The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Two

Gun control was a hot topic in 1993 and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases, with a five day waiting period for gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, who had been seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association (also known as, the "NRA") strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control. The bill passed both houses of Congress in slightly different forms, which meant the measure had to go to a conference committee of members from both the Senate and the House, which then agreed to changes to make the bill uniform. That measure was then passed by both houses, and then signed into law by President Clinton in late November 1993.

The vote by senators (two from each state) from former Confederate states went this way: Alabama, 2 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats for; Florida, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats against; Mississippi, 2 Republicans against; North Carolina, 2 Republicans against; South Carolina, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat against; Tennessee, 2 Democrats for; Texas, 1 Republican for, 1 Republican against; Virginia, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for. The votes by representatives in former Confederate states in the House of Representatives: Alabama, 3 Republicans against, 4 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against; Florida, 8 Democrats for, 8 Republican for, 2 Democrats against, 5 Republicans against; Georgia, 4 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against, 4 Republicans against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 2 Republicans against, (1 Republican and 1 Democrat did not vote); Mississippi, 1 Democrat for, 3 Democrats against, (1 Democrat did not vote); North Carolina, 8 Democrats for, 1 Republican for, 3 Republicans against; South Carolina, 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee, 4 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 3 Republicans against, (1 Democrat did not vote); Texas, 8 Democrats for, 13 Democrats against, 9 Republicans against; Virginia, 3 Democrats for, 2 Republicans for, 4 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against.  

WORD HISTORY:
Gun-This word is a shortening of "Lady Gunilda" (also "Gunhilda"), a term applied in England for some weapons that flung rocks or fired arrows, beginning in the 1300s. It was also applied to the developing weaponry that used gun powder to propel projectiles. The use of female names for weapons is not uncommon, including "Big Bertha" and "Brown Bess." The "gun" part was from Old Norse "gunnr," which meant, "war, battle, strife." This went back to Indo European "gwhen," which meant "to hit, to beat, to wound, to kill (presumably by beating/hitting)." This then gave Old Germanic "gund," meaning, "battle, strife, war," but which "apparently" only survived in the North Germanic branch of Germanic, although it later spread elsewhere in name forms by way of contact with other languages, both Germanic and non-Germanic. ^ Whatever the case, the shortened form was often rendered as "gunne/gonne," before settling upon "gun."

^ German has the name "Gunther/Günther," which has the same first part, but did they get it from Old Norse (North Germanic)? English; that is, Anglo-Saxon, the ancestral homeland of which lies in northern Germany and the northwestern Netherlands, does not seem to have had the word, or a form of the name way back, although it was acquired later.

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Seventeen

Ronald Reagan began his second term in January 1985.

A scandal broke in late 1986, dubbed "Iran-Contra," because of its connection to Iran and to the Contras of Nicaragua. The scandal is complicated, but it essentially involved the U.S. selling arms to Iran, which was in a brutal, very bloody war with neighboring Iraq; then, some of the "proceeds" of that sale going to support anti-communist forces, called the "Contras," in Nicaragua.* The problems were these: Iran had been a bitter enemy of the U.S. since 1979 and the beginning of the ordeal for the American hostages being held in Iran. Sanctions against Iran were then put in place, which included an arms embargo. The U.S. openly supported Iran's enemy, Iraq, in the war between those two countries, but Iran desperately needed U.S. weapons to fight Iraq. There were also American hostages being held by an Iranian supported group in Lebanon. So the U.S. sold weapons to Iran, and some of the American hostages in Lebanon were released, although other Americans were then taken hostage. The process continued, but the price for weapons to Iran increased, with the extra money diverted to help the Contras in Nicaragua, something that was against American law. Eventually the deal with Iran became public, which badly damaged Reagan, whose poll numbers took a big hit until the 1988 election campaign and Reagan's pending departure from office lifted his numbers again.

The midterm election in 1986 saw Democrats gain a total of 8 Senate seats, as they defeated 6 Republican incumbents who had won election, at least partially, on the strength of Reagan's first term win in 1980. In the former Confederate states, Democrats captured Republican seats in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. In the House of Representatives, the overall results were less dramatic, as Democrats gained only 5 seats nationally, and with the changes in former Confederate states being: 1 Republican seat gained in Louisiana, making that state's delegation 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Mississippi a 1 seat gain by Democrats, making the delegation 4 Democrats and 1 Republican; a 2 seat gain by Democrats in North Carolina, making the delegation 8 Democrats and 3 Republicans; a 1 seat Democratic gain in South Carolina, making the delegation 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans; and a 1 seat gain by Democrats in Virginia, making its delegation 5 Republicans and 5 Democrats. In governorships, Republicans replaced Democrats in Alabama, Texas, South Carolina and Florida (where former Democrat turned Republican, Bob Martinez won), but in Tennessee, a Democrat replaced a Republican as governor.

* For a little more on the "Iran-Contra" scandal, this is the link to an article I did in October 2012:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2012/10/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part_7635.html

WORD HISTORY:
Cove-This word, UNRELATED to the similar word "cave," "seems" to go back to an Indo European form "geuba," with the notion of "pit, hollow;" thus, "a hole in the ground." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kubon," with the meaning "den;" that is, "hollowed out living area in the ground or hillside for animals," but also with the "hollow, pit" meaning by itself. The "den" meaning then broadened to include "hut." This gave Old English "cofa," meaning, "den, closet, room." "Cofa" then became "cove," with the "e" pronounced "eh," before the modern pronunciation. The meaning, "small opening along a coastline, a small bay," didn't develop until the mid 1500s. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German "Koben," meaning, "hutch, pigpen, animal stall," but also, "hollow;" Low German Saxon "Kaven," meaning, "animal stall;" Dutch "koof," meaning, "cove;" West Frisian "kouwe," meaning, "cage;" Icelandic "kofi," meaning, "hut." 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Sixteen

In 1983-84, the economy gradually began to recover from the severe recession, and with far less inflation. The Federal Reserve continued to lower interest rates. The tax cuts and increased military spending boosted the economy, in what was a classic tale of "Keynsian economics," something conservatives, including Reagan, had railed AGAINST. The budget deficit soared. In the meantime, Soviet leaders had an outbreak of "colds," the reason given by Soviet spokesmen to answer for their leaders not being seen in public. The thing was, the leaders then died: Leonid Brezhnev died November 1982, Yuri Andropov died February1984, Konstantin Chernenko died in March 1985. 

As the election of 1984 approached, Reagan's position had strengthened considerably, and he faced no real challenge within the Republican Party for his reelection bid. On the Democratic side, Senator Ted Kennedy's decision not to run for president left the party scrambling for a high profile nominee to face Reagan, with former Vice President and former Minnesota Senator Walter Mondale being the most prominent. Ohio Senator, and former astronaut, John Glenn,* Colorado Senator Gary Hart and civil rights and populist activist Jesse Jackson (born in South Carolina, but living in Illinois), all were seen as other high profile candidates, with Jackson being especially noteworthy in the South and border states, where the vast majority of black Americans lived. With Jackson being only the second  black American to pursue a nationwide campaign for president (Shirley Chisholm was first), and with his civil rights activism, black Americans were a natural constituency for him. John Glenn's candidacy never really materialized, as he did not win even one primary, and he left the race in March. Hart battled later into the primaries, while Jackson had a self inflicted wound by referring to New York City as "Hymietown," an offensive remark to start with, but compounded by the fact that Jackson was so closely identified with civil rights and fairness. In the former Confederate states, Jackson won in Louisiana, and garnered about a quarter of the Democratic vote in Tennessee and North Carolina, while also winning the vote in border area Washington DC, then taking a quarter of the vote in border state Maryland.** In the end, Mondale won the nomination and he selected New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro as the first female major party nominee for vice president. On the Republican side, Reagan faced no major opponents from within the GOP and he and George H.W. Bush were easily renominated.

A couple of important political events in former Confederate states: Democratic Congressman Phil Gramm of Texas changed to become a Republican, and shortly thereafter ran for a U.S. Senate seat in that state. In Florida, Mayor of Tampa, Bob Martinez also changed to the Republican Party, he later was elected governor of Florida. In the 1970s, former Democratic governor of Texas and former Secretary of the Treasury under Richard Nixon, John Connally, switched to the Republican Party.

During the 1984 presidential campaign, there were 2 presidential debates scheduled, the first in Louisville, Kentucky, and the second in Kansas City, Missouri, as well as one vice presidential debate, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Reagan's age of 73 was an issue in the campaign and it was highly evident in the first debate, as Reagan, who, ten years later, told the public he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, had a debate performance that magnified the President's age, as the President seemed hesitant, uncertain and even confused. There are videos of the debate available on YouTube, as seeing and hearing the debate are far better than reading a transcript, which cannot convey Reagan's uneasiness that night. In the second debate, Reagan was much more stable, including the lighthearted quips he had come to be known for, including about his age: "I will not exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience." It was line that Reagan obviously had practiced and was waiting to deliver, as it really did not directly answer the panel member's question, but even Mondale laughed.

The overall verdict came on election day, as Reagan romped to a landslide win, carrying all but Mondale's home state of Minnesota, which was very close, and Washington DC. Reagan won 525 electoral votes to just 13 for Mondale, and won the popular vote by about 59% to 40 1/2%. Reagan carried all of the former Confederate states by substantial margins, generally by getting 60% to 65% of the vote in all of those states. Across the country, and especially in the former Confederacy, Reagan garnered many Democratic votes from what were termed, "Reagan Democrats."

