Tag: history

Project 1956

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

I was born in 1956. Yes, I turn 70 this fall. (According to age groupings, I’m ‘young-old,’ so don’t call me ‘old’ quite yet.) But this post isn’t about my age. It’s about my father’s relationship with the Republican Party that year.

My father, who served in the Pacific in World War II, was a staunch Republican. He believed in the principals of limited government, fiscal responsibility (ie balanced budget), and personal integrity. He held civil servants and political candidates to high moral and ethical standards. For him, the Republican Party embodied those principals, and he voted in every election–straight ticket for Republican candidates.

In 1956, the Republican Party officially turned 100 years old. The Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln had experienced a resurgence following the end of World War II. In 1952, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected to the Presidency in a landslide victory, and, by 1956, the nation was in the midst of its post-war boom. Eisenhower had negotiated a truce with North Korea, had embarked on the “Atoms for Peace” initiative to prevent an arms race, continued the New Deal programs (including expansion of Social Security), raised the minimum wage, and ended racial segregation in the District of Columbia, the Federal government and the military. My father liked ‘Ike.’

Because he liked ‘Ike’, my father supported the Republican Party Platform of 1956–a document adopted at the Republican Convention that outlined the successes of Eisenhower’s first term and the proposals for a second term–think of it as Project 1956. In its “Opening Declaration,” the platform affirmed the very things my father believed in.

  On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: “The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere.” Our great President Dwights D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: “In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people’s money, or their economy or their form of government, be conservative.  

 ….We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears. We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. 

The document then went into detail on the party’s commitments to the following topics:

  • TAXES: The party committed to reducing taxes “with particular consideration for low and middle income families.” Under Eisenhower, the tax bracket for individuals making more than $200,000 [$2.45 million in today’s dollars] was 91%! Today’s top tax bracket is 37% with so many loopholes that millionaires and billionaires pay little in taxes.)
  • LABOR: President Eisenhower said: “Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America.” The platform went on to commit the party to 1) equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, 2) protections for the right of workers to organize and collective bargaining, 3) elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex, 4) protection of benefit plans (such as pensions and healthcare) so that workers are assured access.
  • CIVIL SERVICE: The GOP committed to promote a non-political career service under the merit system which will attract and retain able servants of the people.
  • EQUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: “We recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment providing equal rights for men and women.” and “We concur in the conclusion of the Supreme Court that its decision directing school desegregation should be accomplished with “all deliberate speed” locally through Federal District Courts.” (In 1957, Eisenhower sent National Guard troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to ensure desegregation of its public schools per “Brown vs. Board of Education”.)
  • IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP: “All native-born and naturalized citizens not only [have] citizenship in the State where the individual resides but citizenship of the United States as well. This is an unqualified right, regardless of race, creed or color.” The document also affirmed support for “an immigration policy which is in keeping with the traditions of America in providing a haven for oppressed peoples, and which is based on equality of treatment, freedom from implications of discrimination between racial, nationality and religious groups.” and “extension of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953” which protected the right of migrants to seek asylum in the United States.
  • FOREIGN POLICY: “We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.” and “We reaffirm the principle of freedom for all peoples, and look forward to the eventual end of colonialism.”

Much of the 70-year-old platform sounds almost — almost, but not quite — progressive! The 1956 Republican Party that my father supported is NOT the same Republican Party we have today. Seventy years later, the Grand Old Party is unrecognizable, and it doesn’t even pretend to be “human” with respect to people or “considerate” of low-income families.

I don’t believe my father would support today’s Republican Party, nor do I do believe my father (who did not vote for John F. Kennedy because of his sexual promiscuity and ties to the mob or Bill Clinton because of his dalliances) would have voted for Donald Trump or his MAGA sycophants. I believe he would be horrified by the Religious Right’s unequivocal support of a serial liar, sexual predator and power-monger. If people roll over in their graves, I believe he would be face-down after the passage of the “One Big [Ugly] Bill”, the expansion of ICE detentions and deportations, the decisions of the Supreme Court that end Temporary Protective Status and deny migrants access to asylum, the erosion of voting rights and civil rights, and the systematic destruction of programs and policies that protect people and planet.

I wish he were here so I could “pick his brain.” If he were, I’m sure he would long for the ‘good old days’ of Project 1956 and reject Project 2025 and the “Christian Nationalism” and “White Supremacy” that resides at its heart. He might even say, “I’m a Democrat,” or at least, “I’m a 1956 Republican.” Maybe some current Republicans could consider that shift too.

I want to acknowledge Heather Cox Richardson’s inspiration for this post. She referenced the 1956 Republican Platform on her Substack. Without her, I wouldn’t have known how “liberal” Republicans were the year I was born.

Dream On

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Let us never grow weary in doing what is right, for if we do not give up, we will reap our harvest in due time.” Galatians 6:9 (New Catholic Bible)

Today, I honor the life and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am spotlighting this day because there are efforts to diminish and ultimately dismiss King’s work for equality, civil rights and justice. And we thought we had come so far toward fulfilling Dr. King’s dream. We elected Barack Obama, we confronted our racist past following the murder of George Floyd by initiating and promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, and we affirmed civil rights for other marginalized groups. But all of that seems another galaxy so long ago and so far away.

