Fmr Bush aide: Bush doesn’t claim ‘divine guidance.’
By on Jan 11th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Fmr Bush aide: Bush doesn’t claim ‘divine guidance.’
Discussing President Bush’s trip to Israel, Jim Towey, who served four years as director of the president’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, told the Chicago Tribune that “the president does not claim to have divine guidance when he makes decisions, but he sure seeks it.” In 2003, however, Texas evangelist James Robinson, said that Bush told him:
I feel like God wants me to run for President. … I know it won’t be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.
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Well, it sure is clear that he doesn’t get any ‘divine guidance’ either.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:58 pmNot divine guidance, no, he absolutely doesn’t have that.
Satanic guidance, probably more so.
January 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pmIf God did give him guidance he would only use it if it matched his own plans.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pmMy God told me that Bush is an idiot.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pmGod is such an idiot.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pmBush told me that God damned the Constitution.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pmI feel like God wants me to run for President. … I know it won’t be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it. – - Huckabee as Bush v.08.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pmMost people, American and other countries, realize Bush can’t open his mouth without lying, says whatever is handiest at the time, because no one holds him accountable.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:01 pmWhy does God hate America?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:02 pmWell, whoever is Bush’s divine-in-chief, he is certainly not doing a heckava job in preserving Bush’s legacy. Bush sealed his fate in his Presidency when he used God to steal both elections and lie to the American people.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pmGod dropped snow in Baghdad. What did the the war party drop?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pm“I feel like God wants me to run for President. …”
Well I wish God would have told him to eat more pretzels! Would have saved this Country quite a bit of hardship!
January 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pmIf there was a god, there’d be no bushes.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:03 pmTexaslady:
I said that very thing to my husband last night.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pmCan we please leave religion out of politics this time? How about someone who is intelligent and hires competent people to straighten out this bushmess.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pmCrap. I’d hate to think that all this …chaos …was GOD’S fault…!!
January 11th, 2008 at 2:04 pmI heard that Huckabee never got his theology degree because he went to work for televangelist James Robinson instead.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:05 pmLogically problematic: If he seeks divine guidance and gets it, then he is claiming to have it. If he doesn’t get, then God is rejecting him (as any just God would).
For the record: I feel like God wants me to win the lottery.
…News Corpse
January 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pmaren’t you gonna cover his “moment” at the holocaust museum?
i’m only hearing bits of it on schultz…
dubby had to ask condi – why didn’t we bomb the camp?
a caller to ed wants to ask dubby – what about darfur, etc?
the whole bushie logic is so tragically flawed… and confounding…
January 11th, 2008 at 2:06 pmOh please. God didn’t tell you to continue the Bush Crime Family Killing Machine.
Babs did.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:07 pmCan we please leave religion out of politics this time? …
Comment by texaslady — January 11, 2008 @ 2:04 pm
oh hell no…
Hardball: Fighting for the Soul of the Republican Party
Chris Matthews brings on Club For Growth’s Pat Toomey and Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins to discuss the chaos inside the Republican party and the fight for the fundamentalists…
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/01/11/hardball-fighting-for-the-soul-of-the-republican-party/
January 11th, 2008 at 2:09 pmMore like the Divine Comedy?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:12 pmReligion should be a private matter, not a basis for hire. Now a town in Missouri wants to take cursing and lewd music out of bars. How about just staying out of the bars if you find the atmosphere offensive. Drink your beer at home while reading your bible. This Family Values crowd has gotten way out of hand.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pmmissery wanted to trash the CONSTITUTION and
declare that state a “christian” state not too long ago…
if not for st.louis and kansas city, that state would be
January 11th, 2008 at 2:16 pmin line with mississipi for low ranking anything…
in my opinion
January 11th, 2008 at 2:17 pmIf there was a god, there’d be no bushes.
Comment by RantingTommy — January 11, 2008 @ 2:03 pm
or they’d all be burning Bushes.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:19 pmGDumbya is dyslexic. It was actually his “dog” that was telling him to run for presiDunce. However, there is even some debate about that because he was all coked up when this supposedly happened so it all may have just been a bad dream.
I know that it’s been a nightmare for all the rest of us.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pmIt might even be different if we believed that bush was actually religions…..poor foolish fundies. Some still don’t understand how they have been used.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pmMy God is dyslexic. My dog talks to me all the time.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:26 pm“I feel like God wants me to run for President.” Uh. . . no. . .wait a minute. . . waaaaaaait . . .aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Nope, it was just them beans Pickles fed me for supper last nite. . .No! no! Barney! No, Barney, git away from my ass!! heh heh heh . . . damn dog likes farts . . . heh heh heh.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pmThis Family Values crowd has gotten way out of hand.
