NYT: G.O.P.'s Christian Allies Warn That Inaction Could Be Costly

[Pirate Smile]

G.O.P.'s Christian Allies Warn That Inaction Could Be Costly

By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 15, 2006

WASHINGTON, May 13 — Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion.

"There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections this fall," said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer.

Mr. Viguerie also cited dissatisfaction with government spending, the war in Iraq and the immigration-policy debate, which Mr. Bush is scheduled to address in a televised speech on Monday night.

"I can't tell you how much anger there is at the Republican leadership," Mr. Viguerie said. "I have never seen anything like it."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/washington/15dobson.html?hp&ex=1147665600&en=9a82b5a7a2e49452&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[progressivebydesign]

1. Umm where will the prudes go, then?

Are they asking to ramp up the hate, or else??

[onehandle]

6. Constitution Party.

It's the "Right" choice.

[PaDem]

32. They aren't going anywhere.........

the rhetoric will fly as we get closer to the election, and everyone will fall back into line.

[adigal]

35. The irony is that Dobson and Company don't realize

that 70% of the American public have now seen through their extremism, and are no longer buying that "values" nonsense. More people in that NY Times poll said that the Democrats are closer to their values last week.

If the Repubs get more extreme like they did before Terri Schiavo and Katrina woke up America, they will truly get 29% of the electorate for a generation.

[saigon68]

43. That will be good

These hateful extremists can go hide in the dark and masturbate.

[Democrats_win]

2. Tax cuts. Didn't they get the memo? He GAVE them tax cuts.

[TankLV]

38. AND abortion judges! How quickly they forget!

[NanceGreggs]

3. So the so-called Christians JUST realized they've been had?

You'd think Jesus would have let them in on that open secret eons ago.

Seems at odds with Christian teaching that they're so worried about abortion, obscenity and same-sex marriage -- while giving this administration a complete pass on TORTURE.

[Melsky]

13. It's ok for our guys to sodomize Iraqis with broom handles

as long as we don't let homosexuals marry in this country. I just don't understand those people. How is that Christian?

[NanceGreggs]

19. Is that Christian?

Not the last time I checked ... but I've been out of the loop for a while. Maybe we should ask the pope, when he's finished bitching about how if people go to see the "Da Vinci Code", it's is going to bring down the Catholic Church.

[LeighAnn]

25. Yes, things that are important to Amerikkkans

Check out this last bit of the article:

"Dr. Dobson declined to comment. His spokesman, Paul Hetrick, said that Dr. Dobson was 'on a fact-finding trip to see where Republicans are regarding the issues that concern values voters most, especially the Marriage Protection Act,' and that it was too soon to tell the results."

Will they ever get it??? Seems like a lot of regular folks have, but not the rethuglican leadership.

[NoodleyAppendage]

4. The Christofascist, racist, homophobes are pissed about inaction.

Tough shit, I say. Our country is better off without any kind of actions these idiots would demand.

J

[Canuckistanian]

5. If they're looking for support from Dems, forget it

They made their beds with the Republicans. They're joined at the hip. They can't extricate themselves that easily.

A defeat for Republicans is a defeat for them and their principles.

They ARE the Republican leadership.

[droidamus2]

31. You have it right

It sounds to me like they are see the writing on the wall as far as the Republicans losing lots of seats in the House and Senate so they are trying to distance themselves. They have always tried to take credit for the success of the Republican party in the last 30 years and they don't want to be seen as weak. So when they say the Republicans haven't done enough we're staying home and not voting and the Republicans lose alot of seats their spin will be 'See when we vote the Republicans win when we don't they lose. We are the power of the Republican party the party must bow to us and our power and implement our agenda or we will continue not to vote and the Republican party will continue to lose'.

[Critters2]

7. To which Rove replies: "Oh, really? Where will you go?"

:eyes:

[grytpype]

8. The Repugs did a deal with the Devil, and now the Devil wants to be paid.

[JWS]

21. The devil owes me a golden fiddle.

[ninkasi]

9. Ah, yes

There is nothing like bigotry and hatred to spread conservation christian values. Stem cell research? Forget it. Living wage? forget it. Clean air and water? No need. The Constitution? Bah, humbug. The world can go down in nuclear war, and it's ok as long as gays can't marry. What a narrow-minded, spiteful, twisted bunch of people they are. I wish they would all get raptured in the next five minutes, and leave healing the damage they've caused up to us godless libruls.

