Foley Scandal Even Worse Than You Think; Christians were fooled again
I haven't jumped on the sad, pathetic, sleazy Mark Foley "Masturgate" scandal because it just seemed like piling on. Still, today's revelations should convince even the most diehard Republican that their party has abandoned any sense of morality:
It seems increasingly clear that the GOP congressional leadership, eager for every safe incumbent in the House to run for re-election, looked the other way as evidence accumulated that Mark Foley had a thing for pages. Holding onto his seat became more important than confronting him over his extracurricular activities.
But there's more to the story of why Foley stood for re-election this year. Yesterday, a source close to Foley explained to THE NEW REPUBLIC that in early 2006 the congressman had all but decided to retire from the House and set up shop on K Street. "Mark's a friend of mine," says this source. "He told me, 'I'm thinking about getting out of it and becoming a lobbyist.'"
So... not only did high ranking Republicans know about Foley's predatory sexual practices, they went out of their way to ignore them just to win an election. I've said it before and I'll say it again:
Republicans don't believe in Democracy. Conservatives don't believe in America.
Nor do Republicans put much faith in Christianity, except as a cynical ploy to manipulate devout but gullible people:
More than five years after President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the former second-in-command of that office is going public with an insider’s tell-all account that portrays an office used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities.
...
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.
Evangelical Christians unite: Zero tolerance for Republicans!