Comment by texaslady
The sad part is that family values are a good thing….it’s just what the righties do with it that is just sad. Same with democracy, religion, etc. they warp everything good into something sad and dangerous.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pmRight on, Fred. It still amazes me how fast they flushed the series of taped interviews with his long-time friend down the memory hole before the 2000 election. For a brief moment, the media focused on the remarks he made about his drug-taking, but what I thought was most instructive was when he bragged about how he had learned to “talk like the evangelicals.”
January 11th, 2008 at 2:31 pmOFF TOPIC-
DHS Releases REAL ID Regulation announced this afternoon
January 11th, 2008 at 2:35 pmhttp://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1200065427422.shtm
Has anyone noticed that members of the Bush family always seem to embrace the prevailing religion in the area they live. Poppy’s in the northeast, so he’s an episcopalian. W’s in Texas, so he’s a methodist. Jeb’s in Florida, so he’s a catholic. Is this a coincidence or do members of the Bush family use religion as a political tool?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:36 pmdo members of the Bush family use religion as a political tool?
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper
does a bear shit in the woods?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:39 pmis waterboarding torture?
I would say that this unelected resident has yet to find out just how low he will go.
A long post, I apologize in advance, but a friend sent me this email after the 2004 elections and it seems appropriate to remind ourselves how the Repugs use the evangelicals:
“It’s funny to see how the Reps are running away from the religious right the very day after the election. The evangelicals must feel a little used right now. They fell for his strong and simple seduction, his swaggering confidence so they spread their legs and voted for him. Now, the morning after, he is running from them as fast as he can. “Call me!”, they yell. And he will call again in four years, threatening that the other guy is going to ban bibles and allow gays to be real citizens. He on the other hand is their saviour’s messenger, a messiah, if not The Messiah. And they will lift their skirts, grab a hold of the bed rungs and vote for him again.
This election substantiates all my rants against religion. I have always hated the sheer idiocy of the flocks, and to see them ignore all the facts and evidence and vote for the guy who says that god talks to him further alienates me from a majority of my neighbors.
It’s not politically correct to criticize religion, but I think that religion is the single most evil influence in our history. It has been, and is being and will be used to control people through the false Trinity of loyalty, guilt and hope.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:39 pmcolonel – my guess is that dubya is a methodist because lala is,
and jeb converted to catholicism because of his wife…
not necessarily a political tool…
January 11th, 2008 at 2:41 pm23 – Jebus, Tex – that town is St. Charles, MO – I was born there, and damn, am I glad I left!!!
:o/
January 11th, 2008 at 2:41 pmnot necessarily a political tool…
Comment by katy
No, not THEIR religion, but they do use religion of others for their gain.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:43 pm38 seriously…..you believe that katy?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:43 pmFred – The Family Values group gave you Bush, the FVgroup has ruined intelligent, adult television with their fear of split second visions of skin being shown. When the Family Values group learns to open their minds and read before voting and supporting the worst President in history I will give them respect.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:45 pmI think we are on the same page texaslady. I just can’t believe katy would think that bush might actually be religious…..
January 11th, 2008 at 2:48 pmnot necessarily a political tool…
Comment by katy
No, not THEIR religion, but they do use religion of others for their gain.
Comment by DieNowForPeace — January 11, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
of course… i agree with that… it’s obvious…
i was answering col.ripper’s specific question…
38 seriously…..you believe that katy?
Comment by Fred — January 11, 2008 @ 2:43 pm
see just above, fred… easy, now…
January 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pmKaty: “not necessarily a political tool…”
So the fact that catholics are a serious voting bloc in Florida as Methodists are in Texas is just a coincidence? Ok.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pmTo know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully-constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them; to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it, to believe that democracy was impossible and that the Party was the guardian of democracy; to forget whatever it was necessary to forget, then to draw it back at the moment when it was needed, and then promptly to forget it again: and above all, to apply the same process to the process itself. That was the ultimate subtlety: consciously to induce unconsciousness, and then, once again, to become unconscious of the act of hypnosis you had just performed.
-Orwell, 1984
January 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pmSo the fact that catholics are a serious voting bloc in Florida as Methodists are in Texas is just a coincidence? Ok.
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper — January 11, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
maybe i misunderstood your original question…
January 11th, 2008 at 2:54 pmi thought you were suggesting the boys’ religious affiliation was determined by their locality… and in a way, it was… because that’s
where their wives are…
(maybe – is jeb ’s wife a florida native? … i dunno… but she IS a
latino (?) catholic)
the bush’s don’t have a true religious bone in their body……they use religion…period….catholic, protestant…they don’t care as long as they can use if for a wedge issue and run on it that is all they care about……
they are career criminals remember…guilty of murderous acts against humanity…..war criminals….they are not religious in any way.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:57 pmmaybe i misunderstood your original question…
i thought you were suggesting the boys’ religious affiliation was determined by their locality… and in a way, it was… because that’s
where their wives are…
(maybe – is jeb ’s wife a florida native? … i dunno… but she IS a
latino (?) catholic)
Comment by katy — January 11, 2008 @ 2:54 pm
I have to say that katy’s suggestion makes a lot of sense to me, especially since I converted to Catholicism in part because of my wife’s religion (and her family’s).
