When Governor John Kasich of Ohio recently hinted to Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union that he would leave the GOP unless it was fixed to his satisfaction, conservatives were shocked—not because he threatened to leave the party, but because everyone already thought he was gone.
“If the party can’t be fixed, Jake, then I’m not going to be able to support the party. Period. That’s the end of it.
“What I’m trying to do is struggle for the soul of the Republican party the way I see it. And I have a right to define it, but I’m not going to support people who are dividers.”
Let me state for the record that I agree with the idea that the GOP needs fixed, but not for the same reason Kasich believes it needs to be fixed. The RINO governor of Ohio thinks the party is broken because it isn’t shaped in his conservative image and lacks compassion (politispeak for progressive) in areas like healthcare and immigration. Conversely, I think it’s broken because it’s too progressive on these and a host of other big-government issues.
In the interview, Kasich exposed himself as the progressive we know him to be when he pointed to Judge Roy Moore as one of the “dividers” responsible for the GOP’s brokenness. Ironic, under the circumstances. Here’s why…
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Kasich often used his “faith” to justify his belief in government-run healthcare and same-sex marriage. The self-proclaimed “Prince of Light and Hope” used his “faith in the Lord” to condemn Christian business owners who objected to providing goods and services for same-sex weddings and to promote federal funding of Planned Parenthood if it meant avoiding a government shutdown.
During his campaign for Senate, Moore often referred to “his” faith as being the primary motivation to serve in the Senate as he put his faith and the Constitution ahead of the progressive utopia. Judge Moore believes that God’s law is the basis for man’s law as Thomas Jefferson stated in the Declaration of Independence. And if there’s a contradiction between the two, such as Supreme Court rulings on abortion and same-sex marriage, we are constitutionally obligated to object to man’s law as a matter of conscience and our reliance on God.
A practical example of what this looks like can be seen in the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his Letter From a Birmingham Jail, Dr. King wrote:
“(T)here are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘An unjust law is no law at all.’…
“A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law.”
On the night of his victory over Luther Strange to become the GOP candidate to replace Jeff Sessions, Moore said:
“As long as it’s constitutional, as long as it advances our society, our culture, our country, I will be supportive. As long as it’s constitutional. But we have to return to knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress.
“I believe we can make America great, but we must make America good, and you cannot make America good without acknowledging the sovereign source of that goodness, the sovereign source of our law, liberty, and government, which is Almighty God.
“We have become a nation that has distanced ourselves from the very foundation. Washington said that of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.
“This is a time for victory. It’s a time to remember the struggles we’ve gone through, but it’s also time to rededicate our lives to God and to the Constitution, and to our country, to our families. Let’s go again and make America great,”
What little hope the GOP has to set things right lies in people like Judge Roy Moore, not Governor John Kasich. And if Kasich goes through with his “threat” to leave the GOP, we’ll have Senator Moore to thank for it.
David Leach is the owner of The Strident Conservative, your source for opinion that’s politically-incorrect and always “right.” His articles can also be found on RedState.com.
His daily radio commentary is nationally syndicated with Salem Radio Network and can be heard on stations across America.
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