Posted on 09/27/2006 11:30:48 AM PDT by truthandlife
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey has launched an attack on Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, saying Dobson and his "band of thugs” are "nasty bullies” and accusing the Republicans of pandering to the Christian right.
In an interview with Ryan Sager, author of the book "The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians, and the Battle to Control the Republican Party,” Armey said the GOP was "adrift and rudderless” in its commitment to small government.
When pressed by Sager about what he feels is wrong with today’s Republican Congress, Armey – who became majority leader when the GOP took control of Congress in 1994 and retired in 2003 – said: "The criteria of choice in just about every behavior you see in Congress today is politics. Where in the hell did this Terri Schiavo thing come from? There’s not a conservative, Constitution-loving, separation-of-powers guy alive in the world that could have wanted that bill on the floor.
"That was pure, blatant pandering to James Dobson. That’s all it was. It was silly, stupid, and irresponsible. Nobody serious about the Constitution would do that. But the question was will this energize our Christian conservative base for the next election.”
Sager asked why it seems that Christian conservatives are more powerful now than in the 1990s. Armey replied: "To a large extent because Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies. I pray devoutly every day, but being a Christian is no excuse for being stupid. There’s a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in schools. Demagoguery doesn’t work unless it’s dumb . . . These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy and can appeal to a large demographic.”
Armey, who was first elected as a Congressman from Texas in 1984, toned down his remarks – but only slightly – in an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal on Sept. 23. He again brought up Dobson: "The national representatives of the social conservative movement used to be sophisticated and tolerant. Today, they are sophomoric and angry. It's an embarrassing spectacle seeing leaders bullied around by the likes of James Dobson, or watching the Christian Coalition team up with MoveOn.org in support of bigger government.”
Armey – now chairman of FreedomWorks, a national grassroots advocacy organization – did not reserve his criticism for the GOP, going on to write: "Perhaps the only thing more embarrassing than being a loyal Republican in this election season is being a loyal Democrat. Although the party has offered no proposal to fix Social Security, the aspiring House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader hopeful, Harry Reid, held yet another press conference recently denouncing the secret Republican plan to "privatize" the failing entitlement.
"While Democrat pollsters are no doubt telling their candidates that the P-word will effectively scare seniors and other swing constituencies to the polls, this strategy has consistently failed in past election cycles.”
Well, Dick, you must be from the commie left then.
So bye and dont let the door hit you in the Butt.
Armey can whine all he wants, but the right to life is a fundamental right.
and not a minute too soon, it seems
Well, yeah if you starve them all to death.
I feel the same way whenever those ubiquitous "burning the flag"--Republican and "raise the minimum wage"--Democrat bills appear in Congress during Election years.
No big fan of dobson myself, but sounds like Dicky is morphing into Bob Barr's sister.
Armey has his principles and sticks to them. He was the one who singlehandedly prevented "Operation TIPS" from becoming reality.
-Eric
If DICK had kept his in his pants, he would still be in the Congress!
LLS
Someone in the Republican party needed to admit it....
Dick Armey thinks I'm a thug. Doesn't that beat all?
James Dobson is no thug, nor does he have a gang of bullies. I am sick and tired of the overblown rhetoric from Democrats, but this, from a Republican, is a real stab in the back.
This is the thanks we get for saving the Republicans hides in 2000, 2002, and 2004.
Thank you for posting that - how on earth could Armey miss the obvious!
It seems the old Republican minority is angry that the Christian Right decided to fight back after decades of being rolled and ignored on State and Federal policy.
Armey's comments are not very helpful, to anyone.
I surely lost a ton of respect I used to have for him. I am appalled to read his views on Dobson.
Dobson works through an ability to persuade, not through thuggery.
Good news...sounds like the religious conservatives have the liberarians, log cabins, and liberals dead in their tracks.
Hey Dick, say hello to all your buddies at the ACLU.
Tell 'em the vast rightwing Christian conspiracy is out to get 'em.
BOO!
Sounds like the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.
Wow, that's disappointing.
Yup.
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