraud was suspected, but the issue was eventually dropped by Republicans, when charges of Republican fraud were leveled by Democrats in some Republican counties. Fairly or unfairly, a consensus was eventually reached that any fraud or errors had benefited both sides, but had cancelled out enough of a gain for Nixon for Kennedy to carry the state. There were other contested states, but you get the idea. Republicans, including my father, carried a grudge against the 1960 election for many years into the future, but the thing was, in those times, the selection of Nixon or Kennedy was not seen by many folks as all that different, except for religious bigots who felt that if Kennedy were elected he would rule the country on the orders of the Pope or that everyone would be forced to attend morning Mass before heading to work. To be fair, Catholics rallied to Kennedy, and he undoubtedly benefited from that religious tilt. The positions of the two candidates were not all that strikingly different, and the idea that the republic was somehow in danger if one or the other were elected didn't seem to enter the minds of most Americans. This stands in stark contrast to more recent elections, where both sides feel absolutely threatened by the other.***** This just shows how polarized the country is.

* To my knowledge, these are all states with Republican governors or Republican legislatures, or both.

** Kennedy received just under 50% of the popular vote, but there were other candidates from various little known parties on the ballot which accounted for the balance of votes.

*** Each state has a number of electors determined by the number of its congressional representatives, plus its two U.S. senators. So, if your state has eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives, your state then has ten electors for the presidential election. Electors are chosen by varying state laws, but "typically," the state political parties each choose a slate of electors. Technically, when you vote for president, you are voting for these electors, and not directly for a particular candidate. If "Candidate X" receives more votes in your state than "Candidate Y," it is "assumed" that the electors for X's party will vote for their nominee, but there have been occasional exceptions, and some electors have occasionally declared themselves to be "uncommitted." The "Electoral College," as it is known, was set up by the Founding Fathers as a compromise between factions which wanted the president to be decided by popular vote, and those who wanted the president decided by Congress.

**** Understand, even if Nixon had retained Hawaii, it would not have changed the overall election result.

***** Some Democrats (and probably some independents and even some Republicans) seem to feel that the 2000 election between George W. Bush and Al Gore was "stolen" for Bush, and that the decision led to the eventual invasion of Iraq, a war that ended up tearing at the fabric of our society, and that lax regulation of the financial system by the Bush administration led to the economic meltdown and the still lingering problems with the economy. The idea is, "elections (can) have serious consequences."

WORD HISTORY:
Pull-Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "pullian," which meant "to pluck, to pull." This later became "pullen," before the modern version. Low German, a close relative of English, has "pulen," which means "to pluck, to pull, to tear off," but it originally meant "to tear off the husk or shell." The language of the ancestral homeland of English in northern Germany is still Saxon,^ now commonly called Low German Saxon, but where they got the word that became English "pull" and Low German "pulen" is unknown. Dutch, another close English relative, has the noun "peul," which means "husk, pod," and my guess would be that the original meaning of Low German "pulen;" that is, "to tear off a husk or shell," transferred to the object of that action as a noun, "pod, husk."

^ Standard German is taught in school, but Low German is the indigenous language of northern Germany, although there are many variations (dialects).

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Eight

The 1976 Republican nominating process was a tough one, with incumbent President Gerald Ford challenged by former California Governor Ronald Reagan; but a little background first. The 1964 Republican contest had shown conservatives strengthening their hold on the Republican Party, as conservative Barry Goldwater won the nomination. What was left of the progressive wing of the Republican Party, most symbolized in those days by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, began to fade into what might be termed "moderates," which included Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Reagan, a former Democrat, became a prominent supporter of Goldwater in 1964 and the heir apparent leader of conservatives in the Republican Party after Goldwater's landslide loss to Democrat Lyndon Johnson. Nixon captured the presidency in 1968, as President Johnson and Democrats wrestled with discontent over the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, increasing inflation, and serious divisions within their own political party, as many southern Democrats took to supporting Alabama Governor George Wallace, an avowed segregationist,* who ran for the presidency in 1968 as an independent; thus siphoning off both popular votes and electoral votes from Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey. Nixon won a narrow half million vote plurality (43.4%) over Humphrey (42.7%), but Wallace received nearly ten million votes nationwide (13.5%), although the largest portion came in the traditionally Democratic South, where he carried five states.** Democrats were obviously in trouble, as a significant part of their coalition abandoned them for Wallace. The 1972 election saw a landslide reelection of Nixon, as Democratic Senator George McGovern carried only Massachusetts and the District of Columbia, and losing the popular vote to Nixon 60.7% to 37.5%. This time, in a forerunner of what was to come later, the Solid South voted solidly Republican.

