The GOP Is Figuring It Out

Herr Karl Rove and Co. have poked their heads out of their isolation chamber and discovered in horror, Yikes! We ‘re going down the tubes! What to do? What to do? First, they told morally bankrupt Tom DeLay and quack-doctor William Frist to shut up about Terri Schiavo. Then they sent their strategists out to babble that they “expect no political repercussions from the Schiavo episode”. Then they went back into isolation to figure out how to deal with the fact that the repercussions have already occurred. But the big question for the Republican party is, how can they get their souls back from the religious right? And the answer is, of course, they can't. The GOP assumed they could sign a devil's pact with the religious right, grab their votes and toss them a few table scraps to make them be quiet. But, as Joe Cannon of Cannonfire reminded me last week, media boss Rupert Murdoch and the Carlyle Group may be top-guns in the Bush administration, but it’s the Christian zealot Reverend Sun Myung Moon who actually calls the shots in the White House. And Reverend Moon, who owns the Washington Times, United Press International, and controls the Christian Coalition isn't about to void the deal he made with the GOP. Will Republicans never learn? You can't cheat the Devil. But it's going to be fun watching them try.