There’s an acronym ‘IOKIYAR’ which means ‘it’s okay if you’re a Republican’. And I think Dick Cheney is a case in point. Dick Cheney was close to the most conservative member of the Republican Party when he was a member of the House. But he didn’t have any difficulty getting confirmed as George H.W. Bush’s Secretary of Defense. Hardly anyone in the mainstream press blinked an eye when he was selected as George W. Bush’s running mate. It was okay for one of the most radical Republicans in the country to run the Pentagon and serve as vice-president. But would it be okay for one of the most radical Democrats to serve in those positions?
The issue here isn’t that fringe leftists should be acceptable candidates for Secretary of Defense and Vice President. I’m not suggesting that Cynthia McKinney should be Barack Obama’s running mate and Dennis Kucinich should be Secretary of Defense. I’m just wondering why it’s okay to be a radical politician on the right but not on the left.
And I don’t mean to suggest they are no limits on the right. Tom Tancredo is too radical to get taken seriously, as is Ron Paul. But I still think there is a double standard.