We have been slipping back into the pit of the past, thanks to an administration intent on destroying “improper ideologies” that challenge its MAGA message. Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King, points to the continued efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and the removal of content that does not properly reflect the greatness of America from government websites and Smithsonian museums as examples of today’s “troubling climate.” We also see it in the attempts to control the curriculum and staffing of Universities, punish school districts that promote Critical Race Theory, threaten sanctuary cities and states with loss of funds, and manipulate the press (and TV networks) through lawsuits claiming defamation. Recently, the president signed an Executive Order to remove Martin Luther King Day and Juneteenth from the list of National Park free days. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is. The executive order replaced those days with a new free day–June 14, Donald Trump’s birthday.

The administration’s war on anything deemed “woke” has been empowered with the aid of sycophants happily lip-synching the “MAGA” song–people like the late Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA–who said publicly that Martin Luther King was ““awful” and “not a good person,” who was “not worthy of a national holiday.” He also claimed that the passage of the Civil Rights Act–the law that ended segregation and prohibited workplace discrimination on the basis of race –was “a huge mistake” and “created a beast, and that beast has now turned into an anti-white weapon.”

In light of the attacks on Martin Luther King and the “beloved community” he dreamt of, we need Martin Luther King Day more than ever. In an interview with the Associated Press, Bernice King said that this year’s observance is “somewhat of a saving grace” for the nation because “it inserts a sense of sanity and morality into our very troubling climate right now,” “Dr. King reminds people of… the ability to challenge injustice and inhumanity,” she concluded.

Dr. King’s dream was aspirational. It awoke us to the possible. It pointed us to the work ahead to shape vision into reality. Like gardening, it is slow, steady, hard work that requires patience and perseverance. It is the work of breaking up the hard soil of individualism, pulling the weeds of mistrust and fear, and planting and tending the seedlings of justice and righteousness so that we will ultimately harvest the fruit of communal love and collective liberation. So, on this day, let’s renew our commitment to the “kin-dom” work. The harvest will come…unless we give up.

“Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NIV)

War and Peace

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.” – Jesus (Matthew 5:9)

“Cursed are the warmongers, for they will be called the children of Apollyon.” – (the implied antithesis of Jesus’s statement)

On Friday, #47 signed an Executive Order (his 200th such order to date), renaming the “Department of Defense” the “Department of War” because it sounds tougher. He then turned over the microphone to his re-named Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. 

After making an odd (and questionable) historical observation that under the name “Department of War” the military had never lost a war, and that under the name “Department of Defense” the military had never decisively won a war, Hegseth said,  “This name change is not just about ‘renaming;’ it’s about ‘restoring’. Words matter. It’s…restoring the ‘warrior ethos’; restoring victory and clarity as an end state; restoring intentionality to the use of force, so…the War Department is gonna fight decisively, not endless conflicts. It’s gonna fight to win, not not to lose. We are gonna go on offense, not just on defense. Maximum lethality, not tepid legality. Violent effect, not politically correct. We’re gonna raise up warriors, not just defenders. So, this War Department, Mr. President, just like America, is back.” He finished by adding, “America First.”

Within hours, the Department of Defense website was rebranded, “war.gov.”

Let’s go back 80 years to September 2, 1945.  World War II officially ended, but the world was in shambles. Upwards of 85 million people—3% of the global population–had been killed directly during the war or had died of disease and starvation, cities had been completely destroyed, six million Jews, gay people, people with disabilities, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Romani people had been gassed and incinerated in Nazi concentration camps, two nuclear bombs had been dropped (by the U.S.). It was the deadliest military conflict in human history. 

Coming out of the devastation there was a global cry for peace.  On October 25, 1945, the United Nations was officially established with a mission “to maintain international peace and security, promote friendly relations among nations, and foster cooperation on economic, social, and humanitarian issues.”  

President Harry Truman, stood before Congress on September 6,1945–just days after the war had ended–and proposed the creation of a unified department of national defense to address concerns about military preparedness that arose following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 1, 1941. Congress passed the National Security Act two years later which created the National Military Establishment—which combined the Department of the Army and Department of the Navy, the Marine Corps and the newly formed Air Force. President Harry Truman signed the act into law on July 26, 1947.  In 1949, the NME was renamed the “Department of Defense.” Its stated mission was to “provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.”

Eighty years ago, our war-weary nation focused on preventing future wars, promoting international peace and cooperation, and pursuing diplomacy.  But it didn’t take long for us to return to war again and again.  And now we seem focused solely on American military supremacy through “maximum lethality.” without concern for “tepid legality.”

Earlier this week, the newly named War Department authorized the attack of a Venezuelan boat in international waters that was allegedly filled with drugs and manned by the Tren de Aragua cartel.. No one bothered to inform members of the Armed Service Committee of Congress of to the attack as is required by the War Powers Act,, and there was no evidence that the boat was delivering drugs to the US.  We’ll never know. The boat—and the eleven men aboard—were obliterated. “Maximum lethality, not tepid legality.”

