Former Newsweek editor Howard Fineman appeared on Wednesday's Hardball and
warned that the Republican Party has become a "faith-based,"
"Bible-based" political organization. Fineman also derided Paul Ryan as
untrustworthy when it comes to considering science: "[Ryan] starts every consideration of public policy, not from the standpoint of science, but from the standpoint of faith."
The journalist, who is now the editorial director for the Huffington
Post, darkly intoned, "But the Republican Party has become a faith-based
party. Starting with Ronald Reagan, there was a marriage between the
Bible Belt of the south, fundamentalist Bible Belt of the south." [MP3 audio here.]
Now, Fineman prefaced his comments by swearing, "I'm not making a value
judgment when I say this." However, Fineman's previous comments throw
such an assertion into doubt.
On the July 23, 2012 Hardball,
he attacked Mitt Romney, saying the Republican has "played to the kind
of nativist base of the Tea Party. And by nativist, I mean people who
are, in essence, afraid of the world."
On November 2, 2011, he bashed Republican presidential candidates, mocking, "But, they're advertising their ignorance is what I'm saying!"
Later in the segment, Wednesday, Matthews marveled of Ryan: "He is
going to make Barry Goldwater look like Nelson Rockefeller by the end of
this convention."
A transcript of the August 22 exchange can be found below:
5:24
HOWARD FINEMAN: I'm not making a value judgment when I say
this. Okay? But the Republican Party has become a faith-based party.
Starting with Ronald Reagan, there was a marriage between the Bible Belt
of the south, fundamentalist Bible Belt of the south.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Literal interpretation.
FINEMAN: Literal interpretation. And Catholics elsewhere in the
country who are becoming more conservative, socially. They joined hands
and there are many good things that came from that, especially if you
believe in the Republican Party and its success. But these people start
from a fundamentally different point of view on questions such as
abortion, on questions such as evolution, on questions such as climate
change. They see, as John McCain belatedly said, the hand of God in
everything that happens and they look to God first. There are legitimate
concerns, for example, about genetic manipulation of the human species.
Who-- should we leave that to God or do we as human beings take that
on? There is a serious point underneath this. Okay? There is. But nobody
in the modern Republican Party dares question the orthodoxy of a
faith-based Republican Party at this point. That's what it is. It is a
Bible-based Republican Party.
...
[On Paul Ryan]
FINEMAN: He is 42 years old. He's steeped in this. He starts
every consideration of public policy, not from the standpoint of
science, but from the standpoint of faith. That's who Paul Ryan is. And
they're not going to shut him up if he gets into the White House, I
assure you.
MATTHEWS: He is going to make Barry Goldwater look like Nelson Rockefeller by the end of this convention.
-- Scott Whitlock is the senior news analyst for the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
