Is Alan Keyes Making Sense?

Strike The Root ^ | March 13, 2002 | Jef Allen

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Look at his comments in this article. Is there any doubt Keyes is an elitist?

You quote five sentences written by a man who has written millions of words, and ask is there any doubt that you have summed up his thinking in those five sentences. A short answer is yes, there is plenty of doubt that you have succeeded. Your approach is that of Senator Kennedy questioning Judge Pickering, quoting a few sentences out of a career of writing and saying that you have proved something about his essential character and ideology. To me, you and Teddy are the cultists.

[Howlin]

You may quote me on the fact that humbletheFiend has said he has quit and that's quite enough for me.

I have seen the light, Richard.

[nunya bidness]

I don't think abortion can really be put easily into the ideological spectrum, the more I think about it.

What do you believe in? Baseball?

[Torie]

I really can't imagine why, so I am skeptical. Granted, they may have less intellectual energy focused on him, because they have other concerns and priorities. Unless pere as he aged acquired some continental conservative fondness for a hierarchial society where folks had clear roles, and rights and duties to each other, or something.

[Torie]

No, school vouchers and modern classical music and bridge, and debate, and a muscular US foreign policy. At least those pop into my brain off the top.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

So I take it you agree that Keyes has not, in these two months, used the show for "Bush bashing?"

My guess is that Howlin will say that she has no evidence one way or the other, I would think that is fair.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I have seen the light, Richard.

Does that mean 'we can all just get along (sniff)'.

[Howlin]

Say, what was it you said yesterday that made me laugh so hard? I remember laughing, I just can't remember the thread.

[Howlin]

We can all get a Long Island Iced Tea, if you want. :-)

[Amelia]

is that he admires Lincoln more wholeheartedly than Kristol or his father do

What's the big deal about Lincoln?

[nunya bidness]

Rent "Bull Durham." It'll make a believer out of you.

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

We can all get a Long Island Iced Tea, if you want. :-)

Doesn't that have gin in it (gag!). I guess we can all get approved by the real Rodney King now, he would be so happy (especially if he is still drunk!).

[Howlin]

Oh, time for a court reporter joke then:

JUDGE: You may call your first witness.

PROSECTUOR: State your name, please.

WITNESS: Rodney King.

PROSECUTOR: Your Honor, I rest my case.

[Howlin]

FOUND IT!!!

To: PhiKapMom

the remaking of Lindh into "I really liked America" and "I was misunderstood!"

I don't mind Lindh being thought to love America and thought to be misunderstood, just so long as he is known to be DEAD!

9 posted on 3/16/02 3:03 AM Eastern by Lucius Cornelius Sulla

[CounterCounterCulture]

What an...uh...interesting post. Where to begin...

Regarding to the article, the author has an obvious axe to grind with any Lincoln Republican and that would obviously include Alan Keyes and most Republicans outside the Confederate South. Most of his ramblings seem petty and not worthy of discussion from me.

Now to your opinions...

As even the most casual of viewers have noticed, Dr. Alan Keyes has not been using his new television show (Alan Keyes is Making Sense) to criticize President Bush or any of the President’s policies. Dr. Keyes has put his “I am not a Bush Republican” days far behind him now and is now solidly back in the President’s camp. He fully supports all of the President’s policies and it is not an exaggeration to say that Alan Keyes is the President’s best friend in the media.

Oh he still has some disagreements with President Bush, as do most Republicans. Nobody can please everybody all the time. I probably agree with Dr. Keyes 99.9% of the time on the issues. Just because Keyes may not have said any harsh criticism on President Bush lately is no reflection on a change in Keyes. I've supported him since 1996 and Alan is remarkably consistent, something you cannot say for a typical politician.

An as far as Bush’s “best friend in the media,” Rush Limbaugh may be his best friend. Television-wise, I don’t know. Perhaps Keyes has an edge on Sean Hannity, Tony Snow et al. But Keyes will not be a mouthpiece for the Bush administration and will criticize where it is deemed appropriate.

The real Alan Keyes is back in the saddle. He is more mature now. He looks better and he feels better about himself. He has overcome the post-election melancholy that plagued him in 2001. Many of us simply ignored Alan’s intemperate outbursts of criticism against the President last year because we could sense the post-election grief and anguish that enveloped his soul.

I have never seen a post-election "melancholy" or "grief" or "anguish" from Keyes. Certainly he was far less visible in 2001 than 2000 or this year. In 2001, he substituted for Bill O'Reilly a couple of times and attended conservative conferences and spoke out for pro-life causes. I’m sure he knew he was a longshot but held his ground and made the debates livelier. The events of 9/11, of course, put much more emphasis with foreign policies and the war effort and Keyes does support the war effort. Doesn't change his opinions on more domestic matters.

Unfortunately, the return of the real Alan Keyes has not been without its share of critics. A few of his fans, known as paleo-Keyesians, are having a difficult time adjusting to the return of the real Alan Keyes. They wait in vain for Dr. Keyes to use his new television forum to castigate President Bush for what they perceive as failings or shortcomings in many areas of our nation’s foreign and domestic policy. Quite simply, they are reluctant to accept that the real Alan Keyes is a Bush Republican after all.

I have no idea who you are referring to with this curious "paleo" label. I would appreciate a list of Freepers who you feel fit into this category (you can Freep-mail this to me so as not to inflame tempers). The only anger I see here are those who feel slighted with any criticism of President Bush. I don't listen to Keyes to hear him bash Bush. I listen to the issues and his take on them, which are well reasoned even in the rare instance I disagree with him. And there are policies of the Bush administration I do disagree with and don't mind exercising my 1st Amendment rights when I feel the need. And I will give Bush congratulations when he does something right too.

On the other hand, the neo-Keyesians, myself included, knew all along that once Dr. Keyes regained his composure, his silly criticisms of the President would cease. We welcome Alan back and join him in our complete support of the Bush White House.

Silly criticisms of Bush would be along the lines of his speaking style and how he says "nuclear." Criticisms of issues are not silly but substantial (I, of course, am not referring to leftist criticism which is never about substance).

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Say, what was it you said yesterday that made me laugh so hard? I remember laughing, I just can't remember the thread.

We were discussing the situation of poor Richard Lindh, and how we could help him to his destination. I said 'I don't mind Lindh being thought to love America and thought to be misunderstood, just so long as he is known to be DEAD!'. You enjoyed that, then I went and paraphrased the old British sentence for treason, as in what they did to William Wallace, but I think you were elsewhere by then.

[rdf]

What's the big deal about Lincoln?

Since you ask...

********

Declaration Foundation

February 28, 2002

Why we care about Lies told against Lincoln... and what some of those lies have been since Feb 12th, 2002

Lincoln, more than any other American statesman, understood himself to be acting from Declaration Principles..

This Foundation is about acting from Declaration Principles.

Your Chairman, Ambassador Alan Keyes, and your President are on record numerous times as holding that Lincoln did exemplify those principles. It becomes our duty, then to correct falsehoods and sneers against the chief exemplar of our mission. Uncorrected, those lies will be retold and believed, by some, to the detriment of this Foundation and the Republic it seeks to serve.

#####snip#####

For the Truths of the Declaration he lived and he died, and for that death and that life, Americans honor and love him to this day.

Liberty and Union, Now and Forever!

Dr. Richard Ferrier
President, Declaration Foundation

********

For the whole article, click Here

Cheers,

Richard F.

[Torie]

I think you might be mixing up Keyes with Jesse Jackson. You should be able to tell them apart. One speaks the King's English, and one doesn't (or at least I have trouble understanding him).