Tucker Carlson says it aloud. The Republican elite has contempt for the
evangelicals.
By Margie Burns
Created Oct 8 2006 - 1:05pm
The Sunday morning talk shows today, October 8, 2006, included some
refreshingly frank or realistic discourse, for a rarity.
Probably most attention tomorrow will be devoted to Bob Woodward narrating
how Vice President Cheney used the ***** word and hung up on him.
Possibly some attention will go to the congressional tin ear from Illinois,
GOP Congressman Ray LaHood, talking about the Foley scandal: "The real
disservice was done to the speaker."
But for my money, the real jaw dropper this morning was Tucker Carlson
finally saying publicly what millions of us have known for years: "The
Republican elite has contempt for the evangelicals."
The commentary centered around the Mark Foley scandal and attendant ironies,
that a member of Congress who for years ostentatiously paraded his concern
for children and for youth has solicited, also for years, the sexual
attentions of teenagers, and not just any teenagers, but teenaged pages
specifically under the protection of Congress. Furthermore, all signs
indicate that the entire top GOP leadership of Congress, even while
campaigning aggressively in some bogus morality posture, either covered up
for Foley or at best deliberately avoided knowing enough of his activities
to do anything about them.
To call this hypocrisy is just an insult to hypocrites.
As I have said before, this is not hypocrisy. It is deliberate imposture. It
is analogous to the current White House policy of pouring gasoline on the
flames in geopolitics, under the guise of fighting terrorism, when as it
well knows, its policies ignite terrorism, from which it profits. In the
ratios of the Miller Analogy Test, Mark Foley is to protecting children what
George W. Bush is to protecting Americans. If they really wanted less
terrorism, they would eliminate cluster bombs and land mines.
But of all the commentators on all three major television networks, none to
my knowledge has made the basic connection, until today. Carlson made the
basic, direct statement that for years has needed making. "Everybody in our
world has contempt for the evangelicals," he continued under questioning.
When asked, "How do you know?" in response to his initial claim about the
GOP, he gave the unequivocal answer: "Because I see them." As Carlson said,
he works with them, meaning members of the power elite or the opinion
makers. He has moved among them for years. "They live on my street."
Following up the statements that "The Republican elite has contempt for the
evangelicals," and "Everybody in our world has contempt for the
evangelicals," he continued, "and "everybody knows that. The evangelicals
are beginning to figure it out."
What came home for this viewer is that on a more modest scale I have seen
the same thing. Certainly not all Republican women, or all women who
sometimes vote Republican, feel the same way on social issues. And some of
the most rockribbed longtime Republican women voters, at least those of my
acquaintance, who also tend to be economically well off or affluent, are
exactly the individuals most dismissive of the party line on social issues.
They let the men talk, but if a woman or girl they care about or to whom
they are related wants an abortion, they are highly unlikely to let the men
stand in the way. Or even to let the men know, if that's the way to play it.
As for the public pronouncements of their party, and the most prominent of
their professional religious spokesmen, they roll their eyes. I have seen
them do it. You do not get more eyerolling about the Reverend Mr. Pat
Robertson or about the unreverend Ralph Reed anywhere than in the nearest
lunch of Republican women at the local country club, and the only people who
seem not to know it are the people whose faithful votes keep the corporate
hogs in office. So the GOP agenda accomplishes its real objectives such as
keeping plaintiffs out of court, letting insurance companies off the hook on
large claims, raiding or undermining pension funds, bailing out the top
management of mismanaged industries, and preventing any progressive taxation
whatever for billionaires. Meanwhile, the rare genuine voter of rightwing
conscience who gets into office, like GOP Congressman Ron Paul of Texas,
could not be more sidelined if he were a high schooler trying to play in the
NFL. I have said it before. The only real purpose regarding abortion for
this administration is to splinter what would otherwise have been moral
opposition to its policies, domestic and foreign.
There could have been a clue to the nature of the faith typically espoused
by the likes of George W. Bush and ***** Cheney. One clue could have been
Cheney, come to think of it. But the broad clue could have been the policies
of this White House and of the top crust of this administration. Look at
current policies and practices and try to find the gospels in there
anywhere. Try to find the New Testament in a takeover attempt on a historic
scale, in careers of relentless self advancement and relentless exploitation
of others, lying, bullying, bragging, whining, bribery and corruption. A
little reading, the merest reminder or thought of comparative religion,
would have gotten the idea across.
Instead, ironically, it took a Mark Foley to clarify the disconnect.
If this had happened on stage or in film, in the words of Shakespeare, it
would be condemned as most improbable fiction.
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"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson
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