Cannibals End Up Eating Each Other

Bush yesterday warned that "There are extreme elements that use religion to achieve objectives." No kidding.

It seems the GOP is biting its own Religious Right bum right about now.

Tucker Carlson recently admitted:

"The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power."

Now David Kuo, who was the number two guy at the Office of Faith Based initiatives in the White House, has a new book coming out: "Tempting Faith".

Keith Olbermann says the new book is devastating :

Kuo's bottom line: the Bush White House is playing millions of American Christians for suckers.

According to Kuo, Karl Rove's office referred to evangelical leaders as 'the nuts.'

Kuo says, 'National Christian leaders received hugs and smiles in person and then were dismissed behind their backs and described as 'ridiculous,' 'out of control,' and just plain 'goofy.' "

That's following revelations that Rove forced paedophile Mark Foley to stay in his safe electoral seat (Foley wanted to move into lobbying, where the big money is) even though his penchant for young boys was widely know.

From the new book, here's a graphic example of the lies at work:

Bush: "Eight billion in new dollars?"

Kuo: "No sir. Eight billion in existing dollars for which groups will find it technically easier to apply. But faith-based groups have been getting that money for years."

Bush: "Eight billion. That's what we'll tell them. Eight billion in new funds for faith-based groups."

Kuo says his Office spent much of its time on two missions:

1. Trying–and failing–to prove Mr. Bush's claim of regulatory bias against religious charities hiring who they wanted. Quote: "Finding these examples became a huge priority. …[but] religious groups had encountered very few instances of actual problems with their hiring practices." "It really wasn't that bad at all."

2. Lobbying the President to make good on his own promises.

In other words, The Office was, literally, a taxpayer-funded part of the Republican campaign machinery. That's no surprise to you and me, but it might be eye-opening to many self-professed Evangelical voters.