Bush Regime Cozy With Would-Be American Ayatollahs Joe Conason's Big Lies (buy the book) was a fast read for me because most of what he wrote about I already knew. On occasion, I learned something new that was shocking. One thing that I found shocking was that Bush's guru on compassionate conservatism Marvin Olasky is a fucking nut. I always knew that Olasky was a crank who held to a supercilious theodicy that one has only oneself to blame if one is poor. Conason brought up Olasky's approval of some completely noxious and misanthropic characters on the fringes of the sectarian right: the Christian Reconstructionists.
Olasky was influenced by the godfather of Christian reconstruction: the late R.J. Rushdoony as well as Rushdoony's son-in-law Gary North. These people openly despise American democracy and call for the destruction of our cherished freedoms ad the establishment of a government based on their view of biblical law which would entail giving the death penalty for various offenses such as homosexuality, blasphemy (in their warped view, any religion other that theirs is blasphemous), and adultury. Gary North has called for the stoning of women who had abortions. Christian Reconstructionism is an ideology that is anti-democratic, anti-American, and insane; it's shocking but not surprising that Bush would align himself so closely with these hatemongers: Bush and company are not concerned about America, its welfare, or its security; they are only concerned about power (their recent outing of covert CIA operative Valerie Plame as payback is just one manifestation of their ruthless arrogance). The supposed liberal media is AWOL on this one. That's why it's important to buy Conason's book.