What happened to the liberal GOP?

Throughout history, Republicans led some extremely progressive movements. I mean some serious “liberal” ones. Abe Lincoln united the country and freed the slaves — how “liberal” of him! Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act in 1964 with 80 percent of Republicans in the House and 82 percent in the Senate. Today that is considered a “liberal” movement. Many Republicans helped minorities register to vote, rallied and fought for that right; somehow liberals decided to “own” it.

The progressive wing of the GOP made significant strides in giving women the right to vote: The GOP supported the women’s suffrage movement, but with conditions that states vote how they wanted. Teddy Roosevelt, a great Republican, founded the progressive movement and assisted in leading the charge to establish the 19th Amendment.

Republicans have always seen conservation to be a conservative value as long as it’s balanced properly with economics. Republicans support public access to public lands for hunting, fishing, and recreational shooting, along with Montana Democrats. And yet it seems scary to have people in leadership positions who seem more intent on making money than on actually conserving anything. Also shocking is the denial of scientific evidence concerning global warming. You’d think the Republican Party would be all over this; they have been in the past.

In my humble opinion, I think Republicans won the White House with the rise of the Tea Party. It was initially a progressive movement, which turned into a team of conservatives who lost touch with the original plan. NOT ALL, but enough to turn a promising revolution into an extreme right-wing agenda. It was a great revolution, at first. People in communities across the nation worked hard to break up “establishment” politics, and all this is a good idea. I was all for breaking up the establishment of millionaires and billionaires who own this place. But what happened? Why are the billionaires and millionaires, the very people the Tea Party was against, now in charge? EXXON CEO as secretary of state? It doesn’t look like the originators of the Tea Party intended this.

So today we equate “progressive” with being liberal when in fact, progressives are people who believe that the greatest obstacles to individual freedom and liberty are discrimination and poverty. I think conservatives and liberals believe everyone has the right to equal opportunity to reach their full human potential and make positive contributions to the quality of life in her or his community. Progressives advocate government or their local leaders to take an activist role to eliminate social injustice and poverty because everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed in life. Progressives believe that prosperity is the outcome to healthy democratic society that balances the values of individualism and community. That’s what being progressive is. It also means resisting what goes against American values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you hear that someone is in the “resistance” that’s what that means. We resist what does not resonate with our core American beliefs and values as stated in the United States Constitution. And hopefully, most resist without violence, but by continually contacting local legislators and not being afraid to stand their ground and vote their conscience.

Real progression happens when people have had enough. It’s not the politicians or the ultra wealthy, but individuals who have had enough and just won’t take it anymore — this sort of thing changes us, grows us. We change one person at a time, one community at a time, and it changes when we find a common moral ground. Because as Montanans I know we will ALL work together to keep our public lands; we collaborate to ensure our neighbor is fed or lend a hand; we work together for our kids’ education. At the end of the day it won’t be about politics, who’s right and who is wrong, it will be about what is best for our families and our neighbors, and being Montanans, we always work together for that.

Cristina Friar is a resident of Bigfork.