[ClearCase_guy]

The two have switched since then.

I take issue with that.

Before the war, Democrats wanted to extend slavery and keep Blacks subservient.
During the war, Democrats staged draft riots to sabotage the efforts of the Union.
After the war, Democrats started the KKK.
After the war, the Democrats opposed Reconstruction of the South and opposed rights for Blacks.
The Democrats supported Jim Crow laws.
The Democrats opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Democrats supported the New Deal and the Great Society, big government programs which encouraged people to rely on government hand-outs rather than their own efforts, therefore leading multiple generations into subservient lifestyles.

The Republicans have been on the other side of this from start to finish.

Nobody really switched sides. The Democrats have always been the Bad Guys. But Bad Guys with clever PR.

[Albion Wilde]

"The two have switched since then."

I take issue with that.

I do, as well. Dinesh D'Souza has laid out the case for that "switch places" thing being a false claim in his last several books. Central_va, go see Death of a Nation, or read D'Souza's book by that name.

[central_va]

The Democrats of the mid 19th century wanted to preserve states rights and the status quo which MADE THEM THE CONSERVATIVES. Sorry that is fact.

"Secession belongs to a different class of remedies. It is to be justified upon the basis that the States are Sovereign. There was a time when none denied it. I hope the time may come again, when a better comprehension of the theory of our Government, and the inalienable rights of the people of the States, will prevent any one from denying that each State is a Sovereign, and thus may reclaim the grants which it has made to any agent whomsoever."

President Davis