Right Wing Watch

Gary Bauer Strikes Back

2008-11-21T10:38:44-06:00

Earlier this week, Gary Bauer issued a press release disputing Mike Huckabee's allegations that getting a straight answer out of him about why he refused to support Huck's campaign was "like playing Whac-a-Mole at the arcade." In his new book, Huckabee also called Bauer a sell-out for saying that national security issues were more important that social issues, likening it to the NRA saying "we still care about guns, but what we really want to focus on is global warming."

Huckabee writes that if Bauer really is more interested in security issues than social issues, he should start considering himself the head of a "national security group" rather than a "pro-family group" because "when an organization can't even focus on its focus, it's hopelessly lost." It was Bauer's hypocrisy, writes Huckabee, that make him realize he'd rather be "politically homeless" than "politically clueless."

Today, Bauer fires back, saying that if anybody is clueless, it's Huckabee:

Huckabee is wrong on a couple of counts. First, my passion and work on behalf of values issues have in no way diminished. Second, I have believed since 9-11 that the West’s battle against Islamofascism is a crucial component in the fight for our civilization. Thus it is a values issue. That Huckabee fails to understand all this gets to the heart of why I did not support him.

Huckabee said that during a private meeting we had, “it was like playing whack-a-mole at the arcade -- whatever issue I addressed, another one surfaced as the ‘problem’ that made my candidacy unacceptable.”

In fact, talking with Huckabee was like playing whack-a-mole, because he had a number of issues that posed problems. It wasn’t just that he didn’t get it on foreign policy. His record on taxes and spending, illegal immigration, his apparent backing of Al Gore's carbon cap and trade scheme, support for voting rights for Washington, D.C., and cozying up to unions like the NEA all worried me. Huckabee can call it whack-a-mole. But for me there were just too many items where he wasn’t sufficiently conservative coupled with a lack of attention and experience on foreign affairs.

Bauer concludes by calling out Huckabee for being so petty, saying that once he has "finished attacking all those who he thinks denied him the GOP nomination, I look forward to working with him to reform the GOP and revitalize the conservative movement."

I suspect that, given the obviously bad blood between the two, they probably won't be working together any time soon.

Liberty Interns Dispatched to DC To Serve on the Front Lines of the Culture War

2008-11-20T15:38:10-06:00

Liberty University announces that even though its internship program is under new management its goal remains the same:

[T]o train and equip young leaders by providing students with practical training and educational opportunities in and around the nation’s capital.

According to Director Carrie Barnhouse, participants will gain academic internship credit as well as valuable life skills.

“Our goal is to see students learn and grow through experiential education opportunities provided in D.C.,” she said. “Our chancellor has often referred to these students as being on the front lines. They are fighting the cultural war by conquering the capital.”

In the spring, Liberty students participated in internships at the White House, Concerned Women for America headquarters and the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.

“With the changes taking place in Washington with the recent election, it is more important than ever to ensure our students are being mentored, trained and equipped to help make a difference,” Barnhouse said.

She said more than 100 students have participated in this program during the past three years and nearly half of them have been offered jobs.

“When they get to D.C. they make contacts and develop relationships with networks that help secure employment later in life,” she said.

Huckabee's Anti-Romney Tome

2008-11-20T14:53:05-06:00

As I mentioned yesterday, I am currently in the process of reading Mike Huckabee's latest book and, having made it through 150 pages of his 216 page epic, I take issue with Huck's own assessment of the reviews saying that it seems bizarrely focused on former rival Mitt Romney:

The book, released yesterday, has stirred some controversy in the media over its apparent swipes at his former rival for the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney. In several instances in the book, Huckabee charged Romney for being out of touch with voters and for flip-flopping on certain issues. In an example from a debate where Romney was asked about how to help the economy, Huckabee writes that Romney was more focused on reciting lines about his business expertise than on helping the average American.

...

Huckabee reassured attendees of the book signing that there’s more to the book than the rehashing of an old beef with Romney. “It’s a very, very small part of the book,” he said. “It’s really not about the past or about the other people in the party. It’s about the future of the party, [which] starts with being true, authentic conservatives with clarity in our convictions.”

