’)How the corporate right uses the religious far right to do their dirty work
“The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees,” Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.” The brilliance of this strategy was twofold: Not only would most voters not know about an initiative to protect Coushatta gambling revenues, but religious “wackos” could be tricked into supporting gambling at the Coushatta casino even as they thought they were opposing it.
The unholy trinity, the sunni triangle of american business, Ralph Reed, Scanlon and Abramoff use the ‘fertile crescent’ of corruption(Republican controlled government) to ply their trade.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45348-2004Aug29.html
the actions of 3 people indict all Republicans
Not all Republicans, silly, just those who support the current cabal in the White House.
Either way, can you name one high-level Republican official who has decried the manipulation and abuse of evangelical chrisitian “Wackos” for their parties own political gain?
Why would they or should they? You lefties never cease to amaze me. No one “denounced” Louis Farrakhan, or Cindy Sheehan, or any one of a dozen psycho left wing extremists that say the most absurd, incredible, vicious amd often, slanderous things about Bush, Republicans, Christians, white males, etc. Never mind the manipulation of blacks by the likes of Jesse Jackcon and Al Sharpton.
But, boy, do you jump like ducks on a june bug on that “When will the Republicans denounce so – and – so for such – and – such” mantra, when it suits you. As witness, the contrived Bennett kerfluffle.
the actions of 3 people indict all Republicans, all corporations, and all fundamentalist Christians = legendary liberal ‘fairness’
Apples and Oranges, Frank.
Louis Farrakhan and Cinday Sheehan are not Scanlon, Abramoff and DeLay. To compare these less than moderate activists to GOP operatives and elected officials is laughable.
Do you even know how these people (Scanlon, et al) have come to have such power and influence in your party? Do you even know who they are?
Seems to me, you are completely oblivious.
Just to get you started on the research:
Jack Abramoff was known as the “godfather” of Tom DeLay’s lobbying network. DeLay himself once called Abramoff “one of my closest and dearest friends.”
Michael Scanlon (GOP Mega-lobbyist) – Currently under investigation together with his partner Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed by separate state and federal grand jury investigations into lobbying performed for Indian tribes running casino gambling businesses. Before he became a lobbyist, he worked on Capitol Hill as Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s press aide.
To compare a grieving anti-war mother to the corrupt power-brokers currently infesting the GOP just goes to show how far out of touch you are with reality.
Sorry curmudgeon. The entire rationale the Left uses to “prove” that Pat Robertson is wholly indicative of all Right Wingers and influential inside the GOP is because he ran for President in 1988. Meanwhile, Al Sharpton(!) runs for the Dem nomination in 2004 and he’s only a “less than moderate activist”.
As for elected officials, there’s McKinney, McDermott, McGreevy….
Frank, that’s just ridiculous. Do you just not listen to yourself to do an idiocy check? Sheehan, Farrakhan, Jackson, and Sharpton. Hmmm, none of those people work for the Democratic party. None of those people have held elected office or ever had an official connection with the DNC, except for Sharpton and Jackson, and that was only because they were running for office as Democrats.
Ralph Reed works for the RNC, and Abramoff and Scanlon are accused of money laundering. Say what you will about Democrats, but these Republican fellas sure do seem to get into a lot of trouble over money laundering and lying to people.
savefarris, nice change of subject. No one was talking about Pat Robertson. We were talking about the corrupt people that have strong ties to the Republican party, especially those Republicans that are in power.
I’m sorry you’re so afraid of Al Sharpton. He may have run for the Democratic nomination, but nobody voted for him. Anyone can run.
Frank,
Come on man. Likening Louis Farahkan to the left is like saying David Duke is your poster child for Conservatism. Yes, there is aquite a bit of mud-slinging and opportunism on both sides, but come on. But, you can’t deny that the folks in the referenced article are Republicans. But, to your defense, I never have been one that needed an apology or a forced denouncement from a group to make me feel any better.
SF,
Since when did Al Sharpton use millions of dollars, illegally funneled through various organizations, to fund a morally repugnant and ethically challenged redistricting effort to flip the balance of the Congress in his favor; and attempt to quash boycotting opposition legislators by using a federal agency (DHS) to “round up” political opponents?
I mean, these are the guys we’re talking about. The very same people who pandered ceaselessly to the evangelical “wackos”, with promises of off-world, spayed and neutered homosexual colonies on Mars, and marketed the second coming of Jesus “W” Christ and his raging “armies of compassion”, marching from staged “town hall” to staged photo-op, only to be greeted with flowers and candy! Then delivered NOTHING but monies unto themselves and their crony friends.
Let’s just be honest with each other. You know, and I know…these “wackos” on the right have MUCH more influence over the GOP, than the wackos on the left have over the Democratic party. Michael Moore DOES NOT, and HAS NOT, influenced policy, whereas – currently – Dobson, Robertson and his ilk have their hands planted so deeply up the royal behinds of GOP policy makers all over the hill you can barely see their elbows.
whereas – currently – Dobson, Robertson and his ilk That’s one way to say “fundamentalist Christians”, but if you mean “Focus on the Family” and the “700 Club”, that’s just bunk, and you know it. Then again, maybe you’re the one who’s out of touch with reality.