And Wikipedia even lists it specifically.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
-Orwell, 1984
Comment by rastaman
Curses! It’s as if they used 1984 as a field guide.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:59 pmOk, I’ll admit there is a slightly plausable notion that they converted because of their wives but I don’t buy that they are truly religious men….I believe they use religion for what they can get out of it….the rest is for show.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:04 pmOffice of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Oh yeah this office created by Bush gives money to faith-based organizations to do things like look after the homeless and people in need. Now if you contend that the government should provide these programs then the neocons and the conned cons will scream at the top of their lungs that you cannot possibly want a socialized system.
So it’s ok if the government gives money to organizations that aren’t necessarily trained to provide these services but are “Faith-Based” and not ok for the government to give money to organizations that are trained and in place specifically to fill these needs but are not “Faith-Based”!!!!!!!
Religious welfare system. Now see if any future president can get rid of this biased office. Good luck.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:06 pmthe rest is for show.
Comment by Fred
And for receiving “forgiveness” for their weekly sins, only to go commit more sins next week, like a crutch.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:08 pmKaty – Jeb Bush’s wife Columba is Mexican and sister to Erik Prince’s second wife Lucile. Gee, what a coincidence that Blackwater gets a free reign in Iraq with taxpayer money. Keep it in the family you know.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pmNow see if any future president can get rid of this biased office. Good luck.
Comment by Nature Rules
I think we will be seeing a lot of changes towards the left….the conservatives have really rubbed America raw….changes are coming.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:11 pmFrom MSNBC:
“Bush said that even though some people criticize the role religion plays in his presidency, he sees his faith as something that gives him peace and a set of principles from which to govern.
‘I tell people that my faith is a personal journey that helps me find calm in the midst of the storm,” he said. “I will not compromise on my belief there’s an Almighty. And a gift of [the] Almighty is freedom to every man, woman and child….”“
January 11th, 2008 at 3:13 pmI agree with you Fred that the Bush’s use religion as a tool, and Bushco used it to a greter degree than ever seen. Karl was/is an expert on manipulating the right, never really giving more than lip service. To paraphrase:
“Bring me some goddamn faith based initiative by tomorrow!”
But having religious people as our leaders is not a benefit anyway. The further and faster mankind can get away from the supertitions of our history, the better.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:13 pmPerhaps the religous bunch just promotes the ones who promise to keep them tax free. Wonder who is using who ? Guess I fail to see what Jesus who preached in robes and thongs has in common with the mega churches with the mega money flowing in each week.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:14 pm59 I totally agree…..I am an athiest but I do give credit to those who are true belivers….I had several grandmothers, etc. who were very religious but not like what we see going on today….
January 11th, 2008 at 3:17 pmI wonder how many wars have been started in the name of Christianity ?
January 11th, 2008 at 3:18 pmOff topic is anyone else reading Sybil Edmonds interesting story on the build up to 9/11?
Perhaps the religous bunch just promotes the ones who promise to keep them tax free. Wonder who is using who ? Guess I fail to see what Jesus who preached in robes and thongs has in common with the mega churches with the mega money flowing in each week.
Comment by texaslady
Yeah, let Jesus show up at the door of one of those places dressed in his goatskin coat and see what happens.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:19 pmI wonder how many wars have been started in the name of Christianity ?
Comment by texaslady
Religions – all forms – have been the most destructive forces man has mustered throughout history. More death, destruction, terror, loss, corruption, and bigotry have come about simply due to differences in the way people feel about their God or Gods.
The fact that men would butcher and kill another human being all because they don’t agree with the same God is inhumane in the worst way.
If there is a God, He or She would not approve of this behavior.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:24 pmFred, You may be right, that the country is raw and bleeding and will swing to the left. But do not think that we can take back the White House, or the congress to any great degree. Look at what happened in FL in 2000, OH an NM in 2004. Voting machines that can’t be verified. They.Rove et.al. have stolen the last 2 elections; they’re just getting started, and we’re clueless.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:27 pm“Science is my religion, the world is my country”
January 11th, 2008 at 3:27 pmIf there is a God, He or She would not approve of this behavior.
Comment by StratRat
Exactly….this is why the notion of christian warriors is so sad…..
not even the god they say they believe in supports the death and destruction that they have caused….in his name…..poor gullible religious tools.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:29 pm66
January 11th, 2008 at 3:31 pmI know what you are saying but I have to believe that there are still some good people in government that will not allow this to go any further….I have children and I must have hope for their future.