Republican momentum at assembling a dominant coalition was halted by events and a self-inflicted wound. Events had to do with the winding down of the Vietnam War, where American troops were being withdrawn in stages, and conflict in the Middle East, which brought an oil embargo by Arab nations against the United States for its support of Israel in a war begun in October 1973. The oil shortage created long lines at American gas stations and escalating inflation, which was already becoming a problem as a drag on the slowing economy. The self-inflicted wound was by Nixon and some of his aides. Burglars broke into the Democratic headquarters in Washington D.C, in the Watergate complex, but they were captured. The resulting investigation led Nixon and his closest aides to cover up information about the break in and about other activities initiated by his reelection staff and White House personnel. The whole ordeal came to be called "Watergate," and Nixon resigned in August 1974, with Vice President Gerald Ford becoming president.*** 

Since Nixon would not have been able to run again anyway, as he was term limited, Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, was clearly a force to be reckoned with, as he garnered support from conservatives nationwide. It is interesting that Reagan could run for the presidency, seeing that he warned of the imminent demise of freedom in the country if Medicare became law in the mid 1960s, but Medicare did become law, and freedom lasted to see Reagan run for president in 1976, to see him elected twice, and we're still free in 2012. You think he misjudged? Or exaggerated?

Next, the "Reagan coalition" and the ascendancy of the American political right.

* Wallace carried some of assassinated Louisianan Huey Long's populist ideas along too, as he supported more aid to elderly people on Social Security. As to the red hot issue of the Vietnam War, he preached to either go all out to win the war in a short period of time, or to get out of Vietnam. Wallace was seriously wounded in an assassination attempt by Arthur Bremer during the 1972 (not 1968) campaign and was confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his life, which ended in 1998 at the age of 79. After his presidential campaigns, Wallace renounced his segregationist views.

** Nixon, as are all presidents, was actually elected by electoral votes: Nixon 301, Humphrey 191 and Wallace 46.

*** Ford had been appointed to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned in 1973 over legal problems of his own involving tax evasion over brides he received while governor of Maryland.

WORD HISTORY:
South-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, but it likely goes back to Indo European "shuwen," which meant "sun, bright light." This gave Old Germanic "sunno" (sun), which then spawned "sunthaz," which meant "land or area of the sun, southward." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "suth," with the meaning "south," which later came to be "south." When I was a kid, there were people around who pronounced it "suth," which rhymed with "tooth," and this was likely close to the pronunciation in Anglo-Saxon times. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "Süd(en)," Low German Saxon has "Süüd," Dutch has "zuid," West Frisian has "Sud(en)," Icelandic has "suthur," Swedish has "syd/söder," Danish has "syd," and Norwegian has "sør." 

Fear Drives The Political Ads, But...

Politics is always about "fear" to some degree, often to a large degree. All political parties use it, especially America's two main parties, the Democrats and the Republicans. Fear can make people behave irrationally, and at times, both parties would prefer that you would just listen to their ads, panic, and not "think." The question is, is one party really playing more on irrational fear than the other? My answer is "yes." Americans of the right or the left have always had skepticism of government; after all, the nation was founded in revolution against rule by England, but interestingly, the collective scandals of Republican Richard Nixon's administration* made the country even more skeptical, with many folks seemingly seeing conspiracies in just about every event thereafter. Some skepticism is one thing, overload on conspiracies isn't good for your mental health, folks. Take a deep breath or two and THINK.