Let me just say this: as I was reading his book, I started to become distracted by just how frequently Romney's name appeared in the text, so I counted them all up - in the first 101 pages, the word "Romney" appears at least 60 times. In fact, in the first 21 pages, "Romney" appears 25 times.

And, for the record, in not one of those instances is Huckabee saying anything positive about him.

With the exception of Tommy Thompson, Huckabee doesn't really have anything positive to say about any of his other rivals; not even John McCain. But it is his visceral hatred of Romney and all that he represents that is the one unifying theme of his book.

Economic Crisis a Result of the "War on Christmas"

2008-11-20T14:34:57-06:00

Last month, I wrote a couple of posts highlighting the Religious Right's claim that our current economic mess was due to a collective loss of morality that could be traced back to abortion, homosexuals, and an overall breakdown in the family.

But, as Think Progress discovered, those weren't the problem at all. What really caused the economic meltdown was people not saying "Merry Christmas":

Notwithstanding the cardboard Santas who seem to have arrived in stores this year near Halloween, the holiday season starts in seven days with Thanksgiving. And so it will come to pass once again that many people will spend four weeks biting on tongues lest they say "Merry Christmas" and perchance, give offense. Christmas, the holiday that dare not speak its name.

This year we celebrate the desacralized "holidays" amid what is for many unprecedented economic ruin -- fortunes halved, jobs lost, homes foreclosed. People wonder, What happened? One man's theory: A nation whose people can't say "Merry Christmas" is a nation capable of ruining its own economy ...

It has been my view that the steady secularizing and insistent effort at dereligioning America has been dangerous. That danger flashed red in the fall into subprime personal behavior by borrowers and bankers, who after all are just people. Northerners and atheists who vilify Southern evangelicals are throwing out nurturers of useful virtue with the bathwater of obnoxious political opinions.

The point for a healthy society of commerce and politics is not that religion saves, but that it keeps most of the players inside the chalk lines. We are erasing the chalk lines.

Keep in mind that this appeared in the Wall Street Journal and was written by the deputy editor of its editorial page.

If you want to know what went wrong with the economy, perhaps the fact that "the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis" has people like this running the show might have something to do with it.

Obama, an Atheist Military, and the Anti-Christ

2008-11-20T11:22:02-06:00

Last week Secular Coalition for America and Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers held a press conference to release a proposed "set of policy recommendations in a memo to President-elect Obama as he considers staffing and policies regarding the military" because the current regulations fail to adequately accommodate "the hundreds of thousands of atheists, agnostics, humanists and other nontheists currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces."

We all know what this will lead to - the End Times:

Gordon James Klingenschmitt is a former naval chaplain who says, unfortunately, the Secular Coalition for America will eventually get its way. "There is a day coming in the end times when the military will be forced to be atheistic because, in order for the eventual man who is the man of sin -- the Anti-Christ -- as it is describe in the Bible, for him to come to power and to stamp out Christianity around the globe, he's going to need a good strong atheist military," he contends. "That is the first step toward Armageddon, and I'm concerned about that. And I pray that President (elect) Obama is not foolish enough to lead us down that road."

Get 'Em While They're Hot

2008-11-20T09:24:14-06:00

It's that time of year again when we all cough up our own hard-earned $25 to get our hands on the latest installment of the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute's hot conservative women calendar:

Following in the tradition of past calendars from the Luce Policy Institute, Pretty in Mink celebrates smart, conservative women role models ... with flair.

We took some of your favorite leaders of today’s conservative movement on a journey back in time, and made them up into glamorous movie stars of classic Hollywood. Back when the big screen was a little more glamorous, women were a little more feminine, the men a little more charming—and the world a little less politically correct.

