Quick answers to US politics queries for those of us not in the know.

I'm afraid though, we (including me!) didn't exactly stick to the stated "rules" of this thread. "Quick answers ... for those of us not in the know." I'm going to try to stick to that in the future, otherwise the thread will lose its purpose ... but I figure that with the founding fathers it was perfectly OK to stretch the rules a bit! Wink

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David wrote:

Life without freedom has no value.

Only if it is someone else's life.

Go ask an average North Korean or a Saudi is he wants to be killed!

Geez..

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@Francis,

Francis, my dear, I'm going to have to be very, very strict here. (A new experience! Smile

) No debating. Information only, please. But, as I said, I wish someone would start a thread about the visions of the founding fathers & how their ideas have been interpreted to this day. Personally, I would find that a fascinating read!

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@Francis,

Francis wrote:

David wrote:
Life without freedom has no value.

Only if it is someone else's life.

Go ask an average North Korean or a Saudi is he wants to be killed!

Geez..

Maybe ask one of those who tried to get away?

Maybe I shoud ask one of the Germans (young lads n old ladies)
who leaped down across the communist Berlin Wall to freedom
on the West side, from nearby apartment buildings on the East side,
before the commies tore down those buildings to prevent more of that,
or the fellows who crashed thru the Berlin Wall in trucks,
with the commie guards taking them under fire with fully automatic rifles
and with machineguns, as the escapers knew that thay 'd do,
but made a break for it anyway. Jeez. . . .

but, we shoud not expect a Frenchman to understand

David

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Sorry, Olga.

My response was reflexive.

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

Sorry, David. My first thumbs down. Please start a new thread if you want to debate such an issue. I started this thread for an entirely different purpose. Could you respect that, please?

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Your thread has 3 pages already; that 's pretty good.

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

OK.

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

Sorry, David. My first thumbs down. Please start a new thread if you want to debate such an issue. I started this thread for an entirely different purpose.

Could you respect that, please?

Yes; I renew my apology.

David

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@OmSigDAVID,

No need, David, really.

Which brings me to Q 2:

It took me ages to accidentally discover that the GOP meant "grand old party". Where, how & when did that that term come about? And is there a corresponding Democrat "self descriptor" (for want of a better term)?

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David wrote:

but, we shoud not expect a Frenchman to understand

Your snide remarks have no effect on me, whatsoever.

You usually use this kind of ad hominem attacks.

But I'll continue to point out what I consider to be a twisted and damageable logic..

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@Francis,

Just gave you a thumbs down, too Francis. Sorry, but ......

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@msolga,

If I have to die for my ideals, I'll do..

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@Francis,

Aw, Francis, come on! Smile

I happen to have ideals too, ya know, but this isn't what this thread is about.

I wish someone would ask some more questions (of the "information" variety!) Wink

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So, can anyone answer my GOP question (above)?

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@msolga,

msolga wrote:

No need, David, really.

Which brings me to Q 2:

It took me ages to accidentally discover that the GOP meant "grand old party". Where, how & when did that that term come about? And is there a corresponding Democrat "self descriptor" (for want of a better term)?

I don 't know.
It was founded in 1854, as the anti-slavery party.
There r very few blacks in it now.

The other party is older.
I am not aware of a homologus name for it.

David

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@Francis,

Quote:

If I have to die for my ideals, I'll do..

Just realized this response from you was most likely rather tongue in cheek, in the context, Francis.
Sorry for not seeing that earlier. Smile

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@msolga,

It indeed was, msolga, tongue in cheek.

However, I would do too, for real.

msolga wrote:

It took me ages to accidentally discover that the GOP meant "grand old party". Where, how & when did that that term come about?

The funny things one can find when perusing the internet:

I especially like the one in bold:

Quote:

A favorite of headline writers, GOP dates back to the 1870s and '80s. The abbreviation was cited in a New York Herald story on October 15, 1884; "' The G.O.P. Doomed,' shouted the Boston Post.... The Grand Old Party is in condition to inquire...."

But what GOP stands for has changed with the times. In 1875 there was a citation in the Congressional Record referring to "this gallant old party," and , according to Harper's Weekly, in the Cincinnati Commercial in 1876 to "Grand Old Party."

Perhaps the use of "the G.O.M." for Britain's Prime Minister William E. Gladstone in 1882 as " the Grand Old Man" stimulated the use of GOP in the United States soon after.

In early motorcar days, GOP took on the term "get out and push." During the 1964 presidential campaign, "Go-Party" was used briefly, and during the Nixon Administration, frequent references to the "generation of peace" had happy overtones. In line with moves in the '70s to modernize the party, Republican leaders took to referring to the "grand old party," harkening back to a 1971 speech by President Nixon at the dedication of the Eisenhower Republican Center in Washington, D.C.

Indeed, the "grand old party" is an ironic term, since the Democrat Party was organized some 22 years earlier in 1832.

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Yes; in 1960 I worked in the Nixon campaign against Kennedy,
and in 1964, I rendered voluntary labor for Goldwater, but G.O.P. meant Grand Old Party

As I write this, there is a colored fotograf of Nixon
about 20 inches x 24 inches on the wall in front of me.
I brawt it back from Nixon 's Inauguration in Washington.

David

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He gave me some cufflinks, too

David

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Quick answers to US politics queries for those of us not in the know.

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