Keyes says politicians do what's best for themselves, not what's best for the nation

Selfish citizens and pandering politicians undermine the foundations of America by ignoring the need to base political decisions on the common good, prominent conservative Alan Keyes said Wednesday.

During a lecture at Southeast Missouri State University's Academic Auditorium Keyes emphasized that current political debate ignores basic questions of right and wrong. As a result, Keyes said, the promise of America as a bastion of freedom could be lost.

Politicians, he said, "stitched together their little coalitions of selfishness then rode the tide into office. They never give a thought to the good of the whole people."

During the hour-long talk, Keyes addressed the role of the courts in the political realm, the role of morality and religion in public life and the need for citizens to stand up to a government he said wants to ignore that the people are the ruling class in America.

Keyes is a two-time candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and a three-time Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. He lost twice as a candidate for Senate in Maryland and in 2004 was the Republican Senate nominee in Illinois, receiving 27 percent of the vote against Democrat Barak Obama.

Asked after the talk about his current political plans, Keyes would not commit himself. "I will work to the best of my ability to be involved," he said.

His dynamic, unapologetic style has turned off many voters but won him a core of supporters attracted by a philosophy of moral and political absolutism. He is the first speaker brought to the university using the proceeds of a new student fee enacted last year, said Adam Hanna, president of the Southeast Student Government.

"It was an excellent address," Hanna said. "He sees obvious things that nobody else thinks of, and he certainly gets a reaction."

Keyes will be the only speaker this semester paid out of the student fees, Hanna said, but in the future the committee in charge of inviting speakers will bring in a variety of viewpoints.

About 20 of the 125 people who attended the lecture entered the hall after Keyes began. They were late because they set up a protest outside Academic Hall to raise questions about Keyes views.

Josh Littrell of Jackson, who said he is gay, said he dislikes Keyes because of his views on homosexuality. After describing homosexuality as "selfish hedonism" in the 2004 campaign, Keyes threw his lesbian daughter out of his house and cut her off financially.

"He threw his daughter out to further his political career," Littrell said.

Jamie Sikorski, a sophomore from Chicago, agreed. "If he is claiming to be a family man, they should know what family means to him."

The protesters listened politely during Keyes' lecture. As he spoke, he railed against judges who seek to expand the definition of marriage to include homosexuals, saying that decision is the exclusive realm of legislators.

Legislators in the Congress and states should stand firm against the judicial erosion of their powers, Keyes said. After decisions such as that of the Massachusetts Supreme Court allowing gay marriage in that state, he said, lawmakers should tell the courts: "You decide another case like that and we'll kick you out."

"We have abdicated our sovereignty and overthrown our republic in the most vital areas of all," he said. "I don't think we can go on like this much longer."

On immigration, Keyes said the current battle over illegal immigrants is a complicated puzzle with powerful, rich interests profiting from cheap immigrant labor and a public worried about the failure of new arrivals to assimilate into American life.

Immigration is essential to American growth, he said. But "can we afford as a nation to have open borders? Can we hang a sign up that says, 'Y'all come?'"

The debate is framed as a question of justice, Keyes said. In truth, he said, it is a question of profits. "Behind all the rosy rhetoric about justice is a desire to exploit a certain class of people."

As he ended, Keyes said the question before citizens is whether they will awaken and take back the power usurped by the courts and politicians. If not, he said, "we shall go, as the poet suggested, not with a bang but with a whimper."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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