July, 2008

Focus on the Family’s Stuart Shepard is asking supporters to beseech God with prayers so that Barack Obama’s Democratic Convention speech at Mile High Stadium in Denver gets rained out:

Via Good As You

Mike Huckabee is scheduled to headline the Florida Christian Coalition's God and Country 2008 event. According to CCFL executive director Dennis Baxley: "His primary message will be to protect the definition of marriage. This no time to sit home when the very foundation of civilization is being challenged."

CNSNews reports that the American Family Association has donated 500,000 to the Proposition 8 effort in California: "The American Family Association said the $500,000 donation comes from 'years of savings.' In a message to supporters, AFA acknowledged its 'obligation to be good stewards of the gifts given to this ministry. We don’t buy anything on credit. We have no debt. We are careful to make sure your gifts are used wisely. We are very frugal with your gifts.' AFA said it has put aside money over the years so it would have the funds to meet whatever need might arise. The $500,000 for ProtectMarriage.com came from those savings, it said."

Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that right-wing activists were preparing for a fight at the Republican Convention in Minnesota in September:

Conservative activists are preparing to do battle with allies of Sen. John McCain in advance of September's Republican National Convention, hoping to prevent his views on global warming, immigration, stem cell research and campaign finance from becoming enshrined in the party's official declaration of principles.

Well, the St. Paul Pioneer-Press has done some digging and calling around and reports that, indeed, many of the Religious Right’s leaders are planning on attending: 

Former Sen. Bob Dole will attend. But Sen. Elizabeth Dole will not.

 

Newt Gingrich will be in St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. Evangelist Pat Robertson will not.

And first lady Laura Bush will join President Bush here on Sept. 1, the White House says. But former first lady Nancy Reagan will not show up.

With the convention about a month away, the RSVPs and the regrets are piling up. So far, organizers have been reluctant to reveal which dignitaries plan to attend Sen. John McCain's nominating party Sept. 1-4.

…

Eagle Forum founder Phyllis Schafly will attend, as will Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. Also bound for St. Paul are Gary Bauer of American Values and Ralph Reed, formerly of the Christian Coalition. But anti-abortion activist Randall Terry said he's still deciding.

"Denver is a for-sure, and St. Paul we're still discussing," Terry said of the two conventions.

If Terry comes to St. Paul, he promises some unspecified civil disobedience, he said, "but it would be done in a way that honored the party's commitment to the pro-life cause."

It should be interesting, considering that the Right has traditionally used the GOP convention as an opportunity to showcase its radical agenda.  In fact, the last time GOP was fielding a nominee who was unpopular with the right-wing base was in 1996 with Bob Dole, and when the Right descended on that convention, they tried to throw their weight around and ended up embarrassing the party on national television:

On the eve of the convention, leaders of the Christian Coalition were boasting openly of their influence in the party. Ralph Reed, the group's baby-faced leader, described in detail how his troops had been prepared to ensure that their views triumphed on their key issue of outlawing all abortions, by mobilizing pro-life delegates through a sophisticated network of floor co-coordinators.

As it turned out, a floor fight was averted and the Christian forces were left on the sidelines. One morning last week, 2,000 of them gathered at an outdoor amphitheatre surrounded by palm trees and placards portraying bloody aborted fetuses. Several kilometers from the convention site, they indulged themselves in the kind of rhetoric that Republican leaders were desperate to keep off the prime-time airwaves. Former vice-president Dan Quayle, one of their heroes, assured them that they should not fear being labeled extremist. "Know what?" he asked. "You aren't extreme; you are mainstream America."

Roger O'Dell, a convention delegate and Christian Coalition member from El Paso, Tex., tipped back the white cowboy hat with a "Life of the party" slogan on the band that shielded him from the hammering sun. "I don't think we've been pushed aside," he reflected. "Most of the people at the convention are with us. We own the convention. But here's the deal: it took 30 or 35 years to move away from American values, and it'll take a while longer to win the country back. So we can be patient."

Another Christian activist, retired electrical engineer Meredith Raney of Florida, proudly sported a T-shirt bearing the uncompromising slogan "Intolerance is a beautiful thing." On the back was the explanation: God is intolerant of evil; Lincoln was intolerant of slavery; and Churchill was intolerant of Hitler. "Thing is," said Raney, "Christians are criticized for being intolerant in this party. But there's a whole lot of intolerance in our history that we're proud of. With abortion, we're where we were at with slavery just before the Civil War. Some people thought it was bad, some people said it was OK. I hope we don't need another civil war to resolve it, but we will win this fight for the unborn." As for the Republicans' efforts to keep the Christian right under wraps, Raney said: "I think it could cost them the election. There's a lot of Christians that won't vote for Dole - and there's an awful lot of us."

