The Daily Kos' Daily Dupe

Ah, the Daily Kos tries so hard to make you think that Republican values are their own.  First of all, who they think they are fooling?  But second, and a much more interesting point is that it has gotten so bad over on the liberal side of politics that they are actually trying to show that they are good Republicans!


Initially I was heartened to think that the Daily Kos would start reading the Republican platform as they might educate themselves.  Then I realized that they had simply pulled out random sentences without context only to make a point that wasn't there.

You see, the platform itself also contained many other statements, like:
-"America's trust is in the merciful providence of God, in whose image every man is created ... the source of every man's dignity and freedom."  Wow, first sentence, declaration of support for monotheism.
-"In this trust our Republic was founded. We give devoted homage to the Founding Fathers. They not only proclaimed that the freedom and rights of men came from the Creator and not from the State, but they provided safeguards to those freedoms."  That's the second sentence, that all good things come from God and man, not government institutions.
-"We shall maintain our powerful military strength as a deterrent to aggression and as a guardian of the peace. We shall maintain it ready, balanced and technologically advanced for these objectives only."  Pro-military.
-"Restoration of integrity in government has been an essential element to the achievement of our unparalleled good times. We will faithfully preserve the sound financial management which already has reduced annual spending $14 billion below the budgets planned by our Democratic predecessors and made possible in 1954 a $7.4-billion tax cut, the largest one-year tax reduction in history."  Tax cuts and spending cuts.  That is a truly conservative statement.  Unfortunately, even today's Republicans don't go that far.
-"The individual is of supreme importance."  This is very different than what liberals (progressives) preach.  They want society and government to be at the forefront, like all other systems of government before us.  Under their theory, you can do as you like to an individual as long as it benefits society/the majority.  Conservatives believe by allowing each individual to pursue the best goals for themselves, we make society better.
-"Further reductions in Government spending as recommended in the Hoover Commission Report, without weakening the support of a superior defense program or depreciating the quality of essential services of government to our people.
"Continued balancing of the budget, to assure the financial strength of the country which is so vital to the struggle of the free world in its battle against Communism; and to maintain the purchasing power of a sound dollar, and the value of savings, pensions and insurance."  Reduction in spending and a balanced budget, both good.
-"We believe in good business for all business—small, medium and large. We believe that competition in a free economy opens unrivaled opportunity and brings the greatest good to the greatest number."  This espouses the true conservative's belief that we need open and fair markets that are pro-consumer, not pro-business, and without the government stepping in to put a thumb on the scale (as they have done so much lately).
This highlights only the first 10% or so of the platform, but it shows just how much the libs chose to ignore because it didn't fit their premise.

So, let's look at what they did say:
-They highlight the statement that we should be liberal.  That's correct, under the original meaning of the word, I agree.  You see, the two sides used to be liberal and progressive.  Sometime in the 60's "liberal" came to have the usage we understand today.
-We did support the United Nations... in 1956.  Back then, we could still count on other nations because we were not that far removed from people like Churchill.  It is not the same UN today.
-They highlight lower taxes?  Maybe there is hope for the Daily Kos yet.
-The largest expansion of infrastructure, good.  Because in 1956 we didn't have interstates and we weren't broke.  Today, we have interstates and we are damn near bankrupt.
-Under the guide of environmentalism, they list conservation efforts.  This is very different than the global warming theories.
-They highlight that the platform is pro-labor.  Indeed it is.  Because in 1956, labor unions worked for the benefit of the workers.  That isn't the case anymore (ask my father who had to fight his union so he could work and maintain the pension he worked all his adult life for).
-Support for the EPA and equal rights for men and women.  Again, 1956.  Things have changed in 50 years.

Leave it to a liberal website to pull 1% of the Republican platform from 50 years ago to make a point that doesn't follow logic.  But, I've never expected to find much logic within a ten-foot radius of a liberal.