• PFAW Statement: Texas Board of Education Rewrites History.
• Media Matters: Rep. Paul Broun Compares Health Care Reform To "The Great War Of Yankee Aggression."
• Justin Elliot: California Bar Now Investigating Orly Taitz.
• David Weigel: Sarah Palin: The Series.
• Timothy Kincaid: Another Baptist church not anti-gay enough for Texas.
• Finally, Good As You digs deeper into this weird CWA nutritional drink partnership/fundraising scheme and it just gets weirder.

• Peter LaBarbera declares victory, citing MassResistance's fundamentally misleading claims.
• "Looking Forward on the 5th Anniversary of Terri's [Schiavo's] Death"? That's a really bad title for a FRC event.
• Her group just launched, but Virginia Thomas' Liberty Central is already breaking the law.
• Phyllis Schlafly will be a featured speaker at Tax Day Tea Party rally in Michigan.
• Glenn Beck calls Jim Wallis "Jeremiah Wright on sedatives."  I call Glenn Beck "Joseph McCarthy without the acute hepatitis."
• Speaking of Glenn Beck, it just so happens that I've been reading a biography of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, called "Rough Stone Rolling" and I came across a section that seemed rather interesting, given Beck's Mormon faith and obsession with Socialism

The revelation put forward the arresting doctrine that the economies of earth and heaven must correspond: "If ye are not equal in earthly things, ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things." The leveling of property introduced the Saints to the heavenly order. "For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you."

One cannot tell if Joseph Smith understood how much he was asking of his followers in requiring the consecration of property. Questions about self-interest and obstinacy were not ones he entertained. The revelation said everyone was entitled to draw on the storehouse of common property, that "every man may improve upon his talent, that every man may gain other talents, yea, even an hundred fold." Afterwards, whatever surplus was acquired was to "be cast into the Lord's storehouse, to become the common property of the whole church." The Saints were to work hard for each other. That asked a lot of individualistic farmers and artisans in the expanding market economy of nineteenth-century America. Nothing was more sacrosanct in American ideology than the individual's right to the fruits of his labor. Equalizing wealth required each person to be "seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God." Could they? The little band of Saints had no prior experience with equality of property. Equality had always meant equality of rank in political society and equality before the law. Not even the most radical voices in the Revolution had called for the leveling of wealth. Only a few utopians like the Shakers had experimented with the redistribution of property. Joseph expected people to sacrifice personal advantage for the good of the whole in a society long devoted to private gain.

Frankly, we have never really understood how Vision America's Rick Scarborough managed to get himself associated with the Tea Party movement ... and now it makes even less sense.

A few weeks ago we mentioned that even though he had been a featured speaker at the National Tea Party Convention, he was now launching his own Religious Right version of the Tea Party movement, changing the TEA Party's "Taxed Enough Already" acronym to "Truth Exalts America" and unveiling something he called the "Patriot Pastors' Tea Party."

Now Scarborough is announcing the group's first gathering, and it sounds a lot more like the standard Religious Right prayer rally than it does any sort of Tea Party gathering: 

A National Call to Pastors: Pastors across America are coming to San Antonio, Texas, on July 7th, for a Patriot Pastors’ T.E.A. Party in San Antonio, Texas, July 7, 2010. We urge Pastors to come to the Seventh largest city in America on the Seventh Day of the Seventh month for Seven hours of rallying and education, followed by Seventeen weeks of commitment concluding on Election Day. The prayerful goal of this effort is that we might experience a II Chronicles 7:14 revival in America.

Rationale: When Elijah became dismayed over the state of his nation and cried out to the Lord that he was the only prophet left who cared about God’s honor, God rebuked him and informed him He had 7,000 more who had not bowed to Baal.

There are thousands of Pastors in America who have not surrendered to the Baals of our culture and who faithfully proclaim the truth of God’s Word without compromise every day. We are calling them to join us in San Antonio for one day during which we will repent of our sin of complicity in the moral meltdown of America, and we will call upon our gracious God to restore our nation.

Many Pastors would have difficulty affording a trip to Washington DC and absorbing the cost of food and lodging there. We have chosen city in the central part of America where Pastors can take a stand for Christ and participate in an effort to call the 70 million Evangelicals in this country seek God for national renewal and revival.

The National Patriot Pastors’ T.E.A. Party will meet on the Plaza of the Alamo where 180 courageous “Texicans” made the ultimate sacrifice to confront tyranny and to gain their freedom. The Alamo holds profound symbolism for all Pastors and Christians in America. We too, must be willing lay it all on the line for Christ and for revival.

