There’s a number of interesting revelations in an MSNBC preview of a forthcoming tell-all book by the former number two man at the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives. Author David Kuo, himself a conservative Christian, is apparently peeved that Karl Rove’s inner circle would overtly court—and exploit—prominent Evangelicals, then refer to them behind closed doors as “ridiculous,” “goofy,” and “the nuts.”

This is, of course, rather cynical behavior, but man is it reassuring. Because the alternative, when you think about it, is that they were serious. It is not, perhaps, wholly comforting to reflect that the clique helming the United States are merely venal, inept, arrogant, intellectually incurious, and spectacularly impatient with any limits or checks on their authority. But bear in mind that some of us were recently trying to wrap our minds around the genuine possibility that people with real power might seriously think Left Behind is a geopolitical strategy guide and some kind of apocalyptic conflagration is in the Middle East would just be a big fun Welcome Home party for Jesus. It’s a minor comfort to know they’re just humoring the crazies.

Of course, there are more mundane signs of predictable corruption here too. The office was apparently used to organize partisan poltiical events, and grant reviewers routinely just automatically denied non-Christian groups in order to funnel cash to political supporters, rather than effective programs.