Fact, Fiction, Doubt & Barry (Press smears Repulican, 1964)

Time ^ | May 17,1968

[gusopol3]

Link only

[gusopol3]

same old stuff. His VP candidate, William E. Miller, a Congressman from NY was treated with a level of derision similar to Palin's, but wasn't the talent that could beat it.

[gusopol3]

short a “b”.

[MuttTheHoople]

It's a good thing we didn't elect Goldwater. He might've led us into a ruinous war in Asia that would've wasted thousands of American lives.

[expatpat]

Yes, he was even talking about bombing Hanoi. Good job we missed that......

[combat_boots]

LBJ and his DEMOCRAT Vietnam War and the War on Poverty. The Great Society.

Does anyone remember when this country last had a surplus? IIRC, it was 1964, at the time LBJ rose to power.

The dem have populated government agencies and the roles of fed employment ever since. You find Pubbies, but the dem dominance is evident. And pushed. In electing a POTUS and criticizing Republican administrations, we need to remember that the dem machine has controlled the agengies for at least 50 years.

[combat_boots]

Sorry. agencies

[Bigun]

It's a good thing we didn't elect Goldwater. He might've led us into a ruinous war in Asia that would've wasted thousands of American lives.

Yeah! If we had elected Barry Goldwater we would have WON the Viet Nam war and we would have had $6 TRILLION+ spending on useless government social programs! Were would we be without that?

[Bigun]

...and we would have had $6 TRILLION+ spending on useless government social programs! Were would we be without that?

Should read:

and we would NOT have had $6 TRILLION+ spending on useless government social programs! Were would we be without that?

Sorry about that!

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Some of what was in the press came from Rockefeller Republicans. You can bet the liberal wing is at work today also -- at least as far as Gov. Palin goes but probably not her running mate.. uh, oh, darn. What's his name?

Rockefeller told his staff that, in the words of his public relations head, Stuart Spencer, "We had to destroy Barry Goldwater as a member of the human race."

Following the election I remember reading columns asking, "Did we go too far destroying Goldwater?"

Purveyors of hate, declared Gov. Scranton about Goldwater and supporters. George Romney agreed stating, "There is no place in either of our great political parties for the purveyors of hate who, from time to time in nations the world over put on their brown or black or red shirts, flex their police-state muscles and cry for someone's blood."

Things from within the Party quieted down after the San Francisco convention but the damage from Goldwater's own party was done.

The press didn't really need help from liberals in the Republican Party, of course.

I wish I could find the photo. There are other photos of Nelson Rockefeller giving the finger to someone but that photo of him at the podium giving the finger to Goldwater supporters at the convention was a hoot.

[gusopol3]

the coda to the convention speech and the most famous part,”Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue”, was supposedly directly at Rockefeller. You seem to have better recollection of the time than I do, so I’m basically trying to square my memory or what I’ve heard since, with reality.

[gusopol3]

had you seen this recently?http://www.nationalreview.com/flashback/editors200408300851.asp

[WilliamofCarmichael]

There was a major effort by the liberal wing to include words in the platform that would basically scream out, "Goldwater is a member of the KKK! Hey everybody, look!"

The effort was defeated and yes I believe Goldwater certainly had them in mind.

In those days the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution was denounced as code words for the N-word. Any opposition to sending all power to GS-12 government employees in Washington was considered racist. So was wanting law and order (law'n order) considered racist. Just waking up in morning was racist if you were white. . . .

There was no Internet no modern talk radio, and newspapers were giving way to TV news. The "Fairness Doctrine" was a weapon against opposition -- the only time we could speak out without fear of the "Fairness Doctrine" costing someone his broadcasting business was on election day.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Thanks for the link.

From the linked article: By "extremism" Goldwater clearly meant "total dedication" — not bomb-throwing by native plastiqueurs, or bloody defiance of oppressive laws.

That's a fact.

[Bigun]

I was too young (only slightly) to vote for Barry Goldwater over Lyndon in 1964 but I literally cried when I head the news that Lyndon had won.

Even at my then young age I somehow KNEW that we were heading down a path from which we may never fully return.

I am no longer young and have seen not much which would make me doubt my instincts.