JOHN WALLACE: Campaign mudslinging takes a devilish turn

Slinging mud at your political opponent is nothing new. One of the most famous examples is the 1950 Florida Senate race between George Smathers and Claude Pepper. Smathers accused Pepper of “committing nepotism with his sister-in-law and did you know he had a sister who was a thespian up in wicked New York City. And I am not going to even mention, although it is an established fact, that before he got married, Claude Pepper habitually practiced celibacy.” Pepper lost. Well, the good people of Florida did not want a questionable character like that representing them in Washington.

This proud tradition continues today.

Did you happen to see the Republican National Convention? Did Ben Carson insinuate that Hillary is a Satan worshiper? Maybe that wasn’t what he said, but it was what I heard. The dog whistle thing. Carson said Saul Alinsky acknowledged Lucifer on the dedication page of his book “Rules for Radicals.” And Alinsky was Hillary’s hero. Ipso facto, Hillary is a Satan worshiper. And then he said, “So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer. Think about that.”

OK, let’s think about that.

The Bible acknowledges Lucifer as the first one to “question authority” (Isaiah 14-12, Ezekiel 28-12,) but I don’t see Ben slamming the Bible. Or people who believe in the Bible. Carsons’ analogy would be like me telling you that, “Trump has declared war on the rest of the world, except Vladimir Putin, whom he admires as a great man who knows how to get things done. Which has won him an endorsement from the Grand Wizard of the KKK. Are we willing to elect someone like that as our president? Think about that.”

In 1969, while a senior at Wellesley College, Hillary did a 92-page senior thesis on a book, “Rules for Radicals,” written by Saul Alinsky. The book is pretty much the Bible of community organizing. Like what to do if the county commissioners decide to finance a $50 million private hospital (which, in turn, will finance a money losing golf course) instead of building a community pool so all county folk could escape the heat.

The acknowledgement page (not the dedication page) mentions five people without whom the book never would have been published. They were Jason, Cicely, Susan and Georgia. And his wife Irene. There follows a quote from Rabbi Hillel (allegedly the author of the Golden Rule), and another from Thomas Paine. The last acknowledgement is from Alinsky himself. “Lest we forget one over the shoulder acknowledgement to the very first radical: from our legends, mythology and history (and who is to know where mythology leaves off and history begins, or which is which), the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer.”

So, you decide if that is a dedication or a selling of his soul. I don’t know. Alinsky is dead and Lucifer is not talking. At least not to me. I thought Alinsky was making a point about questioning authority, which is what his book is about.

And it should be noted that Lucifer and Satan were never mentioned again in the book.

Hillary met with Alinsky to interview him for her thesis. The New York Times wrote that while she endorsed his critique of government anti-poverty programs , they disagreed on one major point. Alinsky did not believe that change could come from within the government. It had to begin from the outside. Hillary disagreed. She thought you had to work from inside with the system that you had. Alinsky asked Hillary to work for him when she graduated Wellesley. She chose instead to go to law school at Yale University.

I share this with you in the event someone starts slinging that nonsense about “Rules for Radicals” being dedicated to Lucifer or Hillary being a brainwashed follower of Saul Alinsky.

Hey, believe what you want to believe. I believed Ben Carson had more integrity than to repeat something he heard from someone else before repeating it.

There are a lot of shady allegations thrown around during any political race by all parties. They can be very effective if left unchecked. But Hillary’s hero being a Satan worshiper? This one seemed so unbelievable that I had to find out if it was true. Took a couple of minutes. Turns out it was just another example of how far the truth can be stretched before it breaks.

George Smathers would be proud of what was accomplished here.

John Wallace is a resident of Lee County.