The kerfuffle about whether Jackie Robinson was a Republican is silly

Since the pugs do insane, murderous, destructive things every day I hate it when they are tagged for weak stuff like claiming Jackie Robinson as a Republican.

When Jackie Robinson broke the color line in baseball in the late 1940s it was unexceptional for African-Americans to identify with "The Party of Lincoln." I have read two biographies of the man and I would have guessed he was a Republican in 1950... why not? (He got more political later.)

Claiming Robinson as Republican may or may not be be a literal error (though he played it safe in public that doesn't mean Robinson wasn't a registered Republican at some point), but is not a meaningful error. If Robinson wasn't Republican in 1950 there is no shortage of famous and respected AA's who were.

And almost every villain of southern segregation back in the day was, indeed, a Democrat. (As the pugs love to point out.)

The big lie on the RNC web-site is for the Republican Party to claim to be the Republican Party!

Since the 1960s and Nixon's southern strategy the Republican Party has been a coalition of the worst of the old southern Democratic Party and the northern country-club Hooveresque corporate interest Republicans. It is a cobbled-together Frankenstein party made up of the most atavistic elements of American society finding common cause in horribleness.

Most African-Americans continue to identify with the Party of Lincoln. It just happens to be the Democratic Party these days.

He told me that was the party that all the "colored" (his word not mine) belonged to.

This was in Tennessee in the late 40's/early 50's. At the time I thought only black people could be republicans.

It wasn't until some years later it dawned on me that it was because of Lincoln.

when she came to the ceremony where he got the Congressional Medal of honor. Kerry as the sponsor gave a wonderful speech. Bush spoke as well. It was clear to see that she really had little use for Bush - and really liked Senator Kerry. (They wrote a joint op-ed for the Boston Globe)

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/185717-1

Now, it is possible for couples to disagree on politics, but I suspect that had he lived, Jackie Robinson would very likely agree with his wife.

Nothing else is important.

..welcoming with open arms the Dixiecrats who felt "betrayed" by the national party.

I want to let you know ahead of time that I will steal these 3 sentences and use them as often as possible.

From "The big lie on the RNC web-site..." to "...finding common cause in horribleness."

BRILLIANT!

I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor (Rockefeller). Every chance I got, while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing. I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter. I said this often from public, and frequently Republican, platforms. By and large Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token "niggers". How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people? They're not buying. They know better.

http://www.framinghamdems.org/JackRob.html

so I went in search of it and, like you, was amazed at the wealth of information there.