Message to the Right from “St. Jack”
“The Republican Party has been taken
over by something that it's not,” Danforth says over a suitably austere
lunch of steamed vegetables in a well-appointed 40th-floor St. Louis club overlooking
the Mississippi. “How do traditional Republicans put up with this? They
put up with this because it's a winning combination, for now. It won't last.”
Why won't it last? “It won't stand the light of day,” Danforth says
in one of several conversations. “The more people think about it, the more
people will resist it. People do not want a sectarian political party, including
a lot of people who are traditional Republicans.” … One morning last
spring, as he walked with his wife, Sally, in Palm Springs, Calif., where they
are building a house, his dismay with the Republican Party turned to dissent.
The trigger was the case of Terri Schiavo, the brain-dead Florida woman whose
husband wanted to disconnect her from life support. Schiavo's parents fought
to keep her alive, backed by prominent Christian conservatives, including Senate
Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum
(R-Pa.). “If you turned on Fox News, you would hear relentless talking
heads talking about, 'They're killing Terri!' and 'This is murder!' ” Danforth
says, recalling the campaign to remove the case from Florida courts that had
ruled she should be allowed to die. “I thought, 'This is not what the Republican
Party does. The only explanation for it was an effort to appease the Christian
right.” 'St.
Jack' and the Bullies in the Pulpit
Jack Danforth is a revered figure in Missouri and he's got some
choice words of advice for his fellow Republicans. Not the right-wing religious fanatics, mind you, but his moderate compadres. Frankly, I didn't have much use for him when he
was working to get Clarence Thomas on to the Supreme Court. But what he has
to say about the wingnuts following Bush is right on. The moderates of the party
should listen, because a reckoning for the hard hypocritic right is coming.
Danforth's forthcoming book is meant to be a rallying cry for moderate Republicans
of faith to get a spine, stand up, and push back hard against the Christian
right. I hope it's a best-seller.
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