IF A POLITICAL CONSULTANT SCRIPTS YOUR "PRAYERS," THEY'RE NOT PRAYERS

I haven't blogged yet about the "thoughts and prayers" controversy, but right-wingers who post shrieking headlines such as "DISGUSTING! NY Daily News MOCKS REPUBLICANS for Prayers after Cali Terror Attack" (Gateway Pundit) and "Deranged Liberals Attack God and Prayer" (Limbaugh) are missing the point.

As the cover and cover story of today's New York Daily News make clear, the messages about the San Bernardino massacre from Republican politicians seemed strikingly non-spontaneous:

Thoughts & prayers are with #SanBernardino

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) December 2, 2015

My thoughts and prayers are with the victims, families, and brave first responders during this unspeakable tragedy.

— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 2, 2015

My thoughts and prayers are with the shooting victims and their families in San Bernardino.

— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) December 2, 2015

And here's another one I spotted yesterday as the incident was still under way -- same message:

My thoughts and prayers are with those impacted by the senseless shooting today in #SanBernadino.

— Darrell Issa (@DarrellIssa) December 2, 2015

My response:

Did @FrankLuntz write this boilerplate? Seeing it from every Republican now. https://t.co/MYMGq57gi0

— Steve M. (@nomoremister) December 2, 2015

That's still my response. If your genuinely drop to your knees when you hear about something like yesterday's massacre, this atheist won't attack you for that. But if someone in the GOP consultant class has advised you that "thoughts and prayers" is the response to a mass shooting that tests well in focus groups of swing voters and you go out and post that, then, sorry, you're a phony, and I'm insulting you as a politician, not as a Christian, if I call you on your phoniness.

So I don't want to hear that I'm engaged in "prayer shaming." I'm not -- I'm engaged in politician shaming.