November 2007

Rick Scarborough announces that they'll be will be joining forces with RedeemtheVote.com, the Iowa Family Policy Institute, and the Iowa Christian Alliance "to host three rallies a day as we crisscross the state, registering thousands of voters and mobilizing tens of thousands to vote their values during the Iowa caucuses in January." Unfortunately, they are broke: "We do not have the money on hand to fund this effort which includes airfare, hotels and food, not to mention the need to advertise and publicize each rally. This is a pure faith venture."

Amid all the turmoil plaguing Oral Roberts University, it appears as if things might be turning a corner because, in addition to a Christian businessman’s pledge to bail out the debt-ridden institution with a $70 million donation, it seems as if Pat Robertson is set to take advantage offer his assistance:

A team from Regent University will travel to financially troubled Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla., on Monday to explore “options” for ties between the institutions.

“We are pleased to report that Dr. Pat Robertson, president and chancellor of Regent University and long-time friend of Oral Roberts University, has contacted members of the board of regents and has expressed interest in exploring options for the future of ORU with Regent University,” George Pearsons, chairman of the ORU Board of Regents, said in a statement posted on the university’s Web site.

“Dr. Robertson is sending a team on Monday to Tulsa to meet with ORU Regents and administrative representatives,” he said

It should be noted that Robertson’s Regent University Law School got its start back in the mid-80s when ORU, like today, was facing financial difficulties:  

The Regent law school was founded in 1986, when Oral Roberts University shut down its ailing law school and sent its library to Robertson's Bible-based college in Virginia.

Regent didn’t just get ORU’s “entire law library, [but] some students and faculty” as well.  

Who knows what part of ORU Robertson has his eye on this time.

Speaking of Robertson and Regent, Adam Key, the Regent Law School student suspended and ordered to undergo a mental evaluation for posting an unflattering photo of Robertson on his web page, has apparently decided to sue:

A Regent University law student who was suspended for posting an unflattering photo of school founder Pat Robertson on the Internet sued the university and Robertson on Thursday.

Adam M. Key, 23, claims in the federal suit that Regent officials violated his free speech and due process rights for expressing his "Christian religious and political opinions" when it suspended him in October.

…

"I went there because I wanted an environment conducive to learning that had a respect for religious liberty, but the only liberty they are interested in defending is theirs and people like them," Key said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday.

Because the private university receives federal funds, it is required under the U.S. Higher Education Act to respect students' freedom of religion and expression.

The lawsuit also alleges Key was "fraudulently induced" to attend Regent. "Adam relied on Regent's many claims of religious liberty and speech" and the law school's American Bar Association accreditation, the lawsuit states.

WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah writes of immigration and the Bush Administration’s alleged secret plans to create a “North American Union”:

It is, ultimately, about moving away from differences between nations that God Himself created for His own divine purposes. It is about following the path of Nimrod and all the others who have attempted to build super-states in defiance of God.

Farah believes God, like him, opposes immigration and NAFTA—not to mention a nefarious superhighway supposedly at the root of the administration conspiracy—but a report from Pat Robertson’s CBN finds a gay-fighting God using that same road as a prophetic highway of holiness.

The concept of a behind-the-scenes “North American Union”—persistently advanced by Farah’s WorldNetDaily, the John Birch Society, CNN’s Lou Dobbs, presidential candidates Ron Paul and Tom Tancredo, and others—is closely tied to the anti-immigrant sentiment that has struck right-wing politics over the last few years. But it has taken on a life of its own, thanks to vivid imagery like “the plan to build a huge NAFTA Super Highway, four football-fields-wide, through the heart of the U.S.” that was alleged in detail by Jerome Corsi last year. Corsi even provided a now-iconic picture, taken from a transportation-industry lobbying group:

In the picture, it appears as if almost all of middle America has been blanketed by some kind of yellow dust originating from south of the border and traveling up Interstate 35 like a swarm of killer bees. The “NAFTA Superhighway” and the “North American Union” may be “the quintessential conspiracy theory for our time,” as the Boston Globe recently discussed.

But what if Corsi and friends are wrong? What if the yellow cloud surrounding I-35 isn’t an “invasion” from Mexico but an “invasion” of God? That, apparently, is the theory of the youth-oriented church activists profiled on yesterday’s “700 Club,” who are running “purity sieges” at clinics and porn shops, where they claim to be “moving angels and demons” by, for example, “setting free” an inebriated young man from “the desires to be with men” through the laying of hands at a gay bar.

While the CBN report doesn't mention NAFTA or a North American Union, the suspicious highway is central to the story:

A number of Christians have come to believe, because of recent prophecies, dreams, and visions, that I-35 is the highway spoken in Isaiah 35, verse 8: “And a highway will be there, it will be called the way of holiness.”

… [Heartland Ministries’ Hill] believes God has an awesome plan that starts along I-35. “Let’s draw a line in the center of America, set people on fire, get young people saved, get moms and dads saved, get churches on fire, get holy, and watch how it affects the rest of America.”