Since Ronald Reagan won the presidency in 1980, there has been a growing ultra-conservative, anti-government movement that has gradually taken over the Republican Party. Even some Republicans have noted that Reagan would not be able to win his party's nomination in this day and age, as he was "too moderate." Twenty years ago President George Bush, Sr. was essentially held hostage by the extreme right wing of the GOP, a right wing that never really got behind him in his reelection bid. When Democrat Bill Clinton won the election, this ultra right movement attacked him in unrelenting manner, with some even accusing the President of murder.** By the mid to late 1990s, right wing militia groups had grown and a few extremists blew up a federal office building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds more. The poison has only grown since then, as George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq mobilized major opposition to his administration, as the "Iraqi weapons of mass destruction," the reason given by Bush for going to war, were not found.*** These examples and many more have left a dizzying number of conspiracy-like claims by people in both parties against one another.

When Barack Obama was elected as President of the United States, right wing and white militia membership rose as fear of the first African-American president gripped these people.**** Since that time, conservative groups, led by the rise of the "Tea Party," have stoked the fires of paranoia against Obama and Democrats, often charging or implying that the President would take away guns from all Americans, no matter how law abiding, or that he was not American born, or that he was a secret Muslim seeking to destroy the country from within, or that he was out to destroy religion, or that he was seeking to bankrupt the country (conveniently forgetting the debts piled up by his Republican predecessor, indeed, predecessors). As some of the saner elements of the "media world" have noted, there hasn't been any attempt to ban guns, and Ted Nugent's recent display was way out there, folks, although Ted's words seemed to almost indicate that Obama was on his way at that very moment to disarm all in the crowd. These folks and others need to get a grip on themselves. Sadly, few if any Republican leaders have stepped forward to squelch the nonsense or the hate mongering. Conservative talk radio or television hosts have become rather notorious for spewing venom and egging on an element of the population whose very sanity is in question.

On the other side, Democrats claim Republican budget cuts and program changes will result in the destruction of government programs necessary for elderly and poor Americans. Republicans say it is untrue, but when you talk about privatizing all or parts of these programs, that means lots of greedy people will try to get their hands on the tons of money used for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Will "free markets" care if you or your parents or your grandparents have dependable income or medical care? Do you trust for profit business people to make sure you don't live in abject poverty or in sickness or misery from serious illness?*****  The desire by many in the GOP for the elimination of Legal Aid will deprive poor folks of legal advice and representation in this complex legalistic society we have. What if YOU fall on hard times? We like to criticize "government bureaucrats," but would you prefer to seek assistance from a government employee who collects a salary in the work force, or from a business person interested in profit only?  

More in "Part Two-Angst"

* President Nixon was often under political fire for his policies, primarily regarding the Vietnam War, a war that had become increasingly unpopular and increasingly divisive. To keep this simple, some of Nixon's top administration officials were involved in orchestrating a break-in of the Democratic headquarters in one of the buildings in the Watergate complex in Washington. The burglars planted bugging devices and checked or photographed some documents. These officials then tried to cover up their misdeeds, as several of the actual burglars were arrested. The whole scandal would require a separate article, or series of articles, but in the end, Nixon resigned, having been accused in the cover up and obstruction of justice. A number of Americans felt the President was directly involved in authorizing the break-in.

** Vince Foster was a White House official during the first few months of Bill Clinton's administration. He was found dead in a park in suburban Washington D.C. in what various law enforcement agencies concluded was a suicide. Later, Special Prosecutor Ken Starr (a Republican) concluded the same. Right wing groups charged that Bill Clinton, or Hillary Clinton, or both, were really behind Foster's death, an allegation that lingers to this day. 

*** I guess I should say that the very close and contentious election of 2000 just laid a powder keg out waiting for a lit match to touch the fuse. For those too young or unaware, the 2000 election brought a razor-thin victory to George W. Bush over Democrat Al Gore. In hotly contested Florida, Bush was awarded the state, and therefore the presidency, by only some 500 votes out of several million votes cast in that state.

