Machiavelli not only stressed the need to deceive the public with religious rhetoric, but cautioned that not doing so would lead to ruin:

"One prince [Ferdinand of Aragon] of the present time, whom it is not well to name, never preaches anything else but peace and good faith, and to both he is most hostile, and either, if he had kept it, would have deprived him of reputation and kingdom many a time."

Why quote a 16th Century Italian in America's 21st Century? Because many of the current American Political Fundamentalist movement (known as NeoCons, since they are extremists more than actual conservatives) are students and followers of Machiavellian political tactics. Grover Norquist (president of Americans for Tax Reform , who has compared taxation to the Holocaust) and Ralph Reed (former head of the Christian Coalition, Bush political operative, lobbyist with ties to Jack Abramoff, and now current candidate for political office in Virginia) studied with Machiavellian scholar Leo Strauss in Chicago in the 1980's. Together they formed a college Conservative Republican club, which spread to many campuses across the country, seeding many in the current far-right political movement.

Even without direct Machiavelli references, it is painfully obvious that the architects of today's political agenda (including Karl Rove, Tom Delay and Dick Cheney) follow many of not most of Machiavelli's advice (I even remember hearing an interview with a childhood friend of Rove's, who recounted a conversation with an adult Karl where he stated that he was not personally, in fact, a believer in God or religion, but attended church to keep up appearances). These gentlemen are not the first names conjured up when we think of the Christian Right, but that's why they have their cheerleader-in-chief, who proved he can comfortably perform the public piety role. George W. Bush is a true believer in the black/white, good/evil, determinist view of the universe (like all good fundamentalists of any stripe). Hersh writes:

"After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told Bush felt that God put me here" to deal with the war on terror. The President's belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional; elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that "He's the man," the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reelection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose."

Just because he believed that God helped him win does not keep immoral political operatives behind him from doing "whatever it takes" to gain these victory  (for fundamentalists, the ends ALWAYS justify the means, because they are right and you are wrong, evil and in fact the devil). But in a twist on the master's original teachings, these Machiavellians have created a faux-prince to keep public face, whereas they are the actual "princes":

"(The former defense official) said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice President Cheney. "They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway."

It's an old adage that the best salesman is someone who actually believes his own pitch, even if it is false. In fusing America's greatest contribution to world economics and politics - the science of sales and public relations - with Machiavellian teachings of the immoral requirements of leadership, America's Christians are being used to prop up classic greed and power. George W. Bush proved in the doomed reelection campaign of his father that he could "get out the Christian vote," which earned him the 2000 slot. He also proved, through his simplistic world view, that he could be trusted to stay on message and do what he was told. The perceived political power of today's American Religious Right is for public face only; the few executive orders, bureaucratic appointees and judicial nominations don't change the NeoCon's overriding (and overreaching) actions to consolidate political, economic and military power. Using religion, and the religious, is just par for the course.

But the pendulum can be locked to the right for only so long - to quote Machiavelli, "although crimes may win an empire, they do not win glory."

Joel tours the US with his 8x14 foot painting, speaking on "American Fundamentalism and the Threat to Democracy and Freedom of Faith."