Pieces Of The Puzzle: The Living Heritage Of Republican Progressives

Republicans and American “Conservatives” have a problem: they have forgotten their own history.  This leads them to believe they believe the same things as our founders when reality may prove this is not necessarily the case.  Sadly, Republicans and ‘Conservatives” are just as well inoculated against any honest attempt to remove the scales from their eyes as our friends on the Left.  If you are a Republican or a “Conservative” and you are reading this, I would suspect you are not pleased with the tone of this post so far – and that is exactly what I mean when I say you have been inoculated.  Those Americans who think of themselves as being on the Right (where ‘Right” is understood to mean small, limited government) generally like to think of themselves as being open minded, tolerant and reasonable.  But if this is the case, why would my words cause a negative reaction with so many Republicans and/or “Conservatives?’  But they do, and they do so because they have been conditioned to reject any opposition to their beliefs out of hand – just like they accuse the Left of doing.  SO where am I going with this?  Here, let me show you by taking you on a quick tour of history.

Whether you consider yourself to be on the Left or the Right of the American political spectrum, ask yourself how many of the following quotes you would agree with:

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.

The one absolute certain way to bring this nation to ruin … would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities.

If an American is to amount to anything he must rely upon himself, and not upon the State; he must take pride in his own work, instead of sitting idle to envy the luck of others. He must face life with resolute courage, win victory if he can, and accept defeat if he must, without seeking to place on his fellow man a responsibility which is not theirs.

To educate a man in mind, and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society.

We cannot afford to differ on the question of honesty if we expect our republic permanently to endure. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest, we have no right to keep him in public life; it matters not how brilliant his capacity.

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

Let me address those of you who consider yourself “Conservative,” how many of those quotes sound like they represent the founding principles and ideals of this nation?  How many of them would you consider to be in keeping with your “Conservative” principles and ideals?  I suspect you would agree with a great many of them, and that you might even suspect they were uttered by our founders, themselves.  Now, how many of you who are inclined to agree with the sentiment in these quotes would also say you embrace the Liberal/Progressive movement?  Because, if you agree with the sentiment in these quotes I just cited, you are agreeing with one of the founders of the American Progressive movement.  In fact, you are agreeing with the same man who said:

In strict confidence … I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.

We wish to control big business so as to secure among other things good wages for the wage-workers and reasonable prices for the consumers.

The great corporations which we have grown to speak of rather loosely as trusts are the creatures of the State, and the State not only has the right to control them wherever need of such control is shown… In my opinion, this sovereign must be the National Government.

And who gave the following speech:

Who is a Progressive?

Theodore Roosevelt, Louisville, Kentucky, April 1912

Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.  There was a lot about Teddy Roosevelt that was right, but there was much that was wrong.  Either way, his legacy still governs the leadership of the Republican Party.  It has ever since the turn of the last Century, when he started the Progressive movement.  Teddy represented the ‘Right-Wing” of the Progressive movement.  Wilson, representing the “Left-Wing” wrested control of the movement away from Roosevelt and made it popular – until he then destroyed the term and the Progressives had to hide under the new label of “Liberals.”  Today, Wilson’s legacy lives on in the modern Democrat Party, as affirmed by Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary election debates.  But Roosevelt’s legacy lives on as well.  Limbaugh calls them the “Rockefeller/Country-Club Blue Bloods,” but they are – at heart – Progressives, and they have been running the Republican Party ever since Roosevelt started the Progressive movement.

Now, does this change anything for you?