Do Times Change Or Only People?

"If you're not liberal when you're young, you have no heart. If you're not conservative when you're older, you have no brain."

The quote above is widely attributed to Winston Churchill, whether he said it or not has been debated. But regardless of who uttered those words, it does present a thought provoking premise.

When I was a boy I certainly saw the world differently than it really was. I remember watching Gilligan's Island and laughing out loud at it. I remember totally buying into the basis of the show and never beginning to question how absurd it really was. I also recall the crush I had on Mary Ann. Gosh, she was awesome! Pretty, athletic, smart (in a Gilligan's Island kind of way!). and always smiling. I remember thinking, "What do all the grown-up guys see in Ginger anyway? Mary Ann is WAY better!"

When it came time for me to register with a political party... I had no idea what to do! I really had no clue what either party stood for. Instead, it was my parents who dictated that I register with the Democratic Party. They were both Democrats, and "The Machine" in Albany was all Democratic.

It was the machine of O'Connell and Corning. A place where if you wanted a job, a favor, or someone to neatly pick up your garbage... you had better be a Democrat. I don't really remember it as a vast liberal bastion. I don't recall it as being particularly dedicated to social rights or having any resemblance to the national Democratic party at all. I just remember it as a machine that simply perpetuated itself. A machine that is in fact still intact today.

It will probably come as a shock to many of my friends that I'm a registered Democrat. But as I grew and started to explore my feelings on national issues, and my beliefs on the prevailing social issues of the day, I became aware of the platforms of both major political parties and became proud of my party affiliation.

The Democratic party stood for social rights... so did I! Equal opportunity... so did I! As a Jew, how could I NOT stand for these issues?


They were the party of Pro-Choice, and stood against the Death Penalty. Me too! They were proponents of gun control, as am I!

(On a personal note... I would NEVER counsel ANYONE to get an abortion. I would ALWAYS do everything I could to encourage giving birth... BUT who am I to tell a woman what to do? I'm glad it's legal and performed by doctors in sterile surroundings. We should NEVER return to the "back-ally" abortions of the past. And as far as the death penalty goes... God forgive me what I might do if someone harmed a loved one... I just don't think it's the governments role to lower itself to the standards of killing someone. If just one innocent person is put to death, it's a shame on all of us. Put them away forever...throw away the key. But don't let the government become assassins of the falsley accused.)

The Democrats were the party of Roosevelt and Kennedy. Nixon represented the Republicans during the days of my youth. How I distinctly remember coming home from school and my father having the Watergate hearings on the t.v. That was my reference point for scandal in American politics... a Republican scandal.

A turning point for me was finding out that Ronald Reagan was once a Democrat. That's right, the beacon for the modern Conservative movement was once a Democrat! That was unbelievable to me. And what's more, I liked Reagan. He was a great communicator. He stood for something. Strength, independence, freedom. He attacked the problems of the day during his presidency with the very values and belief system he proclaimed.

And it worked.

He watched as the Soviet Union crumbled through his strong foreign policy decisions. He watched the horrible economy he inherited from the inept Democrat Jimmy Carter turn around though tax cuts, and spending reductions. He knew in his heart that freedom would prevail overseas and that smaller government was the answer domestically.

He just knew.

But how did he know? Where did he get his ideas from?

In today's world the Democratic party for which I was once so proud to be a member of stands for reinventing contract law, rewarding laziness, "talking" to governments that suppress it's people, sitting down with terrorists, income redistribution, higher taxes, and bigger government.

They talk in awful double speak, promising to lower the taxes of 95% of Americans... while they raise sin taxes and energy taxes. Those two regressive taxes that hurt the poor the most.

There's a great debate going on today as to which method will get us out of the recession we're in. The Obama way of raising taxes, creating a "nanny society", and enlarging government, or the Reagan way of cutting taxes, cutting spending, and reducing the size of government.

I hear the television talking heads calling it the "Obama way" and the "Reagan way" all the time!

But the fact is that the "Reagan way" isn't the "Reagan way" at all. It's the KENNEDY way!

Inheriting a bad economy in 1961 when he ascended to the Presidency, President John F. Kennedy proposed a series of tax rate reductions.

The Kennedy tax cuts helped trigger a record economic expansion. Between 1961 and 1968, the inflation-adjusted economy expanded by more than 42 percent. On a yearly basis, economic growth averaged more than 5 percent.

It's not a huge leap of faith to feel that Ronald Reagan based his economic plan around the Kennedy plan. History has shown that this worked for both of them. So my question in the heading of this blog comes into place here... Did Reagan change or did his party?

I submit that Reagan did not change. He stayed true to his beliefs. It was his party that changed around him. He had no choice but to change his affiliation to stay true to himself. Further, I think that if Kennedy were alive today, he wouldn't recognize his party. He too would probably jump ship to the Republicans.

President Obama has so much in common with President Kennedy. He has often told of the inspiration he feels from Kennedy. Unfortunately, his presidency resembles the Carter Administration a whole lot more than anything that imagines Camelot.

As for me, I'm still Pro-Choice. Still anti-Death Penalty... but beyond that have NOTHING in common with my party. Not on domestic policy and CERTAINLY not on foreign policy (DON'T get me started on that!) I won't switch though... it would make my parents mad at me. (Why do I still care about that at 44 years old!?!?!?)

... and oh-boy, do I EVER get the Ginger thing now! Gosh, do I!

...and that's the view from here.