In the Senate, in spite of Reagan's landslide victory, Republicans lost two seats, including one in Tennessee, where future vice president, Al Gore, won by a big margin. In Texas, Phil Gramm, who had recently switched to the Republican Party, won the Senate race to keep the seat in Republican hands. In the House of Representatives, Republicans made overall gains, and the delegations from the former Confederate states were: Alabama, unchanged, 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Arkansas saw Democrats gain one seat, making the delegation 3 Democrats and 1 Republican; Florida, 12 Democrats and 7 Republicans; Georgia saw a gain of one seat for Republicans to 8 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Louisiana remained 6 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Mississippi remained 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans; North Carolina saw Republicans gain three seats, making the delegation 6 Democrats and 5 Republicans; South Carolina remained 3 Democrats and 3 Republicans; Tennessee remained the same with 6 Democrats and 3 Republicans; in Texas Republicans gained, making the delegation 17 Democrats and 10 Republicans; Virginia remained 6 Republicans and 4 Democrats. In change of controlling party in governors, Republicans won the governorship in North Carolina.      

* John Glenn was the first American astronaut to orbit Earth.

** It should be noted, not all states had primaries, and not all primaries were truly about delegates, but simply contests, often dubbed "beauty contests," that did not directly award delegates to candidates based upon their percentage of the vote. I say "directly," because, at least in theory, a good percentage of the popular vote in a state could sway state convention delegates to perhaps vote for that candidate, as some states held (some still do) conventions to apportion delegates for the national political party conventions. 

WORD HISTORY:
Pore-English has two words of this spelling, but this is the noun for "hole or opening, usually in the skin, and occurring naturally." This word, distantly related to "port" (a borrowing by English, meaning "gate, entrance"), and to "fare" (a native English word from its Germanic roots), goes back to Indo European "per," which had the notion of "pass to, pass over;" thus also, "lead to." This gave transliterated Greek "poros," meaning, "an opening for passage, a passageway, a way to proceed;" thus, a secondary meaning, "opening through the skin." This was borrowed by Latin as, "porus," with the "opening or hole in the skin" meaning. This was passed to Old French as "pore," with the same meaning and English borrowed the word, likely with reinforcement from Latin in the latter part of the 1300s, although the it may have been the other way around, with French being the reinforcing element to a borrowing from Latin.    

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Fifteen

After long negotiations by President Jimmy Carter and his administration to secure the release of the American hostages being held in Iran, a deal was struck in the final hours of Carter's term, but the hostages did not leave Iranian airspace until Ronald Reagan was officially president.

Republicans controlled the United States Senate for the first time since the early part of the 1950s, and while Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, conservative Southern Democrats, who were called "Boll Weevil Democrats," provided enough support to some Reagan supported legislation to help pass that legislation. There were contradictions in Reagan's life and rhetoric, as one of his core groups of supporters was the "religious right," which pushed a theme of "family values," including opposition to divorce. Reagan was divorced from his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, and he was estranged from a couple of his children: nevertheless, religious right leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson loved Reagan, who rarely went to church and who was not an especially religious person. Reagan's rhetoric opposed abortion, but Reagan never did much on the political front in support of that position. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, came from a Hollywood background in their earlier years, and, as such, they had many gay friends and acquaintances, but neither spoke out about political ads aired on television in the former Confederacy during the 1980 campaign knocking Jimmy Carter's support of equal rights for gay Americans.

President Reagan was shot by John Hinckley on March 30, 1981. Besides wounding the president, Hinckley also wounded Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, DC police officer Thomas Delahanty and White House Press Secretary James Brady. Brady was shot in the head which caused speaking difficulty and the need for a wheelchair for the rest of his life (he died in 2014). President Reagan required surgery and it took more than six months for the president to recover (he was 70 years old).

In August of 1981, a large economic package pushed by Reagan passed Congress. The package included large tax cuts skewed toward business and the wealthy, but not exclusively. The most crucial vote in the House was 238 FOR to 195 AGAINST. Democratic members in states of the former Confederacy voting for the bill: 2 from Alabama, 6 from Florida, 7 from Georgia, 2 from Louisiana, 2 from Mississippi, 1 from North Carolina, 3 from Tennessee, 8 from Texas and 1 from Virginia (none in either Arkansas or South Carolina). So, to put this into some perspective, the bill passed with 48 Democrats voting for it, with 32 of those Democrats being from the former Confederate states. In contrast, only one Republican from Vermont voted against the bill.

In a controversial act, in early August of 1981, Reagan fired thousands of the nation's air traffic controllers who went on strike. The controllers wanted better pay, but the main issue was a shorter work week in the stressful job. Reagan had voiced support for the controllers' cause during the 1980 campaign and the union endorsed Reagan over Carter in the election. During the campaign too, Reagan touted how he had twice been the president of a union, the Screen Actors Guild (now combined with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). In states of the former Confederacy, Reagan's action likely caused little concern, as unions were relatively weak in the southern part of the country, where they even existed there.

Meanwhile, the economy was slipping, as the high interest rates of the Federal Reserve took more of a toll on economic growth, and the nation went into a severe recession, with unemployment reaching nearly 11 % by 1982. In the election of 1982, the first held under the redistricting of the 1980 Census, Republicans weren't spared the wrath of voters, and they lost a combined 26 seats to Democrats in the House of Representatives. Changes in the delegations in the former Confederate states: Democrats gained 3 seats in Virginia, making that delegation 6 Republicans and 4 Democrats; Republicans gained one seat in Mississippi, making that delegation 3 Democrats and 2 Republicans; Democrats gained 3 seats in Texas, all newly created by redistricting, making the delegation 22 Democrats and 5 Republicans, in Tennessee, Democrats gained one newly created seat, making the delegation 6 Democrats and 3 Republicans; Democrats gained a seat in South Carolina, making the delegation 3 Republicans and 3 Democrats; in North Carolina, Democrats gained two seats, making the delegation 9 Democrats and 2 Republicans; in Florida, four new seats were created due to reapportionment, with each party winning two of those new seats and the other seats remaining in control of the same party from the previous election, but now the increased delegation being 13 Democrats and 6 Republicans; Democrats gained one seat in Alabama, making the delegation 5 Democrats and 2 Republicans (states not listed saw no change in party representation in their delegations). In Senate elections, the Republicans gained a seat in Virginia, for the only change in former Confederate states. In elections for governors, George Wallace once again was elected in Alabama as a Democrat, but he replaced a Democrat, so no change in party control. In Arkansas, Democrat Bill Clinton defeated the Republican who had defeated him in the previous election, thus changing the party control there. In Texas, Democrats defeated the Republican incumbent, thus Democrats gained the governorship there.

WORD HISTORY:
Issue-This word, with both noun and verb forms, is related to "exit" (a word borrowed by English). The first part of "issue" goes back to Indo European "eks/eghs," with the notion of "out from, out of, out." This gave Latin "ex-," a prefix with generally the same meaning. The rest of the word goes back to Indo European "ei/ey," which meant, "to go." ^ This gave Latin "eo," with the same meaning. Together, Latin had "exeo," which produced the infinitive form "exire," which meant "to exit, to leave, to go out (from)." This passed to Latin-based Old French as "eissir/issir," with the same meanings. One of its participle forms in Old French was "issue," and it was this form that was borrowed by English in the late 1200s. The meaning of a person's or couple's "children" derived from the notion of "children coming from the parent or parents," and developed not all that long after the word was borrowed into English. It was the legal system in England where the meaning, "legal matters," developed, a meaning that then broadened beyond court. The verb meaning of, "to send out, to give notice, to present to an individual or to the public," was also sometimes used in legal matters, as well as governmental matters, as it usually conveyed a sense of authority ("The court issued a summons to the man," or, "The traffic cop issued a ticket to me for speeding." Ah, unfairly, of course!) Later it also came to be used for "handing out, distributing, supplying," as in, "The commander issued weapons to the civilians in the town."

^ It "seems" that Old Germanic also had a form from this Indo European word, which gave Old English "eode," which later became "yode," and was the past tense form used for "go," although it was unrelated to the word "go." To confuse matters more, "yode" itself was replaced by "went," a word related to neither eode/yode" nor "go," but rather was the past tense of "wenden," which is now simply "to wend."

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Fourteen

The 1980 election proved to be decisive, as former Democrat turned Republican, Ronald Reagan, defeated incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter. Reagan, a former actor, had previously been governor of California, while Carter was a former governor of Georgia and a peanut farmer. The hostages being held in Iran certainly weighed on the election, although as I recall, Reagan didn't directly exploit the issue, because he didn't have to, everyone knew about it, and no one really knew what to do about it, including Republicans. Instead, Reagan talked about a military build up and "a strong America" as a way to get respect abroad. The economy was really the central issue of the campaign, as high inflation, led by the high oil and gas prices of the 1970s, dragged on the economy. Carter appointed Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 1979 and the Fed began a policy of constant interest rate hikes to wring inflation out of the economy. The whole process was very painful, as interest rates soared, and borrowing money became an expensive proposition, if it could even be done. As part of this, the 1970s had seen an increased issuance of what was becoming an ever more popular form of credit... CREDIT CARDS! The interest rates on these cards soared right along, and the economy slowed. Many Americans didn't necessarily blame Carter for the country's economic problems, or for the hostage situation in Iran, but he also couldn't solve the problems; at least, not as quickly as Americans wanted. A decade and more earlier, Southerner and segregationist George Wallace had often claimed, "There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Republicans and Democrats;" thus, Wallace ran for president as a third party candidate. In the 1980 election, we began to see a shift in ideas, as the more conservative Reagan laid out his plans, including large tax cuts, which were touted to largely "pay for themselves," and large increases in military spending; thus, drawing some sharp contrasts to Democrats, whom Reagan and conservatives termed, "liberals," not that that this was the first time that designation had been used. The thing was, Reagan's conservatism worried many people, but after a reassuring performance at the lone presidential debate in Cleveland, polls shifted dramatically and Reagan won a big electoral victory over Carter, including in the former Confederacy. Overall, Reagan won 489 electoral votes, including those of all former Confederate states, except for Carter's native Georgia, although Reagan won Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee by close margins.**

In the Senate, Republicans made gains in the former Confederacy, as they took seats in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. In the House of Representatives, Republicans gained a seat in Florida making the state's delegation 11 Democrats and 4 Republicans, while Republicans gained two seats in North Carolina, making the delegation 7 Democrats and 4 Republicans, in South Carolina, Republicans gained two seats, making the delegation 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats, in Texas, Republicans picked up one seat, making the delegation 19 Democrats and 5 Republicans, and in Virginia, Republicans gained 3 seats, giving them 9 seats to 1 for the Democrats. In a hotly contested  governor's race in Arkansas, Republicans defeated incumbent, and future president, Democrat Bill Clinton.
 
