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Thursday, May 26, 2005

Eisenhower quote

A Republican sent me this quote (with the comment "ouch!"):

"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 that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1952

Ouch is right. I think the GOP needs to look back on its roots and pay close attention to the wisdom of its early leaders like Lincoln, the first Republican President, and Eisenhower, a military man who engineered the success of the D-Day invasion and fall of Hitler before becoming a Republican President.

And this - John McCain's "Group of 14" deserves watching. It could be a temporary blip on the radar before we return to "dog eat dog" politics --or a foreshadowing of a change in DC politics away from the two (left, right) partisanship divide. No one becomes President without attracting the center.

Some people prefer politics of destruction; others prefer building bridges.

We'll see what develops.

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