Drive your right wing friends crazy with THIS actual Republican poster!

[alp227]

Last edited Sat Dec 1, 2012, 11:04 PM - Edit history (1)

(ETA: This has been cross-posted to current.com!)



Found this via WCPT's Facebook page. Also available via the University of Cincinnati Library (http://digproj.libraries.uc.edu:8180/luna/servlet/detail/CORNELL~9~1~78217~3265:Labor-Day-1956--Young-Republicans-S).

And back then the GOP platform that successfully re-elected Dwight Eisenhower also included such SOCIALIST! STATIST! BIG GOVERNMENT! language such as:

"A continuously vigorous enforcement of anti-trust laws"

"Assure equal pay for equal work regardless of Sex"

"Revise and improve the Taft-Hartley Act so as to protect more effectively the rights of labor unions, management, the individual worker, and the public"

[DJ13]

1. Sweet Irony

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. awesome poster

[cspanlovr]

3. How times have changed.

I'm 59 and this was the kind of Republican I grew up with in Queens, NY. They've gone completely bat shit and they don't know it.

[ladym55]

17. Amen to that

I'm two years younger than you are and grew up on LI. I remember Republicans as being committed to public education and infrastructure and little things like SCIENCE. I don't recognize these wingnuts.

[Berlum]

57. The RepubliWankers & RepubliProles of today are not your father's wing nuts

[Cleita]

4. I think you will find a huge part of the Republican Party of the fifties to be

to the left of today's Democratic Party. The Republican Party back then was the party of business yes, but the businesses they backed were the small businesses, mom and pop, main street if you will and American based corporations like General Motors. The Democrats were the party of labor, the people who worked for them, however, there didn't seem to be a huge difference in the policy goals of both parties. It was really union vs. company. I was in high school and college back then. I remember the political landscape and I would have been shocked if I could have looked into the future and seen what happened.

[WCGreen]

14. Democrats walked fine line because the southern states have always been anti-labor...

Of course they were also anti-AA so they walked a fine line to keep order at conventions.

[Iwillnevergiveup]

5. if I remember correctly

1956 was a pretty good year.

[TygrBright]

8. One of the best years ever for white middle class protestant American males!

[SHRED]

6. LOL...my birth year

[Speed8098]

59. Mine too N/T

[Ikonoklast]

68. Damn kids.

Now 1955, that was a good year!

[AAO]

73. 1954 was a coming out for me!

[OneGrassRoot]

7. Top federal income tax rate in 1956...

[font size="3"]91%[/font]

http://top-federal-tax-rates.findthedata.org/l/41/1956

[Mariana]

39. Funny how RWers always leave that little fact out

when they talk about how wonderful things were in the 1950's.

[gejohnston]

9. I think I'll post it on Facebook nt

[japple]

10. Maybe that's why they're all dying to go back to the good old days

of the 1950s, with tax rates of 91% for those in the top brackets. Actually, they're looking for those warm and fuzzy days of Wheaties cereal prizes. Red Ryder BB guns, when everything was black and white and there were no gender issues, and moms didn't work outside the home, and everyone sat around the dinner table every night, and went to church every Sunday. Yeah, those were the good old days!

[ladym55]

18. The good ol' days they want only existed on the back lots of Hollywood

They want June, Wally, and the Beave ... Ozzie and Harriet ... Father Knows Best ...

The 1950s were far more complicated than the sitcom images I hear blathered about in right-wing circles.

[Heather MC]

34. And Blacks weren't allowed to join the Union, Jim Crow Laws, and blacks had to ride on the back

of the bus. If women divorced their abusive husbands they were treated like lepers in their communities. Most couldn't leave because they wouldn't get paid a fair wage to be able to take care of their children, because without a penis you couldn't possibly be "head of the house hold"
the good ole days, God Bless them.

People act like the revolution in the 60's happened by accident and not because all the ramped oppression of the 40's and 50's

[klook]

49. Yes.

And the "Rebel Without a Cause" gestalt, the Beats, and the growing Civil Rights movement during the 1950s were precursors to the 1960s rebellions -- which would become the massive repudiation of the square, obedient, whitebread America that today's Republicans idealize.

[pipewrench]

11. alp227 - platforms then and now

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/09/republican-democratic-party-platforms-then-now-1956-2012

[Enrique]

12. John Birch Society accused Eisenhower of being a Communist

btw, JBS co-founded by Fred Koch, father of the Koch Brothers.

[SunSeeker]

33. Well, that explains where the Koch brothers' crazy came from. nt

[annabanana]

13. Oh kickety kick kick!!!.. . . . .n/t

[ReRe]

15. There you go... that's some serious history...

K&R

That's not a made-up poster there. That is real. That's the way it used to be.
Now it would read:

Labor Day 2012
Young Republicans Against Labor!
America's workers are fatter and lazier than any other nation!