* During the Republican nominating process (primaries and caucuses), Reagan's major opponent was George H.W. Bush, who dubbed Reagan's economic ideas as, "voodoo economics," a term which continued to be used long after Reagan defeated Bush for the nomination. 

** Reagan talked about support for "states' rights," a term that drew fire from civil rights groups and Democrats for its history as a "cover or code term" for pro-slavery positions, and later, for support of suppression of civil rights for black Americans and for pro-segregation positions. Reagan said he meant he supported things like education being turned totally over to states and local communities, and that he felt the federal government had been unsuccessful in many endeavors, declaring that the government had declared war on poverty (under Lyndon Johnson), but that poverty had won. He also would often say that one of the most fearful things for a person to have happen, was to have a knock at the door and be told, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help" (he often tended to pronounce the word as, "govment"). It all played well with people in the former Confederacy, who perpetuated the South's long contentiousness with the federal government over slavery leading up to the Civil War, then the war itself and then the occupation of the former Confederacy by federal troops in the aftermath of the war (Reconstruction). Of course, the contentiousness and hatred continued with many of the things I've covered in previous parts in this series, including the battles over segregation and civil rights. 

WORD HISTORY:
Trend-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it goes back to Old Germanic "trandijanan," with the notion of, "curve or bend in a rounded course." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the verb "trendan," meaning, "to turn about/around, roll." This then became "trenden," before the modern form. It wasn't until the mid 1800s that the meaning, "events moving in a particular direction," became fixed to the word, as this developed from a late 1500s seafaring meaning, "the course of a shoreline or coast." The old form also spawned "trundle," of "trundle bed;" "a low setting bed on wheels" (round objects), and also the verb of that spelling, "to roll something on wheels." English also once had "trendel," "orb, ring," and "trinde," "lump, rounded mass." The various meanings over time make it difficult to research other Germanic relatives, but an interesting relative is Danish "trind," meaning, "plump, rounded." 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Thirteen

NOTE: I forgot to mention this in an earlier segment: In the primaries of 1972, George Wallace ran in the Democratic Party primaries. He opposed busing, but said that he had changed his mind about desegregation in the general sense. In the former Confederate states, Wallace won a stunning victory in the Florida Democratic primary, winning 75 of the state's 81 delegates to the Democratic Convention, with nearly 42% of the vote, far more than any other candidate in the race. Hubert Humphrey finished a distant second with 18 1/2% of the vote, and he won the 6 remaining delegates. Wallace also won big victories in North Carolina, where he received more than half of the primary vote, and in Tennessee, where he garnered more than two-thirds of the vote. In May of 1972, Wallace, while campaigning in Maryland, was shot and paralyzed from the waist down by Arthur Bremer. Bremer, who had actually intended to assassinate President Nixon, but then chose Wallace, was released from prison (probation) in late 2007. The assassination attempt ended Wallace's presidential bid in 1972. I was on my way to umpire a little league baseball game when I heard the news of the shooting, as a man was running along the sidewalk shouting, "George Corley Wallace just got himself shot."

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The 1970s saw the American economy struggling with increased oil and gasoline prices (brought on by instability in the Middle East), which put upward pressure on overall prices, which put a drag on the economy, a situation that came to be called "stagflation." Further, automation continued to whittle away at jobs, and business people with industries in northern cities began to look more and more to the South for ways to cut costs. Southern states had resisted labor unions to a great extent, so business people saw this as a way of cutting labor costs. Gradually this transfer of jobs and industry (and not just heavy duty industry) southward to the "Sunbelt" (named for the warmer climate) would pick up steam, leaving behind the communities in the northern part of the country as the "Rustbelt;" that is, older, declining industrial centers. The Confederacy had surrendered more than a hundred years before, but suddenly the slogan "the South will rise again," began to come into play.

The Republican Party had long been tilted in the direction of conservatism, going back more obviously to the split in the election of 1912, which saw former Republican president, Teddy Roosevelt, run against his Republican successor, William Howard Taft, who proved to be too conservative for the more progressive Roosevelt.* This split allowed the election of Democrat Woodrow Wilson as president. Wilson was a Southerner, having been born in Virginia and raised there, as well as in North Carolina. He later became president of Princeton University in New Jersey, which led to his election as governor of that state.

With the Great Depression and the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in four successive elections, Republicans generally staked out positions at least somewhat to the right of Roosevelt. This general tendency toward conservatism was solidified during the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, as Republicans, generally seen as pro-business, were also seen as, and campaigned on, being the party of law and order, especially as compared to the Democrats, who slugged it out with each other over the Vietnam War, segregation and many social issues, such as abortion and women's rights, in the 1960s and 1970s, leaving socially conservative elements of the party to come more into play for Republicans. If you've been following this series, you've seen the Republicans become more and more competitive in the former Confederacy.

A longstanding foreign policy issue was over the Panama Canal, or actually more specifically, the Panama Canal "Zone," which had been under U.S. control from the time of Teddy Roosevelt. The overall debate about the canal zone is complex, as the international situation of the U.S. versus the Soviet Union, the fear of the spread of communism and the political positions of Latin American governments had much to do with the politics of the canal. "Generally" speaking, many conservatives, sort of led by Ronald Reagan and South Carolina senator, Strom Thurmond, opposed the negotiation of a new treaty about the canal or the canal zone. The issue became highly  contentious, but in the end there were two separate treaties signed and then ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1978 (ratification requires 2/3 affirmative vote of the Senate).

In what became a major event of the times, following a revolution in Iran, which brought to power a fundamentalist Islamic government, more than 50 American embassy personnel were taken hostage and held prisoner beginning in November 1979. The crisis went on and on, and the network news shows (no cable news in those days) began opening their newscasts with, "Day 120," or, "Day 187."** An American military rescue attempt in the spring of 1980 failed and the hostage crisis continued to hang like a dark cloud over the 1980 election process.  

In the nomination process for the 1980 election, incumbent Democrat and Southerner, President Jimmy Carter, was challenged by Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy of Massachusetts, the brother of slain President John F. Kennedy and slain presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy. Carter won all primary contests by big margins in the former Confederacy against Kennedy.

On the Republican side, Ronald Reagan easily defeated George Bush (Sr.), and a number of other candidates, in primaries in states of the former Confederacy, although the vote in Texas was much closer, Reagan 53% to 46% for Bush. Overall, Reagan won the Republican nomination by a comfortable margin.

Next... The Republicans Choose Reagan and The South Follows

* Teddy Roosevelt was a distant cousin of future Democratic president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, but he was the uncle of Franklin's wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, the daughter of Teddy's brother.

** A friend of mine told me that his wife, who suffered from bipolar disorder, was so distraught over the hostage situation, that he and his family had to keep her away from the television during the news, as it upset her so much. 

WORD HISTORY:
Ordeal-The main body of this word, "deal," goes back to Indo European "dail/dhail," which meant "divide." This gave Old Germanic "dailiz/dailaz," meaning "a part, a share, a portion." The prefix "or-" goes back to Indo European "uds," with the notion of "upwards, up, out." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "uz," meaning, "out, out from, away from." In Old English this developed into "or-," while in German, for instance, it developed into "ur-" (originally "ir-," and it also gave German the prefix "er-," for many words, and in English also "a-" as a prefix in some words). The prefixed form in West Germanic was the verb "uzdailijan," meaning, "to deal out a judgment;" that is, "to give a verdict." Lying behind the meaning was the notion of "judgment received from the gods," and later, after Christianity spread among the Germanic tribes, "judgment by God;" that is, "judgment rendered by a physical test," as survivors or those uninjured were seen as innocent and non survivors or those injured were seen as deservedly dead or injured, as they had been guilty. "Ordeal by fire" is still something we hear of in modern times. The West Germanic word produced the Old English noun "ordal," meaning, "judgment by test;" with the spelling later becoming "ordeal," and the meaning of, "something that severely tests a person," still very much a meaning in the word, which has kept it much closer to the original meaning; whereas, in the other West Germanic languages, the word has come to mean "judgment, verdict," in the more general sense, without the "physical test" element. Forms in the other West Germanic languages: German has "Urteil," Low German Saxon "Ordeel," Dutch "oordeel," West Frisian "oardiel." 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Eleven

A Supreme Court decision in the early 1970s (Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education) allowed courts to use the busing of students to help with desegregation of schools.* It was an explosive issue. In the fall of 1972, I remember talking with one of the professors of my college who was originally from either Tennessee or North Carolina, I just can't remember now. He mentioned how busing in his home state had caused tempers to boil over. 

