I think I'm a Whig
You know Harrison and Taylor wore wigs...err...were whigs.
Just read the article:
Whigs would right nation's political ship
John Aliff - For the Journal-Constitution
Friday, April 21, 2006
The original Whig Party in England was formed in the 17th century to promote the power of Parliament over the king of England.
This theme was repeated in the American Whig Party that emerged in the 1830s with the collapse of Jeffersonian Republicans and the rise of the Jacksonian democracy, in which Whigs such as Daniel Webster and Henry Clay saw the presidential usurpation of the powers of Congress. Whigs wanted to develop the western United States by building waterways for commerce, encourage industry, educate citizens and oppose the agrarian aristocracy of the southern Democrats.
Regrettably, the Whig Party disappeared when members such as Abraham Lincoln defected to the Republican Party, Southern members defected to the Southern Democrats or to the Know-Nothing or Nativist party that opposed Irish immigration. The issues of the Civil War literally tore the Whig Party apart.
But maybe the Whigs, that grand old moralistic party, need to return.
We live in a political circus. Whether spending on social programs or wars, the Democratic and Republican parties seem dedicated to increasing the national debt so that our children will have a sad time paying it off. They have callously sold the future to pay for the present.
Also, the Republicans have been captured by the religious right and the Democrats by a morally relativist left wing. Every Republican president beginning with Ronald Reagan, and now candidates such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have sold out to Jerry Falwell and crew, who intend to establish no less than a theocracy. Maybe they will get their model of government from Iran.
Both parties are possessed by lawyers and corporations. Both are frozen in their approach to problems.
An independent-thinking modern Whig platform might include:
> Balancing the budget by paying for what we buy and use. Isn't that true conservatism? Whigs will not lie to the American public about cutting taxes, adding taxes or running up the national debt while making a great pretense of being fiscally conservative.
> Whigs would divide the British post-World War I established confusion of Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish states. If we had done that in the first place, realizing the history of ethnic hatred, look at the billions we would have saved trying to establish "democracy" for people who mostly do not want it.
> The Whigs would favor surgical, conventional weapon strikes, not invasions, on nations that threaten us and our allies with atomic bombs.
> Allow only individuals to contribute to political campaigns and put a maximum at $100 per citizen so our current corporodemocracy can revert to one that Whig President Zachary Taylor, "Ol' Rough and Ready," would appreciate.
> Whigs believe that not everyone in the world can come here and live. We want our existing laws enforced, not modified, particularly regarding the employers of illegals. (Whigs reject the doublespeak Orwellian term "undocumented workers.") Whigs resent taking on the tax burden of health care and education for people who are residing here illegally.
> When we break the hold of the religious right on government, we will save public education, science, moderate Christianity, medicine and the environment by giving them the respect they deserve.
> We will limit the income of corporate (not private company) executives to $2 million a year, including incentives. If corporate boards will not do that, Whigs will help find very qualified executives in Japan, where they are paid reasonably. The overpaid ex-executives can sail off to Bermuda with their ill-begotten gains siphoned from shareholders and customers. Bon voyage!
> Modern Whigs would again oppose the powers of an imperial presidency that has no qualms about concealing its motives in making war.
> Whigs would have handled the energy crisis long ago.
> Whigs believe that government has a role in disaster relief.
Republicans believe in reducing the size of government and "taxes" at the cost of the people. Their ideology will lead to citizens losing the right to a public education, inadequate police, health and fire services, and a continued poor response to disasters.
What we need is new thinking. Vote Whig!
> John Aliff is a biology professor at Georgia Perimeter College.
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/opinion_4484077316ec428100e3.html
So yes. Commentary? I don't have any except: I think I'm a whig.
Quote of the Day:
I had one but I forgot it. I swear
Announcement:
I will be gone for two and a half weeks (being paradoxical).
Just read the article:
Whigs would right nation's political ship
John Aliff - For the Journal-Constitution
Friday, April 21, 2006
The original Whig Party in England was formed in the 17th century to promote the power of Parliament over the king of England.
This theme was repeated in the American Whig Party that emerged in the 1830s with the collapse of Jeffersonian Republicans and the rise of the Jacksonian democracy, in which Whigs such as Daniel Webster and Henry Clay saw the presidential usurpation of the powers of Congress. Whigs wanted to develop the western United States by building waterways for commerce, encourage industry, educate citizens and oppose the agrarian aristocracy of the southern Democrats.
Regrettably, the Whig Party disappeared when members such as Abraham Lincoln defected to the Republican Party, Southern members defected to the Southern Democrats or to the Know-Nothing or Nativist party that opposed Irish immigration. The issues of the Civil War literally tore the Whig Party apart.
But maybe the Whigs, that grand old moralistic party, need to return.
We live in a political circus. Whether spending on social programs or wars, the Democratic and Republican parties seem dedicated to increasing the national debt so that our children will have a sad time paying it off. They have callously sold the future to pay for the present.
Also, the Republicans have been captured by the religious right and the Democrats by a morally relativist left wing. Every Republican president beginning with Ronald Reagan, and now candidates such as Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), have sold out to Jerry Falwell and crew, who intend to establish no less than a theocracy. Maybe they will get their model of government from Iran.
Both parties are possessed by lawyers and corporations. Both are frozen in their approach to problems.
An independent-thinking modern Whig platform might include:
> Balancing the budget by paying for what we buy and use. Isn't that true conservatism? Whigs will not lie to the American public about cutting taxes, adding taxes or running up the national debt while making a great pretense of being fiscally conservative.
> Whigs would divide the British post-World War I established confusion of Iraq into Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish states. If we had done that in the first place, realizing the history of ethnic hatred, look at the billions we would have saved trying to establish "democracy" for people who mostly do not want it.
> The Whigs would favor surgical, conventional weapon strikes, not invasions, on nations that threaten us and our allies with atomic bombs.
> Allow only individuals to contribute to political campaigns and put a maximum at $100 per citizen so our current corporodemocracy can revert to one that Whig President Zachary Taylor, "Ol' Rough and Ready," would appreciate.
> Whigs believe that not everyone in the world can come here and live. We want our existing laws enforced, not modified, particularly regarding the employers of illegals. (Whigs reject the doublespeak Orwellian term "undocumented workers.") Whigs resent taking on the tax burden of health care and education for people who are residing here illegally.
> When we break the hold of the religious right on government, we will save public education, science, moderate Christianity, medicine and the environment by giving them the respect they deserve.
> We will limit the income of corporate (not private company) executives to $2 million a year, including incentives. If corporate boards will not do that, Whigs will help find very qualified executives in Japan, where they are paid reasonably. The overpaid ex-executives can sail off to Bermuda with their ill-begotten gains siphoned from shareholders and customers. Bon voyage!
> Modern Whigs would again oppose the powers of an imperial presidency that has no qualms about concealing its motives in making war.
> Whigs would have handled the energy crisis long ago.
> Whigs believe that government has a role in disaster relief.
Republicans believe in reducing the size of government and "taxes" at the cost of the people. Their ideology will lead to citizens losing the right to a public education, inadequate police, health and fire services, and a continued poor response to disasters.
What we need is new thinking. Vote Whig!
> John Aliff is a biology professor at Georgia Perimeter College.
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution: http://www.ajc.com/search/content/auto/epaper/editions/friday/opinion_4484077316ec428100e3.html
So yes. Commentary? I don't have any except: I think I'm a whig.
Quote of the Day:
I had one but I forgot it. I swear
Announcement:
I will be gone for two and a half weeks (being paradoxical).