the Democratic Party is the world's oldest political party

[liberalpragmatist]

I didn't realize that. I knew it was old and I know the history - founded as the Jeffersonian faction in the late 1700s - known alternately as the Jeffersonians, the Democratic-Republicans, and the Republicans (ha! Imagine that!) Still, it didn't occur to me that it was the world's oldest political party. Huh. Imagine that.

Of course, the history isn't SO flattering. Fact is, the Democratic Party has, historically, been at the forefront of so much evil in the country in the past. Jackson's Indian policies, slavery, civil war, secession, Jim Crow. But we need to be judged by the present and our recent history - the one that actually reflects our party as it is today. We can be very proud of our 20th Century leadership.

[cavebat2000]

1. Jackson was amazingly conservative

A very important but controversial president.

[papau]

2. agrarian or little guy values from the start - hasn't changed much in 200

years!

:-)

[mhollis]

3. Except the name....

Democrat and Democratic at the beginning of the 19th Century were "dirty words" that were akin to "anarchist" and "murderer" due to the upheavals associated with the excesses of the French Revolution. It was greatly feared in this country that the French would develop designs on this nascent Republic and attempt a takeover by force.

The more reactionary of the Federalist Party, which coalesced around Madison and others and whose sitting President was Adams (who may have been out of his element) passed the http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/laws/alien_sedition.html">The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 which were designed to make the Federalists, who favored a strong Federal government ascendant over the States and strong centralized control and banking, feel a bit safer. This act was unconstitutional on its face, though the Supreme Court did not strike it down due to the fact that most of the Justices were Federalists and there was no direct challenge to the constitutionality of the law. It was designed to sunset on March 3, 1801.

I believe that it was largely in response to this law and the fact that Adams organized a standing federal army to keep rebellions down (mostly in Pennsylvania) that he was voted out of office in the election of 1800.

Jefferson, who called himself a Republican and later (after he left office and once the word democrat ceased to be an epithet) a Democratic-Republican finally won a hotly-contested election which was thrown to the House of Representatives when the Electoral College voted equally for him and Aaron Burr. Under our Constitution then, the person with the most Electoral Votes was President, the second-most was Vice President. There was no provision for political parties and running mates.

The parallel to the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts is the so-called "Patriot Act" which allows the President to define any person, including an American Citizen as an "Enemy Combatant." Under this infamous law, Bush illegally deprived Americans of their rights of habeus corpus and their rights to see a lawyer while imprisoned. He also illegally deprives foreign nationals of all human rights to this day under that statute.

We should ship Lady Liberty back to France. They have more of it there.