The Christian community was used by the White House and the GOP. Read this transcript from CNN and then watch the Bill Moyers piece "Capitol Crimes' linked just below. Ralph Reed, Abramoff, and Tom Delay played the Religious Right for fools. The video has all the documents to prove it. Click WATCH "CAPITOL CRIMES" once on the page.
Capitol Crimes - (The Fleecing of America and the Duping of the Religious Right)
From CNN interview with David Kuo, former deputy director of the WH Office of Faith and Community Based Initiatives:
There's a controversial new book. It accuses the Bush administration of manipulating its conservative base for political purposes.
David Kuo served as deputy director of the office of faith-based and community initiatives in the Bush White House, got a new book called "Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction."
David Kuo's with us this morning. It's nice to see you in person.
DAVID KUO, AUTHOR, "TEMPTING FAITH": Good morning.
S. O'BRIEN: Because I know we've talked over the years. You write a lot about disillusionment, with going in, thinking that your religious beliefs will be furthered, and not really discovering that. What was the thing that turned you against the White House, do you think?
KUO: I think the most exciting thing that the president promised was this $8 billion a year and help for the poor. I mean, it's one of the most extraordinary promises a president has made in a long time. And what I write about in the book, frankly, is this temptation or the problem Christians run into with politics. Because Christians and politics simply get used by other people.
This is not a surprise, however. Every White House, every politician is going to use different voting blocks for their own purposes. In this particular case, Christians need to be aware and to go into things with their eyes wide open.
S. O'BRIEN: You write about a meeting, and here's what you say, "National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person, then were dismissed behind their backs and described as ridiculous, out of control, goofy." Were you at meetings when that happened? Who were the people doing that?
KUO: Absolutely. You know what's interesting is there's been this controversy that's erupted over this. I don't think there are very many people in politics who deal with Christian conservatives who haven't had the same experience. I got an e-mail from a friend last night who worked on the 2000 campaign, who said, you know, what you describe is exactly my experience. I was a social conservative, and heck, I got forced out of the White House for exactly that reason.
CNN.com Transcripts
(3/4 of the way down the page - there's more..)