**** Let me make one thing perfectly clear (ah, that might not be a great choice of words, but what the hell, I'll stick with it; after all, I mentioned Nixon), I'm NOT saying any or all criticism of Obama is racist or bigoted, and I have criticism of some things he's done myself. We need an open discussion of issues and criticism of political leaders' ideas is part of that discussion. However, there's no question in my mind that racism and bigotry lie behind a certain element in the country (interestingly, "a minority") who are willing to bring the whole country down to discredit Obama. They are NOT afraid he will fail, they are afraid he will succeed, thus making a case for another possible future African-American president.

***** I've noted in articles before that my father was a staunch Republican, but once retired, he began to see how important Social Security and Medicare were. After the GOP took control of Congress in the mid 1990s and Republicans began to talk about "privatizing" Social Security, he started to criticize their ideas, worrying that wealthy business people couldn't "wait to get their hands on that (Social Security) money," as he told me.  

WORD HISTORY:
Thing-The ultimate origin of this common word is unclear, but Old Germanic had "thengan" or "thingan," which meant "council or assembly of officials," but it also began to develop the secondary meaning "matters discussed by the assembly." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "thing," which kept the "assembly (meeting)" idea, as well as the "matters discussed" meaning. Gradually the secondary meaning became the primary meaning in the Germanic languages, as other words replaced the meaning "assembly," although traces of the original meaning survive, as Iceland's parliament is the "Althing." Over time, the idea of "matters discussed," broadened to "matters in general," and then even to "objects." Common in the other Germanic languages, all with the same basic meaning as their close English relative: German and Low German Saxon have "Ding," some Low German dialect has "dinkj, "West Frisian and Dutch have "ding," Norwegian, Danish and Swedish all have "ting," and Icelandic has "thing."

Allied Commanders of World War Two/Eisenhower, Part Four/Final

"Dwight D. Eisenhower" Part 4/Final

It was at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims, France that Colonel-General Alfred Jodl* signed the surrender on behalf of the German Armed Forces on May 7, 1945. With the end of the war, Eisenhower undertook providing assistance to the German population in the American Occupation Zone, which stretched from west central Germany (Hessen) into much of the southern part of the country (Bavaria and part of Baden-Württemberg), with headquarters in Frankfurt-am-Main. The beginning of what came to be called the "Cold War" brought the Western Allies into potential conflict with the Soviet Union, and Germany became the center of this potential conflict; thus, the western nations determined to make the Germans in the western occupation zones part and parcel of the defensive measures against the Soviets and their satellite allies (in this case, mainly Poland and Czechoslovakia). Later, Eisenhower was named Chief of Staff of the Army, became president of Columbia University, and was the commander of NATO.**

Both major American political parties courted Eisenhower to run for president in 1948, but he did not get involved. In 1952, however, "Ike" defeated Senator Robert Taft for the Republican nomination, and he went on to win a landslide victory against Democrat (then Illinois Governor) Adlai Stevenson. A rematch in 1956 produced the same Eisenhower landslide. In 1952, Eisenhower chose (then Senator) Richard Nixon as his vice presidential running mate, although shortly thereafter a controversy erupted about a special fund maintained on Nixon's behalf.*** Eisenhower had heart troubles (he was a heavy smoker), and Nixon served ably in his stead during periods of illness by the president, including a heart attack.

Eisenhower was confronted by a number of problems during his two terms as president: the Korean War, where Eisenhower was able to get an armistice,**** tensions of the Cold War,***** including the crushing of a revolt in Communist-governed Hungary, and the desegregation of American schools, where Eisenhower, a supporter of civil rights, sent in the U.S. military to back up the desegregation of a schools in Arkansas. Eisenhower also promoted the interstate highway system in America, a system still very much with us today. As with many former Republican presidents, in my opinion, it is likely the moderate Eisenhower would be an Independent today, and maybe even vote Democratic at times, especially in these more recent times of rightwing extremes in the Republican Party. Eisenhower died of congestive hear failure in 1969. While not a great speaker, Eisenhower's presidency has been reassessed to the upside by many historians. Ike loved golf, and just to show how images can stick in some minds, a late friend of mine (from my father's generation), and a Republican, once told me, "The only thing I remember about Eisenhower was he was always on the golf course on the news." The obvious implication is that Eisenhower didn't do anything as president, but that is unfair.