We’ve saved Clare Boothe Luce herself for the last month of the year; we think you’ll agree that the legacy of this conservative icon makes her an appropriate ending for our calendar. And every single one of the other beautiful women featured in Pretty in Mink is one hundred percent a “Luce Lady.” Whether they’re speaking for us regularly—on college campuses, at our Conservative Women’s Network luncheons in D.C, and at regional Luce events—or they’re working directly with staff to reach out to students, these women contribute so much to the Institute, and more importantly, to the next generation of women leaders.

It is with pride that we showcase these talented Luce Ladies in our 2009 Pretty in Mink calendar. We hope you enjoy the show!

The Players

Miss January — Kellyanne Conway
Miss February — Star Parker
Miss March – Susan Phalen
Miss April – Nonie Darwish
Miss May – Mary Katharine Ham
Miss June – Michelle Malkin
Miss July – Amanda Carpenter
Miss August – Sandy Liddy Bourne
Miss September – Ann Coulter
Miss October – Kate Obenshain
Miss November – Miriam Grossman, M.D.
Miss December – Clare Boothe Luce

Notice anyone missing? Rich Lowry is going to be so disappointed.

You can see all the photos here:

Understanding the Family Research Council

2008-11-20T09:13:37-06:00

The latest "Washington Update" email from the Family Research Council serves as a near-perfect example of how the group operates. The first section complains about reports that former Senator Tom Daschle has been tapped to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama Administration:

As Majority Leader, Daschle was a notorious opponent of every pro-life measure. He blocked the partial-birth abortion ban, voted for taxpayer-funded military abortions, and supported a measure that would have forced Americans to pay for the distribution of the morning-after pill to young school girls. Apart from his extreme political ideology, the selection of Daschle is even more troubling because the South Dakotan lacks any experience in the public health arena. To most Americans, who thought this election was about "change," these appointments must seem incredibly ironic.

The very next section then praises President Bush and current HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt for implementing last-minute changes that would "deal a crippling blow ... to the pro-abortion movement":

He may technically be a "lame duck," but President Bush is going out with guns blazing. With just two months left in office, the administration dealt a crippling blow to online gambling and is prepared to do the same to the pro-abortion movement on conscience exemptions. Despite an uproar from the usual liberal suspects, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is putting the finishing touches on a rule that would create a hedge of protection around health care providers who object to abortion or other procedures on moral grounds. The regulations, which HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt has promoted for months, would bar anyone who receives federal funds from discriminating against pro-life doctors, nurses, or other medical workers because of their beliefs. Pharmacists would also be exempt from dispensing drugs that could end an innocent life -- like the abortifacient RU-486. If approved before the President leaves office, the rules would be a giant leap forward for the entire medical community, some of whom have been pressured to compromise their convictions on the job. Of course, there is some danger that President-elect Obama would undo HHS's hard work, but it would be a long and arduous task. Like much of the radical abortion camp, he says these rules would create a hurdle in "women's health care." However, his argument is severely flawed, considering that abortion is not -- nor will it ever be -- true health care. While Obama says he wants to "reduce abortions," his promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Act means he's not opposed to forcing people to perform them. Thanks to Secretary Leavitt, more Americans understand that the people who oppose these rules, including President-elect Obama, are the ones imposing their beliefs-not the men and women of faith. As Leavitt said on his blog, "Our nation was built on a foundation of free speech. The first principle of free speech is protected conscience. This proposed rule is a fundamental protection for medical providers to follow theirs." Please let the administration know how much you appreciate their perseverance on conscience protections. Log on to secretarysblog.hhs.gov/my_weblog and leave Secretary Leavitt a comment expressing your gratitude.

To FRC, Daschle is completely unfit for the office not only because he doesn't share their anti-choice views, but also because he "lacks any experience in the public health arena." But they don't seem to have similar concerns about Leavitt:

Prior to his current service, Leavitt headed the Environmental Protection Agency and was elected three times as the Governor of Utah. During his eleven years as Governor, Utah was recognized six times as one of America’s best managed states. He was chosen by his peers as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association, and Republican Governors Association.

Prior to his public service, Secretary Leavitt was president and chief executive officer of a regional insurance firm.

