Fair enough. I agree...
I do have one question though. Howlin, regarding your other post: Did Keyes really call Bush "evil"?
Freeper who were there say he did; the transcripts I read looked that way to me.
The Keyes supporters who were there say no.
He did.
Keyes said Bush's decision was more damaging than anything that Bill Clinton, often called the villain of the right, could have done.
"The evil that you know, the evil that inspires you to fight again is not the worst evil," Keyes said.
"The worst evil creeps behind your lines and dominates your leadership."
Source .
Former GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes took some Republicans by surprise Saturday by criticizing President Bush's decision to allow limited stem cell research. Keyes said Bush betrayed conservatives by supporting a policy based on politics.
"I cannot support leadership that sits in the backroom trying to figure out how much harm can be done without opposition," he said before almost 400 people at Hyatt Regency DFW hotel. Keyes was keynote speaker at a luncheon as part of a three-day "boot camp for conservatives," sponsored by the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and the Leadership Institute.
Bush announced Aug. 9 that he supports federal funding for medical research on embryonic stem cells, a move that some scientists believe could cure a host of diseases. But the research will be limited to 60 lines of existing stem cells. Bush said his decision puts him at the crossroads between protecting and enhancing human life.
Keyes said Bush's decision was more damaging than anything that Bill Clinton, often called the villain of the right, could have done. "The evil that you know, the evil that inspires you to fight again is not the worst evil," Keyes said.
"The worst evil creeps behind your lines and dominates your leadership."
Keyes said Bush has opened himself up to criticism from abortion-rights supporters. "They will come back and say it's hypocritical to not support abortion but to support stem cell research," he said.
Keyes received two standing ovations during his remarks, but a representative of the assemblies distanced his group from the speech. At least one audience member followed Keyes outside to express displeasure with his comments about the president. "He accused Bush of being evil," said Chuck Lutz, president of the Tarrant County Republican Assembly.
There is room to interpret the remark both ways. I submit that given that Keyes - who isn't know for giving up an issue he has set his mind to - has not continued to call Bush evil, that it is more likely that he was saying that the compromise or line of thinking which led to Bush's decision was evil. Opinions will vary.