Ouch

An ugly glimpse into the White House’s opinion of their conservative Christian base:

More than five years after President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, the former second-in-command of that office is going public with an insider’s tell-all account that portrays an office used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities.

…“Tempting Faith’s” author is David Kuo, who served as special assistant to the president from 2001 to 2003…

He says some of the nation’s most prominent evangelical leaders were known in the office of presidential political strategist Karl Rove as “the nuts.”

“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,’” Kuo writes.

And, worse than that, an allegation that the White House deliberately broke the law and then sought to conceal it:

More seriously, Kuo alleges that then-White House political affairs director Ken Mehlman knowingly participated in a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly “nonpartisan” events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.

According to Kuo, “Ken loved the idea and gave us our marching orders.”

Among those marching orders, Kuo says, was Mehlman’s mandate to conceal the true nature of the events.

Kuo quotes Mehlman as saying, “… (I)t can’t come from the campaigns. That would make it look too political. It needs to come from the congressional offices. We’ll take care of that by having our guys call the office [of faith-based initiatives] to request the visit.”

I’d have more respect for this guy if he hadn’t waited to make these charges in a book off of which he stands to make money. That said, it could be possible he tried to get members of Congress or the media interested in investigating, and no one paid him any mind. Certainly, his allegations ought to be properly investigated—and if the Christian right had any sense, they’d be the first ones calling for it.

Anyway, Olbermann’s all over it; Crooks and Liars has the video.