When President Bush touched on Iraq at his news conference this morning, he may have been revealing more than he knew.
BUSH: The stakes couldn't be any higher, as I said earlier, in the world in which we live. There are extreme elements that use religion to achieve objectives.
He was talking about religious extremists in Iraq. But an hour later, Mr. Bush posed with officials from the Southern Baptist Convention.
It is described as the largest, most influential evangelical denomination in a new book by the former number-two man in Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives.
The book, "Tempting Faith," not out until Monday, but in our third story tonight, a Countdown exclusive we've obtained a copy and it is devastating work.
Author David Kuo's conservative Christian credentials are impeccable; his resume sprinkled with names like Bennett and Ashcroft. Now, as the Foley cover-up has many evangelical Christians wondering whether the G.O.P. is really in sync with their values, "Tempting Faith" provides the answer: No way.
Kuo, citing one example after another of a White House that repeatedly uses evangelical Christians for their votes — while consistently giving them nothing in return;
A White House which routinely speaks of the nation's most famous evangelical leaders behind their backs, with contempt and derision.
Furthermore, Faith-Based Initiatives were not only stiffed on one public promise after another by Mr. Bush — the office itself was eventually forced to answer a higher calling: Electing Republican politicians.
Kuo's bottom line: the Bush White House is playing millions of American Christians for suckers.
I wonder if this revelation will keep even more Republicans away from the polls in November? Hell...I wonder if this revelation will be the beginning of the end for Christian support of Republicans? Of course the "Religious Right" would never vote for a Liberal...so maybe they'll make their own party? The "Religious Nut Party".
And then maybe...just maybe...they'll be marginalized and ignored so that America can continue (as its ORIGINAL DESIGN) to be a secular society?
Some brave American patriot should found a party like that - just to lure the voters away from the GOP. It's all very doable.... these people may be nutcases, but they're also not very smart. They'd eat it up.
Hell even Tucker Carlson is publicly talking about how the GOP cynically uses Christians for their votes. I saw a story about it yesterday.
I just hate how slow the ship of politics and society turns. Any real investigative journalist could have uncovered every bit of the drama and upset that is happening today 2 years ago.
It's obvioulsy not in their interests to.
Everything is lining up for the people to elect Democrats this season, expecting everything to change. And once the elections are just memories, and everything continues to go the same way, people will be disillusioned with the Democrats because of abortion or gay policy, and the Republicans will be elected in again.
Meanwhile, it's business as usual for the real policy decisions. DC will keep the people distracted with one or two quote-unquote 'moral issues' while they destroy our own middle class, trade our tax money for their own personal gain and prestige, rape, pillage, torture and kill innocent and uninterested people in other countries in our name, and try to keep their kiddy-fiddling under wraps because it is one of the very few things that can still prompt outrage in the minds of the sheep.
And they will continue to get away with it.
Although recently, I have definitely seen more and more articles exposing the complete fraud of the two-party system as far as its relation to the will of the people. Maybe that's a good sign.
CARLSON: It goes deeper than that though. The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power. Everybody in…
MATTHEWS: How do you know that? How do you know that?
CARLSON: Because I know them. Because I grew up with them. Because I live with them. They live on my street. Because I live in Washington, and I know that everybody in our world has contempt for the evangelicals. And the evangelicals know that, and they're beginning to learn that their own leaders sort of look askance at them and don't share their values.
MATTHEWS: So this gay marriage issue and other issues related to the gay lifestyle are simply tools to get elected?
CARLSON: That's exactly right. It's pandering to the base in the most cynical way, and the base is beginning to figure it out
seremtan wrote:so, if bush is giving the finger to evangelicals behind their backs, that's a good thing, right? i mean, these people really are "goofy"
Surely you aren't trying to say that, since Bush doesn't really buy into this junk, that makes him a marginally better person?
I think I'd rather have somebody who really believes the shit they preach, than someone who cynically lies to manipulate people based on their beliefs.
And I don't think it's necessarily a great act on his part either -- I'm pretty sure he does buy into a lot of the belief system. He just isn't a screwball in exactly the same way the fanatic leaders of the movement are. Just a slightly different way - just different enough that it makes him feel like he is better than these people, enough to use them.
From what I know...Bush is a reborn...which are usually a little more extreme and literal in their beliefs.
I think Bush is probably 90% genuine on this issue and would probably get more for the christian right if he could....including control of the supreme court.
I think it's congress that is playing to the morons...and it ain't just Karl Rove. This shit started long before he came into the picture.
seremtan wrote:so, if bush is giving the finger to evangelicals behind their backs, that's a good thing, right? i mean, these people really are "goofy"
Surely you aren't trying to say that, since Bush doesn't really buy into this junk, that makes him a marginally better person?
I think I'd rather have somebody who really believes the shit they preach, than someone who cynically lies to manipulate people based on their beliefs.
i hear what you're saying, but i thinking of the end product, which would be worse if bush actually believed all that fundamentalist crap. where religion is concerned, it's the true believers who are the most dangerous imho
He says the Faith-Based office wasn't even set up during the 2001 transition until Mr. Bush took office and Karl Rove gave a transition volunteer less than one week to roll out the entire Faith-Based Initiative.
The volunteer asked how he should do that, without staff, without an office, or without even a plan.
According to Kuo, "Rove looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, "I don't know. Just get me a f–ing faith-based thing. Got it?"
"The President of the United States promised he would be the leading lobbying on behalf of the poor. What better lobbyist could anybody get?" Kuo wonders.
What happened?
"The lobbyist didn’t follow through," he claims.
"What about 9/11?" Stahl asks. "All the priorities got turned about."
"I was there before 9/11. I know what happened before 9/11 … The trend before 9/11 was…president makes a big announcement and nothing happens," Kuo replies.