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Wow. RW wingnuts are angry. Is this news? They're angry by nature.

It's what they do best. H-a-t-e.

[grytpype]

11. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Get this!!!

""There is a growing feeling among conservatives that the only way to cure the problem is for Republicans to lose the Congressional elections this fall," said Richard Viguerie, a conservative direct-mail pioneer."

HAHAHAHA! Yeah, I'm down with that! Stay home, fundies! Or better yet vote Democrat! HAHAHAHAHA!

[TrogL]

23. So they're gonna take their ball and bat and go home

Wish it was that easy.

If they can't get what they want politically, what next? Civil war?

[Kailassa]

26. No, worse.

With the connivance of certain Democratic senators who've been flirting with the dark side lately, they will turn the Democrat party into the nouveau warmongering christo-fascist party.

[Castilleja]

12. Those three things are what they worry about????????

And they are not satisfied with what has been done thus far??? These people are mentally ill.

[54anickel]

14. Sheesh, then Norquist rubs salt into the wound...

Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and another frequent participant in the Council for National Policy, argued that Christian conservatives were hurting their own cause.

"If the Republicans do poorly in 2006," Mr. Norquist said, "the establishment will explain that it was because Bush was too conservative, specifically on social and cultural issues."


Hmmmm, perhaps not Grover. Seems to me the Christian allies dissing Bushco states Bush wasn't conservative enough on social and cultural issues. Folks like Dobson will just go back to staying out of the political ring, and his followers will either just stay home or be forced to actually pay attention to some of the real issues and make up their own minds on whom to vote for. It would probably be the best thing to happen for all involved.

[leesa]

15. Bunch of thugs.

[Lexingtonian]

16. geniuses at work....

Hey, I have the perfect solution for the Religious Right. Just give up on politics, period.

That'll spare you further defeats and grind down of all your sadly foolish "morality". You'll be moving into little villages of your own kind in due course, whether in 2007 or five years down the road, and there you can live in all the "morality" you want. (Just don't act too surprised at all the murder-suicides, or how your kids flee those places at the first chance they get.)

[Mountainman]

17. All Americans should tell these hate mongers to go to hell!

[teknomanzer]

29. No need to...

they're already headed that way. :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

18. Well they and their agenda didn't make it into Bolten's 5 point recovery

plan for Bush.

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1186555,00.html

snip>

.....Friends and colleagues of Bolten told TIME about an informal, five-point "recovery plan" for Bush that is aimed at pushing him up slightly in opinion polls and reassuring Republican activists, whose disaffection could cost him dearly in November. The White House has no visions of expanding the G.O.P.'s position in the midterms; the mission is just to hold on to control of Congress by playing to the base. Here is the Bolten plan:

1 DEPLOY GUNS AND BADGES. This is an unabashed play to members of the conservative base who are worried about illegal immigration. Under the banner of homeland security, the White House plans to seek more funding for an extremely visible enforcement crackdown at the Mexican border, including a beefed-up force of agents patrolling on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). "It'll be more guys with guns and badges," said a proponent of the plan. "Think of the visuals. The President can go down and meet with the new recruits. He can go down to the border and meet with a bunch of guys and go ride around on an ATV." Bush has long insisted he wants a guest-worker program paired with stricter border enforcement, but House Republicans have balked at temporary legalization for immigrants, so the President's ambition of using the issue to make the party more welcoming to Hispanics may have to wait.

2 MAKE WALL STREET HAPPY. In an effort to curry favor with dispirited Bush backers in the investment world, the Administration will focus on two tax measures already in the legislative pipeline--extensions of the rate cuts for stock dividends and capital gains. "We need all these financial TV shows to be talking about how great the economy is, and that only happens when their guests from Wall Street talk about it," said a presidential adviser. "This is very popular with investors, and a lot of Republicans are investors."

3 BRAG MORE. White House officials who track coverage of Bush in media markets around the country said he garnered his best publicity in months from a tour to promote enrollment in Medicare's new prescription-drug plan. So they are planning a more focused and consistent effort to talk about the program's successes after months of press reports on start-up difficulties. Bolten's plan also calls for more happy talk about the economy. With gas prices a heavy drain on Bush's popularity, his aides want to trumpet the lofty stock market and stable inflation and interest rates. They also plan to highlight any glimmer of success in Iraq, especially the formation of a new government, in an effort to balance the negative impression voters get from continued signs of an incubating civil war.