Hmmm ... I don't see any "experience in the public health arena" among Leavitt's previous jobs as head of the EPA, Governor, or insurance company CEO. So maybe it is not really the "experience" thing that is bothering FRC, but primarily the abortion thing.

It’s Only Discrimination if Skulls Are Cracked

2008-11-19T16:47:22-06:00

Mike Huckabee has been on quite a roll lately. While he’s out hocking his latest book, he’s also been weighing in on the issue of Prop. 8’s passage in California.

Yesterday, he told “The View” that gays haven’t really been seeing their rights violated because they haven’t been getting the skulls cracked:

HUCKABEE: It’s a different set of rights. People who are homosexuals should have every right in terms of their civil rights, to be employed, to do anything they want. But that’s not really the issue. I know you talked about it and I think you got into it a little bit early on. But when we’re talking about a redefinition of an institution, that’s different than individual civil rights.

BEHAR: Well, segregation was an institution, too, in a way. It was right there on the books.

HUCKABEE: But here is the difference. Bull Connor was hosing people down in the streets of Alabama. John Lewis got his skull cracked on the Selma bridge.

And today he told Bill Bennett that Prop. 8 didn’t actually take away anyone’s rights at all:

HUCKABEE: The very people who voted for Barack Obama in California…also voted to sustain traditional marriage. I refuse to use the term, “ban same-sex marriage.” That’s not what those efforts did. They affirmed what is. They did not prohibit something. They simply affirmed something that which has and forever has existed.

Of course, as Think Progress pointed out, that is exactly what Prop. 8 did – it was right there in the description of the amendment: “Changes the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry in California.”

Our Christian President is a Muslim and a Sin Against the Lord

2008-11-19T16:35:17-06:00

Raw Story highlights the recent CNN piece on a Kansas pastors who has posted a rather provocative sign outside his church:

CNN's Rick Sanchez reported on a church marquee that reads "America we have a Muslim president. This is a sin against the Lord." Mark Holick is pastor of The Spirit One Christian Center in Wichita, Kansas where the sign is being displayed.

Holick told KSNW, "The main point of the marquee is to cause the Christians to understand he is not a Christian, Again, they will call me and they will tell me that he's not a Muslim because he is a Christian. That's not the point. The point is he's not a Christian."

The idea that Obama is not a Christian has become commonplace among many on the Right, as has the idea that it is perfectly acceptable to attack him because of his faith and that a voting for him was a sin. But this is the first time I’ve seen anyone argue that his understanding of his Christian faith actually makes him a Muslim.

If the point that Holick wanted to make is that Obama is not a Christian, why didn’t he just say that instead of saying that Obama is a Muslim? That doesn’t even make any sense.

The Emerging Right-Wing "Resistance"

2008-11-19T15:17:23-06:00

We wrote about Grassfire.org a few times back in 2007 during the height of the immigration debate and then, once the issue died down, stopped paying attention to them because, with their core issues no longer on the table, they seemed to lose focus and stagnated.

But then I came across this Buzzflash piece that informed us that not only is Grassfire back in business, they have re-formed themselves as the home of the “patriotic, resilient, conservative resistance” to Barack Obama:

Grassfire.org has launched this “Join The Resistance” campaign to give grassroots conservatives a place to join together around the common goal of holding off as much of the Obama agenda as possible. Our goal is to bring together 1 million Resisters by Inauguration Day. That would give us one-tenth of the 10 million Obama loyalists who were recruited during the campaign, but we believe 1 million equipped Resisters can make a difference.

The key will be providing web-based structures that truly equip conservatives to Resist. We begin here – by building this email network to give us the ability to respond immediately to each and every effort by the Obama administration to undermine our liberties. We plan to add to this platform social networking that will connect Resisters to others in their communities. We are also exploring ways to put the tools of the Resistance into your hands through mobile phone-based apps that allow you to Resist on the go. We will use fax, email, phone, and personal visit campaigns to press our case with leaders in Washington, D.C., who need to know that millions oppose Obama’s rush to the Left …

Resisting is just the first step. That is why we propose a three-phased recovery for conservatives: Resist, Rebuild, and Restore. We believe that resisting will create newfound unity among conservatives. Out of this, we must then Rebuild our structures. New, invigorating models must be developed that inform, equip and bring together conservatives and prepare us to return our ideas to political prominence. The Internet will be a key battleground The Left has moved far ahead in its embrace of and usage of new 2.0 technologies. The Rebuild process will leave Americans with a clear ideological and practical choice between the Left’s statist model and our model based on God-given individual liberties.

