October 15, 2006

Kuo on 60 minutes: maybe White house not all wrong

Watched Kuo and must say that he seemed pretty convincing to me. Not someone with a political angle as much as someone who really believed in these people.

I did chuckle, however, when he mentioned that the White House referred to Pat Robertson as "insane," Jerry Falwell as "impossible" (not sure about that one) and James Dobson as "needs handling." When he called Robertson "insane" SOF and I kind of nodded, "well, yeah."

Of course, that wasn't what they were telling the faithful. And another thing about your religious leaders. Just watch them get out of their limos in their tailored suits to meet with people in power and tell me that Jesus would do that. Tell me that Jesus would drive past the poor in Washington to meet with the well-heeled? These assholes do that every day, because they are CELEBRITIES, not Christian leaders.

And speaking of that. Kuo spoke of how he followed Bush because of what he offered to do on poverty. I can respect that faith, though it is hard for anyone objectively to suggest to me that the poor are better off with Bush.

At the end of the day, I am convinced, though I was all along, that Bush and his people used the faithful to get political votes. I have known that for a long time. I think many of us have. Kuo provides confirmation that hymn phrases were inserted as code language to appeal to evangelicals while not upsetting mainstream conservatives. We saw that and noted it. Kuo confirmed it.

And at the end of the day, many conservatives can be forgiven for following this man who promised to use the power of the federal government to fight poverty and crime in a way that encouraged faith. What is less forgiving are those who continue to follow these people when there is no proof of actual fruit.

No comments: