What is the big surprise? Truman had them figured out in 1948.

[CK_John]

Harry Truman (1948):
Well, I have been studying the Republican Party for over 12 years at close hand in the Capital of the United States. And by this time, I have discovered where the Republicans stand on most of the major issues. Since they won't tell you themselves, I am going to tell you. They approve of the American farmer--but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home--but not for housing. They are strong for labor--but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor a minimum wage--the smaller the minimum the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all--but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine--for people who can afford them... They consider electrical power a great blessing--but only when the private power companies get their rake-off.... They condemn "cruelly high prices"--but fight to the death every effort to bring them down. They think American standard of living is a fine thing--so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it.

[Moostache]

1. That is awesome.

Thanks for sharing it, I had not seen that previously but damn if it isn't true!

[Hortensis]

20. The MSM of his day portrayed Truman as pitifully inadequate

and incompetent through his entire presidency. They included people like Edward R. Murrow and others considered such eminent journalists that we recognize their names today, but it was the same-old insiders' club group-think we suffer from now. Fortunately America ("re-&quot elected him despite them.

I watched a panel of presidential historians a handful of years ago agree that if he wasn't one of our greatest presidents (Korea), he was definitely a near-great worthy of at least a profile on Mt. Rushmore.

[pangaia]

27. Korea, yes. And then, of course, there were that Little Boy and the Fat Man.

[Hortensis]

28. Oh, yes. He was the one.

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t

[bucolic_frolic]

3. I heard it from a former professor

'Republicans want to restrict the benefits of society to those who
have the money to buy them'

He was a former activist with Americans for Democratic Action, 1960s

Harry Truman's ideas may have influenced him!

[calimary]

11. Quite simply - They DON'T Want To Help You.

IGMFU.

Stands for "I Got Mine, F-U."

[MyOwnPeace]

4. A GREAT American hero.............

now THAT is "telling it like it is!"

[First Speaker]

5. Truman was the most liberal President we've ever had

[heaven05]

6. ^^^

[Scruffy1]

7. This is why I cringe when I hear the words "moderate" Republican.

Some are just slicker than others. Some are just a little slicker than others.

[ffr]

8. Republican values sound wonderful on paper

But they're the last people on Earth to actually follow through on any of them. Which is why we need to flush the GOP out of our system. They've been a virus that has made our country and our politics sick for far too long.

No
More
Republis!

GOTV 2016 & 2018.

[vlyons]

24. GOP can be voted out, but never flushed out

Because they are animated by greed, hatred, and envy. Those are human characteristics that are difficult to overcome.

[jtuck004]

9. Ah, the good old days...n/t

[niyad]

10. give 'em hell, harry!!! spot on!!

[hibbing]

14. I'm only telling them the truth and they think it's hell

[niyad]

15. exactly

[Old Terp]

36. Today I think he would say:

Give em hell, Hillary!

[niyad]

37. welcome to du. and, I do believe he would.

[Auggie]

12. "And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it." Done.

[PatSeg]

13. Wow

I guess some things never change.

[Granny M]

16. K&R nt

[Stuart G]

17. k and r...nt

[pablo_marmol]

18. Yup. Off-the-charts awesome. NT

[BumRushDaShow]

19. Link to text of the entire speech

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/publicpapers/index.php?pid=1986

A lot of good stuff in there!

[niyad]

38. that speech is amazing. would you please post it as its own op for greater visibility,

and so we can rec the whole thing!!

[erpowers]

21. Campaign Ad

If there is any audio of this quote it needs to be put in an ad. The ad should end with the words, "Right in 1948, right in 2016.

[harun]

29. +1

[liberal N proud]

22. Here are a couple more...

The Republican Party either corrupts its liberals or it expels them.
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/t/truman_harry_s.html#FVseQTL3CkoQCS5B.99



Socialism is a scareword they have hurled at every advance the people have made in the last 20 years. Socialism is what they called public power. Socialism is what they called social security. Socialism is what they called farm price supports. Socialism is what they called bank deposit insurance. Socialism is what they called the growth of free and independent labor organizations. Socialism is their name for almost anything that helps all the people.

HARRY S. TRUMAN, speech, Oct. 10, 1952
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/t/truman_harry_s.html#FVseQTL3CkoQCS5B.99



Republicans don't like people to talk about depressions. You can hardly blame them for that. You remember the old saying: Don't talk about rope in the house where somebody has been hanged.
Read more at http://www.notable-quotes.com/t/truman_harry_s.html#FVseQTL3CkoQCS5B.99

[vlyons]

23. Oh I love it!

Shared on FB

[HenryWallace]

25. Wow, how times have changed!

Seventy years ago this guy was considered a conservative Democrat!

[annabanana]

26. Republicans don't like people to talk about depressions. You can hardly blame them for that.

You remember the old saying: Don't talk about rope in the house where somebody has been hanged.

brilliant!

[shadowwinds]

30. I'm a big Harry Truman fan. This Saturday, September 3 there will be

two programs about Truman on c-span3 at:

12:00PM Harry Truman's Political Relationships

Historians discuss President Harry Truman’s leadership and how he interacted with three prominent Texas politicians, John Nance Garner, Sam Rayburn, and Lyndon B. Johnson.


1:00PM Harry Truman and Public Service

54 minutes
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks with historian Michael Beschloss about Harry Truman’s commitment to public service as both vice president and president.

IF you can't watch it at that time on TV, you can go ANYTIME online to

https://www.c-span.org/

and search for the title of these two shows, or just search for Harry Truman.

If you haven't used c-span before there are TONS of videos of so many great progressives and other great thinkers available on C-SPAN.

Search for Howard Zinn, Chris Hedges, Thom Hartmann, Katrina Vanden Heuvel, David Corn, Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Richard Wolf, Joseph Stiglitz, Ralph Nadar, Greg Palast, Glenn Greenwald, Robert Reich, FDR, just about any nonfiction author, president,(or first lady), and politicians etc. you can think of.

It's a Cornucopia for the inquisitive mind.

It really beats Reality TV shows by a mile, because, well, because it IS reality!!!!!

[ailsagirl]

32. Great to know-- I'll try to watch

[Nitram]

31. Give 'em hell, Harry!

[Drunken Irishman]

33. Truman had Nixon pegged from the start.

"Richard Nixon is a no good, lying bastard. He can lie out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, and if he ever caught himself telling the truth, he'd lie just to keep his hand in."

[workersuntie]

34. And How About a Little Love for the Guy Who Pushed Truman in Those Directions?

Studs Terkel (and many others, I'm sure) has pointed out that a key factor pushing Truman to become the progressive that he became for the 1948 election was FDR's previous vice president, Henry Wallace: one of the 20th century's greatest progressive Democrats -- a guy whom FDR esteemed very highly -- and who ran for president as a Progressive in 1948.

[Ishoutandscream2]

35. Was the only person who thought he would win in 1948

And proceeded to lead the greatest political campaign in presidential election history. The man was a fighter who never quit.

[niyad]

39. you mean this?

[Paka]

40. Good Find!

[DemonGoddess]

41. K&R!

[Dalai_1]

42. K&R n/t

[marble falls]

43. I can't find that anywhere, link, please?

[ET Awful]

44. Took me all of 2 seconds to Google it

http://www.snopes.com/politics/quotes/trumangop.asp

[marble falls]

45. I used Duckduckgoose and it didn't find it. Thanks for the link. Not for the snark. From Snopes:

"I got this quote on my Facebook page today, and I re-posted it without thinking. Then I decided to fact check it. A quick Bing or Google search only brings up blogs or sites that are also just re-quoting the same thing.

Did Harry Truman, indeed, say the following:

"Republicans approve of the American farmer, but they are willing to help him go broke. They stand four-square for the American home — but not for housing. They are strong for labor — but they are stronger for restricting labor's rights. They favor minimum wage — the smaller the minimum wage the better. They endorse educational opportunity for all — but they won't spend money for teachers or for schools. They think modern medical care and hospitals are fine — for people who can afford them. They consider electrical power a great blessing — but only when the private power companies get their rake-off. They think American standard of living is a fine thing — so long as it doesn't spread to all the people. And they admire of Government of the United States so much that they would like to buy it." "

I wasn't the only one.

[kairos12]

46. +1000

I would add they support all wars as long as they or their family, don't have to do the dying. Chickenhawk wing of the Rethugs.

[bora13]

47. been there

try being a stepchild of a right wing nut. three of us in the military at some point.
the stepfathers' kids, not one.