Memories of the 28th Century

It been clear for several years ago that the Republican Party was destroying itself, but the exact reasons and method were unclear.

As the 2016 presidential election draws near the reasons have become clearer. It seems that there are two Republican parties; there is the pro-business, militaristic party that has been around for a few decades. This is the party that Nixon largely created from the agrarian party, the party of Lincoln, that had existed since 1860. The older version was pro-business, a la Coolidge, but Eisenhower had made it a party that was not enthusiastic about going to war, and Ike could get away with that, because of his experience as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe during WW II, and as the one who warned us against the “Military-industrial complex”.

The military wing could deliver votes and money, so Nixon was behind them, and tied them more closely to the party. But the jingoism that goes along with militarism may be the party’s undoing. The jingoists aren’t especially bright, and they don’t have a lot of money, but they listen to people like Mussolini, Hitler, and Trump.

Right now we are seeing regular old-time Republicans preparing to bolt from the party of Mussolini Trump. The situation is similar to what happened to the Whig Party in the 1850’s. The Whigs were Constitutionalists who liked good business conditions and had mixed feelings about slavery. They ended up splitting on the slavery issue in 1860 with the Abolitionists going to the new Republican Party, and the people who were laissez faire on slavery creating the Constitutional Union Party (see link below).

Back then there was one issue that split the Whigs, but now there are several; although military expenditures and immigration appear to be the main issues, and firearms and a few other issues are also splitting the party. I think it is fair to say that the Trump faction is anti-immigration, pro-gun, and pro-military expenditures. The old-line faction is mixed about immigration and guns, and they have mixed feelings about military expenditures, but they want less regulation in general and fairer taxes.

It appears that Trump will get the nomination of the Republican Party, but many people will walk away from that. If I knew how many, then I would have placed bets already. The question is where will those people walk to. One possibility is the Libertarian Party, which has many tenets that are quite close to traditional Republican ideas, especially in regard to business regulation and taxation. The Libertarians are not pro-military, so leaving the military wing out would suit them, and they might attract more attention from people who favor peace and equal rights.

The other possibility is that a Republican will make an independent run. Bloomberg abandoned his run, but there are others who might do it. We can be sure that a large part of the present Republican Part will not tolerate Trump, but Trump will pick up votes from people who don’t usually vote.

The net result will be that the Democrats will have the presidency for another term, while the rest of the country settles down. If that turns out to be Hillary, than she will be a one term president, and we’ll have interesting politics for the next five years.

The other alternative is to draft me as candidate for President from the Radical Reform Party. I don’t want the job, but I would be willing to be dragged into it, if the people want that.

So, readers, what do you think will happen?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consti...ited_States%29