Thirty Pieces of Silver

This was sent to me by Greg Grant. He found it on The Values Voter Blog. Thanks Greg.

Thirty Pieces of Silver

A very good article by Chad Stenzel that deals with the sell-out of conservative voters by the Clear Channel/Times Square crowd and the K street folks. I helped put Bush in office, but will not vote for their "establishment" GOP candidates - Romney or Giuliani - under any condition no matter what. And though the Times Square crowd is deluding themselves into the idea of holding the coalition together with a social liberal that they've anointed, many values voters feel exactly the same way. We're being sold out.

Thirty Pieces of SilverBy: Chad Stenzel

"Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself…(Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out…)"
Matt 27:5 and Acts 1:18. NKJV

The ancient text above paints a gruesome picture of the untimely demise of a man who betrayed the principles he espoused and, ultimately, brought a prophesied conclusion to one chapter of the life of the only perfect man to walk this planet. It’s difficult to fathom the pressure and self-loathing he must have felt when he realized he sold his soul and became the pawn of a malevolent force for such a paltry sum. One wonders if the lesson of this man can be used to offer the olive branch of hope and second chances to those who have lost their way, before it’s too late. Or, will this man’s awful example be dismissed and tossed on the ash-heap of history.
More than 2000 years later, the amounts have changed. And while, the payouts may be bigger, the stakes are not. This time it’s the soul of a political party and not the eternal condition of man-kind in the balance. Still, there are parallels that beg to be drawn and, for some, priceless insights to be gained. The Republican party is at a crossroads and party leaders have largely eschewed the straight and narrow path of conviction for the well-traveled and well-financed freeway of political expediency.

If you have listened to talk radio or perused a conservative column in the last 60 days, you know two things. Mitt Romney is a true conservative and the next best thing to Ronald Wilson Reagan and Mike Huckabee is either a dangerous liberal that would tear the GOP apart or, he’s a one-trick pony that appeals to right-wing religious weirdoes only. More on the contradictory descriptions of Huckabee later, first let’s examine the Republican media establishment’s exuberant adoration of the man they call Mitt.

Originally, there were to be three acceptable choices the right-wing media elites would champion. All three had large corporate backing and each had their group of insiders on K street. Unfortunately, once the posturing was over and the voting began, the Republican primary attendees had the unmitigated gall to vote for someone who wasn’t one of “The Chosen.” Things were further complicated when one of the triumvirate decided he would rather play the part of a District Attorney on TV then a presidential candidate in real life. Another acceptable candidate took a cue from his fellow New Yorkers and retired to South Florida rather than run a national campaign. This left Mitt Romney, the one-term governor from Massachusetts as the only viable candidate in the eyes of the chattering class. One problem. The former governor was a brie cheese and wine-class, socially liberal, flip-flopping politician from the most far-left state in the union. These folks had spent all of 2004 convincing people that John Kerry (who fit that exact description himself) would be a disaster for the country. What is a principled political wag to do?

Governor Romney had something going for him besides personal wealth and central casting looks. The governor was the founder of Bain Capital, a private equity group. The company specializes in leverage buyouts and made billions of dollars throughout the eighties and nineties. This is the company that made Mitt Romney a wealthy man, with a net worth around $250,000,000. Romney, who stepped down in 1999 when he took over the Salt Lake City Olympics, is still a silent partner in the company and, according to the governor’s financial disclosure, will continue to receive profits from Bain Capital through February 2009. These facts alone might seem innocuous enough, but consider the latest acquisition Bain has its eye on.
Clear Channel Communications is a media giant by any definition of the word. This behemoth owns more than 1,200 radio stations as well as syndication companies and billboard advertising. The company owns Premier Radio Network which has the syndication rights to the Rush Limbaugh show, Glen Beck and a host of others. Premier boasts more than 90 radio shows in its stable and offers services to more than 4,600 affiliates. Clear channel also has a lucrative contract with Sean Hannity, which agrees to air his program on 80 of their stations through 2010. In addition, nearly every talk radio host in America relies on Clear Channel stations for a large portion of their audience. Talkers like Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham and Mike Gallagher would suffer greatly if they were cut out by Clear Channel.

