The lead story on the Politico Web site this morning RAISES THE QUESTION of whether House Majority Leader Eric Cantor opposed the renomination of incumbent Illinois Republican Congressman Don Manzullo because of religious differences:
Manzullo — according to more than a half-dozen Republican sources — once said Cantor, a devout Jew, would not be “saved.” The remark occurred several years ago, when Cantor was serving as chief deputy whip, the sources said. Cantor allies were put off by the comment, Republicans said.
Rich Carter, a Manzullo spokesman, denied his boss ever made such a comment. But the allegations made the rounds within the upper ranks of the House Republican Conference, leading Manzullo to request a meeting with Cantor in January to discuss what he considered an untrue — and damaging — rumor.
During that session, Manzullo also confronted Cantor about his support for Rep. Adam Kinzinger, his primary opponent, according to a source familiar with the matter. Kinzinger knocked off the 10-term Manzullo in a March 20 primary, ending his career.
Soon after Manzullo was elected to Congress, he told us, in a radio interview, that his real mission was “to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In his concession speech on election night, he told us that he had always tried to “emulate the love of Jesus Christ.”
If Manzullo truly believes what he he has said about Jesus, how can he have become such a firm friend of Communist China, where Christians like himself are brutally persecuted?
Consider for a moment the two Don Manzullos: the pious Christian and the clueless and/or pitiless friend of tyrants. Is it so far fetched to believe that in a moment of candor, such a man as him, who embraces a religion that insists that only its believers are “saved”, could say such a thing about a non-believer?
Hell, Manzullo is probably quite sure that I am not saved either, but that’s OK with me.
Who would want to spend eternity in the same part of paradise as that pompous hypocrite?