Dobson's Gang of Thugs

Wow.  It took me several hours to write my post on religious war mongers, but former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) summed it up better in two lines:
"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.”

And that was a main point I was saying.  Well, except that I don’t pray at all, and I was complaining about Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council and not James Dobson of Focus on the Family.  But otherwise, the point stands.  They’re both pulling the same stunts for the same reasons and they don’t care who they fool to do it.  

It’s not about truth, it’s about power.  And maybe they really do believe in the whole god thing and think they’re working for a higher power, but that doesn’t negate the fact that they’re deceiving their followers while illegitimately stoking fear and resentment among fellow Americans.  And all in the name of preserving the “family”.  

Miss You When You’re Gone

Armey went on, saying:
“There's a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in schools. Demagoguery doesn't work unless it's dumb, shallow as water on a plate. These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy and can appeal to a large demographic. These issues become bigger than life, largely because they're easy. There ain't no thinking."

I agree completely.  Sure, I don’t use faux-fancy terms like “demagoguery coefficient” because I think they are counter-productive to the whole comprehension thing, which sort of undermines the whole reason for using fancy words.  But whatever.  He’s right.

And what’s odd is that I never liked Armey when he was in office, but have now taken more of a liking since he became a former Congressman.  I’m sure we’d still disagree on many key issues, but at least he seems to be playing by a consistent set of rules, rather than making shit up like the current batch of “conservatives” continues to do.  

Why is it that you never really get to know someone until after they stop running for office?  (Al Gore, I’m looking at you.)