At last

Bush's former No. 2 guy on for the faith-based initiatives wakes up to the fact that GOP is playing religious conservatives for suckers. He's written a book about it, Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction, which comes out Monday.

While I oppose much of what the Religious Right is demanding -- teacher-led prayer in schools, the teaching of creationism as science and government funding for religious programs, to name a few -- I'm thrilled to see someone finally realizing that the the group's devotion to the party, and some of the anti-Christian values it represents, is misplaced loyalty.

From a report by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann:

According to Kuo, Karl Rove's office referred to evangelical leaders as 'the nuts.'

Kuo says, '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.' "

So how does the Bush White House keep 'the nuts' turning out at the polls?

One way, regular conference calls with groups led by Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Ted Haggard, and radio hosts like Michael Reagan.

Kuo says, "Participants were asked to talk to their people about whatever issue was pending.  Advice was solicited [but] that advice rarely went much further than the conference call. [T]he true purpose of these calls was to keep prominent social conservatives and their groups or audiences happy."

They do get some things from the Bush White House, like the National Day of Prayer, “another one of the eye-rolling Christian events,” Kuo says.

And “passes to be in the crowd greeting the president when he arrived on Air Force One or tickets for a speech he was giving in their hometown. Little trinkets like cufflinks or pens or pads of paper were passed out like business cards. Christian leaders could give them to their congregations or donors or friends to show just how influential they were. Making politically active Christians personally happy meant having to worry far less about the Christian political agenda.” 

Source: Crooks and Liars