A long story about The Southern Strategy

[johnlucas]

Last edited Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:24 PM - Edit history (3)

The political parties of the United States of America were rooted on the Issue of the Black People.
From the very beginning through the 3/5 Compromise of 1787 through the Missouri Compromise of 1820 through the Civil War of the 1860s through Franklin Roosevelt & Harry Truman desegregating the miltary in 1948 through Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on John Kennedy's behalf to today, it's always been about the struggle between The Black People vs. The White People.

•The 1700s•

Thomas Jefferson grew up on a Southern plantation filled with African slaves & wished to maintain State autonomy from the original Confederacy to keep the slavery institution intact for his Agricultural money-making endeavors.

Alexander Hamilton grew up in a Northern family of bankers & wished to have Federal authority over State authority banking on this central government to enhance his Commercial/Industrial money-making endeavors.

Alex & his crew were Federalists.
Tom & his crew were NOT the Federalists AKA Anti-Federalists.

But it sucks to name yourself under the name of your opposition so these Anti-Federalists came up with this name:
Democratic-Republicans.

Demos = People (in Greek), Crat = Rule (in Greek),
Res = Matters (in Latin), Public = People (in Latin).
So that's People Rule the Matters of the People, right? Sounds like "States' Rights" go WAY back.

Federalists were sorta here or there about the slavery issue but Democratic-Republicans were dependent on slavery for their profits.
Should the U.S.A. have slavery or not? "YEAH!" "NO!" "YEAH!" "NO!" "YEAH!" "NO!" Argue argue argue. Yak yak yak.

"Tell ya what, we'll let you Democratic-Republican slaveowners keep your slaves & count them for Representative power in the Congressional House...but only on a 3/5 basis.
For each & every slave you got we'll count them as 3/5 of a man, 3/5 of a woman, 3/5 of a human being.
How 'bout dat?"
"DEAL!"

And naturally the Agricultural-based slaveowning South gained more political sway with that Representative edge motivating them to increase the number of slaves they had to get more power. The South & Slavery became inseparable from one another.

•The 1800s•

Then they went West.
Each piece of the Natives' land they stole, they added it to U.S. territory. They later turn these territories into full-fledged States.
When it becomes a State will slavery be allowed in the region or not?
"YEAH!" "NO!" "YEAH!" "NO!" "YEAH!" "NO!" Argue argue argue. Yak yak yak.

"Damn, THIS again? Okay alright. This is the deal.
For every new state west of the Mississippi River if it goes under this line, it'll be a Slave State.
If it goes above this line, it'll be a Free State.
We'll let you keep Missouri as Slave & just count its bottom border as the dividing line.
Reminds me of the old Mason-Dixon line come to think of it.
How 'bout dat?"
"DEAL!"

Then the Missourians took over this giant piece of Mexican land called Texas.
"Come on now. That ain't fair. Do you know HOW many Representatives you'll get in that big ol' chunk of land? You'll run EVERYTHING, you Democrats! Be reasonable!"

Oh yeah with this Representative edge, the Democratic-Republicans had long pushed the old Federalists out of power.
The Democratic-Republicans were about the only game in town & got so big that they turned on themselves.
Some in the North, some in the South, some in the East, some in the West.
And because their party name just got too long to say, they just cut it short to Democratic.
People Rule!

And boy did they rule. The Congress was more powerful than the President.
To put a stop to the Democrats' overwhelming power, some folks started putting on the English wigs that the Federalists were known for wearing (reminds me of the Tea Party & their teabags) & called themselves the Whigs. Federalists Part II: The Sequel!
*SQUASH!!* *SQUISH!!* *SPLAT!!*

So much for that lame opposition...

What land do we settle first? Do we go North of the Mason-Dixon & make more Free States or do we go South of the Mason-Dixon & make more Slave States? Hey let's a pick a fight with the Mexicans & just raid their junk. It's our Manifest Destiny after all.
Achievement Unlocked: New Mexico Territory, Utah Territory, The State of California.

