Hankster, say what you will but the fact remains that Goldwater voted against the law that abolished Jim Crow and ended legal discrimination.

There used to be a progressive wing of the GOP - the Theodore Roosevelt wing if you will. TR himself, and like Republicans who came after him, are in fact primarily responsible for many of the public lands we enjoy today as well as some of our best environmental laws. But that wing of the party has been under attack by GOP conservatives since the election of Ronald Reagan. As a result the only thing that remains of the old progressive wing is a small remanant with very little influence. Likewise, TR's conservation legacy has been jettisoned as well.