Sunday, January 23, 2005

God talk
The Revealer transcribes part of an NPR interview with Southern Baptist freakazoid Richard Land. Lucky for reasonable Republicans (both of them) he's wrong about almost everything, so maybe they needn't worry when he says this:
the next Republican candidate for president will look a lot like George W. Bush; socially moderate Republicans are "vestigial relics" that can't win a primary west of the Hudson; and the debate over religion in the public square "is over."
But the shocking God-related read, sure to disappoint Land, was from ultra-conservative creep Peggy Noonan. She has done nothing but praise and encourage Bush's God-speak. Now she thinks it's "way too much God":
This world is not heaven.

The president's speech seemed rather heavenish. It was a God-drenched speech. This president, who has been accused of giving too much attention to religious imagery and religious thought, has not let the criticism enter him. God was invoked relentlessly. "The Author of Liberty." "God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind . . . the longing of the soul."

It seemed a document produced by a White House on a mission.
I suspect more Republicans will grow more and more embarrassed with the President if he proves that the incessant Godspeak wasn't just campaign talk. If you ever talk to a socially moderate Republican, be sure and ask them how they like being in the party of big government spending and evangelical fundamentalism. There are more than a few Republicans who are principally opposed to the former and ashamed of the latter. If the GOP doesn't choose to disappoint folks like Land going forward, they could have some real problems. Hopefully they'll have real problems either way.

If they can't keep a cheerleader like Noonan, what hope do they have of staying united? Does that even matter?

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