It’s always been pretty clear to me that Republican Party really doesn’t give a damn about Christian conservatives, but they tolerate and cow-tow to them because they need the votes.

Never has this theory been more evidence than this revelation, exposed by Salon:

Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his former business partner Michael Scanlon. The power duo stand accused of exploiting Native American tribes to the tune of roughly $66 million, laundering that money into bank accounts they controlled and then using it to buy favors for powerful members of Congress and the executive branch.

But they sure did know how to play the game.

What does this have to do with Christian conservatives?  Check out what the Salon report says about a memo from a Tom Delay congressional aide:

Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe’s gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them." The brilliance of this strategy was twofold: Not only would most voters not know about an initiative to protect Coushatta gambling revenues, but religious "wackos" could be tricked into supporting gambling at the Coushatta casino even as they thought they were opposing it.

How do you like them apples, "wackos"?

I echo what’s said at Sisyphus Shrugged to religious conservatives:

While I admire the principles of people who genuinely feel that they have to vote in accordance with their religious beliefs, I think it’s important that you realize that

a) these people are totally playing you
b) you’re supporting politics that are hurting you badly
c) nobody’s God likes torture and mercury-poisoned babies
d) unlike me, they don’t admire your principles. They think you’re stupid.

If you want your Republican party back, you might want to consider voting accordingly.