Rove Describes Evangelical Christians as "nuts"?

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Heh Heh, this year has got to be Republicans worst nightmare coming true.

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Aide says White House mocked evangelicals

· Administration accused of cynical ploy to win votes
· Bush adviser denies he called supporters 'nuts'

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday October 14, 2006
The Guardian

A former senior presidential aide has accused the Bush administration of using evangelical Christians to win votes but then privately ridiculing them once in office. The allegations by David Kuo, the former deputy director of the White House office of faith-based initiatives, come at a devastating time, when the administration is counting on born-again Christians to vote in sufficient numbers to save the Republicans' hold on Congress in the November elections.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2006/10/13/bushchurch256ready.jpg
George Bush speaks at a church in New Orleans in 2004. Photograph: Stephen Jaffe/AFP/Getty

In a book entitled Tempting Faith: an Inside Story of Political Seduction, to be published on Monday, Mr Kuo portrays the Bush White House's commitment to evangelical causes as little more than a cynical facade designed to win votes.

"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," Mr Kuo wrote, according to MSNBC television, which obtained an early copy of the book. In particular, he quotes Karl Rove, the president's long-serving political adviser and mentor, as describing evangelical Christians as "nuts".

President George Bush launched the office of faith-based initiatives soon after taking office in 2001, depicting it as the embodiment of his philosophy of "compassionate conservatism". However, Mr Kuo alleges that between 2002 and 2004 it used taxpayers' money to organise religious conferences in 20 districts where embattled Republican candidates were trying to mobilise Christian supporters. Efforts were made to disguise the political nature of the conferences.
CONT (http://tinyurl.com/y8qzbx)

[DBruleU]

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/10/13/170026.shtml

White House Rejects 'Tempting Faith' Claims

A former Bush aide claims that evangelical Christians were embraced for political gain at the White House but derided privately as "nuts," "ridiculous" and "goofy."

The allegations - denied by the White House on Friday - are in a new book by David Kuo, a conservative Christian who was deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives until 2003.

The book describes Kuo's frustration at what he felt was lackluster enthusiasm in the White House for the program, which seeks to steer more federal social service contracts to religious organizations. Details from the book, "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction," were reported by MSNBC ahead of Monday's publication date.

Kuo singled out staffers in the office of Karl Rove, Bush's top political adviser and deputy chief of staff, as particularly condescending toward evangelical Christians, viewing them as necessary to help win elections but ridiculing them behind the scenes.

Kuo also described how officials from the faith-based office were systematically dispatched to hold large events in areas where there were key House and Senate races before the 2002 elections.


White House press secretary Tony Snow said he had not yet seen the book. But he said Rove was asked if he made the comments and replied he had not. Kuo, however, doesn't single out anyone by name as making the condescending comments.

"These are people who are friends. You don't talk about friends that way," Snow said.

Bush's spokesman also said there was no attempt to exploit the office to score political points, and that the president had specifically directed it not be politicized.

Snow denied Kuo's charge that the White House's religious charities program wasn't given the status it deserved, saying Bush's personal commitment to the policy was solid. Kuo has complained publicly in the past that the White House did not push hard enough for promised federal funding for religious groups to help the poor.

Snow read from what he called a "very warm letter" Kuo wrote to Bush when he left the White House. Kuo told the president he was proud of what the initiative had accomplished and said "it's your staff's keen awareness of your unwavering support for this initiative that's made the difference."

[Bronco_Beerslug]

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2006/10/13/170026.shtml
White House Rejects 'Tempting Faith' Claims

LOL
Hey Forrest I just posted this. If you would have actually read it you might have caught that.

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."

[DBruleU]

LOL
Hey Forrest I just posted this. If you would have actually read it you might have caught that.

I read it, and still posted it.

It's not word for word. Whats wrong with posting something on topic?

[TheDave]

looks like there is a first for everything... i actually agree with Karl Rove

[mhgaffney]

This is what comes of mixing religion and politics. Now maybe the neo con bastards will get their come uppance.

[Atlas]

Learning this actually makes me like Rove a little more. At least he is dealing with reality.

[SoCalBronco]

Learning this actually makes me like Rove a little more. At least he is dealing with reality.

A group of people are "nuts" just because they have different views than what most folks on this subforum believe?

[TheDave]

A group of people are "nuts" just because they have different views than what most folks on this subforum believe?

Depends....

DbruleU Evangelical = Nuts

Robb Evangelical = Even more nuts

Rascal/MHS Evangelical = Misguided and only semi-nuts

MadYack Evangelical = Way too self-absorbed to tell

At least that how i see it ;D

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

A group of people are "nuts" just because they have different views than what most folks on this subforum believe?

According to Bush's former deputy director of the White House office of faith-based initiatives, the answer is affirmative.

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

The allegations by David Kuo, the former deputy director of the White House office of faith-based initiatives, come at a devastating time, when the administration is counting on born-again Christians to vote in sufficient numbers to save the Republicans' hold on Congress in the November elections.

The Grand Old Pervs need not worry about losing their hardcore base over this sort of "revelation."

After all, these people like to be abused.

How else can you explain their "thank you sir, may I have another?" vote in '04 and their unwavering commitment to voting against their own interests?

These people are like kids in a dysfunctional family who will defend their drunken, abusive daddy no matter what he does to them.

[SoCalBronco]

The Grand Old Pervs need not worry about losing their hardcore base over this sort of "revelation."

After all, these people like to be abused.

How else can you explain their "thank you sir, may I have another?" vote in '04 and their unwavering commitment to voting against their own interests?

These people are like kids in a dysfunctional family who will defend their drunken, abusive daddy no matter what he does to them.

I'm not sure what you expect evangelicals to do.

You may very well be correct re: Bush and Co. being fake Christians/disingeniously using Evangelical voters etc., but its not like they can vote for Democrats. They simply don't agree with the Democrats policy positions at all. I suppose they can stay at home to show their dissatisfaction, but that doesn't seem like a very productive alternative (in terms of finding the approach that best satisfies their objectives).

[L.A. BRONCOS FAN]

I suppose they can stay at home to show their dissatisfaction...

That's a great idea. ;D :thumbs:

[elsid13]

I actually meet one of the lead liaison in the WH faith based office for my masters program. He was one of Rove's deputies. Guy reminded me of Norman from Hitchcock's Psycho films. He had very different perspective on how he saw the world and how I saw it. In many ways I felt that he had vision of the world that I would never understand. I see a lot more issues in the grey then simple black and white like he did.

[Atlas]

I'm not sure what you expect evangelicals to do.

You may very well be correct re: Bush and Co. being fake Christians/disingeniously using Evangelical voters etc., but its not like they can vote for Democrats. They simply don't agree with the Democrats policy positions at all. I suppose they can stay at home to show their dissatisfaction, but that doesn't seem like a very productive alternative (in terms of finding the approach that best satisfies their objectives).

You are right. They have to stick with the horse that brought them there.