“What do we expect to see?” [said Cindy Jacob.] “We expect laws to be changed in cities. We expect righteous leaders. We expect a movement, a reformation that will literally sweep the face of the earth.”

Terri Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, announces that he met with Mitt Romeny: "Given that the Presidential candidates are repeatedly asked to comment on the circumstances and outcome of Terri Schiavo's case, Mr. Schindler sent a letter to every candidate requesting a meeting to discuss the implications of Terri's case on the right to life of people living with disabilities. Presently, Governor Romney is the only candidate to accept the invitation for a meeting."

Janet Folger appears to be becoming increasingly unhinged in her avid devotion to Mike Huckabee’s campaign, following up her last column where she claimed to be writing from prison following Hillary Clinton’s election with this political fairy tale:  

Once upon a time in the dark days of the great slaughter, there was a determined search for a king who would bring the slaughter to an end.

The wicked reigned in both houses of the shadowy Council, and black-robed tyrants ruled the land. The slaughter continued and the good people mourned. They fought and debated, dissented and deplored for three long dreary decades until their voices grew hoarse. They were disappointed and weary and a little bit leery, but their goal they saw clearly: to shield and not yield until all babies were protected from slaughter.

Finally, the day had come when a king or queen they would send to the White Palace to bring the slaughter to an end.

Three contenders stepped forth against the evil Queen of Slaughter: Prince Slay-'Em, the Sheriff of Floppingham and Friar Mike, in that order.  

It doesn’t require much imagination to figure out just who Queen of Slaughter (Clinton), Prince Slay-'Em (Giuliani), and Friar Mike (Hukcabee) are supposed to represent.  Nor does it take much imagination to figure out the meaning behind Folger’s claim that the “Sheriff of Floppingham was always pro-slaughter.” 

She then provides the requisite happy ending in which the noble Mike Huckabee rescues the nation:

Then somebody said, "If our leaders won't lead, hey, why don't we? For the slaughter to end, the message we'll send with our friar friend named Mike."

Others jumped up and said, "He's from our ranks, and I would give thanks to see him take the lead."

And the poll numbers surged at the thought that the slaughter would be purged, as the people joined behind Mike.

"But he isn't perfect! Some ranted and raved!"

Then Sir Chuck of Norris rode forth pushing the earth down before him. Now the way would be paved! "I'll watch the border, just get things in order!"

He lowered his sword and knighted Friar Mike, "I give you Sir Mike-A-Lot who we all Like a lot! He's the only one we can trust to slay the Slaughter Dragon and the wicked Slaughter Queen. Now that he's lean, he's a fighting machine!"

Sir Don-of-the-Wild rode forth on his steed. "I'm ready to lead!" he said. "Sir Mike-A-Lot will protect all the tots from slaughter and make sure each has a mother and a father."

And following along, 3 million strong, came Don-of-the-Wild's faithful army.

"Sir Mike-A-Lot," in one voice they declaraged, "is the one we trust to protect Royal Marriage."

So Sir Mike led the way, with each son and each daughter, to face the evil queen and her dragon of slaughter.

With new passion they fought, as each of them ought, and the dragon they caught and they slayed him.

Then the evil queen of the Hill was exiled back to Blueville where she and her dragon could no longer kill.

Sir Mike raised his sword and sang praise to the Lord that children and marriage were protected once more. And the kingdom was filled with the children's laughter, and the red and blue kingdoms lived happily after.

So now, not only can Huckabee alone save the Right from inevitable imprisonment under a Clinton regime, but he is the last hope to the nation from the “evil queen and her dragon of slaughter.”   

If Huckabee wants to start being taken seriously as a first tier candidate, it might help if he could secure the support of people beyond B-list actors, ex-wrestlers, and fringe right-wing leaders.  It might also help if he publicly distanced himself and his campaign from Folger’s worsening delusions.

Human Events' John Gizzi says the departure of various Republican members of Congress is good news for the Right because these "moderates" will be replaced by more hard-line Republicans, leading him to hope that "the time may be sooner rather than later that an election cycle leaves the term 'liberal Republican House Member' a phrase to describe an extinct species."

"Indeed, unless the laws of arithmetic are repealed, the Thompson tax plan almost certainly will lead to massive budget deficits." But CNBC's Lawrence Kudlow, a Thompson water-carrier, is in his corner.

The prospect of a Giuliani nomination has led some on the Religious Right to threaten to bolt the GOP over his supposed ideological unfaithfulness on the longstanding wedge issues of abortion and gays. Now that the Supreme Court has announced it will decide the constitutionality of D.C.’s gun control laws, some on the Right think they may have a backup. Human Events editor Jed Babbin writes:

The Heller appeal will be argued next spring and unless something very odd happens, it will be decided before the election. … If the Republicans seize this opportunity, they can make a “kitchen table” issue into a “wedge issue” in 2008: one that will decide the minds of voters. …

Clinton never did anything about gun control as a senator.  What would she do as president?  Does she believe that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to keep and bear arms, or does she favor confiscative laws such as the District of Columbia law the Supreme Court will rule on in the Heller case?

