Judson Cox, October 6, 2003

The goon squads are out. The same cabal of predators and dregs that destroyed the personal and political enemies of the Clintons are back. During the dark reign of the Clinton presidency, this hit squad of lawyers, former bouncers and sleazy private detectives attempted to discredit the many women Bill Clinton groped, raped, and harassed. They hounded these innocent women with physical threats, lawsuits and character assassination, labeling Bill Clinton's victims as "bimbos" and "trailer park trash."

Then, the goon squads turned to his political enemies. They eavesdropped on Newt Gingrich's phone calls in search of dirt. They discovered an old affair by Bob Livingston, and forced him to resign. Just before the 2000 election, they uncovered a decades old drunk driving charge against George W. Bush. For these reasons and more, conservatives laughed incredulously when Hillary Clinton claimed a "vast right wing conspiracy" was targeting her husband.

The majority of Americans identify themselves as republican. The historic republican gains of the 2002 elections verified this shift to the right and re-activated the goon squads. Over the past few moths we have seen the fruits of their malicious harvest, beginning with Dr. William Bennett. We were supposed to be shocked that he enjoys casino gambling, which is legal and not condemned by the Catholic Church, of which he is a member.

Next, a partisan democrat, who has publicly wished to see Karl Rove in handcuffs, returned from an investigatory mission to Niger to publicly claim that President Bush lied when he repeated the findings of British Intelligence that an African nation sold uranium to Iraq. The extent of his investigation was lounging in fancy hotels, drinking tea, and asking tough questions like, Hey, you guys didn't sell any uranium to Saddam, did you? British intelligence stands behind their findings, and Niger was never specified as the only nation in question. He then claimed that Rove leaked his wife's name to undermine his credibility and endanger her. He admits that he has no proof of this allegation, and several journalists report that his wife's name and position in the C.I.A. were common knowledge among D.C. insiders.

Then, they went after Arnold Schwarzenegger, a popular republican who threatens democratic control of California. The goon squads discovered a racy magazine interview from Arnold's twenties. They found several anonymous women to claim he groped them in an "L.A. Times" article six days before the election. They unearthed a nearly thirty year old quote edited to give the appearance of praising Hitler.

Now, the goon squads are targeting Rush Limbaugh.

This is a cultural war for our nation. The other side will stop at nothing to destroy those who stand in the way of their quest for power and the steady drift toward socialism. We must unite. I do not agree with everything any outspoken conservative says. Conservatives are intelligent people with differing opinions that we should never cease to debate. However, unless a serious crime or an action that is morally reprehensible is committed, we must unite in solidarity and publicly, vehemently defend each other.

Should we fail, we may find ourselves in a situation similar to Pastor Martin Niemöller, who described how the Nazis picked off one group at a time until opposition was destroyed. Must we then say, First they came for the movement conservatives, I did not speak out because I was an establishment republican. Then they came for the evangelicals, I did not speak out because I was a libertarian. Then they came for the neo-conservatives, I did not speak out because I was a paleo-conservative. Then they imposed speech codes and banned conservatives from college campuses, I did not speak out because I was not a college student. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me .

Judson Cox is a political columnist from the mountains of North Carolina. He is quickly gaining recognition as one of the most popular and influential voices of his generation. As a college student, and a young entrepreneur, he has a unique perspective on matters of politics, economics and culture.

Copyright © 2003 Judson Cox