What do you do when you're the Democratic candidate for Governor of Illinois on the same ticket with a candidate that is completely unacceptable?

A generation ago, Adlai Stevenson III had just won the Democratic primary for governor. He had narrowly lost, in the opinion of some of us, in a stolen election 4 years earlier. Staffers for the opposing campaign were convicted of vote fraud. There was also evidence of vote counting machines skipping over punch card votes. This was 18 years before the Bush campaign organized mobs to intimidate registrars in Florida. This time, 1986, he was favored to win the general election.

But two Nazi-like extremists had managed to capture the Democratic nomination for Secretary of State and Lieutenant Governor. During the primary campaign, mainstream media had kept reporting that the traditional candidates for these positions were not opposed. Fact checking was about as prominent then as it is in what passes for journalism today. An underground movement of fanatics got the two nominated in a race most voters ignored as uncontested.

Stevenson refused to run on the same ticket as the two thugs. He formed a temporary party he called the Solidarity Party. Instead of winning, he got only 40% of the vote. He lost by doing the right thing.

This year, the successor to Governor Rod Blagojevich, who doubled as a comic-crook, Pat Quinn, faced a similar situation. A pawnbroker spent a load of money, money being the Supreme Court endorsed proxy for free speech, and got the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor. It developed that a few years back, the fellow had been accused of holding a knife to a former live-in girlfriend's neck. The was just after a soon-to-be ex-wife accused him of violence and got a temporary order of protection.

Pat Quinn's solution may work out a lot better than the very honorable Adlai Stevenson. Rather than running as an independent, he was lucky enough to help convince the pawnbroker, accused batterer, to drop out. His official position was one of judicious neutrality. "I think he should come forward and tell us everything about his background. But anything dealing with that has to go through the [Democratic] state central committee. I want to see what Mr. Cohen has to say. I don't give opinions until I hear all the facts from the person involved." But he had to be hoping the fellow would jump off a very tall building into a glass of water.

Republicans are expected to use the scandal anyway. It's what they do. The pawnbroker's opponent is less than helpful. "We tried to warn the governor beforehand and they didn't want to listen to it."

It could be worse. It was a pawnbroker with an anger problem against women. It could have been Blagojevich.

Certainly I have a problem with the way some of my fundamentalist brethren distort other religions. Brit Hume goes on television to proclaim that Buddhism has no path to forgiveness or redemption. Slant Right's John Houk periodically directs Muslims on what it takes to be a true follower of Islam. Short version: become a terrorist. Houk protests that he is not a bigot, just because he hates all things Islamic. I am struck most by how fundamentalists manage to miss Christianity itself.

Bigotry against gays comes from many directions. Fundamentalists are especially fond of quoting Leviticus. Those passages contain a lot of shalt nots. Lobster is an abomination, as is crop rotation. Wearing two interwoven fabrics in the same shirt is a violation of God's will. But fundamentalists zero in on Leviticus 18:22 which prohibits homosexuality.

I find wisdom in Leviticus. It was written by men who were captives of the wisdom of their times, but it was inspired by God. Amid the outdated health instruction and ritual is an underlying theme that will always apply. Love God with everything you have. Love and take care of yourself. Love others. I read each chapter, and remember to take the various medications that keep me alive. I go to worship and try to keep in mind why I am there. My love for others is far from perfect, but I am growing. And I find this in Leviticus:

You see, the Bible, God's word, instructs me to devote time for prayer, witness for Jesus when I can, give blood, and always wear my seat belt.

Sentimental Favorite Wins

Nuggets of internet gold:

• Ned Williams at WisdomIsVindicated likes much about Tea Partiers, but remains a skeptic. He then makes the mistake of quoting Charles Krauthammer. Ned may be the victim of some sort of self-confidence deficiency. He thinks more clearly and writes more skillfully than the fellow he quotes. So stop the pretense. I've read you off and on over the years, Krauthammer, and believe me, you're no Ned Williams.

• Mycue at RANDOM THOUGHTS is skeptical about teapartiers who use the movement as a thin cover for personal bigotry.

• Max's Dad enjoys the sight of conservative old Republicans dancing.

• Chuck Thinks Right objects to how some stimulus money is spent. A cherry picking post worthwhile mostly for its entertainment value.

• Manifesto Joe at Texas Blues liked watching President Obama give Republicans a spanking. He likes the fighting spirit.

• Nancy Hanks at The Hankster picks up the cudgel for open primaries.

• Jack Jodell, friend of the working blogger, at THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON POST was moved by the Ed Show, broadcast from free health care clinic in Connecticut for the uninsured.

• Conservative James Wigderson is unimpressed with a local candidate who will work for less. He makes a good case that its a dumb idea.

• Slant Right's John Houk wise quotes George Friedman's newsletter, STRATFOR. I was entertained by an article Friedman wrote last year about Iran and Israel that basically said nothing much was about to happen. You have to admire someone who make an important sounding article out of move-along-nothing-here-to-see.

• Vigilante at The Vigil notes anonymous violence in Afghanistan, apparently from the Taliban.