Say what you will about the Traditional Values Coalition, they refuse to tone-down or in any way moderate their militantly anti-gay agenda – here they are weighing in on the right-wing boycott of McDonalds, complete with an attack on Levi Strauss for ending its funding of the Boy Scouts:

"McDonald's has partnered with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC),” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “It also gave this activist group a $20,000 grant to support its efforts to influence corporate America.

“When my son bounds out of kindergarten at his school, a typical request is to go to ‘Old McDonald’s.’ It’s not about the cuisine, the first question he asks when we get there is which toy are they giving away that day. Now, we are settling for a lemonade at another restaurant because, as our son says aloud every time a McDonald’s commercial airs on television or as we drive past one, – ‘McDonald’s is bad,’” said Lafferty.

…

“Like Levi Strauss, McDonald’s has become an open and aggressive supporter of the homosexual agenda,” said Lafferty. “As such, it will no longer receive my business until it rejects the homosexual political agenda and returns to what it does best: selling Happy Meals and fun to America’s children.”

…

“Hungry patrons should beware of how they spend their hard-earned dollars,” said Lafferty. “When buying a ‘Sad Meal’ from McDonald’s, they’re now helping fund the homosexual agenda. By purchasing a pair of jeans from Levi Strauss, they’re helping destroy the moral foundations of our society.”

Apparently, the most recent issue of the North Dakota Law Review was supposed to contain a collection of articles on the topic of family law.  Unfortunately for the publishers, the authors who submitted articles were right-winger who only wanted to write about gays and their threat to marriage and the family:

Five of the six guest articles are by authors who are affiliated with church-based law schools and other “organizations (that) share a common thread in their view towards marriage and family,” Seaworth wrote.

The article “Does the Family Have a Future” is by William C. Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation, whose mission is, in part, to “aid lawyers tasked with defending man/woman marriage and to file amicus briefs on behalf of groups and individuals also intent on preserving that vital social institution.”

Another is “Marriage Matters: A Case for Get-The-Job-Done-Right Federal Marriage Amendment” by Steven W. Fitschen, a professor at televangelist Pat Robertson’s Regent University School of Law. He has filed numerous friend-of-the-court briefs in court cases dealing with same-sex marriage and related issues.

“First,” Fitschen writes in his Law Review article, “God ordained heterosexual marriage from the beginning of human history,” and then quotes the Bible’s Book of Genesis.

…

“It wasn’t supposed to be an issue about gay marriage,” he said. “And everybody wrote about gay marriage.”

Apparently, the outcry over the issue has grown so loud that that University of North Dakota Law School Dean Paul LeBel had to post a letter [PDF] on the school’s Web site assuring the legal community that “the university and the School of Law are welcoming and inclusive educational communities.”

Back during the Republican primary, James Dobson made news several times by playing a very public game of “He Loves Me Not” with the varying GOP contenders, slowly ticking off John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson as unacceptable candidates, leavings observers to guess as to whether he supported Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee.  Those questions were put to rest once Romney dropped out and Dobson cravenly endorsed Huckabee primarily as a means to show his deep-seated opposition to McCain.  Since then, Dobson has had a predictable change of heart and now says that he might be able to support McCain after all.    

Now that attention is focusing on whom McCain will name as his running mate, the original Huckabee Fan Club, which Dobson joined late in the game, has been hard at work pushing for McCain to pick their man and warning him not to choose Romney - but Dobson apparently doesn’t share that view.  While he had initially reportedly hedged on supporting Romney out of concern that rank-and-file evangelical voters might be unwilling to support him because of his Mormon faith, it looks like those concerns, just like his concerns about McCain, have evaporated as well:

Even Focus on the Family leader James Dobson — who has softened his stance on McCain, a candidate he had said he would never vote for — doesn't think Romney would be a bad VP choice.

"Dr. Dobson liked his speech about faith very much," said spokesman Gary Schneeberger, referring to Romney's December address, where he spoke about the importance of religion in American society but that it should be separate from public responsibilities. "He wants a pro-life running mate, and Romney qualifies for that."