* For info on Jodl, see my article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/10/german-military-leadersnazi-erajodl.html

** NATO stands for "North Atlantic Treaty Organization," and it really came into existence in 1949 as a military alliance by nations in western Europe and North America to counter any threat by the Soviet Union or its allies against member nations, as the treaty considered an attack on any one nation to be an attack on all members. The organization still exists, although the Soviet Union is now defunct, and the alliance's role has changed to protect an increasing number of member nations against attack or threats, and to act in common interest.

*** Nixon was a senator from California and a group of his supporters collected money to "promote" him during his time in the Senate. The money was to be used to pay for hotels, public appearances of a totally political nature, and political mailings during Nixon's first term in the Senate. Questions arose as to how the money was actually being used, and who was donating to the fund. Fairly or unfairly, Americans can be very suspicious of special funds and politicians, and after Eisenhower chose Nixon for his running mate, accusations came that Nixon was financially benefiting from the fund. The story became a hot topic, and there were rumors Eisenhower would "dump Nixon" from the ticket. Nixon made a televised speech where he defended himself, saying that he and his family were of modest means, and that he had not gotten money from the fund to enrich his lifestyle. In the best remembered part of the speech, Nixon said he had gotten a little dog as a gift, called "Checkers," and that no matter how much his opponents railed against him, he would not give the dog back. He asked viewers to contact Republican leaders about whether he should stay on the ticket with Eisenhower. The outcome from the public was overwhelmingly in Nixon's favor, giving Eisenhower little choice but to continue with Nixon.

**** Eisenhower personally went to Korea and toured the area. The death of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (the backer of China and North Korea) presented an opening for serious negotiations which ended with a divided Korea, but the end to the open warfare and to the mounting casualties.

***** The "Cold War" was the term used for the tensions between the Communist dominated parts of the world, primarily in eastern Europe, and what were either basically free nations, or nations whose leaders were opposed to communism. The came about as the opposite of a "hot" war, where bombs and fire were regularly exchanged.

WORD HISTORY:
Steer-This is the noun meaning "young male ox, young bull." The origins of this word are uncertain, although many believe it is Indo European, and that it may be related to "stand," in the sense of "strength," but that is speculation. Old Germanic had "steuraz," meaning "bull, ox," and this gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "steor," with the same meaning. German has "Stier," some Low German has "stiar," Dutch has "stier," Swedish has "tjur," Danish has "tyr" (notice the absence of the beginning "s" in these two North Germanic languages). "Apparently," Frisian, Norwegian and Icelandic no longer use a form of the word.

What About Foreign Policy?

Regular readers probably wonder at times why I don’t write much about foreign policy. I guess it’s because, since the demise of the Soviet Union, the world is much more complex, or at least it seems to be. From the end of World War Two until circa 1990, there were two main players, superpowers, in world affairs, the Soviet Union and the United States. There were other players, but they essentially supported, or leaned toward, one of the two superpowers, although China began to wean itself from Soviet influence decades ago.* On the surface, like today’s Democrats and Republicans, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, then commonly referred to as “Russia” by most folks, often “seemed” to stake out positions based upon the other superpower’s position on any given issue. “If you like chocolate, then I like vanilla. If you like vanilla, then I like chocolate. If you like chocolate and vanilla, then I like strawberry.” In fact, just as with today’s Republicans and Democrats, there were deep philosophical divisions, but telling the “good guys” from the “bad guys” was not difficult. There were meetings between the superpowers over the decades, and there were even agreements between the two, which gradually reduced tensions; the key word being “gradually.”**

When I was a kid in grade school, there was a major confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States. It had to do with Russian missiles being deployed in Cuba, which is only about ninety miles from the U.S. President Kennedy challenged this Soviet deployment by sending American ships to essentially surround Cuba, and eventually the Soviets backed down. For days the world held its breath as the tension mounted, and it seemed that missiles would be flying in every direction at any moment. In the end, sanity prevailed, as both superpowers saw the tremendous downside to pushing “the button” to launch a nuclear attack on the other.

