Burnt Orange Report

War, Games, Evil-doers and Terrorists

By Byron LaMasters

What is war to Republicans?

As I noted yesterday, Pete Sessions doesn't really think that the war on terrorism is a war. It's just, ya know, a game, dude.

So what is war to Republicans?

For Republican Senate candidate Alan Keyes, war means his campaign against Democrat Barack Obama:

The sources said Keyes explained that his campaign has been unfolding according to plan and likened it to a war in which lighting the "match" of controversy was needed to ignite grass-roots voters.

"This is a war we're in," one source recounted Keyes as saying. "The way you win wars is that you start fires that will consume the enemy."

Keyes' comments came during a 40-minute address to about 20 leading Republican fundraisers and donors Thursday at the posh Chicago Club. The sources asked not to be identified to prevent additional pre-election controversy within an already divided GOP.

At the session, the sources said, Keyes denied that he has engaged in name-calling in his campaign. But he likened Democratic opponent Barack Obama to a "terrorist" because Obama, a state senator, voted against a legislative proposal pushed by abortion foes, sources said.

For Alan Keyes, his opponent is the terrorist. For Tom Coburn, his opponent is merely evil:

The race is “the battle of good versus evil,” he said, and his words were echoed by the National Republican Senatorial Committee at a breakfast for Oklahomans attending the GOP national convention in New York.

Brad Carson, the consummate all-American young man, devout Christian and member of the same faith as his opponent, first in every class he attended from high school through Baylor and the University of Oklahoma, Rhodes Scholar, White House Fellow — evil!

This is just a smidgen of the character attacks Coburn — the irreproachable candidate far too noble for such mud-slinging during the primaries — has made toward Carson’s character and conservative voting record.

Carson, responding to the “evil” assessment, said “Osama bin Laden is evil, not your political opponent. These kinds of nutty, extremist comments only further lead to the polarization of our democracy. This isn’t a political jihad, this is an election.”

So, I have a question for Pete Sessions. Since he believes that the war on terrorism is only a game, then what does war mean to him?

Does Pete Sessions a) agree with Alan Keyes, that his opponent is a terrorist? Or does Pete Sessions b) agree with Tom Coburn, that his opponent is simply evil?