We know the answer. But it’s up to the Republican candidates to flush her out of the tall weeds. This is an important issue to a great majority of Americans across the map, in Blue States, not just Red ones.  It could be the wedge issue that decides the 2008 election.

Right-wing activists are livid that President Bush did not pardon convicted Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean over Thanksgiving: "A group of Christian and evangelical leaders -- including Paul M. Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation, the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition and David A. Keene of the American Conservative Union -- excoriated Bush, saying his inaction ran counter to compassionate conservatism and Christian values. 'It's unfortunate that the president missed the opportunity to demonstrate his compassion,' the group said Friday. 'Such an act would have exemplified the fellowship and spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday and put to rest heartfelt concerns over the inhumane treatment of these two agents.'"

The Boston Globe examines the reality of a North American Union and the conspiracy-theorists, such as Phyllis Schlafly and Jerome Corsi, who are pushing it: "So how real is the NAU? In the literal sense, not very. Its underpinnings turn out to be a hodgepodge of mostly unconnected facts and suppositions. But the very existence of the theory is starting to have an influence of its own, and the concerns it represents suggest a new kind of anxiety that crosses traditional political boundaries."

Of course, fringe-right activist Janet Folger isn’t the only Mike Huckabee booster. Just days after releasing a TV ad—his first—featuring Chuck Norris, the Republican presidential candidate announced an endorsement from professional wrestler Ric Flair, otherwise known as “The Nature Boy”:

Former Arkansas Governor and Republican Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee announced today the endorsement of professional wrestling legend "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, the former 16-time World Heavyweight Champion known worldwide for his "stylin' and profilin'" personality and his signature "Whooooooo" with which he ends interviews. …

"It's a tremendous honor to offer my support to such an outstanding leader as Mike Huckabee" Flair said.  "His authentic conservative qualifications and level of executive leadership experience are unmatched by his opponents.  And like I always say, to be the man, you've got to beat the man and Mike Huckabee is the man.  Whoooooooo!"

Perhaps Huckabee is seeking to bolster his foreign policy credentials, given Flair’s experience fighting “The Iron Sheik.” Or maybe Huckabee is trying to counter the efforts by the Club for Growth to paint him as an economic populist:

In other entertainment news, Huckabee also garnered endorsements from motivational speaker Zig Ziglar and “Left Behind” co-author (and former “Gil Thorpe” writer) Jerry Jenkins.

At least that seems to be the wild scenario unfolding in the fevered imagination of Janet Folger:

I'm writing this letter from prison, where I've been since the beginning of 2010. Since Hillary was elected in '08, Christian persecution in America has gotten even worse than we predicted.

When the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" was signed into law, my radio program was yanked off the air along with all the others that dared discuss moral issues on Christian radio. The networks just couldn't bring themselves to air a pro-abortion program or one advocates the homosexual agenda for the government mandated "balance" because broadcasting lies went against their basic beliefs – I don't blame them.

We knew "Thought Crimes" was in danger of becoming law back when it passed Congress in 2007, but thankfully, President Bush kept his promise to veto it. But, tragically, Hillary signed that most dangerous bill in America – ushering in the criminalization of Christianity. And now, even my book, "The Criminalization of Christianity," has been banned as "hate speech" just as I predicted when I wrote it back in 2005.

When the "Employment Non-Discrimination Act" ("Thought Crimes" for the Workplace) became law, businesses and ministries were targeted by homosexual activists and were forced to close when they wouldn't comply with a law forcing them to hire those opposed to their beliefs on moral issues.

When they canceled my program, banned my book and targeted my ministry, I knew it was only a matter of time before I'd be forced into "prison ministry" against my will. Unfortunately for our nation, that ministry is growing fast. A homeschooling mom was assigned the cell next to me. I try to comfort her, but she cries constantly at the thought of her kids being raised in government foster care.

And wouldn’t you know it, if only the Right had rallied behind her preferred candidate, this relentless persecution could have been prevented:   

Just three years ago – in 2007 – we had a chance to unite and achieve our lifetime goals of restoring protection to children in the womb, and protecting our foundational relationship of marriage between a man and a woman.

No, in 2007 and 2008, American Christians were so used to the status quo that they forgot we were in this to win. Compromised and divided, they choose to protest rather than protect.

…

There was a tier-one candidate that stood for our goals of life and marriage – that man was Gov. Mike Huckabee. Had we nominated Huckabee to run against Hillary, the stark difference between the two would have brought voters out in droves.

So there you have it: vote for Mike Huckabee or end up in prison. 

Maybe when the novelty of the Hucakbee campaign’s Chuck Norris ad wears off, they’ll unveil a new ad featuring this message with Huckabee seated along-side Folger. 

