"...the near/mere appearance of evil..."

I wasn't gonna watch any of the inauguration today, but work made it unavoidable by putting it on the TV in the lobby. So as I was walking back and forth, catching bits and pieces of the proceedings, a bit of the post-address bendiction caught my ear - uttered, according to the schedule, by Rev. Kirbyjon Caldwell, of Houston, TX. I ask you to, please, consider the logic of the following quote, maybe re-reading it a few times before you continue.

"'Deliver us from the evil one and the near appearance of evil,' he said. 'Give us clean hearts, clean agendas, clean priorities and programs and even clean financial statements.' "

I wish I could submit to you folks a complete transcript of this prayer, but no one online seems to have it anywhere. The closest I could find was this news story from the Worldwide Faith News archives, which only offers snippets, such as the one above. All I know is, that ain't what I remember him saying...I remember the phrase being "the mere appearance of evil," not the NEAR appearance of same.

Either way, that quote bugged me. Take the first part. So, okay, now even something that APPEARS evil is to be stamped out and eliminated at all costs? Seems to be setting a dangerous precident for the coming term - maybe W's claim that this is a "crusade" wasn't so far off, after all.

And that second part. Let's deconstruct that, shall we? "Give us clean hearts." Hard to be clean with 1,300+ U.S. Military and 14,000 (at the most conservative of estimates) civilian casualties during the war.

"Clean agendas." "Remember, this is the guy that tried to hurt my dad at one time." - W, in a speech pre-war, 2003.

"Clean priorities and programs." Privatization of Social Security yet no national health care. Opposition to stem cell research. Giving a $136 billion dollar tax cut to businesses at a time of war. Good to see those priorities straight.

"And even clean financial statements." WTF?

A few of the articles I've found cite Caldwell as a "spiritual advisor" to Bush. Um, folks? I think we're beginning to see the rhyme to his reason...