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Charles Jaco has written opinion and commentary pieces for dozens of magazines and newspapers. Each week, read and comment on a fresh on-line version. The discussion page enables you to share your view points world wide. If you would like to make a comment go to the " Join the discussion" link below. If you would like to view past editorials visit the Editorial Archive. Editorial 10/20/00 RED, RIGHT, AND
BLUE My great-uncle Glenn Kingen was an imposing man, the no-nonsense image of Ozark Baptist rectitude. But being, as he described himself, "a live and let live sort of fellow", it would have never crossed his mind to damn anyone to perdition for disagreeing with him. Some of that may have rubbed off on one of his Sunday School pupils from Ellsinore, Missouri, a thin-faced, hawk-nosed young boy named Mel Carnahan. Mel's father was a Congressman and when he was 10, he left the Ozarks to live in D.C. Mel became governor of Missouri, a job with a lot less pay and prestige than his private law practice. He was running for Senator, and seemed neck-and-neck with incumbent Republican John Ashcroft when Mel's small plane smashed into the rolling Ozark foothills and ravines at an astonishing rate of speed. Mel Carnahan was a religious man, fond of quoting Scripture at every opportunity. He was firmly pro-choice. He was for the death penalty, although it troubled him. But his biggest passion was children. He expanded child health care and education in Missouri. In fact, a signed copy of a child health-care bill sits on the desk of the woman who's the St. Louis County Medical Examiner. A child wellness advocate, she displayed it years before she was forced to pick through Mel Carnahan's remains. The reaction of all people of decency and compassion to the governor's death was predictable. But then, so was the reaction from the bottom-feeding right-wing cave dwellers. Ther superstition brigade came out in force, the usual pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die suspects who hold that salvation is the exclusive province of white, heterosexual conservative Christians. It began with callers to "Christian" radio stations, claiming that Mel was merrily burning in hell for his pro-choice beliefs. This is the same flat-earth crowd opposed to evolution, which makes sense, given that they haven't yet gotten the hang of using opposable thumbs. Then, it was suggested by both the Missouri GOP chair and George W. Bush that candidates stop pummeling citizens of the Battleground Show-Me State with TV and radio ads, at least for a decent period. Republican Senator Ashcroft--now running as the only live candidate for Senator--agreed. So did a number of others. Ah, but not so a fellow named Bill Federer. Federer is an odd specimen. he ran against House Minority Leader Dick gephardt two years ago and got over 40 per-cent of the vote. he's been charged with assault for attacking a Gephardt aide who was videotaping a parade. He grabbed a video camera from a local CBS TV station. he's been linked to financial iregularities concerning a faith-healing ministry. Federer's running again, and kept his attack ads against Gephardt running full throttle, finally agreeing to pull them the Day of Mel's funeral and the day after. Then, there's Jim Talent, a decent, compassionate (the real kind) conservative running as the GOP candidate for Missouri's governor. He refused to pull his attack ads at all except for the day of the funeral, mealy-mouthing a lame excuse that he had wanted his ads pulled but that he wasn't able to get them off the air in time. Ahem. One phone call to any station's sales manager and those ads disappear. All this is instructive because both Talent and Federer appeal to the same hard-core base of voters--the self-righteous tight-sphinctered superstitious ninnies who call fringe radio programs, the same kind of people who care deeply for children right up until the moment they're born, the same pro-lifers who would see nothing wrong with bombing a few abortion clinics in the name of life, the same intolerant yahoos who reserve a special place in the infernal regions for anyone who disagrees witgh them, the same unenlightened boobs who fancy themselves Christ's answer to the Taliban. An odd movement is growing in Missouri, very odd. People are starting to talk about voting for Mel Carnahan as payback to the anti-choice forces of ignorance and intolerance. If the improbable should happen, and Mel should win, the seat would be filled by an appointment made by Missouri's new governor, former lieutenant governor Roger Wilson. What these people are saying is that they'll trust anyone appointed by Wilson over Senator Ashcroft. What they really mean is that the right-wing so-called Christian troglodytes need to be slapped around. I get the feeling
both Mel and Uncle Glenn would approve. |
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