Dick Armey - GOP Will Push Social Issues If They Retake the House

If there is any doubt that the GOP has become a sectarian party - even in the wake of a religious based bigotry induced suicide of 15 year old Billy Lucas mentioned in the last post - Dick Armey is spouting the Christianist party line when he says that social issues will be back on Congress' agenda if the GOP recaptures the House of Representatives. Armey - who has embraced the Tea Party lunacy - obviously cares nothing for the long term prospects for the GOP and would rather prostitute himself for short term wins even if it means losing the younger generations and the future. The country's infrastructure can be falling apart, the economy can be in a free fall, millions are losing their homes, and all the GOP cares about is abortion and denigrating gays lives. Indeed, this branch of the GOP wants nothing less than a Christianist theocracy. Here are highlights from the Christian Science Monitor:
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"Tea party" advocate Dick Armey, chairman of Freedom Works, says that if Republicans take control of Congress in November’s elections, changing policies on social issues like abortion will be on their agenda.
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Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2012, said in June that the next president “would have to call a truce on the so-called social issues” so that the nation’s debt and deficit problems could be solved.
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When asked Monday at a Monitor-sponsored breakfast for reporters about the possibility of a truce on social issues going into the presidential campaign, Mr. Armey said, “A truce? No. These are issues of the heart. People are not going to turn their hearts and minds away from things that they have so heartfelt.”
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As a former Republican, I shake my head in disbelief at what has become of the GOP. The extremism of the GOP seems to be only intensifying.

WOW!! - The Armey Primary

In a former phase of my life, I met Dick Armey at a political function and had a chance to chat a bit with him. He seemed level headed and clearly not one of the lunatics now leading the GOP. He definitely did not come across as a Christianist. It is instructive that he is NOT happy with where things are headed with the GOP. Here are some telling comments from the Washington Post(http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2007/11/05/the_armey_primary.html):

Former House Majority Leader Richard K. Armey of Texas is a loyal Republican, but on Monday he declared that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was "the most able politician in America" and would win the presidential election.

At a luncheon speech sponsored by his employer, the law firm DLA Piper, Armey said, "I don't think Hillary Clinton is going to make a mistake. She's going to win that election." Armey also said Clinton was a "fascinating person" and extremely tough. "Don't mess with her" was Armey's advice to her fellow candidates.

His advice to his fellow Republicans was to keep their distance from James Dobson, the influential head of the evangelical group Focus on the Family. "You could probably hurt yourself electorally by making Jim Dobson happy," Armey said. As for his prediction about the old stomping grounds, the U.S. Congress, Armey was not hopeful for the prospects of his fellow Republicans. Democrats, he said, "will hold both bodies" after the 2008 elections.

As dicussed in my prior post, the GOP seems more content on keeping James Dobson happy that the other 74% of the public.