"Nixon was more liberal than Obama"

[NYC Liberal]

When did this shit start? I've been around DU for quite some time now, but I've never seen anything as bizarre as this new meme that claims Richard Fucking Nixon was some sort of great liberal, more liberal than Obama even.

The same Nixon who used the FBI to illegally wiretap political opponents.

The same Nixon that said he supported abortion "when you have a black and a white."

The same Nixon that called Jewish people an "immoral bunch of bastards."

The same Nixon that said about Mexicans, "they steal, they're dishonest."

The same Nixon that said the Greek and Roman Empires collapsed because of the "fags."

The same Nixon that said liberals were "trying to destroy us."

The same Nixon that, openly and candidly, proclaimed the president to be above the law.

The same Nixon who, had he not gotten a pardon from his fellow Republican VP who succeeded him when he resigned, could very likely have been indicted and put on trial for multiple felonies.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't call ANYBODY like that a liberal.

So:

[CBR]

1. That talking point is just plain crazy. Overlooking his

antisemitism and racism just drives me nuts. I do not have issue with acknowledging the things he did that I agree with; however, to then use him as an anti-democratic party talking point... ugh. It all ends for me when he supports abortion for biracial babies -- wtf? I guess that is ignored because of the health care plan he supported and never passed.

[Number23]

5. Racism is one of the most complex issues here

People raise the appropriate amount of noise when something totally egregious happens ie police harassment or brutality or some Republican makes an ass out of themselves saying something racist.

But it's the more nuanced things that trip folks up here. This talk of Nixon being more liberal than Obama or the serious nostalgia for the 1950s around here really lets me know that this is a group with which I have very little in common. Most of the folks here don't realize that one of the reasons that white folks had it so good during the 40s and 50s was because everyone was else was kept out of the equation. People seem to forget that this country had laws -- actual LAWS -- that kept blacks from being adequately housed, employed and educated until fairly recently. And Lord knows we have made tremendous strides in the last 50 years, but it damn sure wasn't because we sat around wailing about how "horrible" everything is like so many do around here.

Other people of color have been similarly isolated but not with the implicit support of the US legal system, save for the internment of the Japanese 60 years ago. And yes, I have seen here on DU where people have said that the internment camps weren't "that bad" and that they were actually "a favor" to those interned. Like I said, DU seems to be comprised more and more of a group with which I have very little in common.

[CBR]

6. I have noticed these things as well.

The nostalgia for the 1950s especially gets under my skin. A few times I tried to say "Hey, what about non-whites?" -- nothing. Also, I do think there are things that are class struggles but there seems to be a dismissal of race as playing any factor. The treatment of the President also has racial elements that many just do not seem to want to acknowledge. We could not even get people to admit the teabaggers were racist.

I was amazed at a few threads regarding Japanese internment -- I wanted to encourage people to watch the story of Kristi Yamaguchi's family and internment that ran on Henry Louis Gates's show but I knew it would be dismissed and it was not even worth it. There seems to be no concern that there is a severe lack of minority voices on this forum -- talk about the Dem base!!

[Cha]

7. Good points.. I didn't think about that 'cause

I was just in my own little world of survival.

[HughMoran]

2. Teh Stupid, if bruns!

The Congress and political climate was more liberal back then I think, but Nixon was a criminal ass hole.

[Cha]

3. Thanks for listing these vile quirks of one richard nixon,

NYC Liberal.

It highlights how ignorant of facts those are you would promote tricky dick.

[Cha]

4. Kick for pertinence.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. I'm havin' fun with this in GDP...