Pat Robertson, who leapt back into the headlines this month with his surprise endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, is now wading into the “War on Christmas.” On Thursday’s “700 Club,” the CBN founder lamented the sad state of affairs that led to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport erecting an artsy “winterscape”:

“This New Age political correctness has been imposed on this nation,” complained Robertson. But, he added an intriguing caveat:

Of course, you’ve got to remember, ladies and gentlemen, this Christmas trees, and all the wreaths, and all the garlands, and all the mistletoe—every bit of them come from Teutonic paganism. They are not an integral part of Christianity. And so for the Seattle airport to say this is a Christmas display, it’s no such thing. It is not a Christian display; it is winter solstice. So if they put up a sign that said, ‘We celebrate winter solstice like the Teutonic gods Thor and Woden,’ they’d probably be more accurate.

So while the American Family Association is busy attacking retailers who offer “family trees” in their catalogs rather than “Christmas trees,” calling it an “offense” to Christians, here Robertson is saying the tree is really a salute to “the Teutonic gods Thor and Woden.”

During “War on Christmas” 2005, the Catholic League caught a Wal-Mart customer service representative offering a very similar theory:

[The Wal-Mart rep wrote,] “The majority of the world still has different practices other than ‘christmas’ which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism.  The colors associated with ‘christmas’ red and white are actually a representation of of the aminita mascera mushroom.  Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal.”

Catholic League President Bill Donohue’s response? He launched one of his famous “boycotts” against the retail giant. Will Donohue start a “beef” with Robertson?

There have been a few articles in recent days suggesting that moderate Republicans are growing increasingly weary of the stranglehold the Religious Right has had on the Republican Party for the last several years and that efforts by presidential candidates to pander to the likes of James Dobson, Tony Perkins, and Pat Robertson are only alienating them further:

Scott Reed, who managed Republican Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign, sees three overlapping problems for Republicans among business leaders and high-income voters. One is desire to go with the winning side at a time when Democrats have captured Congress; a second is loss of confidence in the Bush administration's competence; and a third is "a sense that the leadership of the Republican Party is too beholden to a small group of self-appointed social conservative leaders."

Apparently, Rudy Giuliani’s campaign was initially a cause for hope for some moderate Republicans, but those hopes have been dashed ever since he started promising to nominate right-wing ideologues to the federal courts and cozying up with the likes of Robertson:

Moderate Republicans in Iowa, eclipsed for years by the party's social conservatives, were looking forward to the 2008 caucuses.

After all, they had a candidate — Rudy Giuliani — who said early in his campaign that he could win in Iowa by attracting moderate Republicans and reinvigorating one-time GOP caucusgoers who had turned away from the party.

So far, it hasn't worked out that way, according to once-loyal Republicans who have felt pushed aside by the party's right wing.

"When Pat Robertson comes out and endorses him, that was the final straw for me," said former state Rep. Betty Grundberg, a Des Moines Republican who had flirted with supporting Giuliani. "I don't buy that this signals a united party. This shows me who he is more concerned about attracting."

...

[S]ome former Republicans say their hopes for 2008 have turned to alienation.

"I've left the party. I am no longer a Republican," said Dottie Carpenter of Des Moines, who served as a Republican in the Iowa House of Representatives for 14 years until 1995. "I'm sick and tired of every candidate for the Republican nomination kowtowing to the religious right."

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.  

"Having one of Romney’s people talking about somebody else buying something has got to be one of the most ironic things that happened," he says regarding Weyrich's reaction to National Right to Life endorsement of Thompson. NRLC: It's a "slap in the face."

He said at Federalist Society meeting.

The media is reporting that Tom DeLay is set to unveil his own right-wing version of MoveOn.org as he seeks to salvage his own reputation and the Republican Party’s electoral chances heading into 2008:

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has formed a new grass-roots organization that he says will help conservatives better convey their message to voters and take back control of Congress.

The Coalition for a Conservative Majority (CCM) — co-founded by Mr. DeLay, Texas Republican, and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell — will establish "chapters" in all 50 states, which will be used to lobby lawmakers, coordinate political messages and influence members of the press.

"Right now, liberals are better organized, funded and active than I have ever witnessed," Mr. DeLay said. "Our goal is to work with the talented leaders of the conservative movement to complement their efforts, using an army of activists to push for the policies and leadership conservatives are begging for."

Roll Call reports that while CCM is DeLay’s baby, Ken Blackwell is going to be doing most of the heavy lifting:

CCM, a DeLay brainchild, actually will be headed by former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R), who lost his 2006 gubernatorial bid to then-Rep. Ted Strickland (D). But DeLay is helping to establish CCM as a viable group and is in the midst of raising money for the venture and building its infrastructure.

