by Taylor Marsh
Elmer Gantry had nothing on George W. Bush.
There's pray the vote.
There's the Republican 2006 Prayer Guide to the National Elections (Request yours today to use from 9-28 through 11-7) (all orders shipped out immediately).
And don't forget to PRAY NOW... 26 days remain until the elections...Pray for the key issues to be made clear in every contest, campaign and ballot initiative, and for godly leaders to be elected on November 7...Pray for President Bush, traveling to Chicago today in support of candidates...Pray for safety and for continued wisdom as he leads our nation...
You can get prayer cards... quotable quotes... and t-shirts... and much, much more.
There is everything a person needs to get God on your side; that is if you're Republican.
In my conversation with Senator John Kerry yesterday, he talked passionately about the immorality of the Iraq war. It incenses him.
Hearing about "Tempting Faith" it's so much easier to understand why Bush can stand by and allow the carnage in Iraq to continue, with our soldiers in the middle of the carnage. Our president is not only a deeply dishonest man, he is a hypocrite so low and craven that he cunningly uses faith and spirituality as a tool to cement an image that has been his path to power.
Keith Olbermann got the exclusive and John at Crooks and Liars has the video. Don't miss it. The naked deceit is something we've come to expect, but this reaches in to the heart of what made Bush president.
"Tempting Faith" is the book and it reveals the last remaining vestiges of the Bush's facade. The Republican charlatans have done nothing less than create a character playing a role in order to seduce the believers that the boss was one of them. The author worked inside the Bush White House and reportedly has the story cold.
Kuo, who has complained publicly in the past about the funding shortfalls, goes several steps further in his new book.
He says some of the nation's most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as "the nuts."
"National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous,' 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy,'" Kuo writes.
More seriously, Kuo alleges that then-White House political affairs director Ken Mehlman knowingly participated in a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly "nonpartisan" events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.
According to Kuo, "Ken loved the idea and gave us our marching orders."
Among those marching orders, Kuo says, was Mehlman's mandate to conceal the true nature of the events.
Kuo quotes Mehlman as saying, "... (I)t can't come from the campaigns. That would make it look too political. It needs to come from the congressional offices. We'll take care of that by having our guys call the office [of faith-based initiatives] to request the visit."
Nineteen out of the 20 targeted races were won by Republicans, Kuo reports. The outreach was so extensive and so powerful in motivating not just conservative evangelicals, but also traditionally Democratic minorities, that Kuo attributes Bush's 2004 Ohio victory "at least partially ... to the conferences we had launched two years before." ...
Exclusive: Book says Bush just using Christians
'Tempting Faith' author David Kuo worked for Bush from 2001 to 2003
Busted.
Wonder what the presidential prayer team will pray for today?
A miracle might not be a bad idea. A hail Mary would be even better. But the president needs our prayers!
I hope they choke on the wafer.
UPDATE... To commenter "gcg": First, I'm a Christian, a rebel Christian, an Episcopalian, though not a fundamentalist(!), but still a Christian. You really need to read more carefully, my friend. This is about Bush and the Republicans USING Christians and people of faith, while setting the IRS on All Saint's Episcopal Church for an anti-war sermon. It's about Republican hypocrisy. Get it?