The Republican parade of 'useful idiots' begins
Whenever the Communists targeted a country for takeover, they would always recruit "fellow travelers" from inside the country to help pave the way. Often they would be members of the existing government, or the press, or academia, but it was possible for them to come from any disaffected or dissatisfied segment of the society.
The interesting thing is, once the Communists came to power, they would inevitably have these people executed or, at least, thrown in prison. Since they had already proven that they were willing to overthrow an established government, they were considered a threat to the new regime. Besides, they had already served their purpose.
Although this pattern was repeated over and over, it seemed there was never a shortage of new fellow travelers willing to help out when the Reds came a calling. Evidently, these new believers convinced themselves this phenomenon would not repeat itself in their case. This sort of thinking earned them the title, "useful idiots."
Now, it seems the GOP has decided this strategy might be right for the 2008 presidential campaign. In the past, they have relied on the doctrine of lesser evils to entice pro-lifers to vote for those Republicans who were, to say the least, mushy on abortion. The sales pitch went something like, "Our guy might not be exactly what you want, but he is better than the complete moral degenerate put up by the Democrats."
The Republican Party hierarchy seemed willing to stay with this strategy for the 2008 campaign as long as their hand-picked boy, Rudy Giuliani, was perceived as a lock for the nomination. But two things happened they didn't count on. First, even though the Democrats are poised to nominate someone who could probably make Charles Manson seem like the lesser of two evils, a significant part of the Republican base does not see the Giuliani as any better. The second complicating factor is that the polls indicate Mike Huckabee has turned into a legitimate threat, to the chagrin of the GOP's power structure.
To counter these two problems, it seems the GOP has decided to field its own team of "useful idiots." In just the last few days, several Republicans who claim to be pro-life have scurried from under the baseboards to urge the GOP's Christian and pro-life base to rally behind the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-Second Amendment, thrice-married Rudy Giuliani. Not only that, but they are doing this in the primary when several pro-life and pro-family candidates are still in the race.
The most high-profile turncoats so far are the Christian Coalition founder, Pat Robertson, and the Texas governor, Rick Perry, both of whom have lavished praise on their new best buddy, Rudy. Making this situation even more preposterous is the excuse they are using to justify their treachery. Their claim is that Giuliani has assured them he will only appoint "strict constructionists" to the Supreme Court.
The problem is, Giuliani has repeatedly said he supports Roe v. Wade. Obviously, the only way a self-described "strict constructionist" could take that position is for him to believe there is a constitutional right to abortion. But somehow, we are expected to conclude that such a person is going to help return legal protection to the unborn. Apparently, the GOP Illuminati is designing their 2008 strategy around the theory that those of us in the great unwashed masses are really stupid.
When the Rick Perry and Pat Robertson types are placed in a position where they cannot logically reconcile their pro-life claims with their gushing support for a pro-abort, they inevitably counter that there are other issues besides abortion. They talk about economics, border security and other issues, but the most common justification they give is that Giuliani would be better than Clinton in the war on terrorism. While it may or may not be true, let's assume it is. When someone says they will support a pro-abort for that reason, what they are really saying is, "I'm willing to let unborn babies be dropped in the grease by the millions if that's what it takes to save my own skin."
The point is, it is obscene for someone to claim to be pro-life while saying that a candidate's position on abortion is just "one of the many issues we have to look at." For the true pro-lifer, if a candidate is wrong about the wholesale slaughter of children, they cannot be right enough on any other issue to make up for it. And when people like Rick Perry and Pat Robertson actually endorse them, it only proves either they were frauds all along or they never understood the pro-life principle to begin with.
So let's cut to the chase here. It has always been known that there are a lot of people within the pro-life movement who are more Republican than pro-life. What's happening right now is the GOP's "useful idiot" campaign is smoking them out. Fortunately for them, when the campaign is over they will not be executed or put in prison. Instead, they will be exiled into irrelevance until they become useful again. My suspicion is this process will take four years.