The rally will take place in the morning before heat is a problem. We will then reconvene in the afternoon in a church or civic auditorium (TBA) for training and strategy. The afternoon meeting is being arranged and the location will be announced here soon.

Mission: To experience genuine revival, so that Pastors may once again provide spiritual guidance for the Nation.

I have a sneaking suspicion that when the Tea Party movement first emerged, Christian prayer rallies calling for revival in America carried out by people who liken themselves to the prophet Elijah and the nation to Baal was probably not at all what they had envisioned.

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli sat down for an interview with CBS 6 reporter Mark Holmberg where he discussed everything from his threat to sue the federal government if health care reform passes to his letter to state universities informing them not to grant anti-discrimination protections to gay employees to his statement that questions about President Obama's place of birth are not "beyond the realm of possibility."

Cuccinelli dismissed the Birther question as a far-fetched wild goose chase, but when the question turned to whether or not he believes "the practice of homosexuality is a detriment to our culture," he was far less dismissive, saying "the acts are" because it is best when everyone is "integrated into society":

You know how yesterday I was marveling at the fact that there it was seemingly impossible for any right-wing activist to be considered so radical that Republican members of Congress would refuse to be seen anywhere near them? 

Allow me to follow that up with this simple observation that, over her last nine radio program, Faith 2 Action's Janet Porter's has had nine different Republican members on Congress on as quests:

March 9 - Guest: U.S. Senator Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska)

March 10 - Guests: Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)

March 16 - Guests: Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio)

March 17 - Guests: U.S. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)

March 18 - Guests: U.S. Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri) and U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-Arizona)

March 19 - Guests: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Georgia)

Do I really need to recount all of the crazy things Porter has said?

And yet multiple Republican members of Congress have been making time to appear on her radio program on a regular basis. 

Yesterday when we posted the link to our new Right Wing Watch In Focus on the Right's playbook for stopping immigration reform, one of the strategies we highlighted was the effort to "Portray Immigrants and Their Supporters as Invaders, Conquerors, Enemies of the U.S."

Today, NPR ran a story about the immigration reform rally taking place in Washington, DC this weekend which featured exactly that sort of attack

Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce defends Arizona's reputation as one of the most unwelcoming spots for undocumented workers in the U.S. He says those headed to the nation's capital are promoting anarchy.

"These folks who march with no respect for the law, have no regard for the victims of crime and the damage and cost to America," Pearce said. "Shame on them. Shame on them! They're as treasonous and as un-American as anyone I know."

Back in 2004, Chuck Colson warned that failing to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment would lead to more terrorism by "inflaming radical Islam" and "handing moral weapons of mass destruction to those who use America's decadence to recruit more snipers and hijackers and suicide bombers."

That seems to be the sort of logic at work here as Jeff Walton of The Institute on Religion and Democracy warns that the Episcopal Church's election of a lesbian bishop, Mary Glasspool, will endanger the lives on Christians in Africa:

According to Jeff Walton with the Institute on Religion & Democracy (IRD), Glasspool's election will make it tough for Christians in certain countries.

"Last week there were over 500 people who were killed in three villages surrounding Jos Nigeria," he shares. "These Christian villagers were killed for their faith. The people who attacked them were yelling 'God is great' in Arabic, and one of the charges against the Christians was that they were immoral."

Walton explains the rationale behind that accusation. "When a Muslim sees the newspaper headline, 'Anglican elects partnered lesbian bishop,' they don't draw a distinction between African Christians and European or American Christians," he says.

I always thought that the First Amendment's free exercise of religion provision provided for, you know, the free exercise of religion.  But apparently that protection is not enough for right-wing groups in Colorado who are now pushing an amendment to the state's constitution that would guarantee them some sort of vague religious liberty exemption, presumably to bolster their belief that they should not be required to comply with or recognize things like hate crimes laws, marriage equality, or anything else that does not reflect their religious views:

A coalition that includes Colorado Family Action and the Colorado Catholic Conference has taken the first step toward amending the state constitution to prohibit the government from infringing on the religious liberty of an individual or a religious organization.

"We have heard in our work in the state that many Catholics and other people of faith are growing uneasy as they sense a loss of religious freedom," said Jennifer Kraska, executive director of the Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the state's three Catholic dioceses.

Kraska, also a representative of a coalition called Coloradans for Liberty, said a ballot initiative to amend the constitution is being considered because of a general sense that religious freedom is eroding under governmental pressure.

