Keith Olbermann: White House Called Religious Right “ridiculous” “out of control” and “goofy”
Update: WOW! Here’s the full piece from CrooksandLiars.com. I can’t imagine this is going to sit well in extremist-land.
According to today’s “Countdown Extra:”
Subject: Countdown EXTRA
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A Countdown exclusive…Inside the book “Tempting Faith”…
By the former Special Assistant to the President…
The number two man in Bush’s Office Of Faith-Based Initiatives…
Who writes how Karl Rove’s office referred to evangelical leaders as quote “the nuts”…
How the White House hugged them…
Then described them as “ridiculous” “out of control” and “goofy”…Did the Bush administration take the religious right for a ride?
I guess we should tune in tonight to find out the real scoop. Could it be that the even the White House is now joining the anti-religious right sentiment that has recently grasped Washington?
I watched the piece on Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” tonight. Very interesting. The guy who wrote the book is a Religious Reich insider, Olbermann said. But regardless of the revelations in the new book, the RR does have unprecedented power and influence in running the government and setting public policy. Witness the deference to the RR leadership in choosing nomines for the Supreme Court, the efforts to pass several constitutional amendments, the policy of providing abstinence only sex education in foreign countries.
If the RR does bolt the Repuglican party because of this book, I just hope they don’t decide to take over the Democrats next.
With the administration and the RR, it’s like the sex is really bad and the administration can’t stand the sound of their voice, but the RR are the only ones who’ll sleep with them!
The story has to be true, because Rove has to be able to add. It looks like to me they’re wanting to subtract; however, they may find out how very hard it is to get rid of a neurotic partner, especially after having children. Indeed, the RR’s “cells” “stem” from stupidity. I never thought I’d agree with Rove on anything.
Don…
Not to worry a whole lot. Nobody wants the spoiled, bullying, and ignorant child to play in the sandbox with them, or send them sexually harassing emails. It’s not that we don’t just want them to not alter the constitution, nobody wants them PERIOD unless they bring their toys, votes, & $. They need to be monitored, not allowed to get up, and totally defeated in the eye of public opinion, I think.
Ron and Rabbit,
Well stated, both. Don’t get too carried away with the shadenfreud!
I need to be very clear.
My sentence, ” Indeed, the RR’s “cells” “stem” from stupidity” refers to their faulty reasoning in their debates and on the stem cell issue, which should be obvious from my previous statements about “addition” and “subtraction.” In these early hours with my play on words, I now feel ashamed for posting anything that could be possibly construed as anti-semitic in the least way by even one person. Had I been awake, I would have recognized how that would possibly come across and not done so. Reading it again, there is no way to get around it.
It looks like I said the reason the RR can’t do simple math is there is something wrong with their genetics.
Correction: the reason the RR can’t do simple math is that some of the RR believe the earth is 6000 years old, when we have radio carbon dating and fossils that prove otherwise. Billions of years does not = 6000. ID and stem cell research both have their foundations in creationism and the ontological argument, hence my play on EXTREME VERY POORLY CHOSEN WORDS.
My sincere apologies.
However unintended, it was still completely unacceptable.
As a skeptic, I am contemplating David Kuo’s motivation for writing this, other than what is said in the article.
Anyway, I betcha Jimmy Dobson has a sore ass this morning! If I was working for him I definitely would not be asking him for a raise today.
I wonder if he will be talking with the prez today.
In this case, both sides will be working very hard to smooth this over. They will probably make a statement that Kuo is an incompetent malcontent or something to that effect.
I would also bet that there will be a few damage control phone calls going down today.
It will be interesting to see how Falwell, Roberston, et all. react to this.
Dale,
The reaction will more than likely be something along the lines of what you stated about Kuo being a “malcontent”. They will do anything they can to maintain the fiction that they have the “power from God” that they claim to have, because to do otherwise would cause the “faithful” to perhaps begin to question their leadership, and we can’t have that, now, can we?
I would say the folks over at the office of Faith Based Initiatives and the presidents operatives were rather kind at referring to Dobson as a “the nut,” “ridiculous,” “out of control” and “goofy.”
There is an irony here in that the goment people will go behind closed doors and sell their souls to private interest lobbyists and others, but the Religious Right became too public in their demands. Push came to shove, so to speak and, obviously, the religious right is finding out the hard way that their iillusions of political power were , in fact, just illusions.
Their dealings with the politicos always seemed to smack of extortion to get their way rather than working for the best interests of all Americans. That style of power will never be tolerated by a sane government.
Right now the RR are probably feeling like a baby harp seal.
This newscast felt like a breath of fresh air. Keith said what needed to be said, what was true, and what so many Americans have longed to say. I just hope the Dems in Congress grow some spines and clean up Bush’s mess and throw all the bums out.
Thanks, Rabbit and Dale.
Rabbit, I didn’t read any anti-semitism or anything of the kind into your original post.
And Dale, thanks for the caution about not getting carried away with shadenfreud. Until a couple years ago, I wouldn’t have known what shadenfreud meant, but I do now, and I appreciated your suggestion.
Yup, I’m sure the RR, the Boob admin, and the right-wing talk show pundits will be branding Kuo a malcontent. They’ll be in full time damage control mode. I also wonder about his motives for writing the book, though. The Boobs and congress did give the RR a lot of access and power, and last I knew, the Faith Based Initiative had resulted in federal agencies doling out something like $10 billion over the last few years, mostly to fundie “christian” outfits.
And yes, the Democrats need to grow some spines, and publicly rebuke the Religious Reich for being the ignorant, hypocritical, hateful, manipulative idiots that they are. Most Dems have been too afraid of the RR to do that.
Hi All: Isn’t it interesting that in the”shining city ” on the hil, in beacon for liberty and democracy we get more truth from a sportscaster turned newscaster(Olbermann) and from two comics on the Comedy channel(Colbert and Stewart) than we do from many segments of mainstream media? Of course all we get from Fox is propaganda–pure and simple.
However, Colbert, Stewart, and Olbermann are in the distinguished lineage of Will Rogers.( Also Bill Maher should not be excluded from list of relevant comic pundts)
yahweh,
Yes indeedy. Life is a comedy for those who think, but a tragedy for those who feel.
[…] The religious right has weighed in on the allegations of former Deputy Director of Faith-Based Initiatives, David Kuo. Their response? Defend the White House. […]