I would like to take Bush’s connections and money away and then see how truly religious he is.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:34 pm70 yeah, I might have to rethink my stance on torture….I might be for it after I was against it….
January 11th, 2008 at 3:37 pmAlready we have vote fraud popping up in NH so how can I feel that my vote will actually count for something? I wonder if 2008 hasn’t already been decided by those in their secret rooms running the country. I scoffed at someone suggesting that very thing years ago but now I wonder.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:45 pmIn Bush’s case, “Divine Guidance” actually means “consulting the Magic 8-Ball”.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:47 pm73, That would be Ted Haggard after a rough weekend in Denver…
January 11th, 2008 at 3:53 pmThe Magic 8-Ball before or after taking the cash from the lobbyist?
January 11th, 2008 at 3:53 pmSo much for Christianity in the United States. For 7 years these hypocrites have been using God’s name and even some disgraceful reporters have said Bush talks to God not Bush Senior. Now we are to believe all that was a misunderstanding. Just how stupid does the GOP think Americans are. Karl Rove set up the American people and used God to do it. Now Rev. Huck is doing the same thing with the floating cross aka bookshelf. At lease the Muslims believe in God and don’t allow Him to be used for politics like the United States does. God has even left the Jews because once again they have followed Satan. Now the slickers are banding behind an inexperienced unqualified candidate like Senator Obama. At lease the Republicans know just how some senior Democratic Law Makers will feed on their own. As Senator Obama doesn’t have time to vote on bills to help the voters of Illinois who put him in office, he does find the time to talk to Connie Rice about Africa and how to solve their problems. Yes Hillary is setting up teams for US economy, military, health care, environment and Global Warming. I guess it’s not important to work on US problems as Senator Obama feels Africa is more important right now. Looks like Connie Rice will stay on the job for another 4 years. Obama might ask Rummy and Gonzales to come back. Yes Kerry will get a spot for his endorsement and who knows Dick Cheney might well be our next Vice President again. Nothing like stay the course while Obama learns the job. Let’s hope he learns in 8 years because Bush sure didn’t.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:55 pmBush: God Told Me to Invade Iraq
January 11th, 2008 at 3:59 pm“the president does not claim to have divine guidance when he makes decisions, but he sure seeks it.â€
Is this unreasonable?
Comment by CaptainMantastic — January 11, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
Yes
January 11th, 2008 at 5:07 pmSo, guess James Robinson was wrong when saying Bush said God wanted him to run for President. So either God does speak to Bush or he doesn’t which is it? And how is bush certain that God is speaking could be Satan you know.
January 11th, 2008 at 5:12 pmSo he seeks divine guidance from the non-existent invisible magicial faerie in the sky? Did it tell you to murder thousands of innocent humans? Did it tell you to torture prisoners? Did it tell you to let New Orleans drown?
If the non-existent invisible magicial faerie in the sky told you to do those things, then I would like you to stop looking for that divine guidance then.
Bush/Cheney
Hague Trials ‘09
Buck Fush
January 11th, 2008 at 6:28 pmPeople who think God speaks to them are either delusional or insane. We all heard Bush say God spoke to him – the voice in his head, however, is his own echo.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:46 pmAlthough some religious fanatics claim the same – but that only validates my assertion that they are either deluded or crazy.
Bush is egomaniacal; he believes he can have, can do, can order whatever he wants. He has never been deprived of anything, never had to sacrifice anything, never had to earn anything, never suffered any consequences for his misdeeds – his life has been charmed (and a connected, rich family doesn’t hurt). I guess one could argue that his charmed life is an undeserved gift from God, but that would also mean a curse on the rest of us.
“the president does not claim to have divine guidance when he makes decisions, but he sure seeks it.â€
Is this unreasonable?
Comment by CaptainMantastic — January 11, 2008 @ 5:03 pm
He was for it before he was against it:
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former Prime Minister and now Palestinian President, that “I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.’ And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’, and I did.”
January 11th, 2008 at 10:01 pmI guess that would also prove he is a president of “change” like he says.
January 11th, 2008 at 10:04 pmHe’s for God, he’s against God. He drinks uncontrollably, he’s dry for years. He’s AWOL, he’s trashing war veterans. He’s a guy that can’t run a small oil company, he’s president of the USA.
Wish he’d make up his mind, if it’s still in there.
So, when he says he answers to a higher father than Georgesr, he meane Prescott……
January 12th, 2008 at 12:32 amthe Bush family hs been in the business of treason for a century or more.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:10 amHe only answers to the “higher father”, – Wonder what the question was….
January 13th, 2008 at 11:10 pm