Where's the Beef?

Hewitt sounded off yesterday (scroll to is - his hyperlinks seem to be hosed) with an inspired defense of Jerry Falwell against Howard Dean. Read it - I share Hugh's reservations about Falwells' politicization of his church, and some of his gaffes are truly cringe-inducing, but Hewitt makes observations about Falwell the Minister that are not only dead-on - but are the sort of thing that the GOP needs to remember.

To wit:

"Dean is becoming a crank before our eyes. Democrats must recognize that personal attacks like the one on Falwell are a signal of things to come, and that nominating Dean will assure a steady diet of apologies and clarifications. They may nominate him anyway, but Dean's internal anger is on display, and it is a disqualifying character flaw in a candidate for the presidency.
But since Dean has attacked Falwell as a Pharisee, that makes it legit to ask to see Dean's own records of charitable giving and personal service to the poor and the sick --and bike path advocacy and doctors' hours for which he was paid don't count. Perhaps we will be pleasantly surprised by the size of Dr. Dean's tithes and offerings and his uncompensated dedication to the imprisoned and the orphaned. But it is possible that Dean's attack on Falwell, and through him all ministers and even lay evangelicals who have been active in politics, will have set in motion some questions Dr. Dean doesn't want to answer."

Check it out - even if you're not a fundie, this is important stuff.

Posted by Mitch at January 1, 2004 06:00 AM