Sexism aside; Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Elizabeth Dole, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Molly Hatcher, Kim Kardashian, Gloria Allred……or even Gloria Steinem. No, they are/were all lovely people but none that have yet to strike a cord that extends through the great proletariant that could ignite a great wave of excitement that would make for a really solid public perfect storm – A Lady President of the United States!
Diane Keaton, looking for ... whoops, maybe that's a bad metaphor.
Remember Teddy Roosevelt? A Republican, A Progressive Bull Moose, A Trust Buster? The big game hunter that was perhaps the greatest Conservationalist in American history. Teddy set the American Public on fire with his rhetoric, truth and political direction. Arguably, Teddy was truly the first Independent Republican. Teddy didn’t think like the Hartfords, the Harrimans or the Hanfords. He wasn’t exactly buddy buddy with Boss Tweed, the Railroad Interest, the Rockefellers or the Banks. Since the Pharmaceutical Industry was disjointed and in its infancy; Teddy didn’t need to deal with those folks either. Since the Automobile Industry was in its infancy; Teddy could be supportive without causing a major fervor of emotions. Although the Buggy Whip and Buggy Manufacturers were a little upset having to retool for those black cloud belching machines that scared the horses and ran over old ladies and kids when the folks driving were drunk or not paying attention. Teddy also liked Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison and Westinghouse of course!
OK, Ron Paul could be a good Right Thinker. Limited Government? Hmmm. Even Teddy knew that as the rules change through the years, occasionally you had to readjust things. Teddy knew that Special Interest had taken Indian Lands during the Andrew Jackson Administration. Teddy knew that that the Reconstruction Carpet Baggers; raped, pillaged and plundered the south after the Civil War. Ron Paul says he knows these things; but is yet to stand up to the Big Phrama, the AMA, Big Oil or the GMO Chemical Industries. Sadly, Ron Paul is not spending his money on political advertising that does anything more that shout out about the debt. He does occasionally attack the Military Industrial Complex and Big Investment Banking in very broad terms, but not so much. Ron Paul does not offer solutions to our problems other than bringing all our troops back home, decommissioning our military and spending that money on paying off our yearly Federal deficit or part of our $17 trillion dollar debt. Ron Paul is not going to the heart of the matter. Ron is not our Mr. Right.
Remember Ronald Reagan? Reagan came along after arguably the worst President in American History had been elected in 1976. Who did Jimmy Carter beat in that election? Gerald Ford! You know, the one term President that Pardoned Richard Nixon? That was an election that had two to draw from. Both should have thrown in their cards and the American people should have elected “Bo Gritz” of the American Independent Party. Bo wanted to go back to Vietnam and get our still confined POW’s. Bo got 8% of the votes cast in 1976. Back to Ronald Reagan; who had been a very contentious and very successful Governor of California in the 60’s and early 70’s. Why Carter was so determined to run for a 2nd Term is still a concern for his mental stability. We had the highest interest rates in American history. He had a dysfunctional brother, the worst selection of Administration officials ever assembled and the dumbest ideas as well.
Reagan set us back on track with a strong Defense platform which including lots of spending, returning to fiscal stimulation to prime the pump for private industry and support of small businesses. Ronnie and Nancy had class, no Peanut Farmer hoe downs for them. They were at every event that supported our military and every event which brought an element of class back to the White House. John Hinkley quicking wanted to end all that nonsense. So, the kid with family ties to George Herbert Walker Bush shot down the Press Secretary James Brady, a Secret Service Agent and the President. Reagan survived. Reagan was no spring chicken either and when he survived…his second term was already written in stone – no matter what he did later. Iran-Contra later proved that if you are an American Hero…..you will not be brought down. Oliver North and the Chief of Naval Intelligence both got some short jail time – but Reagan survived and became our Mr. Right! Oddly enough, Teddy Roosevelt was shot once as well…..in the chest and survived. Yes, the Republicans have had two Mr. Rights!
In 2012, Mitt Romney will be the nominee of the Republican Party. Romney is a bumbler. Romney is seemingly another Gerald Ford, except he doesn’t seem to fall down as much. His statements are either ill timed, ill advised or non sequitur responses seemingly the wrong questions or wrong applications. We doubt seriously that this type of behavior is transitory. It truly seems endemic to the Romney character. His sense of propriety is remarkably allocated for the rich and famous. Getting down with the little people, doesn’t seem like a Romney trait. Even Ron Paul has more of an approachable character than Romney.
