Ever wonder how far right Republicans have really moved?

[Rose Siding]

* In 1981, Goldwater assailed the founder of the Moral Majority, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. Responding to Falwell's statement that all good Christians should be concerned about the Supreme Court nomination of Arizonan Sandra Day O'Connor, he said, ''I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.''
...
* In June 1993, Goldwater declared that the military should lift its ban on gays in the military. He also railed against discrimination against gays and lesbians in the workplace.
...
In a 1994 commentary published in The Arizona Republic, he spoke proudly of the GOP's traditional stance for ''individual rights and liberties.''...
In the same article, Goldwater warned that ''the radical right has nearly ruined our party.''

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special25/articles/0531goldwater2.html

-July 1988 - Issued autobiography that takes Ronald Reagan to task over Iranian arms sale.

-February 1989 - Said the Republican Party has been taken over by a ''bunch of kooks,'' a reference to forces supporting TV evangelist Pat Robertson and former Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham.

-1989 - Offered advice for people who believe Rep. Morris Udall, D-Ariz., should retire due to ill health: ''Tell them to go to hell.''

-August 1992 - Predicted that President Bush would lose the election unless the GOP dropped its strict anti-abortion plank.

-August 1993 - Said in an interview with the Advocate, a national gay and lesbian news magazine, that he viewed concerns about gays in the military as pointless and stupid. Goldwater also said the GOP's stance on gays is ''dumb,'' and noted that his grandson, Ty Ross of Scottsdale, and a grandniece are gay.

-March 16, 1994 - Horrified Arizona Republicans by calling on the GOP to get off President Clinton's back over the Whitewater affair. ''I haven't heard anything yet that says this is all that big of a deal,'' he said.

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special25/articles/0529goldwater22.html

She (Gloria Feldt- outgoing PP chief) began to develop a sense of social activism while working part-time with Head Start, and in 1974 began working at a Planned Parenthood affiliate in Odessa. Later, she headed an Arizona chapter founded by the wife of conservative Republican Barry Goldwater.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=696&e=4&u=/ap/20050201/ap_on_re_us/planned_parenthood

That's "Mr. Conservative". On social issues, he'd be a fairly liberal dem in today's political dollars.

[ultraist]

1. Exactly! The are so far right they are about to fall off the edge! 06 & 08

It's pretty frightening to see how much we have regressed over the last four years, in particular.

[Liberty Belle]

2. Fascinating. Wonder what the freepers would think of that?

[Clark2008]

6. Hate to break it to you, but they don't consider Goldwater a Republican

eom

[Celeborn Skywalker]

7. Please tell me you're not serious

How far right do you have to be to appease the freepers? Some on that site are probably to the right of Benito Mussolini.

[American Tragedy]

3. Goldwater was a character.

I've been studying the guy. He was considered a frightening extremist, but now he sounds downright sane.


"You don't have to be straight to shoot straight."

"I believe in democracy and the separation of church and state... people have the right to live life as they please as long as they don't hurt anyone else in the process."

"I don't have any respect for the Religious Right. There is no place in this country for practicing religion in politics. That goes for Falwell, Robertson and all the rest of these political preachers. They are a detriment to the country."

I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That's a decision that's up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right."

"Government should stay out of people's private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone's version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays."

"I believe Reagan did know of the diversion of Iranian funds to the Contras. He had to know. The White House explanation makes him out to be either a liar or incompetent."

"I would like to see us do away with all nuclear weapons. I just want to make sure they're all gone...Why do we have to go broke and keep so many young people in the military?"

"I don't think Mr. Nixon's visit to China did anything, and if he wants to do this country a favor, he might stay over there. I don't think the average American has enough respect for Mr. Nixon anymore to really believe that what he's doing is in anybody's interest but Mr. Nixon's."

"Nixon was the most dishonest individual I have ever met in my life. He lied to his wife, his family, his friends, his colleagues in the Congress, lifetime members of his own political party, the American people and the world."

"The Constitution says that all men are created equal, and it doesn't say that all men are created equal except for gays."

[arikara]

9. The guy sounds like the modern day notion of a liberal democrat...

Was he really considered extreme?

[American Tragedy]

13. He did soften quite a bit with age; most of the quotes are from 80s & 90s.

It's been my experience and observation that old age actually makes people more liberal, contrary to conventional wisdom.

[Rose Siding]

19. His wife did establish the AZ chapter of PP in the 70's

Maybe she was an influence- or an indicator of his actual positions. At one point he ran with anti-abortion support, but he soon lost it.

[jmowreader]

22. In 1962, we would have considered Barry Goldwater a freeper

Well, with one exception: Goldwater was a highly intelligent man and freepers are uniformly as dumb as rocks.

But yeah, Goldwater was as far to the right as you could possibly get in his early years. The fact that we're calling Goldwater and Nixon progressives now only goes to show how far to the right "conservatives" have gone.

[d_b]

28. Not only that

He's got more balls than any democratic leader I can think of.

[Rose Siding]

15. That's a great collection

Do you know when he made the quote about nukes?

"I would like to see us do away with all nuclear weapons. I just want to make sure they're all gone...Why do we have to go broke and keep so many young people in the military?"

[American Tragedy]

20. That was when we started talking seriously w/ Gorbachev

toward the end of the Cold War.

[Up2Late]

24. Great quotes! You should get most printed...

into Bumper Stickers at Cafe Press.

It might be a good "Wake-up Call" for all the "Right-wingers," especially down here in the south. :toast:

[DalvaThree]

30. It's amazing that NO DEMOCRAT would have the guts to say that

stuff...