*Biggest dip in the economy, even with War!
*Over 30,000-40,000 people unemployed
*Lowest take-home pay in history
*No job security
*No job opportunities
*Less time out on strike, as hardly any Unions left
*Lowest Union membership in history
*Working conditions abhorrent
*Social Security under threat

If you hate those lazy MOFOs who won't get a job,
Attend our meetings

Register and Vote Republican!
Young Republican Anti-Labor Comittee
Main Street, American City, USA

[jtuck004]

40. I like this part

"If you hate those lazy MOFOs who won't get a job,
Attend our meetings "


Because there's a bunch of 'em at our meetings...

[oldbanjo]

16. WOW! Opposite of today.

[madaboutharry]

19. The republican party was taken over by the religious right.

It transformed the party into what it is today, a party held hostage by a far right evangelical movement that manipulates the public with wedge social issues and far right economic policy driven by the belief that poverty is the result of a lack of faith and godliness and therefore deserving.

[Curmudgeoness]

20. My father had told me about the time

when many people in unions were Republicans.....I don't know when that was, but it was a long time ago.

[bluerum]

21. It's a beauty.

[rainin]

22. I'm curious

Anyone know what the democratic platform was in 1956?

[jamtoday]

31. !956

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.presidency.ucsb.edu%2Fws%2Findex.php%3Fpid%3D29601

[patrice]

23. I think Republicans would LOVE to own Labor & that's why they also hate them.

Just like any jealous relationship, ownership & control is the real motive and failing that there is only hate and resentment.

[Jack Rabbit]

24. Since today's GOP resemble the Birch Society of my formative years

The answer you might get from your RW friends in 2012 is So what? Ike was a Communist.

[SayitAintSo]

25. Excellent

Oh this is great..... I can really use this one

[jmondine]

26. Isn't this the "traditional America" that O'Reilly wants to go back to?

[Posteritatis]

47. Nah, he wants the other 1956 America where large swathes of the country had no rights. (nt)

[jumptheshadow]

27. My Republican grandfather named the first woman and black ADAs...

...in my hometown in the 1930s. The woman went to Congress, where she championed women's rights.

It was a different party then. Most of my grandfather's children went on to become Democrats in the 70's and 80s.

By the way, when my grandfather died in his late 90s, we received a sympathy note written in a spindly old lady's hand from the Congresswoman.

[Beartracks]

28. So they were FOR labor before they were AGAINST it?? n/t

[bvar22]

29. Now THATS the America I want back.

Back then, there were "regulations" requiring "Fair Competition" that prevented stores like WalMart from going into a small town and undercutting the locally owned Mom & Pop businesses!

America THRIVED under Regulated International and Interstate Trade and the tax Policies of the 50s & 60s.
Lets do THAT again!

[kimbutgar]

30. My husband is in a union and he works with a lot of union right wingers

I showed him this poster and he told me to print it up immediately. He can't wait to show it to his rush/fox loving right wingers. He told one of them they should quit the highly paid benefit rich job if he thinks unions are so bad. The guy walked away from him not saying a word. The right wingers have been bashing the hostess union workers saying the took down the country. When you point out to these deluded fools that it was vulture capitalists they argue "no they are the job creators". Needless to say my husband tries to no longer talk politics because the right wingers are so brainwashed stupid.

[Faryn Balyncd]

32. Here's a quote from the Republican Party Platform of 1956:

"The record of performance of the Republican Administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further. The Federal minimum wage has been raised for more than 2 million workers. Social Security has been extended to an additional 10 million workers and the benefits raised for 6 1/2 million. The protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to 4 million additional workers. There have been increased workmen's compensation benefits for longshoremen and harbor workers, increased retirement benefits for railroad employees, and wage increases and improved welfare and pension plans for federal employees."

1956 Republican Party platform
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25838






"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, personal correspondence to his brother Edgar Newton Eisenhower, November 8, 1954

[SmileyRose]

35. kick

[maindawg]

36. what happened?

If I recall. Some motherfucker killed our president, and no one really seemed to care. Then , Nixon, and the 700 club, . It was 1980, our nation threw away the restraints of reality. When Reagaon accused President Carter of being a nattering nabob stuck in the mud regressive worrier while the same people made arms deals with the holders of American hostages, and yes that is a fact, While the same people , who killed our president, the same people who would one day destroy the twin towers, the same people who made billions, from the war in Vietnam, the same people, whom Theodore Roosevelt smacked down the same people , Andrew Jackson chased out, the same people who put GW Bush in the white house,twice.
The same people whom Franklin D. Roosevelt showed the door, and were denied re-entry even by Eisenhower!
But Ike knew. He had to do what he had to do, and he tried to tell us.He knew we were fucked. He could not tell us when we were going to get fucked, but he did tell us to assume the position.

[Berlum]

58. You nailed it

[icnorth]

60. Project For The New American Century:

June 3, 1997

American foreign and defense policy is adrift. Conservatives have criticized the incoherent policies of the Clinton Administration. They have also resisted isolationist impulses from within their own ranks. But conservatives have not confidently advanced a strategic vision of America's role in the world. They have not set forth guiding principles for American foreign policy. They have allowed differences over tactics to obscure potential agreement on strategic objectives. And they have not fought for a defense budget that would maintain American security and advance American interests in the new century.

