Month: August 2007

Ann Coulter: With Rove Gone, We’ll Learn Who to Blame for ‘Stupid Things’ Bush Does

Jon Ponder

And she said this on Fox “News,” according to Raw Story:

“What I think is going to be fun,” she said, “is finding out how much of the architect Karl Rove actually was. I’ve gone back and forth between blaming Karl Rove for the stupid things Bush does and blaming Bush for the stupid stuff Bush does.”

And:

“Rove, they were looking at indicting for a felony [in the outing of Valerie Plame] … which suggests to me that he was not the one involved in that, that that was entirely George Bush’s idea.”

And:

“So you start thinking everything you like about Bush was Dick Cheney or Karl Rove, and the stuff you don’t like is George Bush,” Coulter concluded. “So now we’ll find out.”

Osteen In-Law Preacher Who Canceled Gay Vet’s Funeral Aligns with Notorious AFA Hate Group

Jon Ponder

Under fire because he canceled the funeral of Navy Gulf War veteran after learning that the vet was gay, Gary Simons, the megachurch preacher whose brother-in-law is Joel Osteen, head of the powerful, uber-wealthy evangelical family that operates the 30,000-member Lakeview Church in Houston, is receiving support from the American Family Association (AF), a multimillion dollar non-profit Mississippi-based hate group operated by the professional homophobe, Donald Wildmon.

On Simons’ behalf, the AFA published a statement on its website in which he continues to deny what is self-evidently true: that he was motivated by decidedly un-Christian hatred and bigotry toward Cecil Howard Sinclair, the deceased Navy veteran, when he canceled the funeral:

The decision had nothing to do with the fact that Mr. Sinclair was a veteran. High Point does now, and has always, supported our men and women in the military. This decision was not based on hate, or discrimination, but upon principle and policy.

No one has suggested the funeral was canceled because Sinclair was a veteran. And more falsehoods follow:

The decision was made to retract the offer to host the memorial service based on the fact that the service requested would be an openly homosexual service celebrating the homosexual lifestyle. It is important to emphasize that this was not a funeral service with a body to be buried, but a memorial service. The family was informed of the decision.

There is no such thing as a “homosexual service,” open or otherwise. The relationship between the deceased veteran and his longtime life partner was going to be acknowledged, which is verboten to groups like AFA and High Point Church because if their followers were to learn that millions of gay couples live happy, regular lives it would dampen fundraising.

Joel Osteen was not involved in the decision to cancel the Navy veteran’s funeral. But even though his Tony Robbins-esque “prosperity ministry” message is generally positive, he has not condemned the hate-filled actions by his brother-in-law at the High Point Church.

Simons, who is married to Osteen’s sister, is rumored to have become estranged from his powerful in-laws in the wake of the death in 1999 of John Osteen, the patriarch and founder of the Lakeview enterprise. Simons had been serving as his father-in-law’s youth minister and felt he was being groomed to assume the pulpit — and control of the millions of dollars in annual revenues — at the megachurch.

However, within months of the patriarch’s death Simons was shunted aside by John Osteen’s widow in favor of her son, Joel. Further rumors allege that as a consolation prize the Osteens gave Simons upwards of a purported $13 million to start his own church business, which was to become the High Point Church near Dallas.

Baptist Preacher Models His Style on George W. Bush: Autocracy Rules

Buck Banks

What happens when a Southern Baptist megachurch congregation starts to question the iron-fisted rule of its preacher? Things get nasty in a hurry.

Rev. Jerry Sutton, is facing complaints that he spent church money on his daughter’s wedding. Oh, and he watched pørn on his church computer and had an affair with a female member of the congregation.

Anyone who voiced opposition to leadership was alienated and lost any ministries they may have had in the church.

Sutton has served as leader of Nashville’s Two Rivers Baptist Church for 21 years. The megachurch is located just across the highway from the Grand Ole Opry. In 2005 the church hosted the “Justice Sunday II” rally, where then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and others criticized judicial activism to a national audience of evangelical Christians. Of course, that was before the Supremes got down to rewriting the Bill of Rights, etc.

