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...