Did a Republican ever say or do something you thought was right?

[Fed Up]

Once I saw Senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire take the floor and denounce the elephant abuse that goes on in circuses.

That's the only thing I can think of right now. Anybody else got something?

Happy new year!

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Maybe he was just upset because it involved his party's mascot

Would he look the same way upon donkey abuse in Tijuana?

[DownNotOut]

2. Nixon resigned.

[Piperay]

3. Nixon created the EPA

unfortunately chimp is out to destroy it. :eyes:

[0rganism]

11. Nixon also proposed a Maximum Wage

A fiscal and environmental progressive like Nixon would last about half a second in today's republican party.

[orpupilofnature57]

4. I know I'm a pretentious asshole. the difference is, they think its cool

look at the expression on most people driving hummer's.

[still_one]

5. Yeah Eisinhower when he told us to

beware of the military industrial complex

[intheflow]

6. Teddy Roosevelt was a big-time conservationist.

He started the Nat'l. Park System. Of course, he also stole part of Mexico.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. T.R. didn't start the National Parks System, but he added Grand Canyon

to the system in 1908. The National Parks system got its start in 1872 under Grant (maybe the only worthwhile thing he did as President?), and the National Parks Service got its start in 1916 under Woodrow Wilson.:hi:

[orpupilofnature57]

8. He would have puked on these"dominion throwawaycrats" Shrub too.

[Art_from_Ark]

9. You're right about that

One reason why TR became enraged at his hand-picked successor W.H.Taft was that Taft appointed an industry flunkie, Richard Ballinger, to head the Interior Department. Ballinger's industry-first approach to forest use was at loggerheads with the wise-use policy of the Roosevelt-appointed head of the Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot. The Ballinger-Pinchot controversy was one of the reasons for the party split in 1912.

[intheflow]

16. I stand corrected. Thanks.

First day in this group, it was a rookie post for sure! :D

[RadicalMom]

10. Yes! He told me he and his friends were voting for Kerry after

years of being Republican. They all thought Bush was a dangerous madman and an embarrsaament. There were many other Repubs for Kerry in my town.But then, I'm in California.

[0rganism]

12. Sen. Mark Hatfield opposed the war in Vietnam

Of course, that was back in the days when it was acceptable to be a high-profile dissenter.

[Cuban_Liberal]

13. Yes, my former boss, the county Sheriff

We were working an abuse case that involved child abuse, spousal abuse and financial exploitation of an elderly, dependent woman. At one point he said, "If law-enforcement has any purpose at all, it is to protect women, children, the elderly and anyone who is vulnerable to the predators among us. If we can't competently perform those functions, we might as well turn in our badges, gentlemen."

FWIW, he's not a RW Repub, but a traditionally conservative one.

[Hekate]

14. Absolutely: here's two off the top of my head

For about 20 years my congressional district was represented by Bob Lagomarsino. I'm not sure why his nickname was Congo Bob (he was white, after all) -- that came before I moved here. Congressman Lagomarsino was a Republican, to be sure, but he also took care of his home district in matters important to the majority of people here, such as the environment. In 1968 Santa Barbara County became the epicenter of the nascent US environmental movement by virtue of a massive oil spill along the coast, on our beloved and much-used beaches. People waded into the muck trying to save birds, otters, and seals who were almost all doomed to die. Saving the environment by reining in corporate greed and irresponsibility became very, very personal. No one who represents this district can afford to forget that fact, and he was no different: he took care of our environmental sensibilities. He was only unseated when Michael and Arianna Huffington moved into the area with carpetbags of money (ironically, oil money) and spent their way into what they obviously believed was a steppingstone to higher office. They didn't last, and were replaced by a Democrat.

Second: I tuned into CSPAN one day and witnessed a Congressman Burton grilling some doctors from the CDC and/or FDA over a slow fire. He was demanding information about thimerosol, the mercury-based preservative in children's vaccines, and he was getting a lot of evasion in reply. This Burton is on a mission, and it finally became clear why: his 16 year old grandson is severely autistic, and is likely to be disabled for life. Burton knows his grandson is part of an enormous upsurge in autism in the US, and that no one really knows why except that the US government in the form of the CDC and FDA are too busy covering their asses to allow some of the most basic research in the world to be done: i.e., keeping track of which batches of vaccine have thimerosol in them and where those batches go. NO ONE on the receiving end has any way of knowing -- not pediatricians, and certainly not parents. So Congressman Burton, personally injured, is on the case. Wish him luck.

Looking into the past, the deservedly-reviled Richard Nixon produced some very bright spots during his administration. He opened China for diplomatic and trade relations with the US -- it was long-past time to officially recognize their existence, and he was the one who did it. He also signed some significant environmental legislation into law -- it was the kind of thing we began to take for granted as something the federal government was just supposed to do, regardless of which party was in power at the time. Now, of course, the Neocons take pride in dismantling every bit of environmental protection they can -- but within living memory, it was not always thus.

And I think that's the important thing to remember: it was not always thus. There are good people on the other side of the aisle too, but right now the fanatics, the mean-spirited, and the downright lunatics are in charge. For it to change, Republicans themselves, especially the ones in office, will have to stand up and fight alongside the rest of us and be welcomed as our allies.

Hekate

[cornermouse]

15. Yes, just not lately...

Certainly not in the last 24 years.

[Stinky The Clown]

17. Eisenhower gave us the Interstate Highway System

[QC]

18. Margaret Chase Smith calling out Joe McCarthy was pretty cool.

Of course, that was a very long time ago.

[jody]

19. I believe Abraham Lincoln did one or two things right. n/t

[Zynx]

20. A whole bunch of things.

However, when Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren would be mine.