…

CCM plans to establish several local chapters in major media markets throughout the country (a meeting of the Houston chapter, in DeLay's political backyard, is scheduled for Nov. 27). CCM particularly is targeting those media markets where left-of-center advocacy groups and 527s are operating.

Through these chapters and Blackwell's personal outreach, CCM plans to "identify, recruit, train, inspire, activate and mobilize conservative activists to take specific action on policy issues and political causes" nationwide, according to an advance copy of the group's brochure obtained by Roll Call.

Moving forward, DeLay will remain active in CCM, in particular as honorary finance chairman. DeLay has spent the past year building the foundation of the organization and preparing it for launch. Blackwell is serving as CCM's chairman.

Blackwell is a logical choice to partner with DeLay in this effort to unify the Republican Party’s economic and social conservative base since, following the failure of his own 2006 gubernatorial bid, Blackwell was embraced by both strands of the GOP’s base, securing not only a position as Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment with the socially conservative Family Research Council, but positions with the economically conservative National Taxpayers Union and Club for Growth as well.

On top of that, Blackwell shares DeLay’s gift for inflammatory, partisan rhetoric:

CCM believes it will be uniquely suited to bring together “security, economic, and cultural conservatives” by uniting them behind a common agenda committed to protecting American families from their myriad of “enemies”:

Conservatives believe that security without prosperity is fleeting and that prosperity without security is impossible. We believe the family - rather than the group or the consumer - is the basic unit of society and civilization and that government as such has a special responsibility to protect our families, and in particular our children from all enemies: foreign, domestic, or judicial.

It is good to see that DeLay has not lost his taste for demonizing and threatening the judiciary since leaving office.

CWA's Matt Barber warns that "The Golden Compass" is trying to turn kids into atheists: "With The Golden Compass, Phillip Pullman shares his heart with us - a heart that says, 'There is no God.' And he clearly wants to influence your child's heart as well. This movie's creation - or chance materialization, take your pick - has a specific agenda. It is clearly targeted toward unsuspecting children with the furtive goal of enlisting the next generation of 'fools.'"

The Florida Family Policy Council is hosting a Gala Dinner tonight and attendees will not only get to hear from Ft. Lauderdale’s anti-gay Mayor Jim Naugle, but Fred Thompson as well:

The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) will host a Gala Dinner at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida beginning at 6:30pm on Friday evening, November 16, 2007. The event is being designed to introduce South Florida to the mission of the FFPC and will feature former Senator and Law and Order Actor Fred Thompson as the keynote speaker. Mr. Thompson will be accompanied by his wife Jeri Thompson.

For a mere $10,000, you can secure seats at Thompson’s dinner table, but don’t expect to talk to him about his flagging presidential campaign:

The FFPC is a 501c3 non-profit organization and therefore Mr. Thompson is attending the event as a private citizen and not as a campaigning presidential candidate.

Given Thompson’s notorious work ethic and unremarkable one-and-one-third term in the Senate , it seems slightly implausible that Thompson would be invited to address this dinner were he not running for President, but it’s probably a good thing that he’s attending as a private citizen since “the Florida Family Policy Council is associated with Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family” and Dobson has already declared Thompson unacceptable as a candidate.  

But hopefully for Thompson and those in attendance, he’ll be interesting and informative enough that he won’t be reduced to begging for applause when he finishes his remarks.  

After the failure of his Families First on Immigration effort, it appears as if Manuel Miranda has found a new job: "Miranda's official title is director of the Office of Legislative Statecraft at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. There, he's giving instruction on democratic principles to Iraqi lawyers and lawmakers, a group of whom he escorted around the Capitol complex yesterday ... Miranda, who moved on to work as judicial nominations counsel for then-Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) in 2003, was forced from his job in early 2004 after an internal Senate investigation determined he and a junior aide had swiped 4,670 documents, memos and e-mails."

Ken Conner, former president of the Family Research Council, is blasting Dobson, Perkins, and the like for selling out: "They've enjoyed having a seat at the table for so long that they didn't in many instances stand on principle when they should have, and they've lost credibility with their people."

"... a man who once offered legal advice to a pro-choice group, voted against key pro-life issues in the Senate and now espouses convoluted reasons for rejecting constitutional protection of the unborn." More here.

It’s mid-November, and we are well into this year’s “War on Christmas,” the seasonal campaign in which a melodramatically aggrieved Right—occupying a fantasy world where we’re not all surrounded by Christmas music and commerce—claims that Christianity is under attack, pointing to retailers that say “Happy Holidays” and the decoration regimes of a handful of small-time local administrators.

Yesterday morning, for example, the American Family Association sent an alert to its members warning that Lowe’s was selling Christmas trees without using the word “Christmas” enough in its catalog. “Lowe's evidently did not want to offend any non-Christians, therefore they replaced ‘Christmas tree’ with ‘Family tree.’ Of course, if Christians are offended that is evidently ok,” sniffed AFA. (AFA retracted the alert later in the day after assurances from Lowe’s that “Christmas trees” would appear in its advertising.)

