RW columnist: "I should be supporting Allen. Instead, I'm leaving the party"

[kpete]

Frank Schaeffer: I should be supporting Allen. Instead, I'm leaving the party.

07:52 AM CST on Wednesday, November 1, 2006

I'm a Christian, a writer, a military parent and a registered Republican.

On all those counts, I was disgusted by an e-mail I just received that's being circulated by campaign supporters of Republican George Allen, who's trying to retain his Senate seat in Virginia.

The message goes like this: "First, it was the Catholic priests, then it was Mark Foley, and now Jim Webb, whose sleazy novels discuss sex between very young teenagers. ... Hmmm, sounds like a perverted pedophile to me! Pass the word that we do not need any more pedophiles in office."Democrat James Webb is a war hero and former Marine, wounded in Vietnam and winner of the Navy Cross. He was writing about class and military issues long before me and has articulated the issue of how the elites have dropped the ball on military service in his classic novel Fields of Fire. By the way, that's a book Tom Wolfe calls "the greatest of the Vietnam novels."

Mr. Webb's son is a Marine in Iraq. That's an uncommon fact in this era in which most political leaders' children act as if it is only right and proper that it's someone else's war to fight.

Mr. Webb also happens to be running against a desperate opponent supported by people who circulated the stupid e-mail, something that reminds me of a 2000 smear campaign aimed at another war hero, John McCain.

much more at:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-schaeffer_01edi.ART.State.Edition1.3eab2ff.html

[Virginia Dare]

1. He's just now getting a clue that Repubs are sleazy??

just real quick on the uptake is he. But thanks for the vote for Webb anyway.

[19jet54]

9. All politicians are sleazy...

the longer they are in power, the sleazier they get? Time for a change! :dilemma:

[Pyrzqxgl]

12. NO THEY AREN'T!!!

It's just some who are & this year it seems the Republicans have a lock on those who have a hand in both the cookie and the nookie jar, and we have to replace them next Tuesday.

[sandnsea]

13. DeFazio has been in 20 years

And there has never been a hint of sleaze associated with him. It is simply NOT true that all politicians are sleazy and when people perpetuate that myth, they actually make it easier for people to excuse the ones who are sleazy. It's a truly dumb thing to say if people really do want clean politics.

[Blue Belle]

24. Right on Sandnsea!

I was just saying those very words the other day. No one can touch Defazio... thats why I think he should run against Gordon Smith for the Senate.

[Ikonoklast]

21. Wingnut talking point

"There is no difference. They are all the same." Don't fall for it.

Rep.Sherrod Brown D-OH. Soon to be SENATOR Sherrod Brown.





There is a HUGE difference.

[aquart]

26. Thank you for your concern.

If there is no difference in politicians, why are you here?

[babylonsister]

2. Frank Schaeffer smells the desperation-good for him for

seeing through the b.s.

[tanyev]

3. Good for him.

I heard him speak last year--not by choice, it was a work related thing--but I was glad that he kept it fairly non-political. He was speaking about the book he wrote (with a librul!) about how the children of the upper classes by and large are not the ones serving the in the military.

[yellerpup]

4. Another Repug awakening from a long, long sleep

and finding himself neck-deep in sewage on the bathroom floor. They know they have to get out now. Either that or learn to breathe sh**.

[FatDave]

18. Ewwwww....

What disgusting and graphic imagery! Well done!

[yellerpup]

22. Just for you, FD

;)

[Burma Jones]

5. You know why the "elites" dropped the ball on military service?

Because they know that there hasn't been a fight for our Nation's (or the Western European Nations from which most claim Ancestry) survival since WW II.

[JohnnyLib2]

6. He's writing from TEXAS, folks.

All I can say is, welcome back, prodigal son.

Recommended.

[torrentprime]

7. Signs of this all over

GOPers seeing the light and moving out or over. Besides, well, me (ex-GOP, now working with MoveOn), but I'm not famous. :) :)

John Cole's post was spot-on on this, as well.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=7551

(I'm sure many saw this already; just in case anyone missed it).

[Kingshakabobo]

8. Welcome to DU, torrentprime !

:hi:

[Kierkegaard]

10. Congratulations,

and welcome home.

:hi:

[Cetacea]

11. K+R

Thanks.

[Cha]

14. Glad he's a writer,

too!

[Supersedeas]

15. finally people are starting to realize that Military Service means nothing to Republican political

powerbrokers.

[ProfessorGAC]

16. He'll Still Vote Republican

Somehow he'll twist his own logic into deciding that EVERY repub is better than ANY dem. I don't trust him, and if it took him this long to arrive at this "revelation", he's a lost cause.
The Professor

[bperci108]

17. I don't think so...

I've read several of Schaeffer's theological works (we're both Eastern Orthodox and both converts from protestantism) and he does have a "moral compass" so to speak.

The are many in the Christian camp, and I mean real ones, not the Pharisees that inhabit the loony fringes of the Right, who have finally seen through all of the bluff, bluster and bullshit of the Neo-cons.

Hopefully they will find at least a temporary home in the Democratic Party, and even if they eventually go back to the GOP (if the Republicans can shift away from the extremism of the Neo-cons) maybe they will take some of our real values back with them.