The two great nuclear powers had big differences, but neither side was stupid. Instead of using a major war to settle matters (probably for all time, if you get my drift), they used the world map as a kind of chessboard. Europe was at the center of most of the tension, as the Soviets had puppet governments running the countries of Eastern Europe, and the U.S. and its Western European allies kept forces at the ready to face any Soviet-led incursion into central Europe, most notably through West Germany.*** Further, each side tried to get “one up” on the other in technology. The point is, neither the Soviets nor the Americans wanted to end civilization by starting a nuclear war.

For years the two sides spent all sorts of money to build bigger bombs and bigger missiles to deliver those bombs. Many Americans, and I’m sure many “Russians,” as I’ll call them, wished that the other side would “see reason” and give in or just go away. In the end, the Soviets saw their Eastern European empire collapse, and then their very own rule over “Russia” go down for the count. Americans and “The West” rejoiced at the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. We had won!!! Or had we?

With only ONE superpower left, the rise of fundamentalist Islam presented itself to the world, including Western Europe, the United States and Russia**** (and more recently to China!) Unlike the Soviets and the Americans of “old,” these people were driven, not by a true political or economic ideology, but by religious zealousness (I’d say nuttiness!) and by an intense hatred of things “western” or “modern,” (I’d say they seem to see the two as the same), although nutcases as they are, they have no problem using modern technology, like computers or cell phones, to carry out their assault on the modern world.

In recent times, we have a Muslim nation, Pakistan, that developed nuclear weapons. We have a bunch of Islamic religious fanatics who would LOVE to get their hands on these weapons. We have another Muslim nation, Iran, led by a religious nutcase, that appears to be working toward developing nuclear weapons. If you thought the Soviets were a threat to the world, wait until one of these religious nuts gets a hold of nuclear weapons. To me it is only a matter of time. Any bunch of nutcases who would send suicide bombers into schools, businesses, crowded streets and plazas, will not hesitate to use nuclear weapons ANYWHERE. With their poisonous religious fanaticism, this will NOT be like the dealings between nuclear giants, America and the Soviet Union. Most Americans and Russians had rational thought processes, and both sides realized the potential consequences of a nuclear exchange. These nuts will most likely welcome the consequences of using nuclear weapons. LOOK OUT WORLD!

* From the time of the Communist takeover in the latter part of the 1940s until President Nixon’s major trip to China in the early 1970s, China was referred to in the United States as “Red China.” The U.S. and its allies viewed the legitimate government of China to be on the island of Formosa, now known as Taiwan, which lies just off the China coast.

** Here again it was Nixon who began serious talks with the Soviets on a wide range of issues, not the least of which was regarding nuclear weapons.

*** For those unaware, after the defeat of Hitler’s Germany in 1945, Germany was divided into occupation zones, with the Soviets in the eastern part of Germany, and with the U.S., Britain, and France with their own zones in western Germany. As the Germans were gradually given increasing amounts of self-rule, the western areas were commonly referred to in the western press as “West Germany,” although the Germans called the country, “Bundes Republik Deutschland,” or “BDR” (Federal Republic of Germany). See the “Word History” below) In contrast, the press referred to the eastern provinces as “East Germany,” although the Communist government called the country “Die Deutsche Demokratische Republik,” or “DDR” (The German Democratic Republic). The “West” eventually became totally self-governing, although with major military forces from the above listed countries being present, and in the “East,” the Communist government ruled that area on a day-to-day basis, but with the Soviets dominating foreign policy matters. That is not to say that the Western Powers didn’t have a big influence on West German foreign policy.

**** The Soviet Union was the inheritor of the “Old Russian Empire,” and as such assumed control over many Muslims, primarily in the far southeastern European part of their empire, and in the south Asian areas.

