We are rapidly approaching the Iowa Caucuses and the race is starting to crystalize around three or four candidates that are to be taken very seriously.  Iowa will contribute to, but will not pick, who the next candidate will be for the Republican Party.  The field is strong and as usual the main stream media is doing all it can to pidgeon hole candidates and then villify them so that the rest of the unconscious world will get the impression that Republicans are the racist, homophobic, uncaring and dumb people they portray.  Of course, the Main Stream Media is exactly wrong about most Republicans.  We can deal with the media and the polemic slinging ideologues on the left.  Because those elements are predictable, we can manage.  What has me upset, however, are the groups and individuals in Iowa who attack Republican candidates anonymously.  If you are going to write a letter about someone who is running for president, at least have the courage to do so in the open.  Anonymous letters indicate a lack of conviction, and more telling, a lack of integrity and courage.  Hard to take these kinds of things seriously.

From where most of these attacks have eminated seems to be the religious right in Iowa.  These individuals and groups, focused heavily on social issues, have attacked candidates--and those who might support them--with a viciousness that belies their supposed Christianity.  How can people who adhere to a religion based on love and forgiveness be so hateful in their attacks?  How is it that people who are supposed to be living a life that should serve as an example to others behave in such a way that no parent would look to that behavior as a model for any child being raised in a Christian home?

Politics is a dirty business anymore, and things don't get any easier when people are attacked anonymously.  Herman Cain was brought down by anonymous sources, which is bad enough.  Now, in Iowa, we have people who do not have the courage to enter the fray publicly piling disdain on people who have clearly changed their lives and are living better lives--more Christian lives than those who attack them.  If one is going to say something bad about a candidate, have the courage to say in public and to their faces.