The extremists' views have been repudiated by Democrats and Republicans alike. But the Republicans have not demanded their money back from the candidates nor have they withdrawn electoral endorsements of any of the three. Sen. Davy Carter's endorsement of Fuqua's Democratic opponent James McLean in Batesville has been a lonely Republican action worthy in response to what the trio stands for. I suspect support for the Trio is wider than you might care to believe among base voters and thus Republicans dare not give too much offense by standing up more bravely against warm words for slavery, religious bigotry and the rest of their nuttiness. Mauch's support of a neo-Confederate group that has endorsed secession would get far too many amens, I fear.
Still, the shape of the story is clear enough. But then I read in the DOG a comment from Phillip Finch, the chair of the Independence County Republican Party, one of Charlie Fuqua's backers. Rather than avoid comment, like the cowardly leader of the Craighhead Republican Party, which supports Jon Hubbard, Finch said:
“The county party is distressed. We all think highly of Charlie ... we realize it is a provocative book. Would we agree with everything he said? No. But Charlie wrote a book on some important topics that our country needs to deal with and he wrote it with a Biblical view.”
So there's nothing to do but provide more this morning from Charlie Fuqua's hit book:
We must require all parents to support their children. Any parent that does not support his or her children should be sterilized so that they cannot produce more children that they do not support. Any parent that has his or her parental rights terminated by a court because they have abused or neglected their children should be sterilized ...
Docs could set up profitable referral desks at the county courthouse if sterilization became required for failure to pay child support. At least Fuqua doesn't call for capital punishment, as he did for rebellious children.