On-duty major general caught fund-raising for Republican fundamentalists

There have been articles appearing on various blogs this weekend about the number of conservatives now eager to claim that BushCo isn't about "real conservatism." And they're not. But the Republican party has been about deficit spending and the marriage of coporatism and fundamentalism since the days of Reagan, and it certainly hasn't bothered them before. The fact of the matter is that the party isn't driven by conservatism, but by a lust for victory and power. And they're only fretting about things now that they're faced with losing power. What these nervous Republicans are really doing is trying to disassociate the word 'conservative' with prominent party members who are set for a fall-- just to make way for the next round of DeLays and Cunningham's.

The Air Force is investigating whether a two-star general violated military regulations by urging fellow Air Force Academy graduates to make campaign contributions to a Republican candidate for Congress in Colorado, Pentagon officials said yesterday.

Maj. Gen. Jack J. Catton Jr., who is on active duty at Langley Air Force Base, sent the fundraising appeal on Thursday from his official e-mail account to more than 200 fellow members of the academy's class of 1976, many of whom are also on active duty.

"We are certainly in need of Christian men with integrity and military experience in Congress," Catton wrote.

Defense Department rules prohibit active-duty officers from using their position to solicit campaign contributions or seek votes for a particular candidate. An Air Force spokesman said yesterday that "appropriate officials are inquiring into the facts surrounding these e-mails."

Catton's e-mail was provided to The Washington Post by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit group founded last year by Michael L. "Mikey" Weinstein, White House counsel in the Reagan administration.

"This is not just a small thing," said Weinstein, who is suing the Air Force to halt what he contends is pervasive proselytizing in the armed forces. "It's evidence of a continuing attack on separation of church and state by evangelicals in the military."

Catton urged his classmates to support Bentley Rayburn, a recently retired Air Force general seeking the Republican nomination for a House seat being vacated this year by Rep. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.). Hefley's district around Colorado Springs includes the Air Force Academy, several military bases and the headquarters of Focus on the Family, James Dobson's Christian broadcasting organization.

Both Catton's e-mail and an accompanying note from Rayburn portrayed him as a candidate who would represent the military and conservative Christians.

The Republican party is in the hands of individuals who are more than happy to sacrifice principle for political gain. But instead of a GOP that pushed for real reform, we're only going to be subjected to the ridiculous argument that those who get caught aren't 'real conservatives.'