Sutton’s people deny the pørn and affair, which were investigated by the congregation’s human resources staff and found — surprise — to be baseless. As to maintaining secrecy about the church budget and spending church dough on his daughter’s wedding, Sutton’s tools are unrepentant:

The church’s executive pastor, Scott Hutchings defended the church budget and acknowledged that the church paid about $4,300 for a reception for Sutton’s daughter that was open to all church members. He said Sutton personally paid for another separate reception outside the church.

“When you’re pastor, we feel like you have to invite the whole church,” to avoid the appearance of favoritism, Hutchings said.

But what it really seems to be about is that Sutton wants to wield absolute power and brooks no dissent (sound familiar?) among his congregants:

Church trustee Frank Harris has been leading the campaign against Sutton. Two Rivers “appears to have been manipulated from a people-led church to a staff-run church,” Harris said.

“Anyone who voiced opposition to leadership was alienated and lost any ministries they may have had in the church,” Harris said.

Sounds kind of like the United States gubmint. Hutchings put Sutton’s position succinctly: “There has to be submission and authority.”

“Submission and authority” — could be George Bush’s mantra. Maybe if the church thing doesn’t work out for him, Sutton can probably find something in the administration, say in the Department of Justice ….

Carville: The Precipitous Drop in GOP Young Voters Is Rove’s Fault

Jon Ponder

Writing in Financial Times today, James Carville says that while Karl Rove’s strategy of coddling the GOP’s Christian nationalist base paid off for George Bush, it has alienated young voters, a factor that could cripple the Republican Party in the long term:

Pew Poll: 50 per cent of Americans identify as Democrats while only 35 per cent say they are Republican.

A late July poll for Democracy Corps, a non-profit polling company, shows that a generic Democratic presidential candidate now wins voters under 30 years old by 32 percentage points.The Republican lead among younger white non-college-educated men, who supported President George W. Bush by a margin of 19 percentage points three years ago, has shrunk to 2 percentage points. Ideological divisions between the Republican party and young voters are growing. Young voters generally favour larger government providing more services, 68 per cent to 28 per cent. On every issue, from the budget to national security, young voters responded overwhelmingly that Democrats would do a better job in government.

It is not just Democracy Corps that has found this. A host of new polls and surveys over the course of the past few months has served as a harbinger of a rocky 2008 election for Republicans.

The March poll from the Pew Research Center showed that 50 per cent of Americans identify as Democrats while only 35 per cent say they are Republican. The June NBC-Wall Street Journal poll showed 52 per cent of Americans would prefer a Democratic president while only 31 per cent would support a Republican, the largest gap in the 20-year history of the survey.

Powell Backing McCain

Trish

No one ever accused Gen. Colin Powell, head of the joint chiefs under Bush 41 and secretary of state under Bush 43, of picking the right horse. So why start now? Houston Chronicle:

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell has time for any presidential candidate who wants to chat about foreign policy. He has money, though, only for John McCain.

Powell has shared his expertise in meetings with Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Rudy Giuliani, his spokeswoman, Peggy Cifrino, said Tuesday. But when it comes to sharing his money, Powell chose McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona. Powell’s $2,300 contribution last week gave a bit of needed cachet to McCain’s struggling campaign.

McCain and Powell share several bonds, not the least of which is they both actually fought on the front lines for their country, making them anomalies among the chickenhawks of their party. They also have both been willing, far too often, to serve as apologists for the Iraq invasion and occupation.

Republican Florida Lawmaker Bob “Blow Job” Allen Being Squeezed Out by GOP

Trish

For Florida State Rep. Bob Allen (R-Merritt Island), denial is not just a river in Egypt. Allen is out on bail on charges that he offered a male undercover officer $20 for oral sex. He has spent this time offering explanations for his behavior as varied as “just checking the bathroom three times because I helped secure funding for the park” to “I was afraid of the guy because he’s black and everyone knows black people are dangerous.”

Well, poor Bob has come up with another totally ridiculous explanation, this one for why he is being stripped of all his committee assignments in the upcoming legislative session.

…because [House Speaker Marco] Rubio wants to give younger lawmakers the chance at leadership positions.