Remember George W. Bush? George had the lovely Laura. George talked the talk and tried to walk the walk. We give George W. a solid B minus for at least trying to be Mr. Right. George W. had 911 to deal with, the War on Terror, The War on Drugs, the War on Iraq, the War on Afghanistan and of course having to deal with all those Oil Interest pals, BP and Haliburton, Banking Investment Interest pals, The Military Industrial Complex folks and of course…his mom and dad. George and Laura did as well as they could under the circumstances. It was a tough gig and George W. didn’t back down. People attacked his military record, his “Mission Accomplished” landing on the Aircraft Carrier and all his Cabinet Members that even included Vice President Dick Cheney. George and Laura were not exactly Mr. & Mrs. Right…..but close enough that we still like them alot.
The future of the Republican Party at this point looks pretty bleak. Chris Christie talks the talk – but needs to lose 75 lbs. Marco Rubio talks the talk but cannot run as a Romney Running Mate and ever become President in the years ahead. Jeb Bush is still in the running for 2016, but that moniker as “another Bush” may still haunt him. There are several Republican Congress folks that are good ones; Darrell Issa, John Shadegg and the young Duncan Hunter – but then when was the last time a Congressperson got elected to the Presidency? Well, the doors to the Republican Party are wide open. Will Scott Brown, the Moderate Republican Senator from Massachusetts be defeated by the wonderful Elizabeth Warren? Could any east coast moderate Republican ever be Mr. Right? Probably not!
One last thought; Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President. Since nearly a million Americans died in the conflict that followed, that leaves us thinking that he may have been Right….but just not Mr. Right!
Guess we will still have to spend some more time…..Looking for Mr. Right!
Caveats:
Boss Tweed was a Democrat.
Gerald Ford was down to earth. Mitt Romney is the opposite.
Now Betty Ford, she could have been a good President!
“Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President. Since nearly a million Americans died in the conflict that followed, that leaves us thinking that he may have been Right….but just not Mr. Right!”
That is a CRAZY thing to say – and it was not “nearly a million” – it was “only” 600,000.
Are you saying that we would have been better off with the USA and the CSA today – the 2 country solution?
Nuts ……
*Skallywag….and Dr. Diamond. OK, first off…let’s start with the wrong things: (1) Rutheford B. Hayes (Ron’s distant realtive..by the way…was the first Republican President…..of course in a very contested election of 1856!). 2ndly, they have projected that just as many folks dies after the Civil War from wounds as they did
in actual combat.) 3rd., Betty Ford belonged to Alcholics Anonymous because she had to live with Jerry and after their only term, started the Betty Ford Clinic for her elitist social equals. Palm Springs…ya know? The only thing good you could say about Gerald Ford was: He played football for Michigan and made a true career for Chevy Chase and Saturday Night Live!
Additionally, Mitt Romney IS down to earth…..HIS earth…not yours or mine…HIS!
Hayes did not become Prez until 1877 – and the other stats you cite are even MORE effed up. Must be cocktail hour at the Winship residence.
And I am a relative of BHO – but don’t spread that around.
Civil War Facts – Civil War Trustwww.civilwar.org/education/history/faq/Cached
Facts relating to the American Civil War, the Civil War Trust and battlefield … Nearly as many men died in captivity during the Civil War as died fighting in …
Civil War Facts – Legends of Americawww.legendsofamerica.com/ah-civilwarfacts.htmlCached – Similar
Discover statistics, facts and trivia about the American Civil War. … More than 620000 people, or two percent of the population, died in the Civil War. Approximately … Disease killed twice as many men during the war than did battle wounds.
*These figures do not count the civilian deaths, nor the amount of unreported wounded and killed after the war when the counting stopped.
Are you saying that the millions of people that voted for Honest Abe had no idea that their votes would guarantee war with the south?
