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.”
I do, too.
Unfortunately, election-year pandering is not limited to one party, and neither is abandoning all principles to chase those votes.
"(Un)fortunately, the ReligiousRightMoral'Majority'ArmyofGod(tm) wing of the party is going to find itself out in the cold"
And then they will stop trying to ban abortion, they will go along with gun-control, higher taxes, greater regulation of business and our personal affairs, and there will be little difference between the GOP and the Dems.
That's why I am a GOP member, because they stand for life, and freedom. The difference between the big-tent pubbies and the Christian right is that they would rather elect people, no matter their political persuausion, than differ with the Bloombergs, Chaffees, Specters, etc., as long as they are electable.
I would rather hold true to my pro-life beliefs than elect people who are ardently pro-abortion and anti-2nd Amendment simply because they have an R next to their name on the ballot.
Ed
"If DICK had kept his in his pants, he would still be in the Congress!"
I'm not going to defend Armey from his comments regarding Dobson, but where did this charge come from?
I'm guessing that it comes from rank ignorance, if LibLieSlayer thinks Armey was involved in a sex scandal.
Perhaps he's confusing Armey with Newt Gingrich, the other architect of the 1994 Revolution? Newt didn't resign over his sex scandal either, but at least Newt had one.
At my local Borders, there are several such books on display on the "New Books" tables.
You noted that you would back the approved candidate? What if McCain or Gulliani are the standard bearers in 08?
Blackwells problem wiht the general population is his coziness with Rod Parsley and others like him. I've heard more than one Republican leaning voter express that fear.
He's got a point there.
But he never tells us what his excuse for being stupid is.
"I run the GOTV for a large swing county. It's those folks you and Armey so despise that stuff envelopes, walk precincts, and man the phone banks."
That's true here. I volunteered countless evenings manning the phone banks for President Bush and walking/driving door to door passing out literature to registered voters.
EVERYONE there at the hall was a pro-life Christian conservative, working for GWB because he was going to stop the rush towards liberalism in this country.
If there had been a Giuliani-type running I know not one of us there would have raised a finger to help him, seeing as he supports abortion, gay marriages and ewants to outlaw handgun ownership in this country.
Ed
Yeah, if you dont jump at my every command I will spend time and money getting someone else elected in your district. Sounds like thuggery to me.
It's not new. I heard plenty of this while working on GOP campaigns in the 80s. Cynicism and ingratitude are traits of a lot of politicians.
Sounds like Army's comments about demogogory and the weak minded being led by Dobson and his kin are true.
Unless it involves what someone else is watching on their pay TV or what magazines they are reading or who they are sleeping with, or what medical procedures they can have. So much for limited government and personal responsibility.
Too outraged for words!!! Words fail what I am feeling towards Armey right now!
Wideawake misspoke. He really meant the "limited freedom" block.
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