Another coalition representative, Jessica Langfeldt, director of Colorado Family Action, a Focus on the Family affiliate, said taking the first step Monday — filing language with the Colorado Legislative Council — gives the coalition several weeks to determine whether its concerns are widely shared.

The ballot question asks whether the state constitution should include a section stating that government may not burden the right of a person or organization to act or to refuse to act in a manner motivated by a sincerely held religious belief unless the government has a compelling interest in infringing the act.

"People want the freedom to express their religious beliefs in all aspects of community life, not just in the privacy of their homes," Kraska said.

Back when Mike Huckabee was running for President, Rick Scarborugh of Vision America and Randy Brinson of Redeem The Vote set out to host a series of "Patriot Pastors" rallys on his behalf across Iowa ahead of the caucuses.

Though Huckabee and Brison had big plans for the events, they never amounted to much, though Huckabee went on to win Iowa anyway.

Now, two years later, Huckabee, Brinson, and Scarborough are teaming up again, this time for an email blitz aimed at defeating health care reform:

This weekend's health care showdown in Congress will test the political clout of evangelical Protestant activists, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who are rushing to muster mass opposition to the Democratic bill endorsed by President Obama.

Dr. Randy Brinson, founder of Redeem the Vote, said evangelical leaders will target first-time voters, including Catholics, particularly in the Midwest, and voters not normally involved in religious or social activism, with an appeal highlighted by an e-mail from Mr. Huckabee.

Over the next few days, Mr. Huckabee's name, picture and words will appear on what organizers say will be "millions of electronic messages" urging voters to tell lawmakers to stand firm against the health care bill, set for a climactic vote Sunday in the House.

Mr. Huckabee, who ran for the 2008 Republican presidential nod, has teamed up with the Rev. Rick Scarborough of Vision America and Dr. Brinson, a Montgomery, Ala., founder of Optimum Impact LLC, which he describes as the "largest purveyor of e-mail data regarding political messaging."

"President Obama, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid are doing everything in their power to push through a health care bill that would mandate federally funded abortions, along with a host of other issues that the American people have clearly said they don't want," Mr. Huckabee claims in his e-mail pitch ... The Huckabee e-mails will go to constituents of eight pro-life House Democrats who are considered on the fence or were heavily lobbied by Mr. Obama and Democratic leaders.

Keep in mind that Brinson claims to control a massive email list containing more than 70 million contacts ... and that Scarborough is a self-proclaimed Christocrat and Birther.

• Think Progress: Rep. Steve King and Glenn Beck agree: Voting for health reform on Sunday is ‘an affront to God.’
• Samantha Thompson: Christian Coalition backs Sen. Graham on climate legislation.
• Sarah Posner: Actor Stephen Baldwin Takes Christian Indoctrination to the Xtreme.
• Joe.My.God: NOM Goes After DC Marriage Architect.
• Finally, two posts from Good As You: the first on a resolution in the Kentucky legislature commending those who have signed The Manhattan Declaration; the second on the utterly bizarre development involving Concerned Women for America hawking nutritional supplements.

• VA Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he will sue if Congress passes health care reform.
• Pastor Don Hamer, founder of the right-wing "Better Courts Now" campaign, died of a heart attack yesterday.
• Ralph Reed's Faith & Freedom Coalition of Georgia is partnering with the Tea Partiers at Americans for Prosperity for a "Defending the American Dream Summit" which will feature Neal Boortz, Herman Cain, Erick Erickson, Jonathan Krohn, and others.
• Apparently, Alberto Gonzales and several other former Texas Supreme Court Justices are preparing to endorse Debra Lehrmann in her run-off election against Rick Green.
• Were gay soldiers responsible for the massacre at Srebrenica?
• Finally, Mike Huckabee tells the Boy Scouts that the keys to America success are the "Judeo-Christian values system" and the Ten Commandments.

Yesterday, People For the American Way released our latest Right Wing Watch In Focus entitled "(P)reviewing the Right-Wing Playbook on Immigration Reform" which lays out the attacks the Right used to fight efforts at immigration reform in the past and will undoubtedly deploy again the issue is taken up by Congress in the near future: 

The public debate over comprehensive immigration reform in 2006 and 2007 was marked by appalling anti-immigrant rhetoric and was accompanied by a rise in anti-Latino hate crimes tracked by the FBI. In a report last year, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights called "the legitimization and mainstreaming of virulently anti-immigrant rhetoric" one of the "most disturbing developments of the past few years." Among the pundits promoting "fear and loathing" on cable television was Glenn Beck, who said "our country is on fire, and the fuel is illegal immigration." Since then, the swine flu scare and the deep economic recession in the United States have given right-wing opponents of comprehensive immigration reform new fuel for inflaming anti-immigrant and anti-Latino sentiment. In September 2008, for instance, right-wing pundit Michelle Malkin even blamed "illegal immigrants" for the mortgage crisis.