Having rebuilt, we can then Restore conservative ideas to leadership by winning elections. Ultimately, a movement’s ideas must result in electoral victories because that is the basis for legitimate authority and ultimately for implementing one’s ideas. Grassfire.org will soon be announcing a breakthrough effort that will allow our members to get engaged directly in the election process. Stay tuned.

Resist. Rebuild. Restore. It’s not an easy path for grassroots conservatives, but it is a clear path. We know what we must do. And it begins with resisting rightly — respecting the new President but never backing away from the God-given ideals of freedom and liberty upon which this nation was founded.

I have to say that the Right’s sudden penchant for referring to itself as some sort of “resistance movement” is taking on a militia-esque tone that is getting to be a little bit disturbing.

Bauer Clearly Has Not Read Huckabee’s Book

2008-11-19T14:42:27-06:00

Earlier this week, Time had an article on Mike Huckabee’s new book in which the former presidential candidate lashed out at various Religious Right leaders like Pat Robertson, John Hagee, and Gary Bauer. Today, Bauer has issued his own press release in response to that article, voicing his own disappointment in Huckabee’s pettiness:

"As a former candidate myself for the GOP Presidential nomination in 2000, I understand the disappointment Governor Huckabee must feel about his failure to win the GOP Presidential nomination in 2008. It is unfortunate, however, at a time when the GOP needs to close ranks and seek unity, that Governor Huckabee in his new book has aimed his fire at his fellow Republicans.

"In addition, Governor Huckabee expresses frustration that when he sought my endorsement in 2006 and 2007, I was concerned about issues of national security and military strength in addition to values issues. I plead guilty. The defense of the United States at a time we are at war with jihadists should be the concern of every American. Indeed, I did not endorse Governor Huckabee in 2008, because I reached the conclusion he did not sufficiently understand national security issues. That was a "deal breaker" for me as I believe it was for many other conservatives.

"In spite of our disagreements, I look forward to working in the future with Governor Huckabee to build a Republican party that is committed to smaller government, lower taxes, a strong national defense, the sanctity of life and family values."

All I can say about this statement is that it is obviously based on the Time summary of the book and not on having read the book itself. And I can say that because I am currently in the process of reading it myself and Huck makes it pretty clear that he has no use for the likes of Bauer, whom he calls “politically clueless,” as he sees himself as one of the new leaders of the Religious Right movement, along with a bevy of currently fringe right-wing figures who supported his campaign, such as Janet Porter, David Barton, and Rick Scarborough.

The Fictional President Huckabee

2008-11-19T11:00:09-06:00

This summer, Douglas MacKinnon released a novel entitled “The Apocalypse Directive” in which a fundamentalist US President uses his office to try to destroy the enemies of Christianity and bring about the apocalypse. Roll Call offered this summary:

Set in the near future, the novel centers on Ian Campbell, the deputy chief of staff to President Shelby Robertson, a religious zealot whose presidential decisions are based solely on his extreme view of Christianity. Campbell doesn’t share those beliefs; he’s a former Navy SEAL who’s jaded by the whole business of organized religion.

But to get the coveted White House gig, Campbell tricks Robertson into believing he shares the president’s religious views. Soon, Robertson is welcoming Campbell into a secret group calling themselves the “Christian Ambassadors,” whose goal is to advance the cause of Christianity and destroy those who oppose it.

Campbell soon learns that Robertson and his crew, made up of top military men and other government officials, are planning to launch a full-scale nuclear war to rid the earth of nonbelievers. Still fooling Robertson, Campbell is put in charge of a secret bunker built to provide a place for the Ambassadors to hide out during the slaughter, and he uses his new role to get more details on Robertson’s deadly plan before it is too late.

