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It’s time for our friends in so many of the evangelical churches that have been politicized and Republicanized to face up to a hard fact: You’ve been snookered… duped… used… had.
Karl Rove, George W, and other GOP partisans wooed you hard in 2004 – and, sure enough, such evangelical church leaders as James Dobson poured money, endorsements, volunteers, and your own Godly blessings into Republican campaigns. They put all of your political eggs into that one particular basket, putting Bush and the GOP in charge of the entire federal government.
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But… what have you actually won? The big prize, of course, was to be a Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage. Even though Dobson and other church leaders had to convince you working-class evangelicals to vote against your own economic well-being, you were told that Karl, George, and the boys would be true and would deliver this social prize, so it would be worth the sacrifice.
But, where’s George, Karl, and the GOP now? They’ve poured enormous political capital and energy into such issues as privatizing Social Security, cutting taxes on the rich, and pursuing their war of lies in Iraq – all of which hurts families like yours. Yet there’s been no push for the prize that was to be your reward – Bush even stopped talking about it as soon as the election was over.
The naked truth is that they never meant to pursue it. Oh, sure, they’re now bringing it up for a token vote, but they know it won’t pass, and George W will not even be working it, much less putting a full-court presidential press into the effort. The only reason they’re even raising it at this late date is because it’s another election year – they want to dupe you again.
This is Jim Hightower saying… As George himself has said, “Fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can’t get fooled again.” He’s not standing for you, so why would you stand for him?
Sources:
“Christian Groups Warn G.O.P. That Inaction Could Be Costly,” The New York Times, May 15, 2006.