A base abandoned

David Brooks
The New York Times

Dear Mr. Brooks,

I'm very concerned about the latest news out of the Duke Cunningham so-called "scandal." My hope was that the Republicans would get out of it unscathed once the public understood that Cunningham was merely celebrating free market capitalism in its purest form. For that to happen, the party needed to mobilize its base to help it spread that message. Unfortunately, the party seems to have lost its base just when it needed it most. It's not the base's fault. They haven't abandoned the party; the party has abandoned them.

Yesterday, we learned that Republican lobbyist Brent "co-conspirator No. 1" Wilkes entertained the party's finest at "a hospitality suite, with several bedrooms...first in the Watergate Hotel and then in a Capitol Hill hotel." Now, it's not hard to figure out what those "several bedrooms" were used for. And that's the problem.

Obviously, the party's congressional leadership has lost touch with its base in the Heartland. If they really cared about our most cherished values, they'd have insisted on the provision of stalls and aquariums in addition to bedrooms. Unlike their DC counterparts, the politicians of the Heartland understand this. Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern and Georgia culture of life activist Neal Horsley wouldn't make such a mistake. They'd have made Wilkes buy them an evening of hot, passionate mule courting and frog wooing. They haven't been seduced by the capitol's worldly culture.

Heterosexually yours,

Gen. JC Christian, patriot