2004

From Comments: A Theory on Keyes Use of Language

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 No Comments

Vasyl in comments:

Have you noticed how often Keyes and his supporters cite 19th century politicians and precedents? It’s almost like they think they actually are fighting the political battles of that century, not debating the issues facing 21st century America.

I liked Josh Marshall’s comments about Keyes’s eloquence — that it is spellbinding, but has a cartoonish quality about it. Having read some of his speeches and columns, I have an rudimentary theory about this.

Keyes’s grammar and syntax are not modern. He has more in common with orators from the 19th century than he does with the great speakers (Reagan, Clinton, Blair, Obama) of our day.

Doesn’t this sound like Keyes: “I now wish to ask you whether that principle was right or wrong which guaranteed to every State and every community the right to form and regulate their domestic institutions to suit themselves.”

It’s not a Keyes quote; it’s a sentence from Stephen Douglas’s speech at one of the debates in 1858.

What about this one: “The practical foundation of all the rights and privileges of the individual citizen is the rights that inhere in the citizen body as a whole, the rights of the people and of the state governments. The latter effectively embody their ability to resist abuses of national power. Such rights include the right to elect representatives, and to be governed by laws made and enforced through them.”

That’s Keyes in 2003, even though it sounds like Douglas in 1858.

The theory is this: Keyes lives in the 19th century. He has adopted the trappings of a free black man from that time period, and it informs his opinions, his manners, his outlook, and even his speaking style.

I admit, this is just a rough theory — but it certainly explains why Keyes ignores every constitutional and political development since the Civil War.

From Comments

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 1 Comment

?What could be more necessary than the humbling and limiting acknowledgment that there is, in fact, a God, and we are not Him?”

Maybe he just thinks he’s Jesus.

We should help Keyes

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 3 Comments

No, not help him get elected.

But Alan Keyes needs a place to live in Illinois, and quick. He can’t sign a year lease, and needs to move it immediately — so that limits his choices.

We can do a great service by offering him suggestions on places to move: flophouses, SROs, the local Y.

OPEN THREAD!

(stolen shamelessly from the inbox with a reader suggestion–thanks)

What Are the Leader Editorial Writer’s On?

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 4 Comments

Because they need to take some more to make the next three months seem palatable.

— If all goes as expected tomorrow, Illinois will enjoy a U.S. Senate campaign like none this nation has seen literally since 1858. That campaign also happened to be in Illinois and featured our state’s standard-bearer, Abraham Lincoln, and Stephen Douglas.

In 1858 Douglas won the race but Lincoln won the history. It is our hope that this year the Republican will win the election as well as the history.

Lincoln’s going to rise from the grave and sue someone for libel if they are actually comparing him to Alan Keyes.

That said, the basic problem left out of this whole process is this clown has run two campaigns for Senate and lost handily both times. Why is this going to be different? Did anyone in the Central Committee meeting bring this up? Or did everyone not bother to think about why he lost the last two times? If he’s so damn inspiring why isn’t he speaking from the Senate Floor instead of on the radio?

What? Is he all of a sudden going to hit Illinois voters with a wingnut spell of quackery and all of a sudden they start yabbering about Natural Law?

But They Sure Remembered Him

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 2 Comments

From the AP, August 1, 2000 in an article on Keyes and the Maryland GOP

Keyes’ unwillingness to compromise cost him his 1992 campaign against incumbent Sen. Barbara Mikulski, Terhes said. His first and major blunder was his insistence on taking an $8,000 a month salary from his campaign funds, she said.

Terhes tried in vain to dissuade Keys, but said he wanted to do things his way. “We pleaded, begged, cajoled and did everything we could and he would not listen,” Terhes said.

To make matters worse, Keyes called the Republican senatorial campaign committee racist because it would not sink money into his campaign.

He also scolded members of his state GOP when they didn’t back his bid for a prime-time speaking slot at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston.

“He called us racists,” recalls Carol Arscott, a Republican, who works as a political consultant in Annapolis. If Keyes gets no respect, she said there’s a reason why: “Because he gives zero respect.”

About a week ago, I wondered how this trainwreck could possibly be made worse. I now have about a million different ways and they are all revolving around Alan Keyes.

Does anyone at the GOP have Google or Lexis?

Four Years Later

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 No Comments

On October 25, 1992 The Washington Post writes almost the same thing:

In the Senate, Democrat Barbara Mikulski — rising quickly through the ranks to become a member of key committees — has clearly earned reelection. Her Republican opponent, Alan Keyes, is every bit the aggressive conservative that he was during his unsuccessful 1988 challenge of Paul Sarbanes — only this year his frenetic doctrinal outbursts have been coupled with self-righteous, wing-to-wing trashing of his own party. Adding to this self-destructive political performance was his decision to draw a salary from his campaign funds and his near-total lack of familiarity with constituent concerns.

Keyes Didn’t Even Know Much About Maryland

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 No Comments

Washington Post, November 6, 1988

MARYLAND has been blessed with an unusually strong and representative congressional delegation — senators and members of the House who by and large are respected and given important assignments. Leading the list for reelection this year is Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes, who clearly has earned reelection. His hard work and off-stage contributions as a member of key committees continue to outweigh criticisms that he has to yet exercise his talents to the fullest or move out into a vocal leadership role on behalf of his constituents. Republican challenger Alan Keyes is an aggressive conservative intellectual. Energetically, Mr. Keyes has been pronouncing doctrine that surely has put more philosophical distance between these two candidates than any others paired for the Senate this year. Absent from his theories, however, has often been much evidence of a knowledge of Maryland or of familiarity with the concerns of its many constituencies.

