Griper Blade: As James Dobson and Dick Armey Duke it Out, it's a Good Idea to Remember that Armey's a Dick

The Washington Post is reporting a high profile split in the Republican party. Former House majority leader Dick Armey and Evangelist James Dobson are on the outs.

Both are Christian conservatives, and they were once stalwart allies, but Dick Armey and James Dobson are going after each other tooth and claw.

Armey, the former Texas congressman and House majority leader, argued in the Outlook section of this past Sunday's Washington Post that Republicans face an "electoral rout" because they stopped being the party of limited government, allowed spending to spin "out of control," and concentrated on such issues as flag burning, Terry Schiavo and same-sex marriage.

On the Web site of FreedomWorks, the organization he now heads, Armey pins much of the blame on Dobson, the founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, and other "self-appointed Christian leaders."

Calling them "thugs" and "bullies" in recent interviews, Armey says that "Dobson and his gang" have split the conservative Christian movement into two camps: those who want to "practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government" and "big government sympathizers who want to impose their version of 'righteousness' on others."

Dobson, in a commentary for the Web site of Fox News, responded this week that Armey is "a very bitter man" who is still smarting because "I supported my close friend and hunting buddy," Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.), over Armey for majority leader. Dobson denied that he supports big government and cited news media reports that Armey has been consulting for the American Civil Liberties Union.

This split is a lot less fresh than WaPo makes it seem. Armey writes on his website, "As Majority Leader, I remember vividly a meeting with the House leadership where Dobson scolded us for having failed to 'deliver' for Christian conservatives, that we owed our majority to him, and that he had the power to take our jobs back. This offended me, and I told him so." And, "...Focus on the Family deliberately perpetuates the lie that I am a consultant to the ACLU. I have never had any relationship with the ACLU and oppose most of that organization’s work."

So pretty much allies of convenience, if at all...

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Tags: news politics religious right elections republican James+Dobson Dick Armey