Stateside with Rosalea
Run, Roy, run!
By Rosalea Barker
While each of the Democratic presidential candidates touts himself as the man who will beat George W. Bush, one sector
of the vast electorate that is the United States has its hopes pinned on quite another man. However, despite his near
superstar status among his followers, that person has remained coy about his intentions.
I'm talking about Roy Moore, the Alabama judge who was suspended from his position for refusing to remove the statue of
the Ten Commandments that he had installed in the foyer of his courthouse. A report on worldnetdaily.com quoted a
spokeswoman for Moore as saying "Anything is possible," but the report also said she indicated that Moore was focused on
his appeal of the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that stripped him of his chief justice position, rather than on running
for the presidency.
The worldnetdaily report quotes columnist John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, who is in turn quoting an Atlanta
Journal-Constitution report that Moore was "treated like a rock star, signing autographs and getting thunderous standing
ovations" at last Saturday's Christian Coalition "Family and Freedom" rally in Atlanta, where he was a featured speaker.
(Nothing like getting your news warmed-over, right?!)
Moore is being courted by the Constitution Party, which has the third largest voter registration in the US, and which
fielded its 2000 presidential candidate in 48 states (although in seven states he qualified only as a write-in
candidate). Were Moore to run on the CP's religious conservative ticket, he could pose a serious challenge to Bush's
chances of reelection.
Religious conservatives, it seems, are getting tired of Bush. A couple of weeks ago Pat Robertson, on his 700 Club news
program, opined that the Bush administration should get rid of the Department of Education altogether, so it's likely
that the cuts in education programs contained in the latest budget don't go far enough for the religious right.
Robertson's latest book, The Ten Offenses, is about how the Ten Commandments and their relationship to the US
Constitution have been sidelined and disrespected.
And in her column at newswithviews.com on Tuesday, Kelly McGinley begins: "This country is in a constitutional and moral
crisis and the blind loyalty to the Republican Party has a lot to do with the problem. We have got to stop supporting a
candidate just because he or she has an 'R' before his or her name. The Republican platform is great, but if the
Republicans only give it lip service, what good is it?"
And she concludes: "It is well past time to be loyal to Christ instead of the Republican Party. Time to stand for
righteousness. It is time for a third party; the Constitution Party is the one I have in mind. Visit their website at
www.constitutionparty.com. Check out their party platform and their candidates and you will see a big difference. Maybe
if we practice tough love the Republican Party would repent and come back to its platform. But if not, duty is duty. Let
righteousness ring!"