We aim to change this. We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership.
As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?
We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.

We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.

Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of this century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.
Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global
responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.
Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes

Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle

Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz

Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen

Donald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz

http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

[BlueStreak]

65. +1. The whole JFK story foced on the wrong question

Almost all the discussion was on the "who" and the "how", magic bullets and all. There has been almost no discussion on the "why".

We are living the "why" today.

If you can murder the President and get away with it, you can pretty much do anything you want to do in this country. That is the lesson of the JFK assassination.

[rurallib]

37. Kick, just to make sure the trolls see it.

You almost never hear the name "Eisenhower" spoken in Republican circles any more.

[NYC_SKP]

38. Kick for Labor. nt

[beac]

41. K&R! n/t

[progressoid]

42. Sadly, there are some leading Democrats that need to be reminded of this.

[mrsadm]

43. How on earth ...

Did we go from this to Ayn rand?

[burrowowl]

44. K&R!!!!!

[Initech]

45. What happened to the GOP between then and 1980?

Was it Reagan? Nixon's southern strategy? The rise of Ralph Reed and the crazy religious fundamentalists?

[nxylas]

55. All of the above

Remember, the far right in America has been plotting a takeover ever since they tried to launch a military coup to replace FDR with a fascist junta. These people play the long game.

[gtar100]

46. 1956 was an alternate reality. Oh how greedy and hateful they've become.

[SoapBox]

48. Super kick

and rec!

[blackspade]

50. Posted to my facebook page!

[RyanThomas]

51. Ahh the good old days of politics

When both political parties were sane. Pity the Republicans went crazy over the last couple decades, used to be a respectable political party. Now mostly just comedy to me at least. If scary comedy.

It would be funny to have a bunch of these in various Republican strongholds someday, as a reminder of the beneficial force their party used to be like. But then, they would start putting up old Jim Crow posters or something in Democratic areas, so I guess that the joke would turn ugly pretty quickly. Still brought a smile to my lips thinking upon that.

[hrmjustin]

75. Welcome to DU!

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

52. Never too late to K&R a good one.

[world wide wally]

53. Someone needs to post this in Free Republic or whatever that dirtbag... er, uhm. teabag site is.

And just think.. those were the days of the "Affluent Society".. Good thing the free market came along unfettered to save us. Now all we need is less regulation and a few more tax cuts for the richest... Duuuuhhh

[think]

54. Oh My. How the Grand Old Party has changed!

Heck, I might have been a Republican back then if I'd seen that poster.....

[Berlum]

56. needs to go viral

k and r

[Patiod]

61. Okay, I admit it. I'm actually a Republican.

An Eisehower Republican. Pro union, pro small business and wary of the military-industrial complex.

[Joey Liberal]

63. How low the republicans have sunk since then.......... nt

[William Seger]

64. That was also before the GOP went after the Dixiecrat racist vote

Labor unions and civil rights are two major issues that Republicans deliberately chose to use to divide the nation, in hopes of ending up with the bigger half.

[slackmaster]

66. George Orwell was the greatest prophet of the 20th Century

[AlbertCat]

67. 1956! The year of my birth!

Of course that was before the Southern Strategy... when the "Party of Lincoln" became the "Party of Nixon".... and long before the "Party of Limbaugh"

[Laelth]

69. I think it's important to remember that Republicans were once SANE. k&r n/t

-Laelth

[Dog Gone at Penigma]

70. I like(d) Ike - style Repubs.......unrecognizable from today's GOP

[MADem]

71. OMG, the truth is often so .... hilarious!

That is a scream!

[Douglas Carpenter]

72. yeah, that was a different world

[lumberjack_jeff]

74. Republicans have always been about the head-fake.

They were no more interested in actually helping working people in 1956 than they are in actually helping the evangelical christians today.

To Republicans, interest groups are simply tools to be exploited.

[Eleanors38]

76. Excellent post.

[brewens]

77. I lost the meme I had with a quote from the '56 platform and a pic of Obama.

It was designed to bait my right-wing FB friends into trashing that quote.

I think it was this one. I can't remember who, but a DU member made it at my request.

"We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. We are determined that our government remain warmly responsive to the urgent social and economic problems of our people."

I let it sit there and a few Republicans took the cheese! Then I dropped the bomb on them telling them what it was actually from. LOL Great fun.

[BanTheGOP]

78. We were isolationist bastards back then as well

While the rest of the world were impoverished in utter despondency following the republicanist-Nazi party attack on the world, we were living a horribly baroque facade of human livelihood. This was a huge period of accelerating environmental havoc on the planet. In addition, keep in mind that the 50's is where the republicans solidified their "hate Negro" philosophies, segregation was at an all-time high considering the tech advances, and that corporate bigwigs paid next to nothing in taxes after their tax "deductions" which were nothing more than cronyism personified. In short, they were evil, hypocritical, murderous, racist, sexist, and overall destructive cretins to the point that only socialist, progressive democracy has any input into how we are to exist globally.

[limpyhobbler]

79. wow nt

[stevenleser]

80. Holy mother of Providence what a find! K&R!!!!!

Excellent!