Dkelsmith, David Duke has been linked to the Republican Party many times, right here in these threads, and, yes, there have been calls to denounce him.
Ralph Reed apparently spends way way more time with the Christian Coalition, than he does with the RNC, but, of course, in your mind, they’re the same.
Finally, as usual, DeLay, hated by the left, is guilty before trial.
Abramoff is hardly the “face of Corporate America.”
You seem to be having a little trouble with your analogizer, Frank.
Let me help.
Suppose Cindy Sheehan were to be caught on tape or in an email saying something like, “Ha! I can always count on those screwy moonbats to back me up!”
That would be similar to the situation we have here.
Finally, as usual, DeLay, hated by the left, is guilty before trial.
Finally, and as usual, Frank pretends that the court of public opinion is the same as a court of law.
@ Frank_D,
Dkelsmith, David Duke has been linked to the Republican Party many times, right here in these threads, and, yes, there have been calls to denounce him.
Ralph Reed apparently spends way way more time with the Christian Coalition, than he does with the RNC, but, of course, in your mind, they re the same.
In my mind they are the same? I hardly think so, I am probably not nearly conservative enough for your liking, but I am far from the type that regurgitates every right-bashing slogan I can find. But, I would venture to say that in YOUR mind you probably see anybody left of center sitting in the same light as Farakhan, Sharpton, and Jackson. I seriously doubt you refrain from lumping people together for the sake of argument.
Quaker is right although it’s more like if Hillary Clinton (or her fundraising chief) was caught discussing how best to cynically exploit the “lunacy” of the MoveOn.org crowd. As usual Frank misses the point by a country mile. This isn’t about whether Dobson or Robertson represents conservatives. Clearly the real Republican power players think that these Christian leaders, and the people who follow them, are not representative of the Republican party. They are merely the single issue, mindless bovine that need to be shocked with a cattle prod (“Oh my god, gay marriage!” Zzzap!) every once in a while if they are to be herded into election booths so they can vote against their economic self-interest. It’s a ranchers dream: Cows that cut their own throats. Here we have a clear example of just how cynical and unprincipled the Republican leadership really is.
Oh Frank,
David Duke has been linked to the Republican Party many times, for example: In 1989, he ran as a Republican for a seat in the Louisiana State House of Representatives.
Look it up, I believe it made the papers.
1989? That was only… 16 years ago!
If you’re posting a story, and leave it open to interpretation, then it’s going to be interpreted by the readers.
If the writer has a problem, he can disagree.
What I’m reading here is that I’m wrong for about three or four different reasons, some of which conflict with each other.
One, as for De Lay, there is a legal proceeding pending which will determine the relationship between Abramoff and De Lay. It is not a “given.”
The influence of Reed on the RNC, or vice versa, is not a “given.”
Scanlon is a former employee of Abramoff.
The title of the post is “Useful Idiots”, an obvious play on Lenin’s famous quote.
What do you think he was driving at?
Maybe it was a play on the Lumpy Gravy hit tune “The Idiot Bastard Son”
I’m sure Zappa would not have objected.
1989? That was only& 16 years ago!
Care for something a bit more recent, Frankie?
OK.
In 1996, the Family Research Council President, Tony Perkins (you’ve heard of him–Bill Frist is a big buddy of his) paid David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list.
In 1995 and 1997, GOP governor Mike Foster paid Duke for his mailing list.
Hmmm.
Seems GOPers seem to think folks who support David Duke might also support them, doesn’t it?
Isn’t the point that Republicans exploit the religious conservatives for thier monetary gain? It is real simple, the religion of money does not believe the same as does evangelicals. I wouldn’t be suprised that Bush and Delay et al. don’t believe in God or 90% of the shit they pimp as wedge issues. Meanwhile guys like Farris and Frank are too busy having thier feeling hurt by people attacking thier leaders for being shallow and pointing out the obvious. I will give the Republicans credit for having several different sects of philosphy, but they all seem too dense to see that these different philosphies not only conflict with reality, but with thier own realities.
JadeGold the Putz: 1997 was eight years ago. Perhaps some Reublicans believe that some of the people on David Duke’s mailing list, might vote Republican. It doesn’t mean, at all, that any Republicans are David Duke supporters, now does it?
White Whale: This is absolutely no different from Democrats who don’t even court the black vote, because they don’t have to. I wouldn’t be surprised if more than half of the Democratic Congresspersons, and Senators, including blacks and hispanics, don’t care about blacks or hispanics, either.
Funny how wingers can be so quick to separate themselves from Pat Robertson, Falwell or David Duke, while accusing Democrats as aligning themselves with Louis Farrakhan, Al Sharpton or Cindy FerChrissake Sheehan.
Not funny at all…