In a deal that has been in the works for some time, Bain Capital is leading a consortium that has offered to buy Clear Channel for the tidy sum of 19.5 BILLION dollars. The FCC recently approved the acquisition and Clear Channel execs expect the transaction to be finalized sometime in the first quarter of 2008. The fact that Romney’s company is purchasing CCC isn’t a problem. The governor’s liberal past and the way it’s being covered up and explained away is another matter.Most talking heads and pundits will stipulate that Mitt was wrong on abortion until he studied stem-cell research and saw the light. However, in 2002 Mitt said,
“I am in favor of stem cell research. I will work and fight for stem cell research. I’d be happy to talk to (President Bush) about this, though I don’t know if I could budge him an inch.”
Romney also supported a government mandated health care plan that fined people for not participating and offered abortion on demand for $50. (Somewhere Hillary Clinton just said, “Amen.”) There are other disturbing inconsistencies in Romney’s record but you’ll have to do your own research to find them. The inside the beltway boys and girls are mum when it comes to Mitt’s other transgressions against conservative orthodoxy. Here are some of Mitt’s greatest hits.

“I will preserve and protect a women’s right to choose and am devoted and dedicated to honoring my word in that regard”

“We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them. I won’t chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety.”

“I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I’m not trying to return to Reagan-Bush”

Along with those gems Romney has supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants that would not require them to leave the country and has opposed amendments to ban gay marriage. Despite these facts, we’re led to believe by the Clear Channel Crowd that Barry Goldwater has returned and, this time, he’s from Massachusetts.

When you hear Rush, Sean or Glen downplay Mitt’s past and exhort you to trust his conversion to the Right, consider something Hannity wrote in his book Let Freedom Ring. In a chapter about abortion Sean excoriates Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Dick Gephardt and Jessie Jackson for supporting pro-life positions when they were seeking local political office in conservative regions and then becoming pro-abortion as they sought nationwide acceptance from the Democratic party. The section ends thusly:

“I’m not naïve about politics, and I understand that at times politicians feel they have to adjust or change their positions to be successful. But it’s completely reprehensible for them to do so with respect to a fundamental moral issue. Either these men never believed in their earlier stated moral position, or their lust for high office overpowered their moral convictions. In either case, their conduct is deceitful. And their attempt to besmirch those with whom they once stood as “anti-choice extremists” is cynical beyond description.”

Amen, brother Sean.

If the propping up of Mitt Romney by these champions of the conservative cause is curious, then the vitriol they hurl at Mike Huckabee is downright disturbing. What is it about a man of faith with a stellar record as governor and rock-solid conservative credentials that has these people running scared? One doesn’t have to listen or look long to see Huck compared to either Elmer Gantry or Jimmy Carter. If this attempt to mischaracterize the governor wasn’t so transparently desperate and patently vulgar it would be laughable.

Mike Huckabee has the most consistent conservative record in the field by a mile. He has been unwavering in his support of a Right to Life amendment. This has been a plank in the Republican platform for 30 years and yet no other candidate is willing to make that kind of stand. The governor has been a stalwart defendant of the second amendment, often pointing out it has nothing to do with the right to hunt. Some of his opponents think the right to bear arms means sleeveless shirts are constitutionally protected. Mike has the most comprehensive border security plan in the field. It calls for the fence to be completed in eighteen months using American labor and materials. He is also the only candidate consistently calling for the release of border agents and heroes Campion and Ramos. His border security plan won the endorsement of Jim Gilchrist the founder of the Minutemen. On top of this, he’s the only candidate calling for the end of the IRS and its oppressive taxation on productivity. If that isn’t conservative, then Ann Coulter needs to loose weight. His record is so solid that Duncan Hunter (a hero for many in the right-wing media) endorsed him, when he abandoned his own candidacy, to the consternation of those now pushing candidates with their off-shore accounts in mind. You’ll recall Hunter is the man who championed tight border controls and rebuked Mitt Romney for Bain Capital’s partnership with a Chinese corporation that had dubious ties to terrorists.

There’s something about Huckabee that scares the Newark out of elites. They see a man of principle that can’t be bought, borrowed or stolen. They have taken notice of the people who support him and tremble at the loyalty they show. You see, they have demonstrably promoted a conservative agenda for years. But there was always a status quo safety net in case of an emergency. Now people of faith are actually trying to run the party after years of loyalty as the faithful foot soldiers. This doesn’t sit well with the cocktails and croquet set in Palm Beach. However, a movement has begun and voters are awakening.

Notwithstanding these facts, if you tune in to Mark Levin you’ll hear him reach Hillaryesque shrillness as he obfuscates the records of Huckabee and Romney, one for ill and the other for canonization. When this happens, for his benefit, and that of his friends in the media, remind yourself who the true conservative is and dismiss the man that would seek to purchase that mantle. In the end, these leaders will thank you. After all, nobody would want to end up like that Iscariot fellow.