The use of the last name Robertson for this fictional president was undoubtedly intentional … but it turns out that it wasn’t actually a Pat Robertson presidency that MacKinnon was afraid of, it’s a Mike Huckabee one:

While doing publicity for my new novel “The Apocalypse Directive,” a number of interviewers asked me who served as the inspiration for the Evangelical President of the United States who professes to speak directly to God and so twists his Christian faith, that he is preparing to carry out the most heinous act known to humankind? Other than stressing that it was not George W. Bush, I mostly left the question unanswered as I moved on to the next subject.

Mike Huckabee’s renewed, juvenile, and un-Christian written assault on former rival Mitt Romney compels me to admit that it was he who served as the inspiration for the evil character.

I should probably point out as well that MacKinnon is not exactly some wild-eyed liberal:

Douglas MacKinnon was a press secretary to former Senator Bob Dole. He was also a writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush and a special assistant for policy and communications in the Defense Department.

Inside the Council for National Policy

2008-11-19T09:59:33-06:00

Sarah Posner sends a dispatch from inside the most recent Council for National Policy gathering, the secretive right-wing umbrella group that vowed to bolt the GOP if Rudy Giuliani was the nominee and whose members wept tears of joy when John McCain tapped Sarah Palin as his running mate:

While the CNP was trying to look to the future last week, it seemed hopelessly enamored of its aging leaders. When I arrived to meet Warren Smith, the conservative evangelical activist and journalist who had invited me to chat, we ambled past anti-evolutionist Ken Ham, who was holding court to a small but rapt audience in the hallway; eyed Left Behind author and CNP co-founder Tim LaHaye, who was shuffling in and out of the "CNP Networking Room;" caught a glimpse of Rick Santorum, who since being booted out of his Senate seat has led the charge against "radical Islam" from his perch at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center; and spotted the religious right's anti-feminism doyenne Phyllis Schlafly, 84, who had earlier that day delivered a speech to the CNP Youth Council on how to "find your place in the conservative movement."

…

Although the CNP's meetings are closed to the press, Smith filled me in on some details: Conservative direct-mail entrepreneur Richard Viguerie, a patriarch of the modern conservative movement, rallied the troops by pointing to prior comebacks, from Reagan to Gingrich to Bush. Viguerie, Smith told me, "is saying that we need to fight for conservative ideas and conservative values and not worry about who embraces them." Smith added that the group talked "about changing the culture, entertainment, media, TV" -- a longtime goal of the religious right's dominionism that it seeks to achieve by taking over social, cultural, and government institutions, much like religious-right figures are now plotting their new takeover of the Republican National Committee.

"What I'm hearing is that there is no loyalty to the Republican Party," said Smith, meaning no loyalty to the party as constituted but loyalty to one purged of insufficiently conservative members. "What Richard Viguerie talks about is not a third party but a third wave. Basically there needs to be a flowering of grass-roots conservative activism and local groups, local PACs. He's basically saying you've got a Republican county commissioner in Buzzard's Breath, Texas, and he's not a conservative? Run a conservative against him."

…

[A]ctivist and radio host Janet Porter, an early Huckabee backer in the 2008 campaign, told me she favored either Palin or Huckabee in 2012. Porter is straight out of the wing of the movement that is all frothing ideology, and no stone-cold strategy. That explains her ongoing fixation with the long-debunked lie that Barack Obama does not have a U.S. birth certificate, and her attempt to stop the electoral college from voting next month in the formality that will officially make him president.

Porter insists that Obama has not produced a U.S. birth certificate (he has) and that he was actually born in Kenya (he was born in Hawaii). She claims to be awaiting the results of the lawsuits filed by attorney Philip J. Berg, whose effort to halt the presidential election because of the alleged question of Obama's U.S. citizenship was rebuffed by the United States Supreme Court.