Maybe we’ve always been a nation of warmongers who ignore accepted boundaries and bend the rules of engagement, but this open embrace of thuggery and this promotion of the “warrior ethos” feels different. Maybe it’s because the people promoting it—like Pete Hegseth—claim to be followers of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Maybe it’s because anyone that questions the administration’s pre-occupation with war and domination is considered “weak” and “woke” and is deemed “the enemy.”  Jesus wouldn’t survive this administration. 

God isn’t going to bless warmongers. The blessing is reserved for the peacemakers—those who “seek peace and pursue it.”   Right now, it feels like we are being led by the children of Apollyon—the Destroyer.  And we know what their end will ultimately be.

So, I’m going to go the mountain of the Lord to learn the ways of peace—where swords will be turned into plowshares, spears into pruning hooks and where nations will no longer pursue war. Let’s go there together. 

(S)heroes of the Faith

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve never heard of Rev. Pauli Murray and their story of faith-rooted activism, you’re not alone.

However, their story is in danger of being completely erased by the National Park Service in compliance with this administration’s order to end all references to DEI.

Learn about Rev Murray in this article published by Sojourners. https://sojo.net/articles/news/trump-administration-erases-page-honoring-trailblazing-priest-lawyer-and-activist

Why Mahmoud Khalil Matters

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Rev. Martin Neimöller, a German Lutheran Pastor who, along with Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, formed the Confessional Church in opposition to Adolf Hitler’s attempts to place the Lutheran Church under Nazi control, is probably best known for his poem, “First They Came…” Written in 1946 after the war had concluded, Neimöller painfully confessed that he (and the German Lutheran Church) failed to speak up in opposition to Hilter and the rise of the Third Reich, and did little to stop the atrocities perpetrated against those groups that the Nazi’s targeted as their enemies,

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Versions of the poem can be found etched in the walls of Holocaust memorials and museums from Washington, D.C. to Skokie, IL. The poem has taken on new relevance as various ethnic groups have been targeted by Executive Orders, ICE arrests and travel bans.

Last Sunday, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student at Columbia University in New York and a legal resident of the United States, was arrested by ICE and was taken to a detention center in Louisiana. What as his crime? He was an out-spoken advocate for Palestinian rights during the Gaza protests at Columbia last spring. To date, he has not been charged with a crime. He will go before an immigration judge on March 27. His fate is uncertain.

Another Palestinian, Leqaa Kordia, was arrested in Newark, NJ last night, for overstaying her student visa. She had been arrested during the protests at Colombia last April.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced that the Trump administration will revoke student visas in the coming days for activists who have taken part in campus demonstrations in support of Palestinian rights.

First, they came for the Palestinians, but I did not speak out because I was not a Palestinian.

The ‘Real’ Dr. King

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Today, most Americans will enjoy a day off from school and work—not because of the frigid temperatures and not because of the Inauguration, but because the nation will honor America’s greatest advocate of civil and human rights—the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Today, we will share his quotes on social media, lift up his “dream” and maybe even sing freedom songs. Today, we love Dr. King. 

But let’s be clear.  When King was alive, he was a thorn in America’s side and was condemned and vilified for his vision of America. In 1967, King was named “the most hated man in America” because of his condemnation of the evils of racism, materialism and militarism.  

“The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism. The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.” – Dr. King to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) board. March 30, 1967.  

Throughout his public ministry, King articulated a vision of the Beloved Community in which everyone,“regardless of their race, sex, religion, or creed, is equally valued and has the opportunity to thrive.”  In 1968, he and his trusted advisor, Bayard Rustin, developed a “Freedom Budget” and a plan to eliminate poverty that became known as the Economic Bill of Rights, demanding full employment, a guaranteed annual income and affordable housing.

King’s vision was truly radical—akin to Jesus’s announcement good news for the poor and the upside-down kingdom of heaven. King’s vision was diverse and inclusive—like the radical diversity and inclusion of Jesus’s followers—women as well as men, eunuchs, Samaritans and Gentiles as well as Jews.  And like Jesus’s message, King’s message was too radical for most people—even most Christians—and the response was an assassin’s bullet.  We killed the prophet.

But now, we love Dr. King.  We have erected monuments and statues, named highways and schools and bridges after him and set aside a holiday in his honor, but let’s be honest….we have failed to honor his vision.  It was too radical for Americans in 1967. It is still too radical.  We lift up the “dream”, but, as a nation, we continue to perpetrate the nightmare of racism, materialism and militarism.  We declare that “all people are created equal”; that we are the “land of the free”; that we are “one nation under God;” but we cast our ballots for a leader who promises great privilege for a few and vilifies anyone who protests as “threats to America’s greatness.” Today exposes our hypocrisy.  

Before Rev. King was killed on April 4, 1968, he had prepared his sermon for the following Sunday. It was entitled, “Why America May Go to Hell.”  We are well on our way. 

Link HERE to read the sermon King never preached.