"Hey wait! All of this land is under the Mason-Dixon line! You already got Texas & now you want even MORE Slave States??? We will not allow you to turn these into Slave States!! You already got enough!"
"Hey a deal's a deal! We stole these lands fair & square. More Slave States, more power. Deal with it."
"OK OK one last compromise. Let California be a Free State. OK? We'll let the voters decide on whether the New Mexico & Utah Territories be Free or Slave. Also we'll throw in more punishment for runaway slaves for an extra bonus.
How 'bout dat?"
"Ehhhh...mehhhh...deal...I guess. Whatever."

Wimpy Whigs were put on their powderpuff asses & there needed to be a new coalition of political interests to shutdown these overreaching slaveowners of the South.
Let's call it the Republicans.
Matters People? People Matter!

It was time to put a stop to the South's Representative Edge.
It was time to end Slavery in the U.S.A. because People Matter...even Black People.
The Republican Party's slavery abolition platform attracted Moral Abolitionists who felt that slavery was simply wrong & Political Abolitionists who simply wanted to break that Solid Southern Edge.
Then all of these Anti-Democrats put their forces together to get Republican Abraham Lincoln in office in 1860.

"HELL NO!" each Southern stronghold said as they separated from the U.S.A. in rebellion to create the C.S.A., the Confederate States of America. "States' Rights (to own slaves)" is BACK baby!
And with that the C.S.A. declared war on the U.S.A.
5 years later the C.S.A. got their asses whooped as Abe Lincoln ended chattel slavery in the U.S.A. forever.
Of course Abe had to pay for his good deed since no good deed went unpunished.
How to get back at these Southern sore losers? Put those former slaves into positions of power in those defeated former Slave States.
Willie once cleaned your "chamber pot". Now he's your State Senator. How ya like dem apples?
Pretty good work on that Reconstructive surgery, Union guys.

Then after 12 years the Republicans suddenly left the Blacks in lurch. Slavery was over, the South's Representative Edge was no longer. It's time for new battles & new challenges. Let the Blacks fend for themselves.
Show me the money! Federalist Reserve Notes!
Commerce! Industry! Let's have a Grand Old Party in this Golden Age!
Southern sore losers like the Ku Klux Klan made sure to correct that Reconstruction, didn't they.
State Senator Willie has been downranked to sharecropper. He's free alright...free to clean our chamber pots on his own time now.
Gonna be some long decades for the Blacks...

•The 1900s•

Fast-forward past Workers' Unions, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, 1914's Birth of a Nation & all that jazz.
The money money Republicans allowed the country to fall into a Great Depression.
A rich guy from one of those non-Solid South band of Democrats (remember when the Democrats split on themselves?) named Franklin Roosevelt decided to forge a new coalition to capture all of the demoralized & spread out factions that existed in the U.S.A.
He added Blacks to this new big tent coalition. Smart move.

12 years later he got America over its Depression & helped to win World War II. He taxed his fellow rich at a maximum of 94% compared to the 25% they once paid. He pushed this powerful legislation called the New Deal which contained the excellent Social Security program among its many gems. He spelled out the Second Bill of Rights. Take points off for how he treated Japanese-Americans during the war.
Too much badassness & he died in office after a record 4 terms
(the opposition made sure THAT wouldn't happen again).
To finish off one of Roosevelt's plans, his Vice-President now President Harry Truman decided to go ahead & just desegregate the Military letting Blacks in freely.

Bad move in the eyes of the still-bitter Democrats of the South in 1948. "How dare a fellow Democrat help those slaves?! They shouldn't be running around free. They should be cleaning my chamber pots—I mean—toilets! Truman's from Missouri for God's sake! He should know better than anyone!"
These still-bitter sore losers came up with the name States' Rights Democrats (hmm I've seen this before, haven't I?).
Dixiecrats to their friends...in the land of Dixie hooray hooray.

The Issue of the Black People stares them right in the face especially with the new medium called Television.
After all these long decades of injustice we are gonna get what is rightfully ours: our human rights, the Black People pledged.
It was a force to be reckoned with for sure & the Republicans marginalized by FDR's powerful legacy sought to reach out to Blacks for voting numbers.
Thank you Republican Dwight Eisenhower for sending those Federal troops to Arkansas to protect Black kids going to public school.
Thank you Eisenhower for protecting our right to vote. Thank you Eisenhower for finishing desegregation of the military.
The Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case said that separate schools for Whites & Blacks were unconstitutional during your term.