Just a thought... :shrug:

[FatDave]

19. While I share your cynicism about these types...

...what would be the point of writing this if he was still planning on voting republican? The motive behind his writing appears to have been to persuade other republicans that George Allen is a slimebag. Even if he does still vote R, it's not going to help, because his speaking out has probably convinced a (possibly large) handful of republicans that it's OK to not vote for these clowns. The more republicans who speak out against the neocons, the easier it is for other republicans to make the same decision to turn on those they've supported in the past. Whenever this happens (and it happens a lot lately) it's a huge benefit to our party and our democracy.

[aquart]

28. He just told you he's voting for character.

He's just told you what an admirable man Webb is. And you get out of it that he'll vote for Allen?

Thank you for your concern.

[ProfessorGAC]

29. I Don't Believe Him

And how does that show a lack of concern? That makes no sense. I don't trust the guy who wrote this piece. If he were trustworthy, imo, he would have figured all this out long ago.

The Professor

[IWantAChange]

20. I hope Webb has time and the $$ to use this in a campaign ad...

Keep opening those coffers Mr. Dean and seize the moment, you may not have this kind of chance again for a long time.

[MetaTrope]

23. It's bizarre to see the RW propoganda I read on the elevator every day

Displayed on monitors driven by a company called "Captivate"...named for their captive audience in this ultra-blue city, I suppose. But today there was a "news" blurb referencing Allen...completely out of any election context...braying that he ranks #1 in voting "for technology" in the senate. That's a nice WTF sort of declaration, as one wonders what "technology" it refers to...wouldn't surprise me if it's GMO crops, media monopolies and industrial polluters!

[RoyGBiv]

25. While I respect the general sentiment ...

This piece reflect an ignorance of history, a sort of longing for the idealized good old days. and hints at the need for what would amount to a military dictatorship.

Note this passage:

"Our political leaders should learn from them. In fact, our future leaders should be them. We need to compare today's leaders to those of the past, who earned credibility beyond the reach of cynicism and irony – and cheap smear tactics."

The "them" in this passage refers to individuals in the miltary. While I don't necessarily dispute the idea that a person who could be and often is in a position of commander of military forces via his government position should at least have some clue as to how the military works and some idea what makes good military strategy, even the suggestion that our highest political office *should* be occupied by an individual with military training and experience strikes at the heart of the fundamental principles of our government. At least two of our greatest Presidents had no military experience worthy of note. Lincoln, for example, made political hay of his militia service and "Indian fighting" days, but more privately and eventually in public he did admit that this experience was barely worthy of mentioning in the context of its intended impact when it was mentioned. Lincoln as President had no valuable military training, no "military discipline," no "military inspired character" in him. His character and his talents were gained through public service and education. He learned a lot about the military, about strategy and tactics specifically, as President, but he didn't go into his Presidency with this knowledge or experience, and I think history shows he did just fine.

Also, the notion that our previous leaders earned their credibility "beyond the reach of cynicism and irony -- and cheap smear tactics" is so wrong as to be laughable. What the writer here seems to be saying is that in the good old days, these smear campaigns weren't used. People had honor that was truly honorable. Politicians fought the good fight on the basis of ideas, not base attacks on character that were hollow of any reality.

That, my friends, is beyond absurd. It is pure fantasy. It's a lie. One need look no further than the first Presidential election that didn't include George Washington as a candidate for examples of the fury of personal attacks, of accusations, of profane (for the time) images used in an attempt to denigrate opponents. One can even look to this election as a time when the very fabric of the nation was nearly ripped at its seems as laws were passed to aid one political faction over another, as the idea of secession and potential civil war first reared its ugly head, as people of supposed high honor above reproach used cynicism and smears as tools that were as common as the hammer is to a carpenter. And even during Washington's time, the tactics were used, just not so obviously against him specifically. If that's not enough, look to Andrew Jackson's first run for the President and look to the vicious personal assaults leveled against his intellect or the damaging attacks on those close to him, attacks Jackson himself firmly believe resulted in the death of his beloved.

We live in the political world we made. The Republican attack machine is, if anything, using history to try to formulate a strategy to save it from the fact it is empty of valuable ideas. If he wants to leave that, good for him. But he needs to be aware that those he has previously idolized used the same tactics and will continue to use them in the future. He either needs to become accustomed to that fact and base his choices on good ideas, or he needs to work to change it, if such a thing is even possible. Whatever the case, living in the state of denial in which he seems to find himself is the least helpful of his options.

[aquart]

27. Dallas Morning News? That paper avoids news.

A column like this in that paper is astonishing.

[PegDAC]

30. You think?

The DMN was Molly Ivins' "home" newspaper for years!

[argyl]

31. Nope,that was the Dallas Times Herald,which folded in the early

90's. When the Times Herald went under,Molly made a point of saying that her column would never appear in the Morning News,the much more right wing of the two papers.

Ironically, with the flight of so many higher income families to the suburbs of Collin and Denton Counties,the Morning News,as the only newspaper in town,has had to moderate its views.It's still a RW rag,though.