Troyhand
12-25-2007, 02:54 AM
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=263211
RON PAUL CROSSES THE CHRISTMAS CANDIDATE...There is no debating that the most manipulative campaign advertisement of a Holiday season that in Iowa and New Hampshire offers no respite from the pleadings of politicians is that of the supremely cynical Mike Huckabee.
Appearing beneath a glowing cross and proclaiming "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ," the former governor of Arkansas stakes his claim as the Christmas candidate.
But Ron Paul is having none of it.
As he has throughout the campaign, the congressman from Texas is refusing to let Huckabee turn the Calvary Cross into a campaign symbol.
"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he (Huckabee) is the only Christian or implying that subtly," Paul explained in a pre-Christmas interview. "So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."
Whether Huckabee is a standard-issue fascist or some sort of new-order theocratic fascist remains to be determined. But Paul, with his libertarian's eye for the autocratic tendencies of his Republican foes, has well reminded us that the candidate who claims Christmas bears false witness with regard to the Holiday and himself.
Posted by John Nichols at 12/25/2007 @ 12:09pm | Email This Post
RON PAUL CROSSES THE CHRISTMAS CANDIDATE...There is no debating that the most manipulative campaign advertisement of a Holiday season that in Iowa and New Hampshire offers no respite from the pleadings of politicians is that of the supremely cynical Mike Huckabee.
Appearing beneath a glowing cross and proclaiming "what really matters is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ," the former governor of Arkansas stakes his claim as the Christmas candidate.
But Ron Paul is having none of it.
As he has throughout the campaign, the congressman from Texas is refusing to let Huckabee turn the Calvary Cross into a campaign symbol.
"It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, 'when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross.' Now I don't know whether that's a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he (Huckabee) is the only Christian or implying that subtly," Paul explained in a pre-Christmas interview. "So, I don't think I would ever use anything like that."
Whether Huckabee is a standard-issue fascist or some sort of new-order theocratic fascist remains to be determined. But Paul, with his libertarian's eye for the autocratic tendencies of his Republican foes, has well reminded us that the candidate who claims Christmas bears false witness with regard to the Holiday and himself.
Posted by John Nichols at 12/25/2007 @ 12:09pm | Email This Post