Long before 2005, when Fox News host John Gibson penned a book on how it was all a “liberal plot,” right-wing commentators have reached for a conspiracy theory that would place such petty gripes in a context they would be able to use to attack their political opponents, and this year is no different.

Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue and veteran of extremist anti-abortion protests and federal prison, had a new target this week – his old friend Pat Robertson. While many Religious Right figures slammed Robertson for his endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, Terry’s was in its own rhetorical league, blasting Robertson for having been “seduced” by Giuliani’s “hypocritical and seductive evil.”

So we looked for a high-energy event when Terry announced he would protest outside the Washington, D.C. bureau of Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network on Saturday. A Friday release announced a move from the originally planned protest at CBN headquarters in Virginia beach “because a number of young people and college students in the DC area wanted to participate.”

If this turns out to be true, it’ll likely do significant damage to Mitt Romney’s effort to secure the GOP nomination by pandering himself into the Right’s good graces – via The American Spectator’s “Washington Prowler”:

Dr. James Dobson, who has largely been made irrelevant to the 2008 Republican presidential race, has apparently found his man, and according to an adviser, is ready to change the landscape of the Republican nomination race.

"He is the leader of the evangelical and social conservative movement in America, and he's going to reassert that position and leave no doubt that he's in charge," says the adviser based in Colorado.

Sources close to Dobson say that within the next ten days he is coordinating an endorsement plan with the presidential campaign of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. According to a Huckabee insider in Iowa, the event would be staged in that state at a rally, followed by a bus tour across the state, and an appearance by Huckabee on Dobson's radio show, which is heard nationally.

Dobson's endorsement, according to the Huckabee source, could mean millions in fundraising to the campaign, allowing it to compete at the same level with the top tier candidates Huckabee has been inching toward in the polls after a series of strong debate and campaign appearances.

Huckabee has already secured a handful of right-wing endorsements; enough to mobilize those who oppose him to try and sink his nomination. So this will be a real test of Dobson’s influence to see if he can get other leaders in the movement to back Huckabee and, more importantly, to see if they possess enough influence to propel Huckabee into top tier and help him overtake the current frontrunners.

There has been a lot of head-scratching and dismay about what is driving Pat Robertson’s endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, especially from those on the Right:

OneNewsNow:

OneNewsNow contacted several pro-family leaders to get their reaction to the Robertson endorsement. Some did not return calls, while others said they did not want to comment. One of them, a close personal friend of Robertson, said he believes the endorsement is "tragic," and that if Giuliani wins the nomination, it "will destroy the Republican Party."

Family Research Council:

Connie Mackey, a senior vice president of the Family Research Council, disputed Robertson's contention that Giuliani was an acceptable candidate for Christian conservatives.

"This is a man whose supporters basically are pro-family, pro-life, pro-traditional-marriage, and here he has stepped away from them to endorse a candidate who has been very honest in saying he does not support those issues," Mackey said of Robertson. "It's beyond puzzling -- it's a little strange."

FRC’s Mackey again:

Many former Christian conservative allies dismissed the endorsement as an inexplicable stunt. They noted that Mr. Robertson, 77, had lost much of his influence since the heady days of his second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses 20 years ago when he ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

“What support he has left,” said Connie Mackey, a vice president of the public policy arm of the evangelical Family Research Council, “is obviously going to be eroded by this very strange endorsement.”

Rick Scarborough:

"This endorsement is a grave disappointment and illustrates the confusion in the evangelical ranks," said the Rev. Rick Scarborough of the Lufkin-based group Vision America.

Iowa Christian Alliance:

"Social conservatives such as Pat Robertson who back pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage candidates do a disservice to the conservative movement. At the end of the day, we have to stand for something, or our movement has no purpose.”

Joseph Farah:

With his endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for president of the United States, he has me doubting him – big time … Has Robertson lost his mind? Has he lost his principles? Has he sold out? If so, to whom and for what?

The interesting subtext to this development is Robertson’s apparent belief that it is he who really speaks for GOP’s right-wing’ core supporters:

"I thought it was important for me to make it clear that Rudy Giuliani is more than acceptable to people of faith," said Robertson. "Given the fractured nature of the process, I thought it was time to solidify around one candidate."

He insisted that while some on the "fringe" of the social conservative movement may see Giuliani as an unacceptable nominee, the "core know better."

Ever since the decline of his once-powerful Christian Coalition, Robertson has been something of the odd-man-out in the world of right-wing DC powerbrokers, eclipsed by the likes of the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family.  While the various cliques on the Right are willing to mingle and attend one another’s conferences and events, Robertson has never been included and it clearly irks him, especially since the joint FRC/FOF “Values Voter Summit” has replaced the Christian Coalition’s now defunct “Road to Victory” conferences as the year’s major Religious Right showcase.