The Dixiecrats said "Who do we vote for?!" Got our Democrats helping them N*bleep*ers on one side & then got these Republicans helping them N*bleep*ers on the other side. I expect the Republicans to try to get back in bed with them N*bleep*ers since they were the ones who fought against us 100 years ago but what's the deal with these so-called Democrats? I stage a protest to all this N*bleep*erization going on. With a Rebel Yell I cry 'No No More!'
(raise the big red flag with the big blue X on it)"

Then John Kennedy, another Democrat from the North gets elected in 1960.
He has an ear to the Blacks just like Roosevelt did.
Just like 100 years before the Rebels strike against the union in violence & none of John Kennedy's good deeds go unpunished.
What does his Vice-President Lyndon Johnson do as he ascends to the Presidency?
He signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to end the South's evil order against Black people & all others who may be treated similarly.

"THAT TEARS IT!! I AM A DEMOCRAT NO LONGER!! THEY HAVE HELPED THE N*bleep*ERS FOR THE LAST TIME!!"
As the Dixiecrats lost their minds at the Central Federal government overriding the States' Rights to abuse Blacks, the Republican Party knew they lost the ability to corral Black people into a reliable voting block & pad their numbers.
DDE did good but FDR, HST, JFK, & LBJ pushed the Democratic brand into the stratosphere.
The Democratic Party was atoning for its past misdeeds with these measures.
These People Rule!

So there was only one thing left to do to keep this Republican Party from turning into the Whigs, invite the angry Dixiecrats into the fold & let their bigoted energy fuel our voting power. Good strategy, no?
The new Republican Party was born.
What's the Matter, People? Don't you know that this is the party that freed the slaves?

LBJ squandered the goodwill of the Democratic Party with this stupid Vietnam adventure & the New Republicans had an opening.
Richard Nixon made use of this Southern Strategy to get his jowly face into office at the end of the 1960s.
Slowly but surely throughout the 1970s the Republicans built their power using this strategy (Southerners are usually Southern Baptist & that lines up with this Moral Majority gambit).
Then they got actor Ronald Reagan into office in 1980 as the cherry on top.

Finally the money money Republicans could begin rolling back everything set from FDR through LBJ.
First thing on the list is this tax thing. LBJ's break of 70% ain't good enough.
Reagan, roll that back to 50%, no no make that 38.5%, no make that 28%. Yeah that's the ticket.
Unions? Nuisances. Get rid of 'em.
Regulations? Annoyances. Get rid of 'em.
Commerce! Industry! Show me the money! Federalist Reserve Notes!
Gordon Gekko says Greed Is Good.

Mondale? What? Good night! Dukakis? Hahahahahaha!
Nobody cares about our Iran-Contra scandals or the Savings & Loan scandals.
Put that George Bush guy in after the Alzheimer's patient leaves. Ronnie Raygun did what we needed him to do.

The Democrats were too shook to fight these bigot-backed Republicans like FDR, HST, JFK, & LBJ did.
They kept looking for a Third Way to get back some of those former bigot Democrats back into the fold while trying to continue the legacy of FDR's Democrats.
A Southerner from Arkansas named Bill Clinton figured out how to do this. First Democrat President since Georgia's Jimmy Carter, another Southerner.
He backed off of National Health Care & Gays' human rights in the military but at least he tried to balance the budget.
He signed George Bush I's NAFTA plan. D'oh! Curse this religion of the Free Market!
He only raised the top tax rate to 39.5% but at least he raised it instead of lowering it further. We'll take what we can get at this point.

These comparatively mild efforts were enough to cause the Republicans to mount a character assassination campaign using a silly intern named Monica Lewinsky. Then Clinton tried to redefine the word "Is".
Go ahead & repeal Glass-Steagal while you're at it, Slick Willie. You let those Republicans run you like that? Come on!

