As a devastating drought continues to parch the Southeast, Republican Governors in Georgia and Alabama are turning to divine intervention to help replenish their dwindling water supplies. In Atlanta, Governor Sonny Perdue held a public vigil at the state house Tuesday to "pray up a storm." His plea follows on the heels on Alabama Governor Bob Riley's week-long "Days of Prayer for Rain" in June.
As then-Governor George W. Bush showed with his 2000 proclamation of "Jesus Day," prayer is now a centerpiece of the Republican approach to public policy. And with the GOP fallen on hard times, Governor Perdue is hardly the only Republican turning to prayer in search of better days.
Here, then, are the Top 10 Republican Prayers:
Norman Podhoretz's Prayer for Iran. The Bush sycophant and adviser to Rudy Giuliani, Podhoretz in June authored the disturbingly influential article, "The Case for Bombing Iran." As he wrote in the Wall Street Journal in May, "I hope and pray that President Bush will do it."
Ann Coulter's Prayer for the Supreme Court. With a change in the ideological balance of the Supreme Court certain to impact Americans for the next generation, Ann Coulter in 2006 offered this prayer for the health of octogenarian Justice John Paul Stevens, "We need somebody to put rat poison in Justice Stevens' creme brulee."
Mitt Romney's Prayer for Silence. With their candidate's steady leads in Iowa and New Hampshire, the Romney campaign desperately wants to avoid confronting his Mormonism head on. Despite Romney's insistence that "people in this country want a person of faith to lead them as their president," he's praying that no one in evangelical-rich South Carolina asks him if he believes Jesus visited America during his next "Ask Mitt Anything" event.
Rudy Giuliani's Prayer for Bernard Kerik. The indictment of Bernard Kerik, Rudy Giuliani's one time NewYork police commissioner, business partner and hand-picked choice to head President Bush's Department of Homeland Security, is creating major problems for the Republican front-runner. Giuliani's entire campaign is based on his supposed expertise as a terrorism fighter; as it turns out, Rudy like George W. Bush places cronyism over American national security. Rumor has it the occasionally church-going Giuliani is praying for a reverse immaculate conception for Kerik. As he once put it, "I pray like a lawyer," adding, "I try to make a deal - get me out of this jam, and I'll start going back to church."
Jack Kingston's Prayer for Rush Limbaugh. When Rush Limbaugh attacked as "phony soldiers" Iraq veterans opposed to the war (even comparing a Purple Heart recipient to a suicide bomber), Georgia Congressman Jack Kingston sponsored a House resolution commending him. No doubt next up from Kingston will be a proposed "day of prayer" for Rush (and Rush's Oxycontin supplier.)
Pastor Rick Scarborough's Prayer for Tom Delay. At his 2006 "War on Christians" conference, Vision America founder and Pastor Rick Scarborough asked God to protect his special messenger, the indicted, ethically-challenged Tom Delay. "I believe the most damaging thing that Tom DeLay has done in his life is take his faith seriously into public office, which made him a target for all those who despise the cause of Christ," Scarborough declared, adding, " This is a man, I believe, God has appointed...to represent righteousness in government."
Chuck Colson's Prayer for Waterboarding. In Newsweek, Watergate felon turned prison minister Charles Colson argues that waterboarding and other so-called enhanced interrogation techniques are "justified under some circumstances." He could support torture, he declared, "If a competent authority honestly believed that this was the only way to get information that might save the lives of thousands." Of course, Colson is merely joining the rest of America in praying that George W. Bush suddenly becomes competent.
David Vitter's Prayer for Marriage. Louisiana Senator David Vitter has repeatedly proclaimed his belief that marriage is between one man and one woman, and vowed to" to work in Congress to "protect the family values that the people of Louisiana hold dear" (which or may or may not include paying diaper-clad prostitutes). Vitter, who in 1999 sponsored a House resolution "recognizing the importance of strong marriages" and called for Marriage Appreciation Week in 2004, announced in July he would pray for his own.
Fox News' Prayer for Another 9/11. When Philadelphia Daily News columnist Stu Bykofsky published his grotesquely misguided piece, "To Save America, We Need Another 9/11," the usual suspects at Fox News and the conservative amen corner were quick to rally to his side. John Gibson declared, "I think it's going to take a lot of dead people to wake America up." Rudy Giuliani, self-proclaimed mayor of 9/11 and the personal favorite of Sean Hannity and Fox News, would no doubt prefer that happened before November 4, 2008.
George W. Bush's Prayer to Replenish the Ol' Coffers. In September, Bush biographer Robert Draper revealed that the President was deeply concerned about his legacy. Bush confided to him, "I've got God's shoulder to cry on, and I cry a lot. I'll bet I've shed more tears than you can count as president." The subjects of his prayers apparently include his post-White House speaking fees:

First, Mr. Bush said, "I'll give some speeches, just to replenish the ol' coffers." With assets that have been estimated as high as nearly $21 million, Mr. Bush added, "I don't know what my dad gets - it's more than 50-75" thousand dollars a speech, and "Clinton's making a lot of money."

Meanwhile, an entire team of people is praying for President Bush. Bush and other Republicans might do well to remember the words of the man who made theirs the Party of Lincoln. In his Second Inaugural, Abraham Lincoln said:

"Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other...so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'"