Why Christian Americans
( and all other citizens who value morality )
belong in   ""

The former Republican Governor of Delaware, Russ Peterson, in his book, Patriots, Stand Up!, wrote in 2003 "Our cherished American way of life is under attack by the far right-wing Republicans who are now running the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.  This is the product of a conspiracy that has been growing over the past few decades through the use of evil tactics and strategies, lies and deceptions to transform America. "Deception is now the hallmark of the Bush administration.  Read of the frightening chicanery in furthering an imperial strategy, nurturing the military-industrial complex, waging war on the environment, plunging the nation into debt, demeaning the needy, antagonizing the world and using terrorism to frighten and exploit."  Peterson calls on patriots to apply the principles of democracy now to retake America from a conservative elite that controls the country.
        Russ Peterson is a scientist, public servant, business executive, citizen activist, who has been an executive with the DuPont Co., Republican Governor of Delaware, assistant to Republican Gov. Nelson Rockefeller of New York, head of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality under Presidents Nixon and Ford, head of the Office of Technology Assessment, reporting to six Republican and six Democratic members of Congress, internationally acclaimed environmental leader, United Nations goodwill ambassador, and faculty member at Dartmouth College, Carleton College and the University of Wisconsin Madison.  His numerous national and international awards include 15 honorary doctorates.  In 1996 he became a Democrat. [ www.governorpeterson.org ] .

In 1991, the famous Republican satirist P.J. O'Rourke published a book called "Parliament of Whores" in which he attempted to explain U.S. politics. One of the books most famous passages is the following:
        "I have only one firm political belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat. ...God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged male, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. . ...God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God's heavenly country club. Santa Claus is another matter. He's always cheerful, and he loves animals. He may know who's been naughty and who's been nice, but he never does anything about it. He works hard for charities, and he's famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus."
        I can't help but wonder what made O'Rourke contrast God and Santa, rather than God and Jesus, as does a bumper sticker I once saw which read: "Jesus is a Democrat, but GOD is a Republican". Of course, O'Rourke's whole contrast falls flat on its face because Republicans like himself could hardly laugh at a punch line saying "There's no such thing as Jesus Christ!"