WORD HISTORY:
Bind-This word traces back to the Indo European root "bhendh," which had the notion of "tying up something." This passed into Old Germanic as a stem "bind," with a short "i" sound. This in turn gave Old English "bindan," with the same short "i." Later, a long "i" sound developed in the pronunciation, supposedly in southern England, and that eventually came to be our modern version. A noun form developed during the 1300s, and is also represented by the form "bine," used for part of the name of some plants, like "Woodbine." Hopefully I'll remember to do the other forms of this word in future histories. The verb is quite common in the other Germanic languages, as, for example, German and Dutch have "binden," Swedish has "binda," and Danish has "binde." The German word "Bund(es)," used in the article above, is related, and is really our word "bound." A "Bund," in German, is a noun meaning "bound together for political purpose," and is ususally translated into English as "confederation or federation." In the above, it is adjectival in use, and is translated as "federal."

Private Vs. Government

I guess if we were to take the "extremes" of American economic thought, and then state things simply, one side's argument would be that only the private sector can run things efficiently, while the other side would say that only government (at either the local, state or national level) can give some semblance of fairness to the distribution of goods and services. So we have two words representing two ideas, "efficiency" and "fairness." Like Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and progressives, or Ike and Tina Turner, these two words just can't seem to get along.

Since the days after World War Two, the one side, often referred to as "economic conservatives," made "gradual" headway in the argument to reverse the economic policies put in place during the Great Depression. However, the 1960s brought a fresh batch of economic activism by Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society." As part of Johnson's program, the President declared a "war on poverty." As many economic conservatives later liked to quip, "Poverty won!" Johnson's general philosophy didn't end when he left office in January 1969, but rather it was continued by Republican Richard Nixon, as the President established the "Section 8 Housing Program" and the "Environmental Protection Agency," better known to most by the initials "EPA."

Then began a long march to "deregulate" the American economy, begun interestingly, by President Jimmy Carter, who deregulated the airline industry. Then came Ronald Reagan, and thus BEGAN an era characterized by: deregulation, no regulation, free markets always know best, free trade policies that left many American workers and small businesses at a disadvantage, huge trade deficits, the government is the enemy, tax cuts skewed to the wealthiest Americans, "Let's not tax those "poor" rich folks, or they won't know where their next million (or billion) will come from, huge budget deficits, a merger mania that concentrated more and more power in the hands of fewer and fewer businesses, and thus creating entities that we now call "too big to fail." Reagan's successors each seemingly tried to "outdo Reagan," with even Bill Clinton, the only Democratic president during the era, joining the Republican-led Congress in the dismantling of laws put in place to prevent banking nonsense and by allowing huge corporate mergers to go through. All the while, income disparity grew to levels not seen since the 1920s; that is, for those unaware, just prior to the Great Depression. Many middle class Americans either ran in place or lost ground during this reactionary period.*** This whole era came to a stunning end with an economic plunge the like of which we haven't seen since The Great Depression, and the end is not in sight yet.

Some of the perpetrators of this carnage then turned to...ahh...the enemy; that is, the U.S. Government, to save their behinds AND their bonuses! Of course, now taking taxpayer money from "the enemy" posed no problem for these greedy nincompoops, until that "mean old Uncle Sam" actually wanted to lay down some rules and regulations, especially regarding pay and bonuses for these supporters of "the free market ALWAYS knows best." By the standards espoused by their philosophy, they would have long ago joined the ranks of the unemployed for having run their companies into the ground (I'm sure that philosophy only applies to "the peasantry," however). Then too, these folks would hardly have had to apply for food stamps to keep from starving, as most are worth many millions, some even hundreds of millions, of dollars. This is the mentality, or lack thereof, that we are up against.

To be continued....

*** Remember, purchasing power, not actual dollar amounts are what counts.

President Ford

While he'll never be seen as a great president, Gerald Ford did a decent job as president for the two and one half years that he served. He inherited gasoline shortages, a bad economy, the end of the Vietnam War, and the fallout from Nixon's resignation. The fact that he was unelected to the office didn't help. Ford, however, served admirably, and time has shown that his most controversial decision, to pardon Nixon, was really the right decision, as it put the Nixon legal situation to rest after a short time. The country faced so many other problems, it didn't need Nixon on the front pages every day.