Herschel Walker, Donald Trump, and the Christian right's long, slow self-destruction

The Christian right were always a bunch of hypocrites, going back to
Bill Clinton. They can't hide from it anymore

I almost feel sorry for Herschel Walker. He is so clearly unfit for the
job of United States senator that it's uncomfortable to watch him
flounder about, unable to coherently answer even the simplest questions
or offer any reasons why he should be one of the most powerful people in government. He was a star athlete, forever to be revered by college
football fans, and now he's just a pathetic tool of cynical politicians, particularly, of course, Donald Trump. Still, Walker willingly allowed
himself to be used and that's on him.

Once again we see the shamelessness of the Republican Party and the rank hypocrisy of the conservative evangelical Christians who form its
strongest base. They're sticking with Walker no matter what, with
ludicrous excuses that wouldn't pass theological muster in a
fourth-grade Sunday school class.

There was a time when conservative Christian morality was considered the backbone of American society and everyone in politics was obliged to
genuflect to their leadership, regardless of party. This week, as the
latest Walker scandal unfolded, I was reminded of the hysteria that
engulfed American politics in the 1990s when right-wing Christians spent
eight long years in a frenzy over the immoral, draft-dodging,
womanizing, lying baby-boomer president, Bill Clinton. (They didn't much
care for his feminazi wife either.) From the Christian right's point of
view Bill and Hillary Clinton personified the sexual revolution, which
they claimed was sending the country straight to hell.

Over and over again they bellowed that "character matters" and when the
Monica Lewinsky scandal hit, offering proof of Clinton's perfidy, they
went into overdrive. Televangelist Pat Robertson told 3,000 cheering
members of the Christian Coalition, that Clinton had turned the White
House into a "playpen for the sexual freedom of the poster child of the
1960s" and solemnly declared that "our national trust has been deeply
wounded." Focus on the Family's James Dobson sent a letter to 2.4
million conservative Christians insisting that Clinton should be
impeached because his behavior was setting a bad example for "the
children" and bemoaning the lack of moral among the millions of
Americans who saw through the right's hypocritical crusade.

Clinton, as we know, survived that impeachment but the power of the
Christian right was actually strengthened. The conventional wisdom after
George W. Bush's dubious Electoral College win in 2000 was that the
Democrats had lost because Americans were disgusted by their general immorality. Abortion once again became the issue that illustrated that
most clearly with middle-path Democrats dominating the conversation and wringing their hands over the supposed need to "reach out" to "pro-life"
voters or face permanent political exile. Op-eds with headlines like
"Why Pro-Choice Is a Bad Choice for Democrats" proliferated and voters
had to endure endless discussions of the "God gap."

https://www.salon.com/2022/10/07/herschel-walker-donald-trump-and-the-christian-rights-long-slow-self-destruction/

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