I've thrown down a gauntlet of sorts at Red State, asking whether Alan Keyes' support of reparations is compatible with conservative values (which I share).
The problem is perhaps exemplified by Red State's own title: Collaborative "Republicanism". The soul of the GOP is conservativism, not blind loyalty - though slavish devotion to the Party at the expense of principle certainly gives a new twist to the meaning of the words "Red State."
I hope the other Red Staters denounce Keyes, but I don't think it's that likely. If not, then there's a problem that needs fixing on the right - one that will get much worse before it gets better, especially in the likelier and likelier event of a Kerry win this November.
And that is a bad thing. We need a healthy Right. Just as we need a healthy Left. But I'm not the first to note how the fringe element, marginalized on the Left, has invaded the mainstream Right in recent years...
Aziz,
ReplyDeleteI missed the gauntlet on Red State, but I agree with you. I wonder where they got Alan Keyes, did they think being black was all it took?
On the other hand I always like the reparations thing was a cool idea: These folks ancestors were captured by African or Arab slavers. So they should try to get their reparations from the Saudis or Nigeria, or maybe the Sudan. Why blame the descendents of people who unknowingly bought stolen property??
And that is a bad thing. We need a healthy Right. Just as we need a healthy Left. But I'm not the first to note how the fringe element, marginalized on the Left, has invaded the mainstream Right in recent years...No doubt this is true and is a sensible sentiment. On the other hand I can�t help feeling a little bit aggreived about this � I mean we have nough problems on our side of the political divide amongst ourselves and maintaining coherence, which doesn�t really do us any favours at election time, unlike our colleagues on the Right. Now it isn�t enough that we have to deal with our own whack jobs, we have to deal with those on the opposite camp as well. I mean what are we going to do next, walk on water? Turn wine into (good quality) beer? The mind boggles.
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