Andrew McLaughlin’s C-Note

Occasionally, the papers bring news that’s nothing but good.

Today’s heartening right-wing loser:  Gen. Rios Montt in Guatemala.  A former military dictator (and, dissonantly enough, evangelical clergyman), Rios Montt is now remembered for his bloody 1982 coup d’etat;  his ruthless “scorched earth” brutalities against rural Mayan villagers; his active employment of death squads and, more recently, thug squads, engaged in kidnapping, torture, and extra-judicial killings; and his flamboyant mismanagement of the economy. 

Declared the the Guatemalan Council of Catholic Bishops in 1982 about the massacres under Rios Montt: “Not even the lives of the elderly, pregnant women or innocent children were spared. We have never in our history seen such serious extremes.”  Declared Ronald Reagan in Guatemala City that same year:  Rios Montt is “a man of great personal integrity and commitment” who is “totally dedicated to democracy.”

In recent years, he has attempted to slither back to respectability, eventually becoming president of the National Congress.  In today’s presidential elections, he came in a distant third.  One word:  Woo-hoo!

Next right-winger to go down:  I’m betting on either Bobby Jindal or Chief Justice Roy Moore.