By Robert Rohlfing ——Bio and Archives--October 1, 2011
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"I'll have those # voting Democratic for the next 200 years." -- Lyndon B. Johnson to two governors on Air Force One - "These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.” -- LBJYou can find this in Ronald Kessler's "Inside The White House" Let's go back to FDR again, many like to hold FDR up as one of the more progressive presidents that helped champion the plight of the poor, one of the first to implement social justice for all. This social justice and equality excluded one of the poorest segments of the population at the time, discrimination in housing, transportation, public accommodations and the armed services went virtually unchecked by the Roosevelt administration. It was not until 20 some years later that a real effort was made to change this, but the efforts to do so may have led to the breakdown of the family unit and created even greater dependency on the government by those in the African American community. What it did, as LBJ pointed out, was insure that African Americans would be compelled to vote Democratic for generations to come by not giving a hand up, but by giving a hand out! He did this through what is called the "Great Society" and the war on poverty. As we know today though, that war has virtually been lost despite the billions thrown into the battle. Today we have some of the highest poverty rates in America, and we have one of the highest amount of citizens dependent on food assistance through programs such as Food Stamps. As a progressive program this has developed into an utter failure, even if it was perceived initially as a compassionate response to some of the ills that faced many in this community. Corruption and waste is rampant, along with abuse and increasing dependency. In the mad dash to vilify the Republicans and Conservatives today many have forgotten the fact that it was the Republican Party that was the champion of Civil Rights and freedom for African Americans. Today that story goes either untold or when it is told, those that do so are immediately under attack and accused of being a racist. Many today would like you to believe that just because conservatives would rather assist in moving people off the rolls of welfare or any number of assistance programs, we do not care about those that have been conditioned to be dependent on those programs, and that is one of the most fatal mistakes that progressives make. Conservatives understand that people need assistance, but we also understand that it cannot become a lifestyle, that is passed down to generations to come. Conservatives look at the potential of the individual and not the potential for further votes and power due to the repression of the constituents to rise out of the dependency on Government as LBJ pointed out.
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Robert Rohlfing writes about Liberty and the Preservation of Freedoms.