The 2006-2007 push for comprehensive immigration reform was supported by the Bush administration, much of America's business and labor establishments, and congressional leaders from both parties. But in spite of that broad support, the passage of reform was derailed by right-wing pundits who inflamed anti-immigrant sentiment, some members of Congress who gleefully participated in the fearmongering, and others who were simply afraid to resist it.

In October 2008, the Anti-Defamation League criticized anti-immigrant groups for utilizing the strategies of hate groups and "resorting to hateful and dehumanizing stereotypes and outright bigotry to demonize immigrants." To the categories identified by the ADL we can now add demagoguery over the swine flu virus and exploitation of the nation's economic woes.

Here is a review of the rhetorical strategies used to inflame anti-immigrant sentiment and build political opposition to comprehensive immigration reform.

The report lays out nine specifc attacks the Right has used in the past to kill immigration reform legislation:

1: Appeal to Racial Fear and The 'Brown' Threat to 'White' America - "What is happening to us? An immigrant invasion of the United States from the Third World, as America's white majority is no longer even reproducing itself." - Pat Buchanan

2: Appeal to Racial Resentment by Portraying Immigrant Rights Advocates as Racists -- "[NCLR is] the Ku Klux Klan of the Hispanic people" - Michael Savage

3: Portray Immigrants and Their Supporters as Invaders, Conquerors, Enemies of the U.S. - "The homegrown multiculti-mau-mau-ers know exactly what they believe, and they know exactly what they are doing. They aim to mainstream the 'Stolen Land' mantra and pervert history. They aim to obliterate America's borders by sheer demographic and political force." - Michelle Malkin

4: Portray Immigrants as Criminals and Terrorists - "Illegal immigration" is a "slow-motion Holocaust," and a "slow-motion terrorist attack on the United States." - Congressman Steve King

5: Portray Immigrants as Carriers of Disease and Weapons of Bio-Terrorism - "The next time you eat in a restaurant or sleep in a hotel or motel....just remember to bring your own food, dishes, untensils [sic], glasses, towels, and maybe your own water. The person who cooked your meal or made your bed may very well be the one who picked your fruit and vegetables, yesterday....and we've heard the stories about what they do in the fields....haven't we?" - Mothers Against Illegal Aliens

6: Stop Reform by Shouting 'Amnesty' - "'Comprehensive' is the code word for amnesty." - Pat Buchanan

7: Denigrate Reform Efforts as Vote-Buying -- "The Democrats know it's to their advantage to bring in Third World hordes who will one day become Democratic voters." - Rick Scarborough

8: Portray Anti-Immigrant Stance as 'Pro-Worker' (While Voting Against Worker Interests) -- "If they were not in the country, we wouldn't have to worry about emergency room or health insurance costs at all. And Americans would have these jobs." - Congressman Virgil Goode

9: Push Divisive Black-Brown Wedge - "[Illegal immigration is] the greatest threat to black people since slavery." - Ted Hayes

For those who are committed to passing much-needed immigration reform, it is vital to know the various strategies used by anti-immigrant, right-wing activists in the past ... and that is exactly what our latest report seeks to chronicle and analyze.

Remember a few weeks ago when Vision America's Rick Scarborough vowed to try to become a more "loving, kind, gentle man of truth"?

Remind me again how that is working out:

PETITION TO STOP OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN TO DE-CHRISTIANIZE AMERICA

Whereas President Barack Obama often goes out of his way to acknowledge Islam, while slighting Christianity

Whereas, for 8 years, President George W. Bush observed National Day of Prayer by addressing a group of religious leaders in the East Room of the White House, like his predecessors going back to John F. Kennedy

Whereas, last year, President Obama had no such a ceremony -- a move hailed by a spokesman for the American Atheists

Whereas all President Obama did on National Day of Prayer 2009 was to issue a proclamation, which he sent to Congress late in the day

Whereas, while the White House refuses to participate in religious ceremonies involving Christians, for the first time in our history, atheists recently met with administration officials

Whereas, since assuming office, President Obama has consistently misrepresented this country religious heritage and our commitment to Christianity

Whereas, on his first trip abroad, Obama told the Turkish Parliament: "Although we have a large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation ...." -- but, according to a 2009 survey, 62% of Americans believe America is a Christian nation

Whereas our currency has the motto, "In God We Trust," which even the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (the most liberal in the land) recently acknowledged to be constitutional

Whereas our National Anthem contains the stirring words, "Then conquer we must when our cause it is just. And this be our motto, In God Is Our Trust"

Whereas our nation's capital has no shortage of monuments to our Judeo-Christian heritage

Whereas the president's actions noted above appear to be part of a deliberate campaign to de-Christianize America

Therefore, we the undersigned call on Congress to pass a resolution affirming that America is a nation founded on Judeo-Christian ideals and expressing its dismay over the president's actions which exalt Islam and atheism while slighting Christianity.

