0n (15 Jul 05) mark lewis wrote to Cindy Haglund...

 CH> I was once told the basic (chief identifying characteristic)
 CH> difference between Republicans an Democrats is this:

 CH> Republicans want big government to stay out of big business but
 CH> seek out ways to control our personal lives to suit the needs of
 CH> big business.

 CH> Democrats seek out to regulate big business (via big government)
 CH> while advancing and supporting personal liberties.

 ml> the funny thing about the above is that the two sides have slowly
 ml> changed over the years... they used to be pretty must opposite from

 Everything does change over the years. It's called evolution. YOu
 know, that 'mere theory' ? :)

 ml> what you have above... that was "way back" in the '60's and 70's at
 ml> least... during that time, the lines became blurred a bit and now we
 ml> have what we see today... FWIW: the same thing happened with the Torys
 ml> and the Whigs

 My raw definition was from that time as a matter of fact.
 Okay time to upgrade!

 'Whigs' is correct. Conscience nags I ought to look this up.
I once read the name was partly applied due to powered wigs popular at the
time but there might be something else..

 Here it is at Merriam-Webster online: Just as I second
 thought. Named after somebody. Number 3 applies to our topic.

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=whig+&x=13&y=20

Main Entry: Whig
Pronunciation: 'hwig, 'wig
Function: noun
Etymology: short for Whiggamore, member of a Scottish group that
marched to Edinburgh in 1648 to oppose the court party

1 : a member or supporter of a major British political group of the
late 17th through early 19th centuries seeking to limit the royal
authority and increase parliamentary power -- compare TORY

2 : an American favoring independence from Great Britain during the
American Revolution

3 : a member or supporter of an American political party formed about
1834 in opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats, associated chiefly
with manufacturing, commercial, and financial interests, and succeeded
about 1854 by the Republican party

I'm all for limiting the power of gummit over our personal lives but
on the other hand I'm also for limiting the power of Big Business over
our personal lives as well and I thought Democrats are more for the
latter?

The current GOP seems eager to promote control of not gummit in our
 personal lives, but big business instead.

Cindy

... Cats: Murphy's way of saying, "Nice furniture!"

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