Why Political Deceit Threatens Our Freedom

Republicans own a 50 percent success rate for picking conservative constitutionalists to the Supreme Court. And Democrats? They score 100 percent. Justices Kennedy, Souter, O’Connor, and, more frequently, Roberts, all undermine the argument that we need to elect a Republican in 2016 in order to achieve a quick fix by reining in a tyrannical court. In 2004, Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman fashioned George W. Bush’s re-election campaign around “family values” by placing same-sex marriage bans on the ballot in 11 states. The mechanism was designed to turn out the evangelical vote at the polls on election day. Their strategy succeeded. But this past April, it was Mehlman who led 300 establishment Republicans—secularists—to sign and present an amicus brief to SCOTUS supporting same-sex “marriage.” Evangelicals have since realized that the GOP’s “get out the vote” tool in 2004 was designed by Machiavellian principles: “Political expediency is placed above morality and the use of craft and deceit to maintain the authority and carry out the policies of a ruler.” “Looking back, we all now know we were played for chumps as we led sincere efforts to pass Constitutional amendments in our states,” a governor who led one of those state efforts in 2004 e-mailed. “I led one in 2004 that won by 70 percent, only to now realize that those running the White House didn’t respect or even agree with the principles involved-just knew it would drive voters to the polls and help turnout and win.” Efforts conceived and executed by deceit have consequences. That is true whether the deceit comes from Karl Rove and Ken Mehlman running on “family values” in 2004 or from Barack Obama at Saddleback Church in 2008 when he famously said: “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman. Now, for me as a Christian…it is also a sacred union. God is in the mix.” Deceitfulness corrupts the process and threatens freedom, whether from Republicans or Democrats. A government in which people participate is viable only if people can, on the whole, rely on politicians, political organizations, and operatives to produce truthful answers and truthful efforts. Just say who you are and what you mean. It was duplicity that suppressed evangelical engagement and turnout in 2008 and 2012. To be fair, one can have honest disagreements with others over the philosophy of limited government, deregulation of business, lower taxes, and/or border security. But SCOTUS initiating the killing of unborn babies in 1973 and sanctioning same-sex “marriage” in 2015 threatens our nation’s existence. The establishment Republicans—secularists—supporting same-sex intercourse and marriage are conjoined with militant homosexuals. The “Gay Mafia” posits that those of us who oppose same-sex relations for Biblical reasons are “haters” and bigots,” and we have no legitimate role in American politics, or society. I don’t see that examining the views of candidates, their spouses, their key staff and consultants as “gotcha” politics, but necessary due diligence as we strive to make wise choices in 2016. Ideology (a person’s beliefs) will dictate who he hires, and who he hires (personnel) will then determine policy: Personnel is policy. To put a finer point on this, if the glory of a nation lies in its righteousness, and virtue is a key component of freedom, then what a person believes is critical at this juncture in American history.The Permanent Republican Majority designed by Karl Rove collapsed due to faulty construction at the foundation. Instead of running on moral absolutes, Mr. Rove’s strategy relies on the triangulation of political constituencies (i.e., snatching a few more percent of African-Americans, Hispanics, and evangelicals). Christian conservatives must lead on principle. This “faulty construction” model has been tried and found wanting. As a result, Democrat’s have been in the White House 16 of the last 24 years. America needs a Gideon or Rahab the Harlot to stand.