The most disturbing piece of direct mail I’ve ever seen — which claims that “liberals” want to “ban” the Bible — was, in fact, a product of the Republican National Committee.
The Republican Party acknowledged yesterday sending mass mailings to residents of two states warning that “liberals” seek to ban the Bible. It said the mailings were part of its effort to mobilize religious voters for President Bush.
The mailings include images of the Bible labeled “banned” and of a gay marriage proposal labeled “allowed.” A mailing to Arkansas residents warns: “This will be Arkansas if you don’t vote.” A similar mailing was sent to West Virginians.
After the mailing had been brought to the attention of the press, RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie initially said that he wasn’t aware of the mailing. Now, the RNC is owning up to it. Naturally, the party’s defense is utterly ridiculous.
“When the Massachusetts Supreme Court sanctioned same-sex marriage and people in other states realized they could be compelled to recognize those laws, same-sex marriage became an issue,” [RNC spokeswoman Christine] Iverson said. “These same activist judges also want to remove the words ‘under God’ from the Pledge of Allegiance.”
Oh, where to begin.
First of all, no state Supreme Court, in Massachusetts or anywhere else, has ever ruled on the constitutionality of the “under God” in the Pledge, so we’re clearly not talking about the “same activist judges.”
Second, this issue went to the Supreme Court and “under God” won, so I don’t know what the Republicans are complaining about.
Third, and most importantly, why would a legal debate over religious language in the Pledge lead the RNC to believe “liberals” would want to “ban” the Bible? We can make the Pledge secular again while leaving Scripture fully in tact. I know RNC staffers can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes, but this isn’t that complicated to understand.
Desperate people lash out with reckless, nonsensical attacks. They can’t help themselves; hysteria and confusion cloud their judgment.
The Republican National Committee is quite obviously filled with some embarrassingly desperate people. If they weren’t lying to voters and tarnishing our public discourse, I might almost feel sorry for them.
By the way, Steve Clemons has an actual picture of the Republicans’ mailing on this. The version he has was mailed to voters in Arkansas, but it appears to be the exact same thing sent out in West Virginia.