•The 2000s•

When it came time for his VP Al Gore to make his run after Clinton's 2 terms, he was so embarrassed of scandal-ridden Clinton that he avoided linking with him on the campaign trail. I like the 'lockbox' idea but he made it sound so robotic & stiff.
George Herbert Walker Bush's son (& possible clone) George Walker Bush glad-handed his way to match Gore in the 2000 election & make the steal. Gore had lockjaw along with his lockbox & gave up fighting Bush Jr. over the Presidency.

It was revenge on the Clintonites. A Bush replacing the Clinton who replaced the Bush.
NOW with the Democrats demoralized in the public eye again, the Republicans went even HARDER in the paint to roll back FDR's legacy. Roll the top tax back to 35% why don'tcha?
Republican Bush II runs the Executive Branch, Republican runs the majority of Congress in House AND Senate for Legislative Branch, & Bush appoints a Republican Justice to the U.S. Supreme Court running the Judicial Branch.
The Republicans owned the keys to the store now & the bigots hoped that this would be the beginning of the end of that Democratic Party which betrayed them.
Then somebody collapsed the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

First foreign attack on the U.S. mainland since the 1800s & it happens when these Republicans run all branches of government.
Instead of making that insight, nearly everybody gets caught up in the 'Rah Rah!' war sentiment.
Muslim is the new Black.
George Bush Junior plays on that war sentiment & plays a shell game transferring Afghanistan with Iraq.
Who's Al-Qaeda & Osama Bin Laden? We gotta get Saddam Hussein! All those Muslims look alike anyhow.
WMD people!! WMD!!
The N*bleep*ers are comin' to get us! I mean we must win the War on Terror!
Democrats still shook over the Clinton scandal don't oppose the Rah Rah & go along to get along.

Kerry? Ha! He voted FOR the war before he voted AGAINST it. NEXT!
More Bush. Get ready.
Hurricane Katrina happens nearly 9 months into his 2nd term just like 9/11 happened 9 months into his 1st term.
Geraldo was crying in the streets at all those dead Black people.
You heard what Kanye said "George Bush doesn't care about Black people"
I mean, hell, Junior's mama didn't want to worry "her beautiful mind" about the situation.
Once again the Issue of the Black People is at the cusp of another political change.

The wars wear on & on wrecking families across the nation. There WAS no WMD.
Saddam is dead but he had nothing to do with 9/11.
Osama Bin Laden keeps sending YouTube videos showing how alive he is.
And they're torturing prisoners in Guantanamo Bay.
This is what happens when you leave these Republicans the keys to the store.
The Democrats retake Congress but they prefer to keep their powder dry with these war criminals.

2008 & it was time to win one for the Clintonites.
A Clinton taking out a Bush that took out a Clinton that took out the other Bush.
Wait who's this? Barack Obama? Oh our perennial Jesse Jackson-style candidate. Here to make it interesting but we remember how Jesse couldn't make it past Mondale & Dukakis. He's there for flavor.
Wait what's this? He's beating Hillary in the primaries??? What?! He's STILL beating Hillary in the primaries?????
HE'S THE NOMINEE?!?!?!

The Issue of the Black People is center-stage once again.
Baby Bush wrecked the Republicans' power so they ran John McCain to distance themselves from Junior.
But now here's a Black guy with a Muslim middle name & a name that rhymes with Osama taking over the political scene.
Even with a Reverend that said "GAWD DAMN AMERICAAA!" in his corner.

Republicans needed that extra boost to get past Obama & McCain picked Alaskan redneck Sarah Palin as his VP.
They were counting on the Obama/Hillary rift in the Democratic Party to last 'til November.
And hey Sarah's a woman too!
Then the waiter served the bill for Junior's decade of destruction. Great Depression II?
The bigots got behind McCain in force to keep this ultimate Democratic slap-in-the-face from gaining the Presidency.
"Boy we made the right choice leaving the Democrats all those years ago. They're putting a N*bleep*er right at the head of office now. The only office he should be in is the office of cleaning my chamber pot—I mean toilet."

If old John McCain dies, then that means Sarah Palin is the President. Hmmm...
{X} OBAMA
{ } MCCAIN

Barack Hussein Obama II becomes the 44th President of the United States of America. The 1st Black President.