Goldwater speaks more directly and truthfully on these issues than most Dems!!!!!!!

How the fuck did we get to this point?

[Celeborn Skywalker]

4. Wasn't Goldwater considered a far rightwing radical in his day?

The republicans of today are so far to the right, it's scary!

[liberalpragmatist]

14. It was mainly b/c of his views on military issues

It was a complex picture. I wasn't around then - I'm MUCH younger, but as a political junkie and history buff I've read about Goldwater.

Basically, he was considered extreme b/c his views were VERY libertarian at a time when big government was in vogue. And while he was Libertarian in domestic policy, he was very hawkish on Vietnam for instance and flirted with the idea of getting out of the UN.

Those views probably did qualify him as being quite far right. He even went so far as to say that we should consider using "tactical nuclear weapons" in Vietnam.

That being said, his views evolved over the years. He softened, particularly on military issues and anti-Communism. He made peace with the UN, which he flirted with opposing for awhile. And while he was a strong Reagan supporter, he disliked Reagan's ties with the Christian Right and the administration's budget policies - he was for balanced budgets. He also grew more moderate on domestic issues.

On top of that, part of his "extremism" in the 1964 campaign was the result of a smear campaign by Johnson. Johnson's campaign was extraordinarily dirty and over-the-top - ever seen the daisy ad? It would probably be laughed at today but it was stunningly effective. Johnson also benefitted from a huge sympathy vote for JFK's assassination.

I wish Goldwater were still alive today - I think he'd have some pretty interesting things to say about Bush. I'm certain he would have opposed his reelection. In fact, during the '90s, Goldwater endorsed a Democrat for Congress, joked that he would vote for Clinton (publicly praised Clinton as doing a fine job), and even took to calling himself a "liberal" although he meant in a European Classical-liberal sense.

[DefenseLawyer]

32. He voted against the Civil Rights Act

wanted to scrap Social Security and often advocated the use of "tactical" nuclear weapons, among other things.

[coloradodem2005]

5. It's Ironic that he has been considered far-right in 1964.

Yet he seems reasonable in the 80's and 90's and even today.

[Up2Late]

8. The Really scary thing is...

The Guy who wrote "America's Right Turn" (he was on the Daily Show a few weeks ago) said that the goal was to get rid of all the Moderate Republicans (about 30% of them in his opinion) and to actually start governing from the "Conservative" perspective. :scared:

I think they really DO want a Fascist Government.:evilfrown:

[progressiveright]

10. excellent post

I always liked Goldwater.

Is he still alive btw? It would be the coolest thing in the world to get him to speak at a Democratic Convention.

[American Tragedy]

12. Unfortunately, he died in 1998.

I miss him. Even when he said something totally off the wall that you didn't agree with, he at least came across as honest and authentic, and not blindly partisan.

[EFerrari]

11. I can't believe I miss Barry GOLDWATER. lol!

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

16. I'd be proud to call myself a Barry Goldwater style Democrat

Seriously! ...at least in the social arena (I'm not too sure about his economic policies)

There isn't a single quote up there or in either of these articles that I don't agree with.

[htuttle]

18. With those positions,

...do you think he'd have a chance at getting nominated by the Democrats nowdays?

I can hear it now -- Goldwater is socially too 'far left' for Middle America! He supports gay rights, abortion and is against imperialism. I bet he'd have as much a chance of getting nominated to the Democratic ticket nowdays as Kucinich.

Which tells you how far to the right the Democratic Party has moved, too.

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

23. Spot on!

I think it would be cool if the left can co-opt the image of Goldwater. Not to move the Democratic Party more to the Center, but to attract Libertarians over to the side that truly defends civil liberties nowadays.

[BlueInRed]

17. This post should be sent to every elected Democrat

I think a lot of people don't realize how much ammunition is out there that old-time traditional "conservative" Republicans are really to the left of the Republicans of today. There are a lot of similar facts on (gasp) Nixon!

Facts like these are things our elected officials can use to defend themselves against the predictable GOP attack when they do decide to stand up for Democratic principles. We should provide them with ammunition like this to defend themselves.

[no name no slogan]

26. Nixon was more liberal than Kerry's '04 platform in some respects

In his two campaigns, Nixon advocated for a universal healthcare system and a government-paid living wage for the poor. Don't forget, he also created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Additionally, he enacted a lot of Johnson's policies-- AND kept Johnson's policies on the books even after Johnson left office.

Nowdays, anybody who advocates for government-funded universal healthcare or a living wage is immediately labeled a leftist wacko-- even by some in his/her own party!

Damn, I miss when the Dems used to have balls...

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

33. when i talk about Nixon

and call him one of the most "liberal" presidents we've ever had, people think I'm crazy! Its good to see similar thoughts on demonizied characters in history

[annabanana]

21. Goldwater "saw the light" later in life...

He educated himself on the issues and stepped back from the rad right that he had espoused in his heyday. The nutcases that he had inspired were horrified and disowned him.

[Idioteque]

25. During the 1996 presidential campaign...

...when lots of hardcore right wingers were attacking Bob Dole not being conservative enough, Goldwater said to Dole "We are the new liberals of the Republican party."

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

34. welcome to du!

:hi:

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

27. this thread deserves a

:kick:

[Jacobin]

29. Bush & Company are NOT conservatives

They are radical right wing idealogues.

I'm tired of being flamed for saying that, but it appears to be more obvious every day. Neo-cons have NOTHING to do with conservatism.

[Disturbed]

31. Bush Junta

are Fascists! Another attack on Amerika is coming and after that Amerika will be a full blown Fascist Police State. I predict that this will occur within two years or less.