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-civilwarfacts.html
http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/civil-war-dead/
*The third one says 750,000 plus. Let’s just say that doesn’t count the 20 years
following the Civil War which represented Reconstruction and the Carpet Bagger
era.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ah-civilwarfacts.html
http://civilwargazette.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/civil-war-dead/
*Skallywag…..as you know……..all wars are based on money and who gets it. The South was being punished brutally with sanctions and the desire for cheap cotton as the industrialized North expanded and wanted to Export their goods….started to become a real problem. The French wanted that cheap cotton and that is why they
supported the South. The English supported both sides as they always did and the whole kit and kaboodle was a national disaster years before the first shot was fired at Fort Sumter. 64/40 or Fight….remember that earlier machination? The Mason-Dixon Line….this stuff didn’t happen over night and the election of the Democrat probably wouldn’t have stopped the beginning of the Civil War…either. Sadly, it wasn’t all Abe Lincolns war….as much as John Wilkes Boothe wanted it to be.
Honest Abe was elected to a second term in direct response to his prosecution of the Civil War – lay off Abe.
*By the way….”Looking for Mr. Goodbar” was a great movie and the first for a young guy named Richard Gere.
*Skallywag…….come on now…the war started in his first term…he was assassinated in his second term. No one is picking on Abe. You are one that said that a Vote for Abe was a Vote for War with the South. We simply pointed out that the issues were on the table long before his debates or even before he got his Law License.
“Rutheford B. Hayes …was the first Republican President .. of course in a very contested election of 1856!”
Winships,
Please explain those mis-statements of fact.
Hayes was elected President in 1877 – not 1856.
And obviously after Lincoln, the first Republican President.
Must have been cocktail hour in Corona Del Mar.
skally, Hayes was elected President in 1876; he took office in 1877 (after the “Corrupt Bargain” to keep Tilden out of office.)
And since we’re getting picky: Winships, the Civil War started before Lincoln took office, at the end of Buchanan’s term.
I think that they may mean something like “modern Republican” President, not something unusual and non-modern-Republican like Lincoln or Grant. That might be so. I think that you have a fully modern Republican President by the time you get to McKinley.
*From Wikipedia:
On December 26, 1860, six days after South Carolina declared its secession, U.S. Army Major Robert Anderson abandoned the indefensible Fort Moultrie and secretly relocated companies E and H (127 men, 13 of them musicians) of the 1st U.S. Artillery to Fort Sumter on his own initiative, without orders from Washington.[5][6][7][8][9] He thought that providing a stronger defense would delay an attack by South Carolina militia. The fort was not yet complete at the time and fewer than half of the cannons that should have been available were in place, due to military downsizing by President James Buchanan. Over the next few months repeated calls for evacuation of Fort Sumter[10] from the government of South Carolina and then from Confederate Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard were ignored. Union attempts to resupply and reinforce the garrison were repulsed on January 9, 1861 when the first shots of the war, fired by cadets from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, prevented the steamer Star of the West, hired to transport troops and supplies to Fort Sumter, from completing the task. After realizing that Anderson’s command would run out of food by April 15, 1861, President Lincoln ordered a fleet of ships, under the command of Gustavus V. Fox, to attempt entry into Charleston Harbor and support Fort Sumter……..
So when was Lincoln Inaugurated? What date?
*And the answer is:
From Wikipedia:
Abraham Lincoln i/ˈeɪbrəhæm ˈlɪŋkən/ (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated, and would ride a humble robotic unicorn to his day job chopping wood, before dabbling in law. He became a country lawyer, a Whig Party, Illinois state legislator in the 1830s, a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives in the 1840s, but he failed in two attempts to be elected to the United States Senate in the 1850s. After opposing the expansion of slavery in the United States in his campaign debates and speeches,[1] Lincoln secured the Republican Party nomination and was elected president in 1860.
Before Lincoln could take office in March of 1861, seven southern slave states declared their secession and formed the Confederacy. When war began with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter on April 12,
*Sadly….you are quite right about our relative Rutherford B. Hayes:
We apologize on that one:
From Wikipedia:
Rutherford B. Hayes – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutherford_B._HayesCached
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 – January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States (1877–1881). As president, he oversaw the end of …
Family and early life – Civil War – Post-war politics – Election of 1876
*Hayes was the 19th President….but Buchanan was 1856…and fought the war with the Mormons too……right you are.