Watergate, the presidential pardon of Nixon, a slow economy and the loss of Vietnam left President Gerald Ford highly vulnerable when he chose to seek a presidential term of his own. Remember, Ford had not faced voters on a national level; but rather, he had been appointed as vice president and then assumed the presidency when Nixon resigned. Former governor of California Ronald Reagan challenged Ford for the Republican nomination in 1976. Interestingly, Reagan was a former Democrat and Ford counted many congressional Democrats as some of his closest friends (he had long served in the House of Representatives). Reagan had established himself as a prominent conservative in the 1964 election, when he spoke openly on behalf of conservative Republican Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. At the Republican Convention, Ford eked out a first ballot win over Reagan, but in the former Confederate states, he carried a majority of delegates only in Florida and Mississippi. Meanwhile, in the Democratic race for the nomination, a Southerner, former Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter, won the nomination against several well known Democrats, "perhaps" because he was not a Washington insider. Being affiliated with Washington after the Nixon administration scandals was a negative to some voters. So now we had a moderate Georgia Democrat versus a moderately conservative Michigan Republican. How would the former Confederate states vote?

Jimmy Carter carried all of the former Confederate states, except Virginia, which he lost to Ford by only about 1 percentage point, although Carter only carried Mississippi by slightly less than 2%, while in states like Texas, Florida and Louisiana, even though Carter won pretty comfortably, Ford drew more votes than might have been expected. Overall, Carter won the popular vote nationwide by about 2% and he won the electoral vote 297 to 239, as 1 Republican elector from the state of Washington voted for Ronald Reagan, not Gerald Ford.

In the Senate, Democrats won the race in Tennessee, while all other party affiliations in the former Confederate states remained the same. In the House, the only changes were in Virginia, where Republicans gained 1 seat, giving them a 6 to 4 edge in the state's congressional delegation, and in Texas, Democrats gained 2 seats, making the delegation 22 Democrats and 2 Republicans. In governors, the only change in party was that Democrats retook the governorship in North Carolina.

* Remember, prior to the mid 1950s, there were legally mandated separate schools for white children and black children in the southern states, while much the same was true in the northern and western states, although not by law in those areas, but rather by practice. When desegregation of schools (and other facilities) was ordered, the problem of separate schools remained, as most of American neighborhoods were heavily segregated. So, generally speaking, former "legal" black schools remained black schools, because the schools were in black neighborhoods, just as former "white schools" remained essentially white, as they were located in white neighborhoods. Underlying that whole situation was that funding for legal "black schools" was less than for legal "white schools," which essentially did not change when desegregation became the law of the land, because of the segregation of neighborhoods, and because of the racial divide in school administrative systems and state legislatures, which were overwhelmingly white, and which provided school funding. Busing took children from their own neighborhood, and away from their local white or black school, to a school in another neighborhood to try to achieve some racial balance, with the idea being that funding and care of schools and supplies would then "even out." Make no mistake about it, busing was highly controversial among both white and black parents and students, but among people already holding racial animus, it inflamed ill feelings even more. Many white parents put their children into religious or other private schools, where they had to pay separately for their child's education. Most black Americans did not have the financial resources to pay for private schooling, thus they had to keep their children in public schools (funded by taxes), so in many communities with fairly large black populations, the public school systems became overwhelmingly black. This began to affect more and more cities in the northern and some western states, as black Americans migrated to other areas for economic opportunity; often, to northern industrial areas.    

WORD HISTORY:
Ball-There are a couple of words of this spelling in English, but this is the word for "a round object," and which is related to "balloon."^ The word goes back to Indo European "bhel," which had the notion of "swell, bloat out, to bulge." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "balluz," which meant, "swollen or bloated object;" thus later actually, "round object." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bealla," meaning, "round object." This was reinforced by the related Old Norse form "bollr," which meant "ball," brought to England by Danes and Norwegians, often collectively called "Danes." The word then became "balle," before the modern form. Other Germanic languages have: German and Low German "Ball," West Frisian and Dutch "bal," Danish "bold," Norwegian "ball," Swedish "boll," Icelandic "bolti."  

^ "Balloon" is a borrowing by English from Italian, but the Italian was derived from a Latin form borrowed from Germanic. 

Bob Dole Hits A Homer!

Former Republican presidential candidate and long time member of Congress, Senator Bob Dole, told it bluntly in a television interview that today's GOP is negative and that it needs to develop a positive agenda. Where I might have to add more is, when Senator Dole says Ronald Reagan could not be in today's GOP, that's because the people who took over your party were invited in by REAGAN, the cheerleader in chief of the anti government and the 'hate government' theme that has been preached like religion by the right wing fanatics who have captured your party, Senator Dole. I like you and respect you and you had many friends across the Senate aisle like Senator Byrd, Senator Kennedy and your recently deceased fellow World War Two veteran, Senator Inouye. I remember the day you resigned from the Senate to campaign for president in 1996 and all Senate Democrats were there; that's how much respect they had for you. Good that you're speaking out, it's a start, but the root problem is there, preached by Limbaugh, Beck, Bachmann and other haters. I've got to believe if you look closely at Lincoln in his memorial, there are some tears to be seen, as he realizes that "the party of Lincoln," has become dominated by a bunch of intolerant, bigoted, and even racist, fanatics. You know, like the ones Lincoln so opposed.  

WORD HISTORY:
Agenda-The word traces back to Indo European "aeg," which had the idea of "move, drive forth." This gave its Latin offspring the verb "agere," which meant "to do." This then produced the Latin noun "agendus," which meant "something to be done," and its plural "agenda." English borrowed the word from Latin in the mid 1600s, seemingly from religious writings, with many English speaking people first using the Anglicized form "agend" for the singular and "agends" for the plural, but the more modern Latin forms, "agendum" and the plural "agenda," prevailed in high speaking society. Most people, however, use only the plural form "agenda," even when meaning the singular. 

GOP Fearful Of Government Success and Any Credit To Obama

For more than thirty years an anti-government philosophy has been escalating within the conservative movement in the United States. Conservatives were never all that taken with government in the first place, except to fight wars, but for about thirty-five years they've been perfecting their hatred. Fairly early on we heard then President Ronald Reagan declare something to the effect that government was not the solution to our problems, that government was the problem. A further little quip of Reagan's was that people were fearful to hear "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." As time went on, so did the anti-government rhetoric from conservatives. In the mid 1990s, the Republicans, by then virtually a conservative only party, took control of Congress and essentially declared war on  government. In a famous confrontation with President Clinton, the government was shut down, but the conservatives found their ardent philosophy lacking among much of the populace, as many Americans weren't as fearful of their government as Reagan's quip implied.* Conservatives lost that particular battle, but the war continued, and their ideas actually framed much of the debate.

Reagan gave huge tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy and increased military spending, and though Reagan had criticized his predecessor Jimmy Carter for deficits, Reagan's deficits made Carter's almost look like balanced budgets. Into office came George Bush Sr. to grapple with the financial mess bequeathed to the nation by Reagan and his philosophy. The staggering economy went into recession, only making the financial mess worse, but President Bush and Democrats in Congress worked out a compromise to bring deficits down as the economy healed. George Bush was followed by Bill Clinton, who reversed the role previously played by President Bush, as Democrat Clinton worked with Republicans in Congress to turn deficits into surpluses.**

Then came George W. Bush who sent Americans into action in two wars, but chose not to pay for those wars. He also pushed for and got a prescription drug benefit for Medicare, an admirable achievement, but he didn't pay for that either, with deficits accumulating into the trillions. When the economy went into meltdown mode in the waning months of Bush's presidency and into the early months of Barack Obama's first term, the deficits of Bush's two terms made many Americans a bit skittish about more deficit spending to combat the severe downturn, although economists and governments around the world called for just that. Republicans, who had "spent like drunken sailors," according to Joe Scarborough, a former GOP congressman turned cable TV host, now changed their tune once a Democrat was president, and they began a relentless campaign to advocate reductions in spending. They also denied any responsibility for the economic meltdown. Nope, not their fault: after all, the downturn and deficits all started on the day Barack Obama took office, January 20, 2009.*** After a major Republican victory in the 2010 midterm elections (they took control of the House of Representatives and cut the Democratic majority in the Senate), the shrillness of the cry for more spending reductions spiked to new highs. The economy, staggered by the massive fraud perpetrated by Wall Street bankers in the mortgage industry, was not about to take off, as the country then faced the Gulf oil spill, which shut down a large element of the economy in states along the Gulf of Mexico. Then a major earthquake struck Japan, halting that nation's ability to send needed auto parts to this country. All the while the drumbeat of the slow economy was trumpeted by Republicans, as they hoped for a takeover of the White House in 2012. Whether it was hope for Obama's defeat or fear of reprisals by right wing fanatics in their own party, or perhaps something of both, Republicans held ranks, with few Republican votes ever going to support any of Obama's proposals in Congress.

So now we hear how "government is broken." Let me tell you what I think. This is exactly what the right wing fascists want. They have told us for decades how government can't do anything and government is something to be feared. Funded by the likes of the Koch brothers and other right wingers, they have to make sure that government fails, for if government works to actually help Americans, conservatives may not see the White House for quite some time, and their big money supporters want tax cuts, as well as cuts to any and all government programs that actually help those who aren't wealthy. They don't have to like or agree much with President Obama and Democrats, but their blatant attempts to do anything to bring down his presidency is shameful to say the least, and is more like treason, in my opinion. Think about it folks. If Democrats had stood united against George W. Bush, the Republicans would have screamed how "unpatriotic" they were. It was no sheer coincidence when in Barack Obama's early days as president Rush Limbaugh said he wanted Obama to fail. This has been the strategy for decades of the fascists and right wingers who have become such a part of the GOP and some of them desperately want to bring down and humiliate the nation's first black president to satisfy their racist element. Right now, Republicans want to win elections more than they want to rid themselves of fascist and right wing nutcases.        

