Pat Robertson's 30 pieces of silver

By Rick Morris

Pat Buchanan's forecast that Rudy Giuliani would try to bridge his differences with social conservatives by buying them off with militarism is paying off -- witness his endorsement by Pat Robertson, one of the big poohbahs of the Social Issues Right since the 1980s. Apparently the willingness to bomb Iran on the drop of a dime transcends every other difference that is supposed to exist between Robertson and the thrice-married drag queen.

Robertson's sellout of the pro-life and traditional marriage community is shameful but not unexpected. For all the rhetoric about leaders of the "far right" in this country, most of them have proven to be phonies and sellouts who want a place at the table far more than they want the advancement of their principles. The best example of all comes from the leadup to the 1996 Republican presidential race, when Bill Clinton was at a low ebb and several candidates with a legitimate conservative pedigree were entering the fray: Buchanan, Phil Gramm, Steve Forbes and Alan Keyes among others. So who did Ralph Reed and other alleged "radical right" potentates line up behind? Good old Mr. Establishment Bob Dole.

For those who have appointed themselves as the leaders and guardians of right-wing thought, viability always trumps every other principle, including integrity and idealism. On the same day Robertson shamed himself by traipsing hat-in-hand to the anti-life frontrunner in the presidential race, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback was putting a period at the end of his campaign by endorsing fellow Senator John McCain. Brownback's effort was doomed when leaders of the so-called "Religious Right" refused to rally to the side of the most consistently pro-life candidate ever to run for president. He wasn't "viable" enough in the polls for them -- in the winter of 2006-07, mind you, when the Howard Dean precedent of 2003 proved that a longshot had plenty of time to catch on -- and they abandoned him to be willfully misled by politicians they know will let them down if elected.

The blogs and message machine on the Left always bemoans the alleged all-powerful influence of the leaders of the "Religious Right." This country should be so lucky. They're a bunch of whimpering, toothless sellouts just like so many other influence-chasers in D.C.