David Kuo, Karl Rove and Goofy Evangelical Christians
• Polity
Don’t know about you but I always assused that Karl Rove’s use of Christian fundamentalists was as exploitative - but less affectionate - as Hugh Hefner’s of Playboy Playmates.
MSNBC’s Countdown has started a firestorm with an early look at David Kuo’s Tempting Faith:
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.
Tempting Faith author David Kuo worked for Bush from 2001 to 2003
And while some will naturally seek to deny it, Kuo is clearly of the faithful:
In the book, Kuo, who quit the White House in 2003, accuses Karl Rove’s political staff of cynically hijacking the faith-based initiatives idea for electoral gain. It assails Bush for failing to live up to his promises of boosting the role of religious organizations in delivering social services.
Evangelicals ridiculed while wooed, book contends
That Kuo departed with polite words may be that he felt that was the appropriate way to behave ot that he was being hypocritical. Hardly disproves them:
[Tony] Snow concluded that the reports on the book “seem at odds with what he was saying inside the building at the time he departed.”
White House Denies Book’s Allegations
Sadly whichever party is in power the White House has become nothing but a political apparatus:
The former head of the office of faith-based initiatives, John DiIulio, resigned after a few months and later gave Esquire magazine an indictment of the functioning of the White House. “There is no precedent in any modern White House for what is going on in this one: a complete lack of a policy apparatus,” he said. “What you’ve got is everything - and I mean everything - being run by the political arm.”
Aide says White House mocked evangelicals
A little bit of reality:
[Tony]Perkins of the Family Research Council said he would not be surprised if derisive comments were made behind Christian leaders’ backs.
“I have no misconceptions about how people in the Republican Party and the establishment view social conservatives. They are dismissive. I see how they prefer to work with fiscal conservatives,” he said. “Having said that, I see it really as a marriage of convenience. We are not without significant gains by working with this administration.”
Conservatives Rally Against Bush Aide-Turned-Critic
Department of denial from the Evangelical conservatives:
“The release of this book criticizing the Bush administration’s handling of its faith-based initiative program seems to represent little more than a mix of sour grapes and political timing. David Kuo’s book doesn’t hit shelves until next week, but excerpts released by media outlets paint the picture of a dissatisfied federal employee taking shots at the White House effort to connect faith-based nonprofit groups with legitimate societal needs.
Blame the media, a tactic that always seems to work:
“Big media will no doubt play this story to the hilt in the next several weeks, because it allows them to take aim at two of their favorite targets: President Bush and socially conservative Christians. Sadly, Kuo’s characterization of his former colleagues, bosses and mission — mischaracterizations, really — will be fed to the public as truth.
The professional religious conservatives - those whose income and limited form of celebrity - derive from raising money from Christians who feel disenfranchised by contemporary society have to deny this is true.
To admit that Karl Rove played them for suckers would:
- Kill whatever tiny political influence they might have with the Bush administration
- Cause many of their contributors to keep their money
They don’t want to have to go back to being small time ministers that nobody has ever heard of.
Many of them probably knew they were being used but it gave them a bogus aura of effectiveness with their flocks.
Did any reasonable person ever doubt it was just a cynical ploy for getting votes?