* Reagan was right about one thing, the money people ARE afraid of government, because it's the only thing that can rein them in, outside of a total revolution, in which case they would all lose their heads, literally. That's why so many wealthy people contribute to the war on government. They're afraid of it and they want to destroy it. These are SUPEREGOS. Are there foolish regulations? I'm sure there are, but without regulations the public would be exposed to anything and everything so that wealthy business people could make more money. Remember folks, like capitalism or not, it is not about anything except making money. It is NOT about your life, sending kids to school, taking care of the sick or injured, feeding the hungry, or anything else associated with being a decent human being. It is about MONEY and only about MONEY! Like the trickle down nonsense spouted by conservatives, unrestrained capitalism might let a few crumbs fall off the table, but its fundamental principles can be ruthless endeavors to make money.

**  The budget surpluses looked larger than they actually were, because of Social Security being included in the overall federal budget numbers. Understand, that also means the budget deficits of previous years were really worse than most Americans realized, because of the inclusion of Social Security. What do I mean? Well, during that general era, Social Security was taking in more money than it paid out annually, thus, when added to the overall federal budget, it made surpluses look larger in the late 1990s, just as it had made federal deficits look smaller prior to that time.

*** The other day, I saw a post online by an obvious Republican woman who claimed, "Obama has started all of these wars, but refuses to give our troops the weapons they need." To be fair, Democrats have some folks who say similar way out things, but it just shows how people can ignore events they've actually lived through and reconstruct those events to fit into what they want to believe. In the early part of 2009 just after the passage of the stimulus bill, an acquaintance of mine, a Democrat turned Republican because Obama is black, told me he had been listening to one of the right wing radio shows (I just forget which one). He asked me, "Randy, what are we going to do about all of this inflation Obama is causing with this stimulus money? It's only going to get worse according to the guy on the radio." Folks, at that point in time, prices on many things were FALLING, not rising, and the threat of DEFLATION, not inflation, was the concern of many economists. Right wing and fascist propagandists count on people relying on the lies, I mean, "information" they provide. They can convince their "flock" that day is night and night is day. Don't be fooled! There needs to be a "truth squad" to relentlessly pursue these lying bastards! It's no coincidence the Nazis burned books, for knowledge is the enemy of these types. In my opinion, Republicans have been in a flight from reality for decades, as they wanted so much to believe that Reagan's economic policies would benefit the country, they couldn't face the reality that his policies were exactly the "voodoo economics" they were tagged with by George Bush Sr.   

WORD HISTORY:
Shall-This word "seems' to go back to Indo European "skel,' which had the notion of "be obliged to do something, owe." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "skulan," which meant "to owe, be obligated;" thus also, "have guilt;" that is, "owe a debt for an illegal act." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sellan/sculan" (the "sc" pronounced like "sh"), with many of the same meanings. The notion of "ought to, be obliged to," eventually gave "shall" a future tense use, now in modern English often replaced by "will" ("I shall go," but more likely today, "I will go."). The other Germanic languages have: German "sollen," Low German Saxon "schölen," Dutch "zullen," Icelandic "skal/skulu," Danish and Norwegian "skal," and Swedish "skall." I could not find a form in modern Frisian, but I believe, like modern English, they use a form of "will" to express future actions.

Reform Entitlements For Those 'Moochers,' The Rich, Part 3/Final

As income disparity has risen over the decades, the wealthiest among us, never content to be, well, "the wealthiest among us," have had an element seemingly demanding even larger amounts for themselves, including in tax breaks or government subsidies. In a paraphrasing of multi billionaire Warren Buffett's fairly recent comments, the rich have been coddled. The more they have been coddled, the more they want to be coddled. Interestingly, many conservatives have argued that poor and middle class people become addicted to government programs. The more government programs, the more they'll want even more government programs. The conservative "theory" has been, "cut off the government programs and force them to have to work, or work more." If you believe there is truth to this "theory," then you should too accept that there is truth in the above comment about the rich. After all, what we're really talking about here is human nature; you know, "give them an inch and they'll take a mile," or "give 'em a penny and they'll want a dollar," or "give 'em one of your Twinkies and they'll ask for the other one too." Of course there was that one person who became famous when he wouldn't give up his eats to anybody and shouted, "Let go o' my Eggo."

Rising profits and income for the wealthy have driven some in that select income bracket to want more. They ship jobs overseas to cheap labor countries, why? Because they can't pay their light bill? Nope, because they want .... "more money!" Then they can sit and fret over their stock prices that only rose 5 points last week* and say, "If I cut payroll even more, I'll make ..... "mo' money, mo' money, mo' money!" Naturally many of these folks are, or have been, corporate officers, especially Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). They have seen huge increases in compensation over the last decades. There are lots of numbers bandied about on CEO pay versus pay for others, but generally, about 35 years ago CEOs at the nation's top corporate headquarters earned something like 40 to 45 times what the average worker earned. I think most Americans would say that's a pretty good rate. Well today, they earn something like 350 times the amount of the average worker. The whole upper part of the American economic system is controlled by pretty much the same small group of people who sit on various boards to "govern" (cough, cough) the nation's biggest corporations; these select few out of a population of more than 300 million. Again, figures vary depending upon source, but generally, AT LEAST 80% (again, some say more than that) of all stocks and bonds are owned by the wealthiest 10% of Americans. Perhaps even more disturbing, and I'm already very disturbed (should I reword that?), the 400 Americans at the top of the income pyramid earn more than HALF of ALL Americans combined. Then there's this absolute nonsense that these super wealthy people have to "plan for retirement," as if they're really on the same level with the rest of Americans. What a bunch of stuff that comes out of a bull's behind!       

So we've had some conservatives complaining about so called "Obama phones," a public relations success for them, at least at the moment, unless Americans find out the telephone program really started under that bedrock of liberalism ..... RONALD REAGAN! Some conservative politicos tried to convince Americans that Obama would give you a phone, "IF" you would vote for him. It was a double whammy; a give away to a bunch of moochers AND a vote buying scheme, all rolled up into one. From what I understand, Rush Limbaugh was on the verge of a stroke over the free phones, undoubtedly worried that any self-respecting fascist would have a tough time overcoming the odds of beating free phones. Hm, maybe the conservatives have something here..... Reagan won 49 states in his reelection, so maybe free phones do work! Or..... maybe it was the free "Reagan cheese." For those of you too young to know, President Reagan started a large effort to give free 5lb blocks of cheese to Americans. Of course, with Reagan, it was "American cheese," not any of this "Swiss" stuff or "queso blanco" from him, no sirree! It was "red, white and blue," or maybe that was just the color of the mold on it? The program covered people on Social Security or on food stamp assistance, but the cheese was a frequent item for sale on street corners, and I don't mean from licensed vendors. It was surplus cheese bought by the government, often used to feed military personnel, as I recall. Further, I believe free butter was given away, at least for a time, although not on the same scale as the cheese, but Reagan, who increased the defense budget tremendously, could properly claim that he provided both "guns AND butter" to Americans, besides huge budget deficits.    

So the idea supported by some conservatives that the wealthy need the enticements of millions and millions of bucks to spur them on is either nonsense, or a symptom of people who have become so spoiled, they think just a few paltry millions of dollars aren't worth the effort to obtain; it must gazillions. If you invented something and were offered, say a million bucks, would you then say, "Well, I'm never going to invent anything again for THAT kind of money!" The whole psychology has been turned on its head, if you'll pardon the expression (psychology...turned on its head, get it?). I guess only poor people and those "unrich," as I term it, are "moochers," since the wealthiest Americans "deserve" any tax cuts and subsides; after all, they have been dubbed, "the job creators," by conservatives. But I like the other term for them anyway. I want entitlement reform, dammit! Those spoiled moochers, the rich, are just bleeding the country dry. If this keeps going, I won't even be able to get a free "Reagan phone."

* Remember folks, if you own a few shares of stock, the chance of you getting truly rich from that stock is not terribly high, BUT if you own stocks (plural) like the wealthy own stocks (plural), in the millions of shares, an uptick of a few points in one or more can mean a huge increase in their already substantial wealth.
   
WORD HISTORY:
Strew-This word goes back to Indo European "struh/streh," which had the notion of "spread out, scatter," as it was a derivative of Indo European "stereh," which meant, "to spread, to stretch out." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "straujanan," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "strewian," which meant "to scatter, to strew." This then became "strewen," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have: German "streuen," Low German Saxon "straien," Dutch "strooien," Norwegian and Danish "strø," Swedish "strö." These all mean "strew, scatter," and in some cases, "sprinkle." You can probably guess what German "Salzstreuer" means ... "salt shaker," literally "salt strewer." I could not find a form in either West Frisian or Icelandic, but both have forms of "straw," which by the way,  is closely related to "strew." I covered "straw" in this article (actually close to this series on entitlements): http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2009/09/yikes-were-already-socialists.html

Reform Entitlements For Those 'Moochers,' The Rich, Part Two

As to Medicare financing, besides the 2.9% contribution to Medicare from employees and employers (each pays 1.45%), recipients (largely elderly) have deductibles, co-pays, or premiums to meet for many services, but the program is funded, in part, from general revenues, which conservatives generally say provides truth to their claim that Medicare is an entitlement program. A big problem for Medicare is that the aging of the population will add millions of recipients to the program, as the percentage of those paying into the program to finance it will drop. Further, increasing health care costs have been a problem for decades, and those costs tend to rise above the general rate of inflation. When I was a kid in the 1960s there were frequent arguments on just how to control rising medical costs. Just from things I've read fairly recently, medical costs have slowed in the last couple of years, but whether this is a long term trend, or just a temporary blip, no one can truly say. A number of people believe part of the high cost of health care in America is due to unnecessary tests and procedures to run up profits, with less health benefit to Americans to show for those high costs, compared to a number of countries which have lower costs, but the same or better life expectancy rates. In my opinion too, there's an awful tendency in this country to dismiss information about how other countries do things. As soon as someone says, "In country XYZ, they do this," almost immediately we hear, "We don't want to be like XYZ." If XYZ finds a cure for cancer, will we want to remain isolated from that cure? Ignorance can come by many routes, one of which is shutting out knowledge.

