The Holy Hustle - North America's Religious Right

Ralph Reed, pretty boy Floyd of the religious right, is now directly implicated with Jack Abramoff in the casino/ money laundering case prosecuted by Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago.





Stephen Harper, trying on the Bush costume in little USA wanta-be, Calgary.

Ralph Reed campaigned all over Western Canada for the current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper has called the American religious right "a light and inspiration." The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) did not ask Mr. Harper ONE question pertaining to this connection.














A foremost member of the American religious right Tom Delay is indicted for money laundering. (The gerry mandering of Texas is not, apparently, criminal.)








Jack Abramoff the center of a huge scandal that could engulf completely the Bush adminstration. Gambling, murder, money laundering
and cheating the Indians.




Susie Bright's site is like a breath of fresh air as she asks the question:

"When Will Ralph Reed Take Out the Laundry?"

http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2006/02/in_bed_with_sus.html

Excerpt:

Thanks to the Abramhoff scandal revelations, we're getting an candid look at the dirt. Ralph Reed thinks it's a laugh-riot to get his "flock" to send donations to him to stop gambling. Then he takes all those dollars and pours them into the Indian casino of his choice. Whoopee! Gambling scams are a great way to fool people and make tons of money! I bet he'd launder a suitcase of meth and hooker's underwear if you'd like to load it in the back of the van.

It's time to stop "debating" these crooks as if they take a principled interest in their "positions." I don't believe they do, and this is the topic of my audio show this week:

In Bed radio show with Susie Bright #235: Looking for One Chaste Man.

The Phony-Phaithful don't care about abortion— they don't hesitate a moment to arrange for their mistresses and daughters to have one. They don't care about drugs— they enjoy them. They don't care who fucked who— but they'd like their followers to assume the position. Just show them the money, and they'll punch your ticket.

In their elite world, anything goes. The Abramoff exposé has shown one slice of sleaze. But I'm more interested in how the revelations have changed the social discourse between "right" and "left."

Where can you find me an honest neo-conservative? Are they in hiding? Are they dying of shame? Is there any one of them that actually believes in anything besides being a bagman?
Such an earnest diehard is likely a theoretical impossibility. The last true-blue John Bircher wandered off the deep end a long time ago. As a shame-faced conservative wrote in the NYT last week: Evangelicals in the United States have undermined the credibility of their moral and evangelistic witness in the world by pursuing political power.

I'll say! Honest, tolerant people don't run around trying to shame and stone others for their personal lives. This is why Jesus was so popular.

If you can't tolerate "certain people," on principle, you will rely on exclusion and discrimination. If you rely on the faith that you're better than anyone else because God and Money have chosen you, you'll never get any rest. Others must be humiliated and vanquished if they refuse to serve. Democracy becomes impossible, a villain.

If I was canvassing door-to-door today, I'd go pay sympathy calls to the households who sent money to Ralphie, Lou Sheldon, James Dobson, and all these other "perverts" (in the classic sense of the word!). These guys set up money-laundering operations with titles like "American," "Family," and "Values" attached to them, turning the very descriptions into vulgarities. I can't hear these group's names anymore without blushing. How many more dead bodies are under the prayer mat?

It goes from the violent and criminal to the awkward and ridiculous— very quickly:
Lisa Baron, the spokesperson for Ralph Reed, is popping up in print these days with the shockingly saucy— often downright ribald— weekly column she writes for The Sunday Paper, an alt-weekly aimed at Atlanta's young upscale types.


....Susie's site is a keeper ... Thanks for the light Susie.