THE HYPOCRISY IS THE CRUELTY, AND THE CRUELTY IS THE POINT (updated)

I've been having cynical thoughts about how Herschel Walker can recover from this week's news. On the subject of both the abortion he paid for and the abuse his son Christian has cited, I've been thinking that all he has to do is admit to everything -- yes, even the abortion -- and simply say, "But that happened when I was mentally ill. Fortunately, God came into my life and rescued me, and now I'm a good man." I've been assuming that if he said that, Christian conservatives would swoon, and he'd actually go up in the polls.

But maybe I haven't been cynical enough. It appears that Walker doesn't need to do anything:

InsiderAdvantage/FOX 5 Poll: Warnock, Walker still in statistical tie

... Analysis from Matt Towery, founder of InsiderAdvantage:

... “We were polling this race before news broke late Monday of allegations against Herschel Walker and the social media posts by his son. We scrapped that poll and surveyed last evening after newspapers, television news, and social media bombarded voters with the various stories. In our Monday, October 3 poll, and prior to these news events, Walker trailed Warnock by one point.

“The good news for Warnock is that following these newest events, he leads by three points. The good news for Walker is that the difference between the two polls is well within the survey’s margin of error...."

So before the news broke, Walker was trailing by 1 in this poll. Now -- at the depths of this news cycle -- he's trailing by ... just 3. He's still very much in the race.

(Yes, the poll was conducted by a local Fox affiliate, but FiveThirtyEight says that InsiderAdvantage has a slight Democratic lean.)

So it appears for now that Walker is fine, and this will do little or no damage to him. And why should it? GOP and anti-abortion groups are still supporting him:

This stand-by-their-man approach was on full display Tuesday as Republican leaders and antiabortion groups rallied to Walker's defense. They pointed to his denial and called the report ... innuendo, lies and character assassination.

“Herschel Walker has denied these allegations in the strongest possible terms and we stand firmly alongside him,” said Mallory Carroll, spokeswoman for Women Speak Out PAC, a super PAC partner of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America.

"When the Democrats are losing, as they are right now, they lie and cheat and smear their opponents,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign, said in a statement.

Right-wing thought leaders are making it clear that they don't care whether Walker was an accessory to what they normally regard as murder -- only power matters in this case.

Dana Loesch: I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid “some skank” for an abortion, “I want control of the Senate”. pic.twitter.com/3TR0U6xBbJ

— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) October 5, 2022

"Abortion is the murder of a baby," says the right, "and someone who paid to kill a baby would make a fine Senator."

The sheer shamelessness of the hypocrisy is nearly as amazing as how routine it's become. https://t.co/omUKDTQ7vP

— Mike Dunford (@questauthority) October 4, 2022

We all know what Frank Wilhoit said: “Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.” But we need to realize that conservatives believe that this applies not just to what's legally permitted, but also to what's regarded as moral. If a conservative does it, that means it's not immoral. And the corollary: Liberals are immoral even if they don't commit immoral acts.

So Bill Clinton's marital troubles make him a moral degenerate, but Donald Trump's don't -- in fact, he's widely regarded on the right as a good Christian. Barack and Michelle Obama are depraved even though they've had a long, sturdy marriage. Similarly, Hunter Biden's past transgressions damn him for life, no matter how thoroughly he cleans up -- but Herschel Walker's past is irrelevant to the right.

What's the right's definition of a good person? A Republican in good standing. What's the right's definition of an evil person? Anyone who isn't a Republican in good standing, or on the way to becoming one. (Democrats who attack the "Democrat Party" get a special exemption.) So no one on the right is calling Herschel Walker an accessory to murder. It's only murder -- with, increasingly, the risk of real legal penalties -- if we do it.

*****

UPDATE: This is close to what I was imagining. (Hat tip: Travis McGee on Twitter.)

New from Herschel: “As everyone knows, I had a real battle with mental health .. By the grace of God, I’ve overcome it .. I’m Herschel Walker, saved by grace.” pic.twitter.com/YsY7WaY9Ex

— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) October 5, 2022