When I asked Porter about the mood around the CNP meeting, she said, "My mood is more upbeat than those who don't actually know these cases are being filed and that there's actually still a chance to maintain the freedom that we have. We're not going away. Win or lose, whether this goes through, whether it amounts to anything, we just believe that [for] something this important we need the answers. And we're going to fight for freedom, and we're going to use whatever freedom we have until it's taken away with the efforts of hate crimes, ENDA, fairness doctrine, wiping out all the pro-life legislation. Everything's on the line."

My skepticism showed, I suspect. "I think this might be a little more newsworthy than you think," she insisted and handed me a flyer about her effort that read: "Not extreme. Not fringe. Just Constitutional."

Kathleen Parker Invites More Hate Mail

2008-11-19T09:29:07-06:00

Conservative columnist didn’t win any friends among the right-wing die-hards in the Republican Party when she penned a column in September calling on Sarah Palin to drop out of the campaign in order to stop the damage she was doing to John McCain’s campaign and the GOP. Needless to say, her message did not go over well and the right-wing backlash ended up becoming a story in itself.

So it is probably safe to assume that her latest column is probably not going to win back any friends among those who see the Religious Right as the foundation of the Republican Party and Sarah Palin as its future:

As Republicans sort out the reasons for their defeat, they likely will overlook or dismiss the gorilla in the pulpit.

Three little letters, great big problem: G-O-D.

I'm bathing in holy water as I type.

To be more specific, the evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what ails the erstwhile conservative party and will continue to afflict and marginalize its constituents if reckoning doesn't soon cometh.

Simply put: Armband religion is killing the Republican Party. And, the truth -- as long as we're setting ourselves free -- is that if one were to eavesdrop on private conversations among the party intelligentsia, one would hear precisely that.

The choir has become absurdly off-key, and many Republicans know it.

But they need those votes!

So it has been for the Grand Old Party since the 1980s or so, as it has become increasingly beholden to an element that used to be relegated to wooden crates on street corners ...

Which is to say, the GOP has surrendered its high ground to its lowest brows.

For its part, the “oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP” has no intention of letting the so-called moderates in the party throw them overboard. Nor, as I’ve said before, does the GOP have any incentive to actually do so – at least not until the party can nominate a presidential candidate who openly eschews the Religious Right and still wins the election or the Right gets a dream nominee who makes the right-wing agenda the centerpiece of their campaign and then gets utterly destroyed at the polls. Until then, the Religious Right and the moderates in the Republican Party are going to be stuck with each other whether they like it or not.

The Georgia Renewal Project

2008-11-18T16:51:08-06:00

I wrote a post last year noting that the Right-Wing had a lot of different groups under which they pressed the agenda. On top of their own organizations, a lot of right-wing leaders are also involved in umbrella organizations like the Arlington Group and the Council for National Policy. There are also various state-level organziations like the "Patriot Pastors" movement and the "Restoration Projects" that are active in places like Texas and Ohio.

And then there are things like the Iowa Renewal Project, where Mike Huckabee hobnobbed with various right-wing leaders as he rallied to win the Iowa primary. Apparently there is also one in Georiga as well, which is slated to host Gov. Sonny Perdue, Daivd Barton, Mat Staver and other for a luncheon next week:

Georgia Renewal Project

Cordially invites you to participate in its Pastors' Policy Briefing Luncheon

Rediscovering God in America

With Special Guests

The Honorable Sonny Perdue
Governor of Georgia

and

Historian David Barton
WallBuilders

Who will be accompanied by

The Honorable Bob McEwen
Dr. Mat Staver
and other guest speakers

To be held at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel
2450 Galleria Pkwy, Atlanta, GA 30339
on Tuesday, November 25, 2008.

11:30 AM - 2:30 PM
Registration begins at 11:00 AM.

There will be a reception prior to the luncheon beginning at 11:00 AM.

The luncheon is complimentary and will be provided by the Georgia Renewal Project.

CWA's Beverly LaHaye also seems to be involved, as she is issuing her own invitations to the event.

I have to admit that, as someone who follows this stuff for a living, even I am routinely confused by sheer number of different organizations that have different names, yet all seem to contain the same handful of Religious Right leaders.