Mr. Scherer calls Reed a brilliant political mind. Nonsense!

Ralph T. Reed ( T is for Tartuffe) is a scheming hypocrite, as Wikipedia defined Tartuffe.

Reed is not a brilliant political mind, and Mr. Scherer is not Moliere.

Oh, ever the political bane of our collective existence, the Bubba is a local American phenomenon to whom we owe many of our current great visionary civic-minded leaders to. God Bless Them.

Pat Robertson, in his own right, owns quite the lucrative diamond mining business in Central Africa. If "Mammon" is a deity deserving of worship, Robertson is just as steadfast at the altar as Reed was.

"We want to bring out the wackos to vote against something," Abramoff's partner Michael Scanlon explained in a proposal to one Indian tribe. "The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the Internet and telephone trees."

This should be the democrats center piece in elections from now on. Conclusive evidence that Republicans don't actually share the "values" of the Right Wing Christian voters and see them as idiots to be duped and used.

Thomas Frank, author of "What's the Matter with Kansas" has described this so well. Right wing conservatives, like Reed, have marshalled cultural anger to get voters to vote against their better interests. Maybe this trick wont work much longer for Reed. History shows that someone will gladly pick up where Reed falls.

Atlanta's Creative Loafing (my employer) recently published "The Book of Ralph," a "graphic political adventure" detailing some of the more notable events in the life of Mr. Reed. Written by Doug Monroe and illustrated by Josh Latta, it's definitely worth a look. I was genuinely surprised to learn some unsavory details from Reed's past that I'd not seen before. http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/ralphreed/

Reed, Robertson, Falwell and their ilk manipulate religious teachings and the emotions of their followers for one purpose - get the cash! The sad part is the suckers/voters who think that sending in donations to these charlatans or voting for their candidates will do anything to improve their own, or their fellow voters' lives.

Mr. Lewis's high-torque grave-spinning could easily power the nation as long as people like Reed, Falwell, Robertson and Dobson continue to hold sway over our culture and politics to the extent they currently enjoy, which is far more than the fictional Elmer Gantry could have ever imagined.

Didn't I just read this article in Rolling Stone?

GhostGirl, you are correct. I travelled to Georgia as part of a joint reporting mission for Salon and Rolling Stone. The Rolling Stone piece was edited down to a sidebar, so I wrote an extended version for Salon. The Rolling Stone Reed story can be found here: www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9519833/the_reed_connection

[Unrelated RS coverage of VU rocker Lou Reed is here: www.rollingstone.com/artists/loureed]

Aaron Karp, I am glad you posted a link to the Creative Loafing cartoon. It's good.

F. Hutterer, I agree completely: I am not Moliere.

The author's website documents some of the connections between lobbyist (and criminal) Jack Abramoff and corporations such as Microsoft that have procured expansions of the controversial H-1B visa program. The role of lobbyist (and Abramoff friend) Ralph Reed, also retained by Microsoft, is highlighted as well. U.S. Representative Tom DeLay, who announced his resignation on April 4, 2006 was at the vortex of this scandal.

I wonder what Jesus would say?