Exact Change Tendered:

To the author of My Non Cents:

I will grant you that a larger percentage of Republicans voted for the 1964 Civil Rights Act than Democrats. I will also grant that there was a large contingent of southern Democrats who opposed that act.

Let's not forget, however, that it was President Kennedy who originally pushed for the Civil Rights Act. The act would not have passed if President Johnson didn't pressure Senator Dirksen to get Republicans on board. And the southern Democrats who opposed the Civil Rights Act were Democrats in name only (Dr. Watson, you are right…the Republican party was almost institutionally disbanded after the Civil War. You don't honestly think the segregationist whites in the south adopted the true Democratic platform?). I remember from my high school government days that it was Senator Thurmond (R) who was the most outspoken opponent of civil rights.

When I said Republicans are the party of "compassionate bigotry," I'm referring to their current platform and mindset. Somewhere along the way, the Republican party stopped being the party of decentralized government, fiscal responsibility and individual rights and adopted the platform of individual rights except if you are Muslim, gay, female or poor, moral superiority and personal responsibility instead of problem solving and "Onward Christian Soldiers." A five minute conversation with the author of My 2 Cents will exemplify that platform.

That's a great quote from Senator Dirksen, "I am involved in mankind, and whatever the skin, we are all included in mankind." If only the conservatives would apply it to sexual orientation, religion, gender or socio-economic status.

Pardon me if I find the "if it's not like me it's immoral" belief of conservatives a little bigoted.