Allen…said he was told that House leaders “wouldn’t do anything to hurt my defense.” “I know the Speaker has talked about giving other younger legislators a chance,” Allen said. “It’s tough to gain experience in the eight years before term limits, and some senior members might serve in another position.”

Riiiight. But others in the Republican wing of the Florida State House wish Allen would not only show up missing from committees, but go away altogether.

Meanwhile, [GOP Chairman Jim] Greer told reporters Tuesday that Allen should consider the best interests of the GOP, as well as his family and constituents, in deciding whether to resign.

“I’m not going to say what’s in the best interest of the party or ask him to step down or resign,” Greer said. “I’m just asking him, as of today, to consider the best interest of the party.”

So far Allen hasn’t considered the best interests of anyone but himself in obtaining homosexual sex, so why would the GOP expect him to consider the best interests of his party? Not only is Allen not leaving quietly, he’s attempting to call in a few political IOUs. After all, one thing all Republicans have on another in abundance is dirt.

When told of Greer’s comments, Allen said he stood by Greer during the “innuendos and nasty politics” hurled during Greer’s campaign for the party chairmanship. “I know Jim appreciated that and I hope he hasn’t lost that memory,” Allen said…

“I intend to show up at the session as a man who is free of this charge and all of this ridiculous politics and be able to get back to what they want me doing during the session,” Allen said. “I don’t think I’ll be bogged down with this during the session.”

We presume that none of those Nile River crocodiles will be shedding any of their famous tears if it doesn’t work out quite that way.

‘Brain’-Less White House Falls for Clinton Trap, Over-Reacts to Ad, Gives Her Campaign Millions in Free Media Exposure

Jon Ponder

Hillary Clinton lambasted Pres. George W. Bush in her first Iowa campaign ad, saying he didn’t care about working class Americans or even returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House walked right into the trap, calling it “outrageous,” “absurd” and “unconscionable” — and thus giving the story legs in the corporate media, which has led to hundreds of free airings of the spot and its exposure to millions of voters outside its paid run in Iowa.

Americans from all walks of life across our country may be invisible to this President, but they’re not invisible to me and they won’t be invisible to the next President of the United States

It also gave Clinton an opening to keep the story alive into another news cycle:

“Apparently I’ve struck a nerve,” Clinton said in response to the White House attack. “I will keep saying it because I believe it.”

At TPM Cafe, M.J. Rosenberg recalls a similar cicrumstance from 40 years ago in which the Lyndon Johnson White House similarly helped boost the campaign of Richard Nixon — whose career appeared to be over after he lost a bid for California governor on the heels of losing the presidency to Kennedy in 1960:

[The] unpopular president from Texas, LBJ, did Nixon a favor. After Nixon criticized Johnson’s war strategy, Johnson, during a televised press conference, lost it.

He blasted Nixon, calling him a “chronic campaigner, whose only concern was picking up a few votes.

The Nixon camp could not believe their luck. They had succeeded in getting under LBJ’s skin. By responding to Nixon’s attack as he did, LBJ elevated Nixon to the Presidential level, right where Nixon needed to be. He was, of course, elected in 1968.

[…]

Bush on Religion: ‘I Am Driven with a Mission from God’ And Other Sayings

Jon Ponder

From the Times Online in the U.K.:

1. I am driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan’. And I did. And then God would tell me ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq’. And I did. Sharm el-Sheikh August 2003

2. I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.
Statement made during campaign visit to Amish community, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Jul. 9, 2004

3. I’m also mindful that man should never try to put words in God’s mouth. I mean, we should never ascribe natural disasters or anything else to God. We are in no way, shape, or form should a human being, play God. Washington, D.C., Jan. 14, 2005

4. God loves you, and I love you. And you can count on both of us as a powerful message that people who wonder about their future can hear. Los Angeles, California, Mar. 3, 2004

5. I tell people all the time, you’re equally American if you’re a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. You’re equally American if you believe in an Almighty or don’t believe in an Almighty. That’s a sacred freedom. Washington, D.C., Mar. 10, 2006

6. Well, first of all, you got to understand some of my view on freedom, it’s not American’s gift to the world. See, freedom is God — is God given. Interview with TVR, Romania, Nov. 23, 2002