When David Brody of Robertson’s own CBN News filed a report last month on the Values Voter Summit, Robertson could barely hide his contempt:

I’m not sure that that group in Washington is really representative of Evangelicals across the spectrum.  This Is the Family Research Council and some of James Dobson’s supporters – I just think that’s a narrow slice of Evangelical thought.  

It is quite possible that Robertson’s endorsement of Giuliani was, at least in part, an attempt to reclaim some of his flagging influence while generating some attention for himself  that, for once, doesn’t stem from his having said something idiotic.  

When Alan Keyes decided to run for President, it apparently threw Vision America's "70 Weeks to Save America" Crusade into disarray, but they are now back on their feet: "We are continuing to do the church events, but we are augmenting the local church events with eight major One Day Capitol Steps Crusades, in which we will stand on the steps of various state Capitols and launch state-wide Values Voters registration drives, followed by an all out effort to move Values Voters to vote their values on Election Day '08."

In endorsing Rudy Giuliani today, Pat Robertson made clear that his support was based on his belief that Giuliani was the candidate best suited to defend “our population from the blood lust of Islamic terrorists,” but also sought to entice other right-wing leaders and voters to back him based on his promise to place ideologues on the Supreme Court:

Uppermost in the minds of social conservatives is the selection of future Supreme Court justices and lower court judges who will sit in both the federal circuit courts and the district courts … He understands the need for a conservative judiciary and with the help of the distinguished Ted Olson, who is here today, and other members of his team, has assured the American people that his choices for judicial appointments will be men and women who share the judicial philosophy of John Roberts and Antonin Scalia.

Watch video of Robertson endorsing Giuliani here.

With Robertson now backing Giuliani’s agenda, perhaps someone should ask Giuliani if he likewise backs Robertson’s:  

So says Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition: “Americans need to understand that these pseudo-evangelicals are nothing more than shills for the Democrat (sic) Party and (are) trying to use whatever credibility they think they have to draw Christians away from the Republican Party and a truly biblical worldview.”

That is what the Politico and the Washington Post are reporting:

Pat Robertson, one of the most influential figures in the social conservative movement, will announce his support for Rudy Giuliani's presidential bid this morning in Washington, D.C., according to sources familiar with the decision.

Robertson's support was coveted by several of the leading Republican candidates and provides Giuliani with a major boost as the former New York City mayor seeks to convince social conservatives that, despite his positions on abortion and gay rights, he is an acceptable choice as the GOP nominee.

It also slows any momentum for Mitt Romney within the social conservative movement. Romney had recently secured the backing of conservative stalwarts Paul Weyrich and Bob Jones III -- endorsements that seemed to strengthen his bid to become the electable conservative alternative to Giuliani. Romney had made no secret of his desire for Robertson's endorsement and has to be disappointed this morning.

The other major effect of Robertson's support for Giuliani is that it will quiet talk in social conservative circles that nominating Giuliani would lead "values voters" to abandon the Republican Party. The stamp of approval from Robertson should assuage the doubts of many (although certainly not all) of the rank-and-file social conservatives.

Of course, back in 1992, Robertson addressed the Republican National Convention where he attacked Bill Clinton for his support for reproductive choice, saying the Right could not allow America to be run by a man who “wants to give your 13-year-old daughter the choice without your consent to destroy the life of her unborn baby” and was running on a platform that “never once mentions the name of God:” 

Since I have come to Houston, I have been asked repeatedly to define traditional values. I say very simply, to me and to most Republicans, traditional values start with faith in Almighty God … When Bill Clinton talks about family values, I don't believe he's talking about either families or values. …The campaign before us is not just a campaign for an office, but for the destiny of America. We will not rest until there is a new birth of freedom in America … until we restore the greatness of America through moral strength.

Apparently, times have changed.

Meanwhile, Sam Brownback will reportedly endorse John McCain:

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), meanwhile, plans to announce his surprise endorsement of former Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president on Wednesday, a campaign official told Politico.

The endorsement is to be announced in Dubuque, Iowa.

The alliance gives McCain — once a front-runner, now struggling — a crucial bridge to social conservatives, an important constituency that has remained suspicious of him despite his opposition to abortion.

Last month, Family Reseach Council President Tony Perkins was predicting that their Values Voter Summit would help the Right coalesce and narrow the field, if only by achieving agreement not to support Giuliani.  That turned out not to be the case, and if these two announcements are any indication, the Right’s hopes of unifying behind a single candidate are fading fast. 

Voters in Virginia head to the polls today to elect their legislature, and while Democrats are hoping to ride a wave to control of the state Senate—a trend that included winning the 2005 governor’s race and unseating a Republican U.S. senator in 2006—the GOP is banking on anti-immigrant sentiment to carry them through a tough cycle. From a recent Washington Times article:

Republican lawmakers say Democrats' winning control of the state Senate next month would be a major setback to their efforts to crack down on illegal immigration in Virginia.

"You can [kiss] every illegal immigration state reform bill goodbye," said Delegate David B. Albo, Fairfax County Republican. "Every Republican we lose is one less vote we have for immigration reform."

