A lot of attention has been paid by the media about partisans and the general fighting that goes on in politics. I have been reading Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris. What I find fascinating is that political animals have not changed in one hundred years. Immigration was also a great issue. Labor attempted to keep Japanese out of the country because the would work for less money. (Sound familiar?) They engaged in ugly partisan battles, they at times they seemed to put the good of the country aside for political wins and they pandered to special interests.

I noticed that the special interests changed parties in some areas in one hundred years, and some did not. Labor and the Socialist tended to toward the Democrats, business tended to be Republican. This has not changed. Today though the more natural ally of the Conservative Republicans is small business, where in 1906 small business really didn't have an ally, but in the sense that they were average people in those days it was the deems. The Republicans were the most Protectionist and the Democrats were slightly less so. The party that called itself Progressive was the T.R Republicans. Today it is the 'Moonbat' wing of the Democratic party.

One thing that has struck me is that politicians, like us in every day life never seem to know where to quit. The progressive's instituted some needed reforms. In those days total laissez fare capitalism had excesses. Government regulation of 1906 helped the average Joe move forward his every day life

Unfortunately in the ensuing 100 years pols got addicted to regulation. Now the common sense reforms (that were radical in their day) have given way to regulation that strangles us today. The meat packing reforms brought on by the book 'The Jungle' instituted have given way to such extreme regulation that a small meat packer cannot make it because of the USDA requirements.

In some ways we as voters have not learned anything. In some ways we have learned a lot. The frightening difference I see today is the extent that the minority party will go to win a battle. In 1906 no politician would put the countries' defense at risk. Apparently we have't learned enough in 100 years.