7. I’m sure there is some kind of heavy doctrinal difference, which I’m not sophisticated enough to explain to you. Explaining the issues involved in his switching from attending an Episcopal church to attending a Methodist one, (date is approximate:), Jul. 1, 1994

8. I don’t think you order suiciders to kill innocent men, women, and children if you’re a religious person. Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin, Jul. 14, 2004

9. And there’s nothing more powerful in helping change the country than the faith — faith in Dios. National Hispanic Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., May 16, 2002

10. We believe in an Almighty, we believe in the freedom for people to worship that Almighty. They don’t. Martinsburg, West Virginia, Jul. 4, 2007

The Times Online has 40 more quotes.

AFA Wants Your Mom to Cancel Her Redbook Subscription

Buck Banks

American Family Association’s Donald E. “The Wildman” Wildmon is on the warpath again — this time turning his attention from depraved gay people to depraved straight people. Seems he’s out to rid the world of the kind of smut found in Redbook magazine. Yes, Redbook, that venerable bastion of womanly lore and recipes.

Middle age is no time to be running around for 30 seconds with a dollop of whipped cream on one’s chest.

Wildmon quotes Marcia Segelstein, a columnist from one of AFA’s media outlets One News Now:

I’ve referred in the past to modern-day women’s magazines as a bellweather of cultural decline, but I think it’s worth repeating. Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room leafing through magazines, as I was recently, can end up being an eye-opening experience. And even if you can handle it … or just decide to stop reading … imagine your young teenage daughter picking up that innocent-looking women’s magazine. What behavior will she end up believing society condones?

When I was a child, I remember looking through the magazines my mother had around the house. I don’t think she ever gave a second thought to what I might come across, nor should she have. My, how things have changed.

Of course some things never change, like my third-grade sense of potty humor. Segelstein, in her zeal to share the juicy stuff, but not too much of it, just made the excerpts she chose sound, well, funny:

If you’ve got 10 seconds:“Alone? Sneak a peak at yourself!” “Make eye contact with a cute stranger.”

If you’ve got 30 seconds: “Clench your g___ muscles.” “Spray a dollop of whipped cream on your chest and ….”

Got 10 minutes? “Swap your coffee break for a visit with your v______r.”

What? Clench your giggle muscles? Visit with your vaporizer? I don’t get it. At my age, even a 10-second sneak peak at myself is way too long. And middle age is no time to be running around for 30 seconds with a dollop of whipped cream on one’s chest.

Wildmon, as usual, goes off into his private rhetorical swamp in the letter he asks readers to write to the president of Hearst Corp., publishers of Redbook:

Dear President Ganzi,

I am greatly disappointed that Redbook would give such pagan, hedonistic advice concerning sex.

Our society is suffering from a decaying moral structure, and Redbook endorses such sewage.

For the sake of our children, I ask that you reconsider your endorsement of such hedonistic pagan sexual practices.

Wow, hedonistic and pagan sexual practices! Sounds kinky, don’t it? Bring on the whipped cream! I, of course, changed the wording a little to reflect my belief that it’s the Donster who is a practicer of sexual acts both hedonistic and pagan.

Point is, last time I checked, we still have a little something called free speech in this country. If Marcia Segelstein doesn’t want to read advice for a woman dating a married man, then she can flip through to the recipe section or the interior design section of the book reviews and health advice, all of which can be found in Redbook magazine. She doesn’t have to read the advice for the woman whose sex drive dropped off after she had her baby. For that matter, she could take her Bible with her to the doctor’s office and avoid those trashy women’s magazines and instead read up on some of the Jehovah-sanctioned sex and violence of the Old Testament.

The problem with the Wildmons and Segelsteins of the world is they want to impose their beliefs on the rest of us, they want to legislate what we can read or watch or who we give money to and how many rights some of us get and others don’t. But these babble-thumpers are so far out on the fringe that the only way they can exert any power is to band together in pitchfork and torch-carrying mobs and boycott that which they don’t understand.

Don, Marcia, good luck with your Redbook boycott. I predict it will be at least as successful as AFA’s Ford Motor boycott.