• The World of Doorman-Priest had a fun day teaching as a visit prompted the kids to study large, very large bugs.

• David Everitt-Carlson of The Wild Wild East Dailies in Munich needs to travel to Amsterdam and will work for train fare. Beware automatic music on your PC speakers.

Have a safe weekend. Pray for those still in pain. A lot of them out there this week, the next few could find any of us among them.

Apparently, the weather outside is frightful in Baltimore

It's one of many nightmares parents of rebellious kids sometimes have. Suppose the best parenting does not eventually take hold. Suppose a child falls in with the wrong crowd. A lot of kids go through a time of testing, reacting against authority. They usually come out of it. Its often a part of growing up. But suppose your kid doesn't come out of it.

Occasionally, parents can find themselves in a variant of the nightmare. Suppose you suspect your kid has done something horribly wrong. Or might be about to do something wrong, something harmful to others, something deadly. The father of the Christmas underwear would-be-terrorist lived the nightmare, and did the right thing. He paid a visit to Nigerian officials to say he feared the worst. He ended up at the US embassy, talking to CIA agents. They apparently took him seriously, and a report went through channels.

Bureaucracies are often mysterious in their ways, and the information was shuffled amid wrong spellings and misfiling. After the capture, the President is said to have been furious. Presumably the next ominous report by a parent will be followed by vigorous action.

Al Qaeda takes its own breaches of security with a serious prevention policy. Recruits and their families are warned of the dangers of capture. Americans will torture those they catch, they are told, abusing captives to the point of death. One parent, it appears, did not believe those warnings. We can only hope other parents share that confidence in US conduct.

Republicans are furious at the Obama administration for not taking a harsher approach to the captured Christmas bomber and others like him. American officials have let it be known that the captured young man was not tortured. He responded to humane treatment by spouting information that proved to be useful and important. Eventually he stopped talking. So his interrogators performed what every police drama viewer recognizes as a signal for lasting legal trouble. They read him his rights. At that, he began talking again.

One critic, our own Senator, Missouri Republican Kit Bond is angry for another reason. He is irate because officials actually let it be known that the young man cooperated without being mistreated. Bond insists that “release of this sensitive information has no doubt been helpful to ... terrorist cohorts around the world.” His objection brings to mind two nightmare scenarios.

1. Suppose you are a father who only suspects the possibility that his son might do something awful. Are you more or less likely to go to authorities if you believe they will torture him to get information, as al Qaeda keeps telling you?

2. Suppose your son does something particularly wrong and irresponsible. Suppose he even goes so far as to become an angry, partisan Republican member of the United States Senate.

How Did the Early Christians of Rome Defeat Pagan Sexuality?

 - - Upcoming Family Research Council Event, February 25, 2010

The ebb and flow of political life is exciting. We watch with the enthusiasm of a rabid sports fan. It is, in some ways, about more than policy. It defines a relationship between each citizen and the society at large.

As Republicans prepare for ascendancy we can take some comfort in a political time line with an arc longer than a single election cycle. Over the last three decades, we have seen the pendulum swing somewhat wildly. We have gone from a Reagan revolution, complete with the public smashing of the Democratic Party, followed by the victory of Bill Clinton. Then the Newt Gingrich-led re-revolution, and the political scandals that we all thought would topple a Democratic President. The squeaking victory of Bush, bought with some muscle in the vote counting in Florida, overturned a narrow expression of popular will for Gore. 9/11 brought back Republican victory, followed by two elections favoring Democrats. And, of course, there is Barack Obama. In November, Republicans will very probably take the House, perhaps the Senate. So if you don't like who's in office, you can wait a couple of years.

Except, except. Under the surface, a process hides. Each Democratic swing has been more pronounced. Each Republican turn has been weaker. GOP bluster has not been matched by numbers. There is a reason that goes beyond the "R" or "D" behind the name of electoral hopefuls.

Beginning in the 1990s, the underlying trend became pronounced. Thoughtful blogger Steve Benen catches the edge of it, but only the edge, in his review of a poll of Republicans. "The results were discouraging," he says. It is true on several levels. More Republicans want to see the President impeached than not. A large number buy the myth that he was born outside of the United States. A sizable percentage think he hates white people, and that he wants terrorists to win. A huge majority of Republicans say he is a socialist.

Benen links to politico for a silver lining: "One of the lingering questions is whether these extreme beliefs will push more reasonable voters away from the GOP." He understandably bemoans what he calls the megaphone gap. Voters at large don't seem to notice the extremism of the GOP.

It is that very gap that is, over time, dismantling what used to be the Party of Lincoln. Technology is the fuel. Cable and internet now give conservatives the ability to shield themselves from the day-to-day news coverage that we in the reality based community follow. The extreme John Birch Society type conspiracy belief system is an important symptom, but not the only one.

Moderates were expelled, and the influence of conservatives grew in their absence. Mainstream conservatives are being driven out, and their flight leaves the GOP in the hands of an ever bolder extreme element. The party shrinks as a consequence. It's been going on for a long time.

Need encouragement? Don't watch the waves. Watch the tide.