Yellow Dog Democrats

The other evening, a few old Texas Yellow Dog Democrats got together to chew the fat. There may be some readers who won't know the definition of a Yellow Dog Democrat. If the only candidate on the Democratic ticket is an old cur yellow dog running against an esteemed Republican, we'd vote for the Yellow Dog. It isn't that we don't like Republicans. You can paraphrase a popular saying a few years ago and affirm, "some of my best friends are Republicans." It is that we just don't trust them to run the government. Of course, there are not many Yellow Dogs left. For that matter, there may not be many Democrats left. With Senator Lieberman coming out as cheerleader for President Bush, I am not sure about the state of today's Democratic party. I guess most of us are just a bunch of old fuddy-duddies who spent our working days at a time when you didn't need a program to tell who belonged to either party. Today, you can't tell which is which.

[...]

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that Yellow Dog Democrats, the few of us who are left, are liberals. I can just see Pat Robertson curling his lips and snarling with disdain, "Liberals." Nowadays, it is not fashionable to be considered a liberal. The right wing has done a yeoman's job in making people salivate, like Pavlov's dog, when they hear the word "liberal." Yet, being a liberal isn't half bad. To my mind, it's a heck of a lot better than being a Republican.

[...]

Give me a bunch of liberals any day of the week. Give me a bunch of Yellow Dog Democrats eight days a week, thirteen months a year. Unrestrained capitalism has had its days. What has it brought us? An internal economy in shambles, political dictatorship, lack of social services, and, worst of all, the beginnings of a war that might very well be the gateway to another Dark Age in the history of the world.

[John Brand is a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry veteran of World War II. He received his Juris Doctor degree at Northwestern University and a Master of Theology and a Doctor of Ministry at Southern Methodist University. He served as a Methodist minister for 19 years, was Vice President, Birkman & Associates, Industrial Psychologists, and concluded his career as Director, Organizational and Human Resources, Warren-King Enterprises, an independent oil and gas company...]

  Yellow Times article

This is a fine article about the dying Democrat party and what it means to be a liberal. I found it this evening while looking for the meaning of the term "Yellow Dog Democrat". I only just heard it this afternoon at a memorial service for my uncle who passed away a few days ago at the age of 83. A Republican friend of his called him that - a true Yellow Dog Democrat.

Blogging will probably be rather light for the next few days, but I imagine reading will be also, with the long holiday weekend.

But before you go, read the Yellow Dog article.

...or do what you want...you will anyway.