In the mean time, the unanswered question is whether we will follow the Robertsons and Perrys into the abyss of abandoned principles and auctioned souls. In short, will we let them play us the way Giuliani and the Republican Party is playing them?
If we do, I guess we are the real idiots.
The interesting thing is, once the Communists came to power, they would inevitably have these people executed or, at least, thrown in prison. Since they had already proven that they were willing to overthrow an established government, they were considered a threat to the new regime. Besides, they had already served their purpose.
Although this pattern was repeated over and over, it seemed there was never a shortage of new fellow travelers willing to help out when the Reds came a calling. Evidently, these new believers convinced themselves this phenomenon would not repeat itself in their case. This sort of thinking earned them the title, "useful idiots."
Now, it seems the GOP has decided this strategy might be right for the 2008 presidential campaign. In the past, they have relied on the doctrine of lesser evils to entice pro-lifers to vote for those Republicans who were, to say the least, mushy on abortion. The sales pitch went something like, "Our guy might not be exactly what you want, but he is better than the complete moral degenerate put up by the Democrats."
The Republican Party hierarchy seemed willing to stay with this strategy for the 2008 campaign as long as their hand-picked boy, Rudy Giuliani, was perceived as a lock for the nomination. But two things happened they didn't count on. First, even though the Democrats are poised to nominate someone who could probably make Charles Manson seem like the lesser of two evils, a significant part of the Republican base does not see the Giuliani as any better. The second complicating factor is that the polls indicate Mike Huckabee has turned into a legitimate threat, to the chagrin of the GOP's power structure.
To counter these two problems, it seems the GOP has decided to field its own team of "useful idiots." In just the last few days, several Republicans who claim to be pro-life have scurried from under the baseboards to urge the GOP's Christian and pro-life base to rally behind the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-Second Amendment, thrice-married Rudy Giuliani. Not only that, but they are doing this in the primary when several pro-life and pro-family candidates are still in the race.
The most high-profile turncoats so far are the Christian Coalition founder, Pat Robertson, and the Texas governor, Rick Perry, both of whom have lavished praise on their new best buddy, Rudy. Making this situation even more preposterous is the excuse they are using to justify their treachery. Their claim is that Giuliani has assured them he will only appoint "strict constructionists" to the Supreme Court.
The problem is, Giuliani has repeatedly said he supports Roe v. Wade. Obviously, the only way a self-described "strict constructionist" could take that position is for him to believe there is a constitutional right to abortion. But somehow, we are expected to conclude that such a person is going to help return legal protection to the unborn. Apparently, the GOP Illuminati is designing their 2008 strategy around the theory that those of us in the great unwashed masses are really stupid.
When the Rick Perry and Pat Robertson types are placed in a position where they cannot logically reconcile their pro-life claims with their gushing support for a pro-abort, they inevitably counter that there are other issues besides abortion. They talk about economics, border security and other issues, but the most common justification they give is that Giuliani would be better than Clinton in the war on terrorism. While it may or may not be true, let's assume it is. When someone says they will support a pro-abort for that reason, what they are really saying is, "I'm willing to let unborn babies be dropped in the grease by the millions if that's what it takes to save my own skin."
The point is, it is obscene for someone to claim to be pro-life while saying that a candidate's position on abortion is just "one of the many issues we have to look at." For the true pro-lifer, if a candidate is wrong about the wholesale slaughter of children, they cannot be right enough on any other issue to make up for it. And when people like Rick Perry and Pat Robertson actually endorse them, it only proves either they were frauds all along or they never understood the pro-life principle to begin with.
So let's cut to the chase here. It has always been known that there are a lot of people within the pro-life movement who are more Republican than pro-life. What's happening right now is the GOP's "useful idiot" campaign is smoking them out. Fortunately for them, when the campaign is over they will not be executed or put in prison. Instead, they will be exiled into irrelevance until they become useful again. My suspicion is this process will take four years.
In the mean time, the unanswered question is whether we will follow the Robertsons and Perrys into the abyss of abandoned principles and auctioned souls. In short, will we let them play us the way Giuliani and the Republican Party is playing them?
If we do, I guess we are the real idiots.
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