Bring Me the Head of Dick Armey!

Former Reason intern and Elephant in the Room author Ryan Sager has caused a tiff between small-government and social conservatives via an interview with former GOP heavyweight Rep. Dick Armey (R-Texas), now manning the ropes at Freedom Works. Focus on the Family's James Dobson is spitting mad at the Lone Star State pol for comments such as these in answer to Sager's questions about the rising influence of the religious right in the Party of Lincoln:

"To a large extent, because Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies," Armey said. "I pray devoutly every day, but being a Christian is no excuse for being stupid. There's a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in schools. Demagoguery doesn't work unless it's dumb . . . These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy and can appeal to a large demographic."

Read Dobson's response here.

Read Sager's gloss here.

Check out Freedom Works here.

Read Reason's 1997 interview with Armey here.

And read about Dobson's surprising connection to the least likable basketball player of all time, Pistol Pete Maravich, here.