Editorial Thinking

Paul Krugman wrote an editorial that was in The Denver Post yesterday inside the Business section.  He entitled it, GOP gapes longingly at 1850s.  As a one-time Republican (now unaffiliated) I found it scary.  The thinking it reveals is worthy of analysis, of course. 
First, we remember it is an editorial.  An opinion piece.  Not careful research.  He is making points, and it behooves the reader (as with all commentary) to do as much research of the data as possible.  It doesn't matter who the author of an opinion piece is, including anything I write, the reader is responsible for researching the data for herself or himself.  Except in an election, nobody's opinion really matters very much.
Second, we explore the thinking he reports.  He notes that the modern-day Republican party does not choose to be the party of Lincoln who was the first president to introduce the income tax, who freed the slaves (mostly black) and who issued paper money.  It seems the conservative wing of the Republican party wants to be more conservative than most -- they want to go back before the time of President Lincoln. 
Again, thinking about that suggests that maybe electricity, indoor plumbing and women's rights (and participation in politics and business) should all be revisited and done away with. 
Think.  Think carefully about the good old days.  One of my friends, then an older person, said, "The good thing about the good old days is that they are gone!"  What do you think?