Donald Trump Couldn’t Hold Honest Abe Lincoln’s Top Hat!

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By James “Giacomo” Gatto

Donald Trump needs a crash course on the history of his own party. It is infuriating to hear him compare himself to Abraham Lincoln and refer to The GOP as “The Party of Lincoln.” We often hear that term flying from the lips of Donald Trump. “Lincoln was the first Republican.” Donald Trump enjoys aligning himself with the Great Emancipator. He says that he’s done more for African Americans than any other president since Abraham Lincoln. He believes he has permission to say this because Lincoln was a Republican. And by virtue of being Republican he’s just like Lincoln. It’s a great sell to the audience at his Big Top. But in the real-world Lincoln republicanism bears little to no resemblance of the current day Grand Old Party. There are a few similarities. For example, little to no government intervention in business and commerce. And other than that, perhaps only in name.

The Republican Party was formed in 1854 in opposition to slavery, and out of the Whig Party whose political infighting over the possibility of slave state expansion led to its dissolution. And six years later a little-known rail-splitter from the upstart party became president. By 1870 The Republican Party was no longer interested and helping slaves. Many of its members had become very wealthy during the Civil War and their goal as a party was to stay in power and maintain their stronghold on wealth superiority. The slaves didn’t figure into that equation. The Democratic Party was made up, in large part, of the 11 southern states before the Civil War, all of which were pro slavery. They were so opposed to the abolitionists that they seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America which prompted the Civil War. After the war, they were eventually reintegrated into the Union.

US expansionism, the Transcontinental Railway, and The Homestead Act helped cause a paradigm shift in both parties which eventually led to the Southern Democrats and Northern Republicans, essentially swapping parties over the course of 100 years. The following is some of what transpired to affect these changes: During reconstruction the first Ku Klux Klan was formed, but it was short-lived. It eventually disbanded by 1871 due to the passing of the Enforcement Acts under the Republican president Ulysses S. Grant. Two more iterations of the Ku Klux Klan were formed since. The original Klan, in 1865 was made up, in large part, by members of the Democratic Party in opposition to Republican control, specifically newly elected black officials in southern states. Yes, the old Southern Democrats. To be clear, the KKK wasn’t the brainchild of the Democratic Party, but it was formed by many of its members. The third, and current, iteration was formed in the 1950s in strong opposition to the Civil Rights Movement and Desegregation. The KKK persists today and although it has added more targets it is primarily an anti-black and racist organization and has infiltrated and influenced our political process and continues to do so to this day.

The final shifts in the Republican Party can be traced back to 1964 and then again in 1980. In 1964, Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act and Barry Goldwater, who was in stark opposition of it, ran for president on the Republican ticket and lost in a landslide. Although Goldwater suffered an embarrassing defeat, he is often credited with the party’s shift further to the right, which eventually took hold when Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980. Goldwater is often credited for the resurgence of modern-day conservatism, and Reagan its model. The Republican opposition to the Civil Rights Act caused a major shift in party affiliations. Nearly every black voter in the south shifted over to the Democratic Party who supported the Civil Rights Act. And nearly every white, southern Democrat fled the party to join the Republicans. The Democratic Party transformed, at least in its purely moral and ethical philosophes, into The Party of Lincoln. Every major shift that led to the transformation of both parties is rooted in greed and racism–Republicans for and Democrats against. Throw in a jigger of Christian dogma and you have the modern-day Republican Party. The party of Lincoln is alive and well and its members are not Republicans. And definitely not trump Republicans. Donald Trump stands for everything the party of Lincoln opposed.

Let’s start with segregation. Ben Zimmer, in “The Atlantic” quotes Trump: “I’m happy to inform all the people living in their Suburban Lifestyle Dream that you will no longer be bothered or financially hurt by having low income housing built in your neighborhood. Your housing prices will go up based on the market, and crime will go down. I have rescinded the Obama-Biden a AFFH rule. Enjoy!” Zimmer continues, “Trump was referring to an Obama-era law regarding the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing provision, which seeks to reduce racial segregation in suburbs.”

Voting rights and disenfranchisement are currently under attack by The Trump Administration. Trump is merely continuing this ideology which has persisted for 400 years. But now it’s on steroids. It’s been well documented, especially in the recent past, that voter suppression amongst black and brown folks is the number one goal for Donald Trump. The dismantling of the USPS, the rhetoric and propaganda regarding mail-in voting are just some of the measures taken to discourage and eliminate the votes of minorities. The party of Lincoln passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional Amendments in 1865, 1868, and 1870, respectively. All three in an attempt to ensure equal rights for African Americans. Also, gerrymandering is a favorite tactic employed by republicans to render minority votes ineffective. Simply a legal means to fix elections so “select” portions of the population are not represented on Capitol Hill, and in state and local governments. In doing so, these select groups have no voice in shaping a fair and representative America, commensurate with the true demographics. This is not the party of Lincoln.

And finally, police brutality against African Americans has been an issue for many years. But this is the first time in history we’ve had a president who has openly condoned it. Trump hasn’t said word one about how he plans to address it, or even what he thinks about it. In fact, he’s made excuses for some of the police officers who are accused of murder. The Rail-splitter surely would have had the right words. The draft dodger does what he does best…. dodges

President Trump comparing himself to the great Abraham Lincoln is so absurd that I can search a thousand years for a fitting metaphor and never find one. Not going to try.

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