I could go on and on about Medicare, but, like it, not like it, the laws of arithmetic have very much come into play, and some plan will have to be developed soon to deal with this valuable program. Conservatives have "generally" touted proposals to "privatize" Medicare, with recipients having to choose between competing insurance plans and with Uncle Sam contributing a certain amount toward the purchase of insurance. Medicare is a complicated  subject and I can only touch on it here, but I may do a separate series in the future.

A couple of years ago, President Obama proposed eliminating subsidies to the oil and gas industry. Such subsides come to somewhere between 4 and 5 billion or so a year, depending upon whose figures you check, and seemingly another 5 or more billion, if you include breaks also offered outside of the oil/gas industry. Some Republicans screamed "foul," claiming there were no such breaks for the industry, but the howls from oil executives and oil lobbyists suggest a lot of expended energy (no pun intended) for something that doesn't exist. Lots of businesses get subsidies, whether you call them tax breaks or direct payments, that's what they are, subsidies. Whether these subsidies are fair or unfair is a matter of discussion, but Republicans have made such an issue of "survival of the fittest" and "free markets," that support for these subsidies must certainly give others the right to call Republican advocates "socialists," a term they absolutely love to throw around about others. It seems to me I recall opposition from some Republicans to government help for developing alternative energy companies, like for wind and solar, and these they definitely called "subsides." And aid to the auto industry was cause for much consternation among many a Republican, including one Mitt Romney, famous for his comment about the auto companies, "Let them go broke." The President made it clear that oil company profits were astronomical when he proposed elimination of their subsidies, and that was part of his case about doing away with them.

As most of you probably already know, the complex U.S. tax system would keep Einstein awake at nights trying to figure it out, if he were still kicking and dared to take on the challenge. Folks, let me tell you something, this code would not be nearly so complex if it weren't for businesses and wealthy people turning the screws on people in both parties in Congress (and on occupants of the White House of both parties, too), either directly or through their lobbyists. It's hardly been a secret that the wealthiest Americans have done VERY well in income growth for decades, as incomes for middle and lower income Americans have grown little or actually declined. President Reagan cut taxes substantially for the wealthy. When President Clinton raised taxes on wealthy Americans, if you think the recent near miss by an asteroid was scary, we were assured this was THE END, no near miss. Of course, not only did that not happen, the country actually entered a period of growth and declining unemployment. In the latter part of 2012, the Congressional Research Service* found that giving tax cuts to wealthy Americans has little or no effect on economic growth, but that such tax cuts likely contribute to the expanding income gap between the wealthy and the rest of Americans. Some Republicans tried to squelch ... I mean, to have the report tone down its findings, which indeed happened, although Democrats made the original findings available.**

The Republican pressure is hardly surprising. For more than thirty years Republicans have embraced a philosophy of tax cuts of all kinds, tilted towards the rich, sometimes glaringly so, claiming such cuts would stimulate growth and provide prosperity for a broad segment of American society. In case you haven't noticed, it hasn't worked. Folks, all of the charts, diagrams, and statistical analysis are not always easily followed, but the main thing is, the conclusion by the Congressional Research Service is not difficult to understand. Increasing wealth has been going to the top earners for decades, often at accelerated rates, aided by tax cuts. The more money that goes to the top, the less money the rest of us have. In the end, this isn't rocket science. There has been a tremendous transfer of wealth from many Americans to a small segment of American society who already have more than enough to sustain them many times over. Now, I'm not so narrow as to say there haven't been changes in technology and such that have helped the wealthy gain even more income, but the tax cuts have been "piling on," and it's about time a penalty flag is thrown and enforced. So Republicans are on the hook for a philosophy some of them have taken as a religion, but it's a philosophy that doesn't work, except to the detriment of many Americans, and thus, to the country. No wonder they wanted the findings of the Congressional Research Service toned down.

Next, the final part.
           
* The Congressional Research Service is a part of the Library of Congress which performs research and analysis of various policy measures or proposals for Congress. 

** The report is pretty "dry" reading, but the entire report can be viewed here: http://democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/sites/democrats.waysandmeans.house.gov/files/Updated%20CRS%20Report%2012%3A13%3A12.pdf

WORD HISTORY:
Dolt-This word goes back to Indo European "dhwul/dhwel," which had the notion "to obscure, to dim," and seems to have also been applied to things that caused something to be obscured or dimmed, such as "swirling smoke or dust." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dulaz," which used the "obscured, dimmed" notion in another manner; that being, "foolish;" that is, "unclear, dimmed thoughts." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "dol," which meant "stupid, foolish, silly." This then became "dul(l)," before finally settling on "dull."^ The verb form of "dull" had "dolte/dulte" as the participle form, which later became modern "dulled." The verb back then meant "to make or become stupid or foolish," besides the "become blunt or lose brightness" meaning that eventually prevailed as the main meaning in modern English. This then produced an adjective "dold," meaning "stupid, foolish, silly." By the mid 1500s "dolt" had been derived as a noun from the adjective with the meaning "stupid person." The change of the ending "d" in "dold" to the noun "t" in "dolt," is not uncommon in the Germanic languages, most obvious in many, but not all, standard German words derived from Old High German, such as "toll" ("crazy, wild," but also the figurative "super, fantastic"), compared to English "dull" (the old meaning was "stupid, foolish"), or standard German "Deutschland" (Germany), compared to some German dialects "Teutschland." American English has "learned" as the proper past tense of "learn," as in "I learned the lesson," but British English has "learnt."      

^ For the "Word History" of "dull," see Part One of this article:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/03/reform-entitlements-for-those-moochers.html

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Twenty-Five

"The Democrats Return To the White House: Bill Clinton"

Bill Clinton took the oath of office in January 1993. To deal with the Federal deficit, Clinton decided to increase revenues; that is, taxes, mainly on the highest incomes in the land. This went totally against the conservative Republican idea of supply side economics that had been pushed since Ronald Reagan had taken office. Republicans predicted the end of the world to be near, but President Clinton stuck to his general plan. By the summer of 1993 the plan had passed and been signed into law, all without the vote of even one Republican in either house of Congress. Politically folks, this is very risky business, for if the end of the world scenario developed, Republicans could all say, "We told you so," but on the other hand, if no such demise appeared on the horizon, and if the deficit shrank and the economy picked up,* Republicans could not claim to have had anything to do with it, El Zilcho.

The plan passed and signed into law raised taxes on the top 1.2%, added about four cents to the gasoline tax, while cutting taxes for millions of lower income Americans and small businesses. President Clinton had difficulty holding enough Democratic votes to get the measure passed, as some Democrats defected, but pass it did, by just two votes in the House and by one vote in the Senate, that margin provided by Vice President Al Gore, who was permitted by the Constitution to break a tie vote in the Senate. Wealthy Republicans undoubtedly awaited the end of the world scenario by thinking along the lines of Thurston Howell III, of "Gilligan's Island" fame, who, when faced with what he believed was their imminent demise, implored his wife to help him figure out a way to take their tremendous wealth with them. More on the economy later.

Then Clinton took on another contentious issue, health care. Hillary Clinton headed a committee to put together a plan to provide national health care to Americans. The large and complex plan was highly popular for about a week or two, as Republicans and insurance companies picked the plan apart and successfully scared the hell out of Americans, and the whole matter brought even more scrutiny to Hillary Clinton. Polls showed the plan's popularity fell like a rock, and eventually it couldn't make it through Congress, even though Democrats had majorities in both the House and Senate. Politically, the lasting effects of the failure, plus scandal charges against the Clintons, hurt Democrats in the upcoming midterm election. (I'll cover the scandals in the next part.)

Gun control was also a hot topic and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, who was seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control.

Then the North American Free Trade Agreement, better known by its initials, NAFTA, became the next heated discussion. The agreement was highly complex, but it essentially made a trade bloc of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by eliminating trade and investment barriers between those countries. On this issue, Clinton and all the living former presidents supported passage, but the bill terribly divided Democrats, and it took free trade Republicans to provide the votes in Congress to pass.** It also brought Ross Perot to the fore again, as the former presidential candidate opposed the agreement. In a highly touted television debate with Vice President Al Gore, watched by millions of Americans, Perot made points, but he had difficulty explaining many things, especially where money was coming from to oppose the agreement and in refuting the charge by Gore that Perot stood to make financial gain from the defeat of the agreement.

In the midst of all of these hot-button issues came another, a social issue. Clinton supported allowing gay and lesbian Americans to serve in the military, provided they kept their sexual orientation secret, but the military could not ask about their orientation either. Clinton's stand satisfied few, but especially on the political right, where any attempt to allow gay people to legally serve in the military was opposed. The provisions came to be known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." 

