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Dick Armey Slams Dr. James Dobson
Newsmax ^ | 9/29/06 | Newsmax Staff

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.”


TOPICS:
KEYWORDS: ac; armey; christians; dickarmey; dobson; govwatch; jamesdobson; libertarians; persecution; republicans; rinowatch; terrischiavo
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To: TommyDale
Millions of conservatives will sit it out or vote for a third party, rather than turn over the reigns to liberals.

But that is exactly what they would be doing by voting third party or sitting it out. They'd actually be assuring that the most liberal one won.

221 posted on 09/27/2006 4:54:22 PM PDT by Conservativegreatgrandma
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To: Dave S

You don't know the heart of the man.

He does not use thuggery.*

* Main Entry: thug
Function: noun
Etymology: Hindi & Urdu thag, literally, thief
: a brutal ruffian or assassin : GANGSTER, TOUGH
- thug·gery /'th&-g(&-)rE/ noun
http://www.m-w.com


222 posted on 09/27/2006 5:03:37 PM PDT by GretchenM (What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? Please meet my friend, Jesus.)
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To: AppyPappy
Abortion is a civil rights matter therefore not a state's matter.

The topic wasn't abortion, thanks for playing.

223 posted on 09/27/2006 5:10:29 PM PDT by cryptical (Wretched excess is just barely enough.)
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
If, God forbid, this pair should get the nomination, I too, will hold my nose and vote for them. This would be extremely depressing, but nothing depresses me more than the thought of Liberal democrats again at the controls of the Ship of State.

Conservativegreatgrandpa

no relation, folks, Scouts Honor
224 posted on 09/27/2006 5:11:14 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell (Osama ain't dead, he has always smelled like a liberal Democrat's breath.)
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To: OPS4
Well, Dick, you must be from the commie left then. So bye and dont let the door hit you in the Butt.

The man doesn't want a nanny state and you're calling him a commie? You just stepped out of the pages of 1984.

225 posted on 09/27/2006 5:32:54 PM PDT by Junior (I kn)
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To: PghBaldy

Uh- I found out. Nevermind.


226 posted on 09/27/2006 5:33:14 PM PDT by PghBaldy (What did Sandy Burglar steal from the archives? Why has he been treated with kid gloves?)
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To: lugsoul

My thoughts exactly.


227 posted on 09/27/2006 6:04:51 PM PDT by logician2u
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To: Junior

The man attacked my base that is the Christian Right, what we stand for is far from 1984. But then those oppose Judeo Christian ethics, would not understand that.


228 posted on 09/27/2006 7:05:16 PM PDT by OPS4 (Ops4 God Bless America!)
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To: Celtjew Libertarian
Thanks Dr. Dobson. Run the mind-your-own-business conservatives off and the Republican Party will go into eclipse for a generation. Moron.

Hehehe... bump

229 posted on 09/27/2006 7:06:54 PM PDT by NoCurrentFreeperByThatName
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To: dinoparty
Dick is pandering to the lamestream, saying "look, nudge nudge, now that I'm out of office, please don't think that I really liked all those dopey evangelicals! Invite me back to your Country Club, please!!!"

DING DING DING DING DING DING DING!

NO more calls, please.
We have a winner!

230 posted on 09/27/2006 7:08:00 PM PDT by grey_whiskers
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To: ibheath
Your bigotry is hampering your ability to think.

Thinking is something that you followers of Dobson dont have to do. Just tune in for instructions and talking points. And so what if I made a typo.

231 posted on 09/27/2006 7:11:32 PM PDT by Dave S
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To: Fiji Hill
Judging from your grammar, punctuation, and logic, you must be a public school graduate

Since when is grammer and punctuation a prerequisite to post here. Ever hear of a typo? Oh I forget, you just take your orders from Dobson and spew his boiler plate.

232 posted on 09/27/2006 7:13:44 PM PDT by Dave S
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To: Dave S
Just because you religious zealots have to be led around my the noise doesnt mean that everyone else has someone else thinking for them.

I hate it when religious zealots try to lead me around my the noise. Good thing we am smarter than them.

233 posted on 09/27/2006 7:14:41 PM PDT by Hacksaw (Vincente Fox is the worst attorney general the US has ever had.)
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To: Dave S
Thinking is something that you followers of Dobson dont have to do. Just tune in for instructions and talking points. And so what if I made a typo.

NOT what I would've expected a Freeper dating from 1998 to be posting. It sounds more like the sophomoric rhetoric emanating from DU.

Cheers!

234 posted on 09/27/2006 7:16:28 PM PDT by grey_whiskers
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To: MikefromOhio
Who is Dr. James Dobson

One of those do-it-only-in-the-dark lifestyle police kind of people.

and why should I care one way or another if he's under attack from a retired congresscritter???

You probably shouldn't care.

235 posted on 09/27/2006 7:18:47 PM PDT by NoCurrentFreeperByThatName
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To: grey_whiskers; Dave S
NOT what I would've expected a Freeper dating from 1998 to be posting. It sounds more like the sophomoric rhetoric emanating from DU.

Nope. It sounds like FR before the Kool-Aid, Bots and scamming became prolific.

Cheers!

236 posted on 09/27/2006 7:54:52 PM PDT by NoCurrentFreeperByThatName
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To: Conservativegreatgrandma
"But that is exactly what they would be doing by voting third party or sitting it out. They'd actually be assuring that the most liberal one won."

Then the GOP should take precautions to nominate someone who will appeal to the masses, not just the liberal wing of the GOP.

237 posted on 09/27/2006 7:58:38 PM PDT by TommyDale (Iran President Ahmadinejad is shorter than Tom Daschle!)
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To: NoCurrentFreeperByThatName
I will defer judgment (yes, I looked up the spelling, now it looks wrong *both* ways) based upon your seniority.

Cheers!

238 posted on 09/27/2006 8:21:41 PM PDT by grey_whiskers
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To: LibLieSlayer
No worries. We all get carried away sometimes, myself included.

Just have to be careful - the more full of righteous anger you are, the more you have to be sure you are actually right.

;-)
239 posted on 09/27/2006 8:47:37 PM PDT by highball (Proud to announce the birth of little Highball, Junior - Feb. 7, 2006!)
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To: Celtjew Libertarian
I'm not voting for the Democrats at the national level

Nor should you be voting for them on the state or local level either.

240 posted on 09/27/2006 9:12:34 PM PDT by EveningStar
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