It's not such a Grand Old Party for the Republicans now. Those bigots are Peed off—I mean Teed off.
"OK money money Republican masters, we're not just gonna be your rank & file support anymore.
We're taking over this joint. How COULD you let that son of slave, that N*bleep*er take the Presidency?"
The old Dixiecrats & their pals held a Tea Party just like the Mad Hatters they were.

Whether because of chess strategy or fear of assassination Obama flirts with those same Third Way tactics Clinton did.
BUT he does get some form of National Health Care established (sort of), he prevents full-fledged Depression, he saves the U.S. auto industry, he finally expresses support for the human rights of Gays to marry. Don't Ask Don't Tell is dismantled on his watch.
Oh & he finally killed that Osama Bin Laden guy. Remember him?
Screws up Guantanamo but he ends the Iraq War at LAST.
Needs to stop prolonging Baby Bush's policies though.

Now here we are in 2012. The Tea Party's cup have run dry & they're stuck with a Etch-A-Sketch Mormon who's more robotic than Gore EVER was!
Is this the last hurrah for that old tried & true Southern Strategy?
A strategy that goes back much further than 1964. A strategy that has defined the direction of this country from the beginning.

The Republican Party gave away its moral edge when it left the Blacks in the lurch in 1877, when it absorbed the bigots of the Democratic Party in 1964. They might just end up like the Whigs after all by not standing by what is right.
Who can they get to join them if the bigot coalition is defeated in 2012?
The rich money money guys are always few in number. That's why you need big reliable voting blocks.
The Republicans have alienated EVERYBODY trying to maintain hold on those energetic bigots.
The Democrats have one more chance to restore FDR's direction for the country.
If they succeed, the Republican Party cannot stay the same.

What will happen to those old Southern bigots if they are cast aside to the margins?
Will they finally recognize the humanity of the ones who were once called 3/5 of a human being?
Will they try to tear the country in two one more time?

The struggle between The Black People vs. The White People carries on.
But for this country to Progress, we will need a new verse.
John Lucas

[northoftheborder]

1. History told in plain English!

Bookmarking to print out.

[johnlucas]

2. Thank you so much!

It comes from the heart.
I'm still editing the lines for form just so it will be easier to read & absorb.

When you REALLY understand what drives the political structure, you won't get fooled on who to support.
While the Democratic Party of today can certainly be improved on, the Republican Party in reality should have no support outside of the sociopaths.
There really shouldn't be a such thing as a Middle-Class Republican, a Working-Class Republican, a Poor Republican,
a Black Republican, a Female Republican, a Gay Republican, or any other group.

This long story I wrote explains why that odd gap hasn't closed.
I wonder if we're seeing the last of it beginning in 2012.
John Lucas

[freshwest]

6. Same here. It's all of one piece. Thanks.

[johnlucas]

7. Thank you Freshwest!

I'm happy you enjoyed it.
John Lucas

[reformist2]

3. That looks like the outline to a BOOK!

[NashvilleLefty]

4. WOW! Long, but WOW! Excellent summary!

In plain English, and quite entertaining! I seldom read posts this long, but I recommend everyone reads this one all the way through. It's an excellent read!

[johnlucas]

5. Show your friends!

Everytime I look on this 2012 election, I keep thinking about the history of the political parties & why the Republican Party of today still exists.
I have to take it all the way to the beginning to understand just what is going on.

I'm REALLY hoping Obama would quit holding back & render that coalition extinct.
I want to see the so-called "Conservative" mentality banished from the realm of American political thought.
I get disappointed in Obama sometimes because I know he's just the man for the job.
I'm impatient when he doesn't push further or follows along with go-nowhere Republican plans.

When people listen to the Conservative/Republican mentality, I want them to think that the mentality is fit for the asylum.
Mean-spirited, small-minded, short-sighted, irresponsible mode of thought.
It really shouldn't have no more than 5% of the vote at best.
The crazy crackpot contingent.

Like I say, show your friends. Gotta understand what really drives political movements in this country.
Why DID many of the White poor/middle class revolt against the plans for the country set by FDR?
The modern context is the signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
John Lucas

[freshwest]

8. I will be sharing it, johnlucas.