Well, at least he’s had some practice at not knowing much about the state he is running to represent.

Keyes Split the Maryland GOP

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 No Comments

Did you know that Keyes didn’t run in the 1988 primary for the Republican nomination for the US Senate seat from Maryland? Nope, he replaced a guy who dropped out.

From the Washington Post, June 26, 1988:

But for all the talk of unity, there were noticeable no-shows at the convention. Neither of the two Republican members of Congress from Maryland — Helen D. Bentley of Baltimore nor Constance A. Morella of Montgomery County — attended the convention, nor did any of the Republicans who serve in the Maryland General Assembly.

Keyes at first shrugged this off and then became angry at reporters who pressed the issue. The news conference ended with Keyes in a shouting match with a radio talk show host from Baltimore.

It’s like history repeating itself–just farther west.

Keyes Fundraising For Randall Terry

ArchPundit August 8, 2004 No Comments

Dandy

Dear Pro-life Activist:

An outrage has occurred. And together, we need to right this wrong.

Randall Terry, the Founder of Operation Rescue, has lost everything because of his work in rescuing babies from abortion. Abortion clinics, Planned Parenthood, NOW, and the ACLU have been suing Randall in court for over ten years. They finally won, and took everything Randall owned.

It is our strong conviction that Randall has endured this prolonged conflict not only on behalf of unborn babies, but also on behalf of the entire pro-life community. And it is our strong belief that the pro-life community should join together to replace what was “consumed by the locusts.”

We want to restore what the enemy took, and help equip Randall for the battles that lie ahead. In spite of everything he has endured, he is still in the fight.

If you have appreciated and been inspired by Randall Terry’s many years of unselfish work for Christ and for the unborn, we encourage you to join us in helping him rebuild his life.

Please make as generous a contribution as possible, would you? $25, $50, or $1,000 if you can, and then show this letter to a pro-life friend and your church and ask them if they would like to give to our fund too.

Randall has stood in the line of fire for years. Now let’s stand up for him. Please do what you can! Make your check out to the Terry Family Trust.

God bless you,

Former Ambassador Alan Keyes
U.S.Congressman Ron Paul, 14th District, Texas
Fr. Frank Pavone, Founding Director, Priests for Life
Rich Buhler, Author, Speaker, Broadcaster
Joe Costello, Pres., Kylea Health and Nutrition
Warren Duffy, Host, Live From LA
Fr. Terry Gensemer, Director, CEC for Life
Norma McCorvey, Roe No More Ministries
Gary McCullough, Christian Communication Network
Rev. Bruce Moore, Pastor, ClearCreek Christian Assembly
Carl Thompson, Head of Operations, PromiseVision

Praising Randall Terry for his efforts of course raises the interesting questions of just how much does Keyes agree with Terry. Randall has some unfortunate baggage in his personal life including a daughter who converted to Islam when she became pregnant and a gay adopted son Randall has disowned (neither kid is unfortunate other than in relation to the Terry’s views). But even more unfortunate is his belief in theocracy. Usually people joke about someone being a theocrat, but in the case of Randall Terry, it is no joke.

Of course, one of the more pedantic lectures from sensitive pony-tail guy in college always involved the overuse of the word patriarchy and some babbling about overthrowing it. Randall outdoes SPTG with a stirring defense of patriarchy:

Randall Terry and many other Christian Right leaders earnestly believe that someday they will be running this country. What kind of “Christian nation” do Terry and his comrades envision? Well, in referring to doctors who perform abortions, Terry said, “When I, or people like me, are running the country, you’d better flee, because we will find you, we will try you, and we’ll execute you. I mean every word of it.” He added, “I will make it part of my mission to see to it that they are tried and executed.”

“You say, ‘This is extreme!'” he continued, “Yeah, you’re right. But imagine God Almighty sending people to hell just because they didn’t follow His son? That’s extreme. That’s intolerance. Imagine Jesus saying that all other religions are false. Christianity claims to be the only way.”

In a “Christian America” women would lose more than their right of privacy; women would be pushed back to second class citizenship. Terry emphasized the need for male leadership in America.

“The greatest crisis we face is not child killing,” he declared, “it’s not the sodomites, it’s not land tax, it’s not the intrusion of the federal government into our lives, our families, as they crush our liberties. The greatest crisis we face tonight is a crisis of leadership. We are facing a crisis of righteous, courageous, physically oriented, male leadership. Male leadership!”

“God established patriarchy when he established the world. God established a patriarchal world, Terry said.” “If we’re going to have true reformation in America, it is because men once again, if I may use a worn out expression, have righteous testosterone flowing through their veins. They are not afraid of the contempt of their contemporaries. They are not here to get along. They are not even here to take issue. They are here to take over!”

I gotta give Alan this, he has some interesting friends. Of course, Alan is in favor of a theocracy so I guess it shouldn’t be surprising.

A bit more over at Emily’s Blog