Next, "Republicans Come Roaring Back"

* The recession of 1990-91 may have officially ended in 1991, but the recovery was painfully slow, with layoffs continuing for quite some time. The slow growth and relatively high unemployment contributed greatly to George Bush's defeat in 1992 at the hands of Bill Clinton, who was more than happy to remind voters of such with one of his campaign slogans, "It's the economy, stupid," 

** The living former presidents at the time were: Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush (Sr.). The complexity of the measure would require an article of its own just to begin to explain it. In the vote in both houses of Congress, more Republicans voted in favor than Democrats, many of whom were correctly (in my opinion) concerned about the impact on American manufacturing jobs. Unions generally strongly opposed the agreement. 

WORD HISTORY:
Cloud-This is another word closely related to recently covered "clod, clot, clout, cloth, clothes, clothe," and also to "clad," by the way, which I didn't cover separately, but which was the past tense and participle form of "clothe," although it is still used today as in, "The lady was well clad in a brand new dress," and often in combination with "scantily," as in "The scantily clad sunbathers shocked some people."  Like its relatives listed above, "cloud" goes back to Indo European "gleuh," which had the notion of "stick together, adhere," with the further sense, "form into a ball." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "klaut," with the same general meanings.The sense "form into a ball or mass" helped give Old English "clud," which then meant "mass of rock/stone." By the 1200s the word was beginning to overtake the English word for "cloud," which was "wolcen" (German still has "Wolke," Low German Saxon has "Wulk," Dutch and West Frisian have "wolk," and English has the archaic "welkin"), as the English saw the resemblance of rock formations to be like "clouds," and to my knowledge, English is the only Germanic language to have that meaning. Old English "clud" then became "cloude, clude," before the modern version.

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Nineteen

First published in November 2012


"A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan"

George Bush, also known as George H.W. Bush, or George Bush (Sr.), had been vice president during Ronald Reagan's two terms. Bush had come from a well to do family, where public service was seen as a noble pursuit, and his father had been a senator from Connecticut. Before becoming vice president, George Bush had a substantial public service resume, which included being an ambassador, a congressman, head of the CIA, and chairman of the Republican Party. Bush was generally a moderate Republican, although being appointed GOP chairman by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation and Nixon's disgrace would have left anyone a bit beleaguered. Bush had spent much of his adult life in Texas, where he was in the oil business. During the 1980 Republican nominating process, George Bush was seen by moderate and left of center Republicans (there were still such back then) as the best alternative to Ronald Reagan and the strengthening conservative wing of the Republican Party. Reagan won the nomination early on, but Bush left a mark by describing as "voodoo economics" Reagan's claim that large tax cuts and big increases in defense spending would produce balanced budgets.

Bush was seen by many as the natural Republican candidate for the presidency in 1988, although some conservatives wanted to push a constitutional amendment which would have allowed Reagan to run for a third term. After some early setbacks in the process, Bush recovered, although he turned to the tax issue to gain the upper hand. Reagan and his supporters had cultivated the untrue image of Reagan as an ardent opponent of tax increases,* and, like it, not like it, it worked. Bush hammered major opponent, Senator Bob Dole, over the tax issue, while fending off social conservative Pat Robertson, a televangelist. Bush (and Democrats) faced a somewhat different Republican Party in 1988. The growing conservative element wanted no new taxes, if not outright additional tax cuts, in spite of huge deficits, and the socially conservative part of the political right pushed their issues, like opposition to abortion and advocating prayer in public schools, to the fore, something they had never done with Reagan. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, Bush, not on the same public speaking level with Reagan, promised to hold his "charisma in check" and not to raise taxes, "Read my lips... no new taxes." In something of a play to the political right of the GOP, Bush chose little known and young Indiana Senator Dan Quayle as his running mate.** 

Democrats, out of the White House for eight years, nominated Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, as former front runner, Senator Gary Hart, dropped out after a love affair hit the news and Senator Ted Kennedy had declined to run. Dukakis chose Texas Senator Lloyd Bentsen as his running mate. Bentsen was a seasoned veteran, while Dukakis seemed to be anything but warm and fuzzy.

While the economy had been somewhat jittery, unemployment was low and Americans seemed to be satisfied with Republican rule, although early polls showed a lead for Dukakis. The budget deficits were very high, but neither Reagan, Bush, nor Republicans in general, seemed inclined to do anything to staunch the flow of red ink, although always claiming to be against budget deficits and Keynesian economics. (In fairness, Democrats didn't want to do much either.) During the campaign, Dukakis, fearful of GOP attacks accusing him of being soft on defense, appeared in a television ad riding in a tank, wearing a helmet. The ad drew laughs from many, as some compared Dukakis's image to Peanut character, "Snoopy." Then in one of the debates, Dukakis, who opposed the death penalty, was asked if he'd continue to oppose it, even if his wife were raped and killed. Dukakis's technocratic answer, citing statistics unfavorable to the death penalty, only served to reinforce his image as not having an emotional connection to the electorate. While elections usually don't turn on vice presidential candidates, Democrats went after the young and inexperienced Dan Quayle, and the senator played into their hands by comparing his experience to John ("Jack") F. Kennedy, who ran for the presidency while a young senator. Lloyd Bentsen quickly retorted, "Senator, I knew Jack Kennedy. You're no Jack Kennedy." The remark was cutting, and Quayle's image never recovered in the public mind, but the debate did nothing to advance Democratic hopes to defeat the Republicans. In the end, the coalition assembled by Reagan and Republicans triumphed, as Bush received more than 53% of the popular vote to less than 46% for Dukakis. Presidents are actually chosen by the electoral college, and in that, Bush had a landslide of 426 to 111,*** carrying 40 states to 10, plus the District of Columbia, for Dukakis.

Republicans retained the White House.   

* It was untrue, because Reagan had agreed to numerous moderate tax increases during his time as president, although often under the guise of "revenue enhancements." Calling something by another name doesn't change what it is, but Reagan had at least shown himself willing to raise taxes to combat the large budget deficits run during his terms.

** Bush's choice of Quayle ended up not hurting his election chances, although, if I remember right, one Republican political strategist noted sarcastically something to the effect, "Well, at least we know we'll carry Indiana." The point was, Indiana tends to be a very Republican state, so nothing was gained by Quayle's selection, as he was from that Republican state.   

*** One elector voted for Bentsen for president.

WORD HISTORY:
Wreak-This word traces back to Indo European "wreg," which had to notion of "to hunt, to chase, to drive against (shove)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wrekanan," which meant "to chase, to drive against, to shove," with the further development of  "to punish" (often by exile; that is, "driving/forcing out," thus also, "avenge." This gave Old English "wrecan," along with variations of the same, which had to do with "avenge, revenge," and this later became modern "wreak," still most commonly used in expressions denoting "bring about vengeance" or "cause damage," as in, "The storm is expected to wreak damage on the area," or, "The jury wants to wreak retribution on the scoundrel." Other Germanic languages have: German "rächen" (to avenge) and the noun "Rache" (vengeance, revenge); at least some Low German dialects have "Rach" (vengeance); Dutch "wreken" (to avenge) and the noun "wraak" (revenge, vengeance); West Frisian "wreke" (to avenge) and "wrek" (revenge); Swedish "vräka" (evict; that is, a specific punishment, with ties to the old meaning "drive against/shove"). I could not find modern versions in Danish, Norwegian or Icelandic. Interestingly, German and Low German have dropped the "w," and Swedish uses a form for a specific punishment/revenge, rather than the general notion of revenge/punishment used by its other Germanic cousins. 

Reagan's Question Reversed

In the debate between candidate Ronald Reagan and incumbent Jimmy Carter in 1980, Reagan looked into the camera and asked, "Are you better off than you were four years ago?" While I was not a big fan of Jimmy Carter, he faced a difficult era, as did his immediate predecessor, Gerald Ford, as the nation's dependency on foreign oil had grown tremendously, the divisive Vietnam War had scarred the nation's psyche and the scandals of President Richard Nixon's administration had helped to bring much skepticism about government to the country. A couple of crises in the Middle East, beginning during the Nixon administration, drove oil and gasoline prices up, putting a drag on the American economy and bringing a strong current of inflation to the economy, as oil/gasoline costs impact the cost of everything else.

Since Ronald Reagan implemented trickle down economics under the name "supply side," and a broader economic program dubbed "Reaganomics," is the COUNTRY better off? If you're part of the wealthiest segment of America, you can truly say you're better off. More and more of the nation's wealth has been going to the wealthiest of the wealthy  It didn't come out of thin air folks, it came from your pockets. This isn't magic. On the other hand, incomes for most other Americans have either lost ground or basically stagnated since the days of Reaganomics. The nation's debt under Reagan soared, including private debt.* That means the interest paid to finance that debt, both public and private, has taken a big chunk of money. Where did it go? What segment of society owns the overwhelming percentage of stocks and bonds? It's called a "transfer of wealth" folks, and it's being transferred from most Americans to the wealthiest Americans to this very day. Is it being transferred there because they need the money? No, this is about power and ego trips, and you're paying to finance those ego trips. It is interesting how some Americans who grew up decades ago and who became successful in a system where taxes were higher, now say taxes have to be cut so their kids or grandchildren can prosper too. Some of the greediest of the greedy, I mean, some of the wealthiest of the wealthy, want further tax cuts for themselves. In the meantime, since Reagan took office on January 20, 1981, is American education better? Is America's infrastructure better? Are average Americans more economically secure? Reagan was an economic fraud who used deficits and money printing, while claiming to be against deficits and money printing. That's part of the legacy he really left.