4 RECLAIM SECURITY CREDIBILITY. This is the riskiest, and potentially most consequential, element of the plan, keyed to the vow by Iran to continue its nuclear program despite the opposition of several major world powers. Presidential advisers believe that by putting pressure on Iran, Bush may be able to rehabilitate himself on national security, a core strength that has been compromised by a discouraging outlook in Iraq. "In the face of the Iranian menace, the Democrats will lose," said a Republican frequently consulted by the White House. However, a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll this April 8-11, found that 54% of respondents did not trust Bush to "make the right decision about whether we should go to war with Iran."

5 COURT THE PRESS....

[momster]

30. And Press the Courts...

an 'activist judge' is only bad if they rule in favor of the Constitution.

[ruggerson]

20. This is all about getting votes for their anti marriage rights amendment

They want to scare Republicans into voting for it.

[CornField]

22. I guess allowing sin city NO to flood & ignoring it wasn't enough

This will smack ya right in the face: My fantical brother informed me -- when I asked for him to name one thing Bush did right since 2005 -- that Bush and his adminstration did right when they allowed all those "unrepentant sinners to suffer God's wrath in New Orleans."

So... there you go. The very people who have been given our tax dollars by the Faith-Based Initiative are quite probably also the ones who believe "God's wrath upon sinners" is something they shouldn't interfere with.

[Renew Deal]

24. How exactly do you curb obsenity?

I'm still waiting to figure that out.

[Kailassa]

27. Trousers for horses.Boxers for doggies.And the abolition of all pussies.

And modest coverings for all the naked furniture legs assaulting our delicate senses with wicked invitations to the display of unbridaled animal passion.

Ohh, I must Not look at my piano's legs, I mustn't!

It's flirting with me from across the room, smiling provocatively with its long row of ivory teeth.

I can't help it, it's the piano's fault when I give into lust in this way.

Help me someone, help me smash this brazen blackwood slut into matchsticks, that will teach it to
offend propriety in this sinful manner!

[TankLV]

39. Don't laugh - that was THE reason for "table skirts" in the late 1800's.

For tables, chairs and pianos!

What you said is the EXACT SERIOUS REASON for these items!

I kid you not.

[lindisfarne]

28. Unfortunately, I think everyone understands this is just rhetoric -

but maybe they'll be less mobilized which could help.

[maxrandb]

33. I'm hoping they'll all be "Raptured" the hell out of here on 1 Nov. n/t

[Neurotica]

34. Question on CNP president

Another article on this same meeting said that T. Kenneth Cribb is the current "president" of the CNP, but I'm not sure about the validity of the source. Cribb has definitely been a vice-president in recent years.

My last info is that Steve Baldwin, formerly of California and now a resident of Northern Virginia, is the current "executive director" of the CNP.

Since this organization is so secretive, it's hard to get the facts.

Does anyone know who is currently in charge? (Links to documentation would be great.) Thanks.

[stanwyck]

36. Fundie shakedown will fail to scare

the GOP. They've been usin' and abusin' these folks since Reagan. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink...abortion, gay marriage, ten commandments, hey, whatever. Just get'em to the polls and then let the door hit them on their way out.
The GOP is really about Jeff Skilling and Ken Lay. Guys who can manipulate money and power through withholding electricity in order to drive up prices while discrediting the Democratic governor. Which opens up the possibility for their hand-picked candidate...Arnie. And all those "respectable" companies that rolled right along with Enron's criminal, yes -- criminal, acitivities.
That's the heart of the GOP. Not whatever fundie nonsense Santorum is currently flogging for airtime.
These people are useful. They provide that slim margin the GOP craves. But once they're used, they're abused. Love'em and leave'em.
And then make nasty jokes about them in the lockerroom with your money-crazed power player buddies.

[TankLV]

37. Good for them - I hope they ALL stay home!

There's plenty of reasons they could choose from!

[Supersedeas]

40. lil Mary Cheney does know which way to turn

[genieroze]

41. Lie with dogs, you get fleas.

[nealmhughes]

42. Fundamentalists up at arms:

Their choice of a new guru to invigorate their branch of the GOP is obvious: Jeff "Bulldog" Gannon!