Peter Wehner, a former deputy assistant of seven years to the current Holy Man in the White House, has written an amusing WaPo op-ed that declares the running religio-political strategy of aspiring Holy Man Huckabee to be "fraught with danger."
Now, there's danger, and there's danger, but when a strategy is "fraught" with the stuff, well, that's really dangerous. So a special heedfulness is warranted, no matter how belated the bellringer, and no matter his motive. One wonders how much the Romney campaign paid Mr. Wehner for choking down and then spitting up his 766 words of hysterical hypocrisy, or if Mitt merely promised to move him from deputy assistant to first-chair assistant at some presidential point down the road. But, as stated, no matter. We have danger to unfraught.
"Some of us -- in my case, a political conservative and evangelical Christian," writes Wehner, "are getting a queasy feeling when it comes to the presidential campaign of former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and much of it has to do with his use of faith in this political campaign."
Pete, we know how you feel -- all that queasiness and more -- because we've been heaving our innards ever since your man declared Jesus as his favorite "philosopher" back in 2000 and shortly thereafter launched his messianic Crusades, per Godly memos for his eyes -- and others' lives -- only.
But I keep digressing. It's the Huckster at the stake, here, and it's to the Huckster we should navigate our thoughts and concerns. Time is running out, the Iowans' clock is ticking, Mitt is panicking, hence your evangelical-Christian knifing, Mr. Wehner, is of uppermost urgency. Let us proceed.
"Invoking one's faith is not unprecedented in American politics," as Pete does indeed proceed, without invoking any illustrative but embarrassing personalities that might negate his wholly personalized claim that "it can even be reassuring." Nevertheless -- insert Law and Order theme chime here -- "it is" -- you guessed it -- "fraught with danger."
To make his point, Pete reaches back to a speech Huckabee made to some Baptist preachers in 1998, a speech that seems to be making the cyber-rounds. "I didn't get into politics because I thought government had a better answer," said the governor. "I got into politics because I knew government didn't have the real answers -- that the real answers lie in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives."
You can, of course, play with that peculiar syllogism all you want, but you'll never square the circle. You'd have an easier time unifying general relativity with quantum mechanics. But, Mike said it, and there it sits, and he obviously took his unquestioning, head-nodding, hallelujah-barnburning audience into consideration before dumping it on them.
"I hope we answer the alarm clock" -- especially those ticking in Iowa and South Carolina, Mike may well have been thinking as he continued -- "and take this nation back for Christ."
Naturally there's a menacing similarity between that declaration and some clown of a candidate declaring fundamentalist Jesusism as his unavoidably singular philosophy in presidential life, but dang it, there I go again, digressing. Just note that Mr. Wehner found Huckabee's declaration profoundly disturbing.
The Arkansan had walked right up to the "bright lines" separating "the City of Man and the City of God," and though he "may not have crossed any" yet, "he's edging close to them," observes Pete.
That may be, although I'd argue that Huckabee dynamited those separating lines long ago. When a politician asserts a necessarily uncompromising allegiance to what he believes are literally the words of God Almighty, then the White House, should he occupy it, becomes a political ministry. Just try separating his secular politics from what he sees as his divine calling. It can't be done, unless he chooses to deny his God, in which case he's merely an apostate worm, unworthy of both the secular and celestial pulpits.
Which in itself raises an interesting paradox: In a secular democracy that celebrates religious freedom, any authentic evangelical Christian automatically disqualifies him- or herself from public office.
But, leaving that aside for the moment and returning to the problematic Mr. Huckabee, I concur -- attaching only a slight modification -- with the judgment offered by John Brummett, an Arkansas News Bureau columnist who, out of proximity, likely knows the Huckster well. "I submit that he's as much a product of his disc jockey past as his preacher past," wrote Mr. Brummett. "His pronouncements are no more sermons than in-studio performances. When the red light says 'on air,' nice spoken words flow gracefully from Huckabee, but often without full attention or sensitivity to any impact beyond the moment.... He's an economic pragmatist and populist third. He's a social conservative second. He's a performance artist first."
And now for the modification. Rather than cloaking him in the more polite description of "performance artist," let's just call a spade a spade. Huckabee is first, foremost and above all a world-class demagogue. That doesn't mean he's always insincere; these creatures of demagogic origin are often immensely genuine in their beliefs, and can be soft-spoken as well.
The problem is, they slither and slime their way through the political minefields to arrive safely at their destination of public office, where they can then do real damage. They'll say anything to get there: they'll reassure the worried evangelicals at brunch and the anguished constitutionalists at lunch, with equal fervor and convincing sincerity.
To violate my own non-digression pact once again, haven't we had enough of the dreadful demagoguery that naturally springs from the likes of Mr. Wehner's former boss, and that Mr. Wehner now so artificially deplores?
PM,
I agree, we should call a spade a spade, so here goes. I am sick and tired of these ChristoFascists who conveniently forget a good 60% of what Jesus actually stood for. If it fits their agenda, then religion is used as a bludgeon by the social conservatives. But what of economic justice that the Bible constantly rails about? Forgotten and ignored by the Darwinists of the social and economic order while attacking gays and lesbians. The writer is correct, beware if Gomer is actually elected. Welcome to Jesustan!
Posted by: Hotrod | December 26, 2007 at 08:05 PM
Be of good cheer, as is it not a joyous thing that religiosity now stands in the political spot light? Let us be made to look upon it often, lest this important actor once again slip off the stage to deliver its lines from the curtains. Praise the Lord, Who indeed works in mysterious ways, for the wonderous performances of Mike and all his ilk in this role!
Posted by: quousque | December 28, 2007 at 09:20 AM