This page was last updated on January 10, 2012.
Conservative not always good; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; January 8, 2012. I am not related to Mr. Cox.
Most of Mr. Cox’s at least 70 letters since 2004 are tinged with race, and all take leftist positions. The most recent previous Cox letter I critiqued was “Racial goal sought?”
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“To Gingrich, Perry, Romney, Santorum and other Republican right wingers the word ‘conservative’ is near sacred. No further explanation is needed. After all, Ronald Reagan was a conservative, wasn’t he?”
[RWC] As I’ve noted before, Mr. Reagan appears to scare the daylights out of Mr. Cox. This is at least the 11th letter from Mr. Cox since 2004 attempting to smear Mr. Reagan. The most recent was “Don’t give Reagan so much credit.” The previous letters are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
“Conservative is good and everything else is bad in their world. But on further review there is more to it.
“Ronald Reagan was a ‘conservative’ who continued the Barry Goldwater race hate campaign into the presidency in 1980 -- woofing about conservatism all the way. After 30 years, Reagan’s conservative vision for the American people has come to pass in the form of closed mills and factories, dangerous crime-ridden cities, tax breaks for the filthy rich and a poverty draft for our unemployed men and women who must bravely fight wars like Iraq and Afghanistan, and next perhaps Iran.”
[RWC] Given the left’s less-than-exemplary record when it comes to bigotry, racism, et cetera, you have to give Mr. Cox “credit” for chutzpah when he accuses non-leftsters of “race hate.” Please read my papers “Lefty race baiters,” “Democrats – The party of civil rights – not,” and “Republicans – Civil Rights.”
This is at least the third letter from Mr. Cox since 2010 attempting to smear Mr. Goldwater. The previous letters are here and here. The idea either Mr. Reagan or Mr. Goldwater ran a “race hate campaign” is either ignorance on the part of Mr. Cox or a lie. Given Mr. Cox’s letter-writing body of work, you decide. Keep in mind Mr. Cox never wrote a bad word about the late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV, and former KKK member) until Mr. Byrd died, then back-tracked less than a month later.
The claim “closed mills and factories” were the result of conservatism/Mr. Reagan is at least the eighth time Mr. Cox made this bogus assertion since 2004.
As for “dangerous crime-ridden cities,” aren’t most cities run by Democrats and wasn’t it a Republican mayor (Rudy Giuliani) who made great strides in cleaning up New York City?
As for “tax breaks for the filthy rich,” based on 2009 income tax data the “filthy rich” (top 1%, AGI greater than $344,000) of filers paid 37% of the total and the top 5% (AGI greater than $155,000) paid 59%. Yep, those are real “tax breaks.” The bottom 50% (AGI less than $33,000) paid 2.3% of the total.
As for “a poverty draft,” this is an old standby lefties have been using for years. As a group, those in the military are better educated than the U.S. population as a whole. As of 2010, 82.8% of active duty officers have a bachelor’s or advanced degree. At least 98.5% of enlisted members have at least a high school diploma vs. 87.1% in the general population. Since lack of education tends to be a reasonable poverty indicator, the education demographics would tend to refute the “poverty draft” claim. There’s no doubt some persons enlist for economic reasons, but I believe we demean the service of most airmen, marines, soldiers, et cetera if we believe their primary reason for serving is economic.
“Ronald Reagan and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak both took power in 1981. Mubarak survived to stand trial. Reagan’s destructive influence continues to make the American people sad, poor and miserable long after his presidency. The absolute rejection of Reagan’s brand of conservatism can still save our country from pending disaster. There is still time.”
[RWC] Mr. Cox compares Messrs. Reagan and Mubarak? Seriously? Mr. Cox needs help.
“[T]he American people [are] sad, poor and miserable” and somehow Mr. Reagan is to blame? Even if you accept the ridiculous first part of the premise, are we to believe Messrs. Clinton and Obama are/were Reagan followers? Heck, even the Bush presidents were more Rockefeller Republican than conservative.
Though he ranted about “Reagan’s brand of conservatism,” predictably Mr. Cox didn’t provide the specific conservative policies, principles, and programs he thinks have us on the road to ruin. Does anyone believe Mr. Cox would deny leftist policies and government-sponsored entities (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) are/were at the core of our current mess?
© 2004-2012 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.