Last year, Dick Armey and James Dobson had a relatively high-profile tiff over their respective places within the Republican Party ... one that is apparently on-going, with Armey now telling Republican candidates they will "probably hurt [themselves] electorally by making Jim Dobson happy."

In early October, Ann Coulter appeared on "Hannity & Colmes" and stated that she has no problem with politicians "flip-flopping" on issues, provided they do so in the right direction:

COLMES: Mitt Romney, the other possible contender, flip-flopped on every issue, has flip-flopped on illegals, flip-flopped on gays...

COULTER: He's flipping in my direction.

COLMES: But he's flip-flopped. He's changed his position. It depends on what office he's running for in terms of what he says.

COULTER: Have I ever said I'm against flip-floppers? ... I just want them to flop in my direction.

With Mitt Romney working to position himself as a consensus candidate for the various right-wing leaders who cannot make up their minds about who to support but know that they will not accept Giuliani, it seems as if this mentality is starting to gain traction:

But [Giuliani's] position on abortion seems to have benefited Mr. Romney, whose new, pro-life position has helped him with religious conservatives. Some say they fear Mr. Giuliani’s pro-choice stance enough to overlook Mr. Romney’s late-in-life conversion.

“If they come around to seeing things our way the last thing we should do, I think, is throw stones at them,” said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, an influential social conservative group. But, he warned, “For whatever reason, the positions Governor Romney has arrived at are his positions, and if he is to remain politically viable in any way, he will have to maintain those positions.”

The latter part of Perkins' statement pretty well sums up Romney's current predicament in that the only reason he is even being considered a legitimate candidate by the Right is because he has done a 180 degree turn away from his record in Massachusetts and blatantly pandered to their agenda.

And many on the Right seem perfectly willing to overlook that, provided that Romney remains committed to the post flip-flop positions he now claims to hold.

It must be difficult to run for President when the people you have been pandering to suddenly start demanding consistency and accountability.

Gregg Jackson: "The idea that Romney's Mormon beliefs would not have a profound effect on America is irrational and unbiblical."

Following the death of its longtime leader, D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Ministries decided to focus it efforts on "increasing its worldwide audience to 30 million by 2012, mainly by expanding its Internet, TV and print presence.”

But in order to do that, CRM needs money and so they have sent out this email seeking donations:

I invite you to follow in the footsteps of the Pilgrims . . . to consider those who huddled inside the Mayflower and faced an icy winter that would claim half their number. I’m asking you to honor the heritage they handed down to us at such tremendous cost.



You see, the freedoms you and I enjoy today were born aboard their dimly lit ship, as 102 stalwart souls signed the Mayflower Compact. They began with these words— “In the name of God, Amen.” They wrote of making their voyage “for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith….”



Thanks to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and modern revisionists, the faith of the Pilgrims is disappearing from our textbooks . . . and being erased from our national consciousness.



Want proof? New York University professor Paul C. Vitz studied 90 of the most used public school history textbooks. He found up to 30 pages devoted to the Pilgrims, yet not a word about their devout faith in God. “It is common in these books to treat Thanksgiving without explaining to whom the Pilgrims gave thanks,” Vitz writes. One textbook even described Thanksgiving as a time “when the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians.”



Americans are forgetting who we are—and drifting from our Creator. That is why Coral Ridge Ministries intends to broadcast the truth on The Coral Ridge Hour. We want to reveal that our freedoms have their roots in the Bible and Christianity . . . and expose the false claim that this nation is not and never was a nation under God.



With your support, we’ll use television, radio, the Internet, and our vast library of print and multimedia resources. We will share the truth that God has blessed and guided our country since her earliest days . . . and still longs to bless her today if we will only return to Him. Armed with the facts, Christians can help teach America her godly roots . . . and guide her destiny. By God’s grace, you—like the Pilgrims—can help make history . . . and God may still bless America!

In his book “Persecution: How Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity,” David Limbaugh likewise cites this study by Vitz and helpfully provides an endnote explaining that the information was taken from Vitz’s book “Censorship: Evidence of Bias in Our Children's Textbooks” … which came out in 1986.  

If CRM is going to try and raise money by scaring it supporters with tales of “modern revisionists” erasing the religious heritage from our national consciousness, it might be useful for them to actually find some “modern revisionists” who are doing that instead of relying on a 20 year old study based on textbooks that are most likely no longer in use.  

So says former Republican National Committee official John Lofton: "This is ridiculous on its face to say that Christians can vote for non-Christians. It's Christ denial, its something that's very serious, And in fact, in a way things have gotten even worse by saying that religion doesn't matter. Well, that's the same as saying, whether they know it or not, that Christ doesn't matter. He is the King of kings, he is the Lord of lords -- which means Lord over politics, and no Christian can be complicit in having an unbeliever, who God calls wicked, rule over us."