{"id":1710,"date":"2026-06-01T12:33:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1710"},"modified":"2026-06-01T12:33:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T12:33:55","slug":"polman-conservatives-used-to-preach-good-morals-now-they-splash-in-the-sewer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=1710","title":{"rendered":"POLMAN: Conservatives used to preach good morals. Now they splash in the sewer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I\u2019m old enough to remember when conservatives routinely preached a good game about the importance of morality in politics.<\/p>\n

This was back in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was known to\u2026 how shall I say this\u2026 fancy the ladies. His behavior prompted many on the Republican right to furrow their brows and insist our leaders possess the virtues of \u201cgood character.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the words of Bill Bennett, a former Reagan Cabinet secretary and vocal virtue maven, \u201cmoral anchors and moorings have never been more necessary.\u201d In the words of Gary Bauer, an evangelical Christian leader, \u201cCharacter counts \u2013 in a people, in the institutions of our society, and in our national leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hardly need remind you of what has since transpired at the national level \u2013 namely, the 2024 hiring of a convicted felon, adjudicated rapist and proven financial fraudster, thanks in no small part to a conservative base that once lauded the virtues of moral character. Therefore, it\u2019s no surprise a Trump mini-me, a poster child for moral and financial depravity, has romped to a Senate Republican nomination down in Texas.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The rise of Ken Paxton is the latest symptom of our national decline, and it would not shock me one iota if he triumphs in November and helps to cement the party\u2019s Senate majority.<\/p>\n

Is it possible that Democrat James Talarico, the Bible-quoting Presbyterian seminarian, can turn the seat blue? Theoretically, sure. But this is Texas we\u2019re talking about. The last time a Texas Democrat won an open Senate seat, it was so long ago that the Jackson 5 topped the Billboard charts with \u201cI\u2019ll Be There.\u201d That was November of 1970. As Casey Stengel liked to say, \u201cYou can look it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

So any Republican candidate starts with an enormous advantage \u2013 even a lowlife like Paxton, the state attorney general, who was impeached by his own party in the Texas state House, indicted on felony securities fraud charges, and dimed out to the FBI by his own staffers. He wife has filed for divorce, citing \u201cbiblical grounds,\u201d namely adultery. Despite all that,\u00a0Republican primary voters decided he\u2019s precisely the kind of guy they want in Washington.<\/p>\n

Trump endorsed Paxton and that\u2019s all they needed to know. They want the vice. They want the criminality. They want the reverse of what they worship on Sundays and preach to their kids.<\/p>\n

The grim truth these days is mindless tribalism usually trumps any notion of right and wrong. The acquisition and retention of power takes holy precedence. That\u2019s how it works in a cult. Moral values are a luxury, as worthless as yesterday\u2019s soiled Kleenex.<\/p>\n

Which is why Paxton is already doing what MAGAts do best, smearing the opposition 24\/7. Cue the garbage: \u201cSome people know him as tofu Talarico. Some people call him six-gender Jimmy. I\u2019ve even heard some people call him James Talafreako.\u201d (Talarico has referred to himself as \u201ccis gender,\u201d which literally means he knows he\u2019s a male. Paxton and Trump have twisted \u201ccis\u201d into \u201csix.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Some pro-Talarico optimists insist these scurrilous attacks are proof Paxton and his MAGA overlord are \u201cterrified.\u201d I disagree. I think they\u2019re emboldened. They\u2019re just doing what has worked so well so often these last 10 years. And even if Paxton is pond scum, he\u2019s their pond scum \u2013 and that\u2019s better than a guy who will team up with Chuck Schumer and the rest of those \u201cwoke\u201d libs.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s no surprise that the Republicans in Washington have duly fallen in goosestep.<\/p>\n

Before the Texas primary, they pledged fealty to their brother in arms, John Cornyn. They hammered away at Paxton, citing the \u201c20 articles of impeachment\u2026over alleged bribery, abuse of power and obstruction of justice.\u201d They spotlighted Paxton\u2019s adulterous behavior, \u201cusing secret emails and burner phones to try and cover his tracks,\u201d and inventing an alias \u201cfor a fake Uber account that he used to secretly see his mistress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those quotes, and more, were emblazoned on the website of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The other day they were all deleted, flushed down the Orwellian memory hole.<\/p>\n

There shall be no more talk of Paxton\u2019s moral failings. And for sure there shall be no further talk of Paxton\u2019s recent decision to go easy on a Republican attorney who\u2019d been charged with repeated sexual abuse of a boy. Paxton brokered a plea deal. The offender served 30 days in jail, with no need to register as a sex offender.<\/p>\n

Cornyn had highlighted this pedophilia case during the primary campaign, but don\u2019t expect Republicans \u2013 who once prided themselves as the champions of moral values \u2013 to mention the case again.<\/p>\n

And rest assured if Paxton lands in the Senate, he will join his colleagues every October in proclaiming National Character Counts Week \u2013 an annual chamber tradition since the 1990s. Last year\u2019s version lauded the importance of \u201ctrustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.\u201d Wow. The hypocrisy is so thick you can\u2019t cut it with a chainsaw.<\/p>\n

Six years without Paxton\u2019s signature would be a small blessing.<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes the Subject to Change newsletter. Email him at\u00a0dickpolman7@gmail.com<\/em>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Toon in Monday<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more MONDAY NEWS IN A RUSH: Top headlines in today\u2019s NewsMinute video<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Read more Trump fumes after judge throws out Kennedy Center renovation plan, name change<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m old enough to remember when conservatives routinely preached a good game about the importance of morality in politics. This was back in the 1990s when Bill Clinton was known to\u2026 how shall I say this\u2026 fancy the ladies. His behavior prompted many on the Republican right to furrow their brows and insist our leaders […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[2646,2647,45,2648,2134,2135,1746],"class_list":["post-1710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-bill-bennett","tag-bill-clinton","tag-donald-trump","tag-gary-bauer","tag-james-talarico","tag-john-cornyn","tag-ken-paxton"],"yoast_head":"\nPOLMAN: Conservatives used to preach good morals. 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