The Patriot Post® · The Not So Great Society

By Thomas Gallatin ·
https://patriotpost.us/articles/44324-the-not-so-great-society-2016-08-17

Donald Trump was in Wisconsin Tuesday, where he gave an impassioned speech highlighting the growing problem of poverty and violence rampant in many inner city black communities today. Trump called for law and order after the weekend of rioting in Milwaukee. He declared that the “war on police” was ultimately a “war on all peaceful citizens.” He also laid blame for the culture of endemic poverty and lawlessness squarely where it belongs: on the Democrats. Focusing on Clinton he said, “Hillary Clinton-backed policies are responsible for the problems in the inner cities today and a vote for her is a vote for another generation of poverty, high crime, and lost opportunities. I care too much about my country to let this happen.”

The problems in the inner city today go all the way back to Lyndon B. Johnson and his “Great Society” program. At the time of its passage, Democrats hailed it as a step toward raising blacks out of poverty. But their motives were not so altruistic. Similar to today with Democrats pushing amnesty for illegal aliens, their motive is not one of helping but of gaining more Democrat voters. In his book entitled “Inside the White House,” former Washington Post investigative journalist Ronald Kessler exposed Johnson’s “Great Society” motivations. Kessler quotes Johnson’s damning response to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — a remark made to two Democrat governors and confirmed by Johnson’s Air Force One steward, Robert MacMillan: “I’ll have those ni*ers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.”

Fast forward to Trump’s remarks about the devastation that has resulted from Democrat social.

“To be one united nation, we must protect all of our people. But we must also provide opportunities for all of our people. We cannot make America Great Again if we leave any community behind. Nearly four in ten African-American children are living in poverty. I will not rest until children of every color in this country are fully included in the American Dream… This is what I promise to African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and all Americans… I refuse to let another generation of American children be excluded from the American Dream. Our whole country loses when young people of limitless potential are denied the opportunity to contribute their talents because we failed to provide them the opportunities they deserved. Let our children be dreamers too…”

He concluded by saying, “We are going to bring this country together. We are going to do it by emphasizing what we all have in common as Americans. We are going to reject the bigotry of Hillary Clinton, which sees communities of color only as votes and not as human beings worthy of a better future. … The Democratic party has taken the votes of African-Americans for granted. They’ve just assumed they’ll get your support, and done nothing in return for it. They’ve taken advantage of the African-American citizens. It is time to give the Democrats some competition for these votes, and it is time to rebuild the inner cities of America, and to reject the failed leadership of a rigged political system.”

We’ll see if any hear his call.

(Regarding LBJ’s views on co-opting the black vote, here is his remark regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1957 to Senator Richard Russell (D-GA): “These Negroes, they’re getting pretty uppity these days and that’s a problem for us since they’ve got something now they never had before, the political pull to back up their uppityness. Now we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to give them a little something, just enough to quiet them down, not enough to make a difference.” And, how about this remark about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, on why he could not make a discrimination case in a Texas district: “There’s more ni**ers voting there than white folks.” Recorded Message)

(Updated.) *Even the leftist fact checkers at Snopes admit the quote “wouldn’t have been entirely out of character for LBJ.”