Apparently Scarborough has completely given up his vow to be a "man of truth," considering that his claim that every president going back to John F. Kennedy held a National Day of Prayer observence in the White House is an outright lie:

President Truman signed into law the National Day of Prayer in 1952. President Reagan amended the law in 1988 to stipulate the observances would be held the first Thursday in May ... Prior to the Bush years, task force leaders held more low-key events, including at Lafayette Park across the street during the Clinton administration.

“There was no East Room event until George W.,” [National Day of Prayer Task Force Vice Chairman Brian] Toon said.

The other day we noted that it was seemingly impossible for any Religious Right figure to be deemed so radical that Republican members of Congress would decline to appear at events with them, highlighting the fact that the American Family Association's militantly anti-gay Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy, Bryan Fischer, was being featured in a Family Research Council hosted health care webcast along with Rep. Tom Price, (R-GA), Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN).

The event aired earlier this week and, as it turned out, Fischer wasn't even the most radical person involved as that honor went to Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall:

Last month, Marshall made news by declaring during an anti-Planned Parenthood press conference that disabled children are God's punishment for abortion and then asserting that he had never said anything of the sort.

I didn't bother grabbing any of the video of Fischer or Marshall because, frankly, they didn't say anything particularly interesting, with both insisting that health care reform is unconstitutional.

But what was interesting was the fact that Fischer and Marshall were featured together in the webcast and their appearance was sandwiched in between Rep. Mike Pence and Sen. David Vitter.

In short, today's conservative movement consists of right-wing leaders who think gays should be treated like criminals and that God punishes women who've had abortions with disabled children ... and high-profile Republican members of Congress.

Via Americans United, we see that the Virginia legislature has passed a resolution commending Pat Robertson for his many right-wing accomplishments [PDF] in honor of his upcoming 80th birthday:

WHEREAS, Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson, an inspirational televangelist and longtime host of the Christian television program, The 700 Club, is recognized in 2010 for his many contributions to the Commonwealth and his fellow citizens; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Robertson was born on March 22, 1930, in Lexington, Virginia, the son of Absalom Willis Robertson and Gladys Churchill Robertson, graduated from Washington and Lee University in 1950, and served his country in the United States Marines during the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Robertson returned home after his military service and married Adelia "Dede" Elmer on August 26, 1954; he completed a law degree from Yale University Law School in 1955 and a master of divinity degree from New York Theological Seminary in 1959; and

WHEREAS, committed to helping people in need both spiritually and by improving their quality of life, Dr. Robertson was active as an ordained Southern Baptist minister for many years; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Robertson founded the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in 1960, serving as the chairman and the public face of CBN, as well as the host of its religious magazine show, The 700 Club, since 1966; and

WHEREAS, in 1977 Dr. Robertson established Regent University in Virginia Beach as one of the nation's leading academic centers for Christian thought and action; and

WHEREAS, in 1978 Dr. Robertson began Operation Blessing International Relief and Development Corporation, a nonprofit humanitarian organization that has provided hunger relief, disaster relief, medical aid, and community development to 193 million people in 96 countries and all 50 states; and

WHEREAS, in 1988 Dr. Robertson made a run to become the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States; and

WHEREAS, in 1989 Dr. Robertson founded the Christian Coalition, a political organization credited with increasing the influence of conservative Christians in American public policy; and

WHEREAS, committed to protecting religious and constitutional freedom, Dr. Robertson founded the American Center for Law and Justice in 1990; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Robertson has achieved national and international recognition as a broadcaster and was the founder and cochairman of International Family Channel, Inc., which included the Family Channel; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Robertson is a compelling and compassionate spiritual leader, who is guided by Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"; he is devoted to his family, his viewers who are his extended family, his community, and the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson, on the occasion of his 80th birthday on March 22, 2010, for his many contributions to the Commonwealth; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Dr. M.G. "Pat" Robertson as an expression of the General Assembly's gratitude for his steadfast service to his fellow citizens and best wishes for a joyful birthday celebration.