Another part of Reagan's legacy was the move to turn loose a bunch of psychopathic individuals who have run over other Americans in an attempt to satisfy their egomania by amassing more and more wealth, regardless of who else suffers, and at the expense of the country. They have perverted the meaning of freedom for their own self aggrandizement, and they will help fund anyone who will further their cause. It is no coincidence that they are now searching for other sources of money to soothe their troubled egos. They ship American jobs overseas without batting an eye, then use cheap labor foreign countries as examples as to why American unions want too much money for workers. Of course I don't recall hearing the argument about the wealthy of those nations making less than America's wealthiest of the wealthy. No sirree, YOU make too much, not them. They have a sense of entitlement. Now they can't wait to get their grimy hands on Social Security, something their parents and grandparents dreamed of. All the while about half of America snoozes away, oblivious to what's going on, at times complaining about how the country has gone down hill, but then doing nothing to stop the escalating slide.

* Only during the last couple years of the Clinton administration did the country live within its means, and in fact, there were surpluses used to help pay down some previous debt. The plans which got us to that point came from bipartisan deals, including between President George Bush (Sr.) and Democrats in the early 1990s, and again between President Clinton and Republicans in the mid 1990s.

WORD HISTORY:
Trickle-This seems to be an English creation, although it is derived from a Germanic source, which gave English and the other Germanic languages forms of the word "strike." It traces back to Indo European "streig," which had the notion of "to rub, to stroke, to press." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "strikanan," with much the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "strican," which meant "to rub, to stroke, to smooth out, to wipe off," but it also had a further meaning of "to move, to run, to flow," perhaps from the notion of "something moving over the surface," as the base meanings denote actions requiring "motion over a surface;" as in, "to stroke the dog's head;" "to rub your forehead;" "to smooth out the soil," for example. From the verb "strican" came the noun "stickle," a tool used to sharpen cutting tools; that is, "to rub them until sharp." This then produced "stricklen," a verb that meant "to have tears flow down the face." English and some other Germanic languages initially used forms of "drop/drip" to convey the meaning "trickle." Gradually the initial "s" sound died out by the late 1200s, and the word also broadened in meaning to include water or other liquids, and a noun form, derived from the verb, meant "brook, creek." 

It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Eighteen

First published in October 2012, with some minor editing in September 2017

"Reagan Assessment"

Ronald Reagan was not as great, nor as "pure," as conservatives like to believe, nor was he as bad as some of his opponents believe. Like Reagan or not, he pieced together coalitions to help him get legislation or agreements he wanted, or felt he could support, and to get votes in elections (a politician would actually try to get votes? I'm stunned!), but he was perfectly willing to compromise with others to accomplish many of his goals, even if he didn't get everything he claimed he wanted. He was a man of contradictions, who railed against government involvement in many things (even naming government as the "problem"), especially the economy, but he had long been a Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Democrat. He lambasted Jimmy Carter for deficits and how the world might soon end because of them, but he then presided over deficits that made Carter's deficits look like surpluses; in fact, the U.S. became the world's largest debtor nation by the time Reagan left office. Never once did Reagan ever propose a balanced budget, or even a plan to get there (except initially to essentially say tax cuts would bring growth to erase or substantially lower the deficits), with Dick Cheney later arguing that, "Reagan showed deficits don't matter," and others in the 1980s essentially saying, "we owe the money to ourselves," although overseas borrowing by the U.S. had increased. He claimed to be against Keynesian economics, but his deficits and military build up were Keynesian on steroids, which got him reelected. He opposed the Equal Rights Amendment for women, but he appointed the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, who was generally conservative, but not fanatically so. He supported prayer in public schools, but never proposed a law or constitutional amendment advocating such. Reagan was anti abortion, but outside of stating such in public speeches, he did little to advance the issue. He was certainly no friend of environmentalists, favoring instead curtailment of laws to generally let business people do what they wanted. Reagan claimed Confederate President Jefferson Davis to be one of his heroes and advocated states' rights, but said he wasn't a racist or a bigot. He had opposed the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s, a law which helped guarantee the right to vote to minorities, mainly in southern states, and renewed that opposition during his campaign for president, but he ended up supporting renewal of the law when he was President. He touted his union membership, but favored business, even firing government union workers. He opposed communism in general, and the Soviet Union in particular, but he negotiated with Soviet leader Gorbachev to limit nuclear weapons. He opposed dealing with terrorists and Iran, but then there was that messy Iran-Contra matter, where he finally admitted in a televised address that he had done just that.

Before both arch conservatives and committed liberals/progressives condemn me to hell or make me sit through a one hour Sarah Palin speech (talk about hell), politicians are politicians, I don't care to which political party they belong. They seek votes from as many people as possible; and to get those votes, they will say a lot of things, even contradicting themselves by saying something to one group, and then something different to another group. Sort of, "What do I have to say to get your vote? Just tell me, and I'll say it." In 1932, as Franklin Roosevelt ran against incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt had one speechwriter do a speech opposing high tariffs and another write a speech in favor of high tariffs. After looking the two speeches over, he told the two speechwriters to go into a room and "blend the two together." In office, it's almost always a case of "watch my one hand, but not the other," and Reagan was no different. Just my own personal opinion, but I don't think Reagan gave a hoot about an issue like abortion, but he knew he needed to have a position about it, and since his core supporters were conservative, he opposed it. "Perhaps" he really did oppose it, but it wasn't a key issue to him and I seriously doubt whether he lost sleep over abortion or some other issues he never really pushed during his presidency (like other presidents before him and after him). Remember folks, this is a big country. There are lots of opinions about lots of different issues. We have two main political parties. We don't have a parliamentary system with a multitude of political parties, some with very narrow political beliefs to fit just about any opinion, which then get represented in the legislative body by proportion of the vote. The two main party system isn't perfect, but it, in theory, forces the two main parties to make broad appeals to Americans. At times, strong third parties have temporarily risen to smack the other two parties, but the key word is, "temporarily." If you go through life wanting only what you view to be perfection, I've gotta believe you're one sad person.

One thing was certain, Reagan was a committed anti-communist. It was really that obsession which undoubtedly led him to abandon the Democratic Party for the Republican Party, as the GOP had been steadfastly trying to link Democrats to being soft on communism. Wealthy people loved it, because if there's one thing that scares the absolute hell out of many of them, but not all, it is any notion of sharing with others. Americans are here to work for them and to make them money, and more money, and more money. The use of force in Grenada may have been overplayed, but I get the idea, and it may have prevented a hostage situation on a scale making the Iran situation look puny, but we'll never really know, but I get it, and Reagan preferred to avoid being sorry for not responding, or responding too late. He saw how the Iran hostages had debilitated President Carter politically, and he learned that lesson. Reagan's basic coalition, like FDR's, endured after him. The once "solid South," a term used for Democrats for about a century, became something of a "solid Republican South," with some variations. Some ethnic, often Catholic, voters, once solidly Democratic, began to vote Republican. Reagan's tax cut philosophy has dominated Republican ideas ever since, becoming something of a "Republican religion." The thing has been, as the basic coalition has survived, the philosophy of the Republican Party has changed dramatically since Reagan; moving far more rightward, and unflinching in attitude to no compromise. Again, like Reagan or not, he seldom, if ever, acted mean-spiritedly. As even some current Republicans have noted, Reagan could not today win the Republican nomination, because he was too moderate. This one issue shows that. Reagan strongly supported gun owners' rights, and a mid 1980s law adjusted existing federal laws on gun control from the 1960s, but there was nothing overwhelmingly radical in the changes, except some pro-gun advocates didn't like the provision which barred owning fully automatic weapons after the law went into effect. Reagan signed the bill into law. After Reagan left office, he strongly supported the Brady Bill, which put background checks and waiting periods into effect for people buying guns. After that, Reagan also strongly supported a law to ban the sale of assault weapons. Both bills passed, but the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 and it has never been renewed, as Republicans have stopped any attempts to even bring the matter to a major vote.

People somewhat left of center, and certainly people further left, don't like Reagan, but you have to remember, you have to make the case against your opponents, and persuade others to come to your side, and sometimes that can be a daunting task. Having facts on your side doesn't always give you the upper hand, at least at any given moment, but some who lived through Reagan's era, and generally supported him, may now look back with the 20-20 vision of hindsight and see his flaws more clearly, but in those times, Americans generally liked him, and as I noted in an earlier segment, that helped carry him through, even in politically sticky times, like the Iran-Contra matter and the major stock market crash of 1987, and his coalition held together.

Next... "A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan" 
  
WORD HISTORY:
Wort-This word is closely related to "root" and traces back to Indo European "wrehd," which meant "root." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wurtiz," which meant "root," but also "plant, especially an herb plant;" thus also, "food or beverage flavoring, spice." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wyrt," with the same meanings. This then became "wurt/wirte," before the modern version. The meaning "plant, herb" still is used in English, as in St. John's Wort, but the use of plants and herbs for flavorings in beer making gave it the additional meaning, "the product of soaking malt (usually dried sprouted barley) in hot water in preparation for making beer." Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has synonyms "Würze" and "Gewürz," which mean "spice, seasoning;" Low German Saxon has "Wortel," which means "carrot" (which is a root); Dutch has "wortel," which like the same Low German word (except not capitalized) means "carrot;" West Frisian has "woartel," which means "carrot, root;" Danish and Norwegian have "urt," which means "herb;" Icelandic has "jurt," which means "herb, plant;" and Swedish has "ört," which means "herb." Notice the North Germanic languages of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish have all lost or altered the original "w" at the beginning of the word.