The Religious Right Says No to Las Vegas as Site of 2016 Republican Convention

Sinning - Republican style

Sinning – Republican style

Do you ever wonder how much power the Religious Right wields? Repeatedly, for several decades now, liberal pundits have hailed the demise of the Religious Right, but against all expectations, their power only continues to grow, even as their demographic shrinks. This year, they are flexing their muscles as the Republican National Committee chooses a city to host their 2016 convention. Apparently, Las Vegas, the Sin City, is a front runner (the less sinful Dallas is another).

The Religious Right is less than enthused, and Reince Priebus, who has, after all, admitted that the Republican Party IS a religion, has been put on notice that he best find more auspicious digs. Because, no matter what the ads say, what happens in Vegas does not necessarily stay in Vegas, especially when the spotlights are on you.

I mean, it’s a great choice for these pretend family values types, right? They can indulge themselves in all manner of debauchery in the name of their Lord Jesus Christ. And it doesn’t have to be somebody’s wife, Vance McAllister, especially the wife of a friend and campaign donor. There are prostitutes galore!

The Dallas Morning News reports that,

To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.

The leaders [including Tim Wildmon, AFA, Phylis Schafly, Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition, Paul Caprio of Family-PAC, and James Dobson of Family Talk] sent a letter last week to Republican chairman Reince Priebus, putting him on notice that picking Vegas would generate friction. They call the city a “trap waiting to ensnare. … What could go wrong? The answer is obvious.”

For once, these guys have gotten something right.

Ask James Dobson, he knows! He said Tuesday that,

Even though Vegas has tried to shore itself up and call itself family-friendly, it’s still a metaphor for decadence. There’s still 64 pages of escort services in the yellow pages. … You can’t have it both ways.

I will carefully not inquire here how he knows there are precisely 64 pages of escort services. I did not know that.

According to The Dallas Morning news,

Jack St. Martin, executive director of the Las Vegas 2016 host committee, sidestepped the evangelicals’ objections Tuesday. With so much hotel and meeting space, he said, the city “offers the Republican Party and the conservative cause the best opportunity in a generation to house, train, educate, motivate and activate the grass-roots volunteers that make up the foundation of the GOP.”

Now is an odd time, don’t you think, for the Republican Party to suddenly find pragmatism?

Caprio certainly – and unsurprisingly – thinks pragmatism is a bad, baaaad idea. He says, “This is the city of deep, dark secrets. … Are they going to cross the Rubicon?” Alright, they crossed the Rubicon when Goldwater lost and they’re plundering Rome as we speak, but Caprio has a point when he warns, “Parties have images to American voters as to who’s pro-family and who isn’t. … The base is already somewhat de-energized.”

Hilariously and predictably, misogynist Erick Erickson of RedState, who called Wendy Davis “Abortion Barbie,” and submitted to Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, is worried about beautiful women. He published a piece Monday titled RNC, Please Don’t. He cautions,

At every opportunity the left has decided to fight the GOP by using amateur and professional acquired video of embarrassing moments. Along with moments that could be viewed as hypocrisy, the left and its friends in the media will run story after story about wild and crazy nights in Vegas at the RNC. Good Christian delegates getting drunk, gambling, stuffing dollar bills in strippers’ g-strings, etc. will be the toast of not just MSNBC, but the front page of the New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, the Huffington Post, and more.

That’s just a little silly, don’t you think? ABC, CBS and NBC never ever talk about Republican transgressions. Well, okay, they did talk about conservative buffoonery during the 2012 presidential race but they barely scratched the surface and that was only because the GOP had gotten so egregiously repulsive that even the mainstream media could not ignore it any longer. And of course, we all know the Republican blamed not their own behavior, but the “liberal media elite” for their defeat and they’re more than happy to do so again.

But it does seem they’ve learned a little caution finally from their experiences. Not that they’re bigots completely out of touch with today’s America but that they have to limit the exposure to their Clown Car antics. (Don’t forget Priebus’ changes to the GOP primaries this time around.)

Because, you know, reporting the news is a bad thing. It never occurs to them not to say repulsive thing in the first place, as this week’s clown show more than demonstrates.

Here, it is obvious, whatever the Religious Right says, that Las Vegas is not the problem, but rather the moral fiber of the Republican delegates, unable to resist sin when it is literally thrust into their faces. Blaming Vegas is rather like blaming a gun, from the Republican perspective, if only they could see it.

Too, you would think the Religious Right would rush to embrace Las Vegas as a test of character, an opportunity for the forces of God Almighty to show their moral fortitude in the garden of earthly delights. You know, show America, “See, we’re immune to beautiful, scantily clad women (and/or men)!” And drugs. And booze.

Instead, God’s would-be prophets run from Satan with their unmentionables between their legs, while the dauntless he-men women haters, led by Reince Priebus, yearn to rush into the jaws of sin to demonstrate their manly manliness to any woman who will show an interest or take a few bucks. Having slaked their manly lusts they will then no doubt turn around the tell us women are whores and sluts.

In Religious Right terms, Baal wins this round. Go Baal!

You can tell the Religious Right’s demagogues don’t trust either themselves or their fellow conservatives, if you’ll pardon the vernacular, to keep their peckers in their pants. And with good reason. When opportunity knocks. the first thing out the window is their family values.

When you think about it, it is rather humorous to think that the leaders of the Religious Right, of all the people on this planet, have a more realistic appraisal of human character than the Republican Party. It is just a shame they don’t have a realistic appraisal of anything else.


Copyright PoliticusUSA LLC 2008-2023