| Change in Mass. GOP Becomes
Apparent
Social Conservatives Will No
Longer Be Ignored
April 2001
The political landscape changed in Massachusetts
last month as it became clear to all politicians in the Bay State
that they ignore social conservatives at their peril.
Whether or not Gov. Cellucci becomes our
Ambassador to Canada, it is apparent to all that he has suffered
because of his indifference to the many upset parents in the
state.
The scandal from Fistgate escalated last month
as it became a national issue with the Governor being unsuccessful
in his attempts at damage control.
The host of the "Hannity and Colmes"
show challenged Cellucci many times to explain his silence on
Fistgate.
In addition, Alan Keyes said the appointment of
Cellucci does not represent the "moral standards that the
Bush administration claims" to represent.
And the largest family organization in the
country, Family Research Council, urged its members nationwide to
send messages to President Bush, asking him to "reconsider
his decision." It stated, "Gov. Cellucci's nomination
sends the wrong message to America and the rest of the world about
the new president's level of commitment to the protection of life
and the importance of marriage and family."
The American Family Association, which
represents some 40,000 church congregations across the country,
said that the Governor may face "embarrassing questions"
in the upcoming Senate hearings. "He has shown himself to be
morally unfit to represent our country in Canada," it said.
Brian Camenker, the President of the
Newton-based Parents' Rights Coalition, asked his supporters to
not only send messages to Senator Jesse Helms, Chairman of the
Foreign Relations Committee, but also to President Bush himself.
"This is great news," Camenker said of
the announcement by the Family Research Council. "This has
now changed from a statewide movement to protect our children to a
national one which will have emails flooding the White House from
all different parts of the country."
Camenker is urging people to call President Bush
and make him aware of the dangers inherent in his appointment of
the Governor.
"President Bush is in a somewhat similar
position to where Gov. Cellucci was last year about this
time," said Camenker.
"Cellucci failed to meet with concerned
parents before Fistgate became public knowledge and even after it
did become public knowledge. He thought he could ignore the many
people of this state who were outraged."
Moreover, Gov. Cellucci tried to handle the
matter from afar with comments from his minions, while trying to
appease the homosexual activists at the same time. But he now
knows that was a serious mistake, said Camenker.
"I don't think that the President has been
advised in a way that he understands the problem," Camenker
added. "He is taking a risk that as this gets bigger, he will
alienate an ever larger part of his political base."
Camenker says that Amb. Keyes is loved and
respected by millions of Bush supporters and it would be a mistake
for the President to ignore them now.
Keyes said, "It is my hope and insistence
that the Senate heed the plea of Massachusetts families, and
families across America today. Given his promotion of the radical
homosexual recruitment of our youth, Governor Cellucci is not a
fitting representative of American character, nor of the moral
standards that the Bush administration claims to represent."
Many in Massachusetts feel that if the President
had known what has happened in Massachusetts and the full extent
of the Governor's gay education programs in the schools, he would
not have gone forward with this appointment.
"It is not too late for the Governor to
reconsider and step aside. Another appointee of the President,
Linda Chavez, stepped aside for much less serious reasons than
this," Camenker added.
"I urge people to contact President Bush
and make him aware of what is going on in Massachusetts under
Gov. Cellucci. If we never tell the President our concerns about
what has happened here, he will never know the truth. If the many
thousands of people who have contacted me would talk to the President
instead, it would change the entire debate."
|
