LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

( When Monica Goodling's name erupted into the news last week in the attorney scandal, the mainstream press suddenly realized that Pat Robertson's Regent University exists -- and that it's got a big footprint in the Bush admin. )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman talks about the underreporting of the Religious Right's stealthy activities:

The infiltration of the federal government by large numbers of people seeking to impose a religious agenda — which is very different from simply being people of faith — is one of the most important stories of the last six years. It’s also a story that tends to go underreported, perhaps because journalists are afraid of sounding like conspiracy theorists.

But this conspiracy is no theory. The official platform of the Texas Republican Party pledges to “dispel the myth of the separation of church and state.” And the Texas Republicans now running the country are doing their best to fulfill that pledge.

Kay Cole James, who had extensive connections to the religious right and was the dean of Regent’s government school, was the federal government’s chief personnel officer from 2001 to 2005. (Curious fact: she then took a job with Mitchell Wade, the businessman who bribed Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham.) And it’s clear that unqualified people were hired throughout the administration because of their religious connections.

For example, The Boston Globe reports on one Regent law school graduate who was interviewed by the Justice Department’s civil rights division. Asked what Supreme Court decision of the past 20 years he most disagreed with, he named the decision to strike down a Texas anti-sodomy law. When he was hired, it was his only job offer.

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One measure of just how many Bushies were appointed to promote a religious agenda is how often a Christian right connection surfaces when we learn about a Bush administration scandal.

There’s Ms. Goodling, of course. But did you know that Rachel Paulose, the U.S. attorney in Minnesota — three of whose deputies recently stepped down, reportedly in protest over her management style — is, according to a local news report, in the habit of quoting Bible verses in the office?

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The Bush administration’s implosion clearly represents a setback for the Christian right’s strategy of infiltration. But it would be wildly premature to declare the danger over. This is a movement that has shown great resilience over the years. It will surely find new champions.

Next week Rudy Giuliani will be speaking at Regent’s Executive Leadership Series.

This is clearly the tip of the iceberg, folks. Stay tuned for more things like this. Reading these revelations is almost like discovering how badly your home has been damaged by termites, except that the 'house' in question is our Constitution, and the 'termites' are people determined to destroy it and replace it with a theocratic mockery of a government.

"A Handmaid's Tale", anyone?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

( Objections by druggists centered on Plan B drug )