Early in the primary, when Dobson could have made an impact on the race with an endorsement, he chose to shout from the sidelines until events forced his hand.  Then, when his ideological allies on the Right bit the bullet and grudgingly decided to back McCain, Dobson waited weeks before finally saying “I guess I will too.”  But whereas the others have at least been trying to pressure McCain into picking the vice-presidential candidate of their choice, Dobson seems to be resigned to quietly suggesting that as long as the VP choice is at least nominally pro-life, then that is good enough.   

For a man who prides himself on sticking to his principles and translating them into political power, Dobson is doing a remarkable job this election cycle of making himself seem increasingly feckless and irrelevant.  

After getting blasted for backtracking on his opposition to gay adoption, FRC is now praising McCain's muddled commitment to family values: "We applaud the Arizona Senator for his support of traditional families, which study upon study affirms as the best environment for raising children. I hope this is only the beginning of a longer, more pointed dialogue about pro-family policies by the GOP's presidential nominee."

From Sarah Posner's most recent FundamentaList: "On Friday, the day after Obama's Berlin speech, the AFA Report's host, Fred Jackson, made note of the 'messianic tone' of the speech, then quickly denied that he believes Obama is messianic. Ed Vitagliano, one of the program's roundtable guests, chimed in, 'I don't think he's the Antichrist, but there is a spirit of Antichrist at work in the West in a very strong and open way that is leading people to want to solve their problems and have a desire to have their lives improved without Christ. That's what the spirit of Antichrist does, it denies Christ.'"

Republicans are calling on President Bush to pardon two Border Patrol agents sentenced to prison for shooting an illegal immigrant as he fled towards the border, saying failure to do so will be "the worst black mark” on his presidency: "'We are calling on President Bush to take this opportunity to show this Christian charity that he always talks about,' said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) during a news conference in his Washington, D.C., office. Rohrabacher joined Reps. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) in decrying a federal appeals court decision Monday that uphold the prison terms for former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean."

For the past few weeks, we’ve been reporting on the “Stop the War on the Poor” campaign, an effort to label “extreme environmentalists” who oppose increased domestic oil drilling as enemies of the poor.  The campaign counts among its leaders a group called Americans for American Energy, which describes itself as “a non-profit, grassroots-based organization dedicated to educating the public about the importance of greater energy independence for America and promoting public policies that support that goal.” 

As we wrote last week, Americans for American Energy was created by Pac/West Communications, a firm with considerable Republican ties, and shares a location with the consulting firm of Jim Sims, communications director for Vice President Cheney’s energy task force.  In 2007, fresh off helping to defeat attempts “to ban bear baiting in Alaska and impose new taxes on cruise ships,” Pac/West received a $3 million grant from the state of Alaska to “educate” the American public about ANWR drilling, that was later stopped by Gov. Sarah Palin because the PAC/West-Americans for American Energy efforts were “not part of an open and transparent process.”  But that was not the end for Americans for American Energy. 

Although its profile has risen along with the “Stop the War on the Poor” campaign, Americans for American Energy has been engaging in suspicious activities in western states for the last several years.  In Colorado, it released a report claiming $1.2 billion in first-year profits for natural gas drilling on the Roan Plateau, an estimate that critics, such as the Wilderness Society, claimed were based on “junk science”

Credible economic studies need to stand up to independent review, list data sources and methods, and at the very least include the names of economists who authored the report. Unbelievably, this industry-backed study does none of this.

In Wyoming, its leaders falsely claimed that Gov. Dave Freudenthal was a supporter of their “powerful new oil and gas campaign,” leading the governor to write a letter disavowing the group.  In Utah, they launched an email attack on Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) that compared him to Hugo Chavez and Osama Bin Laden:

Last week, over 160,000 Utah residents received an e-mail letter indirectly comparing a New York congressman to some of the most infamous men in the world.

Along with mug shots of Osama bin Laden, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared a photo of Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.).

Hinchey's crime? Sponsoring the Red Rock Wilderness Act, a bill that would set aside 9.4 million acres of public land in Utah as wilderness.

The letter was attributed to Utah state GOP Reps. Aaron Tilton and Mike Noel, but it was the brainchild of Americans for American Energy, a Colorado-based industry group that has accepted money from, among others, the state of Alaska.

The Red Rock Wilderness Act will "WEAKEN America," the letter states. "How? Because it will hamstring our ability to produce American energy right here in Utah. That leads America to become more dependent on energy from hostile foreign nations -- some of whom fund terrorist organizations that are right now targeting our American men and women in uniform."

An online version of the letter and corresponding Web site go further, for instance with a picture of bin Laden, Chavez and Ahmadinejad. "These terror leaders also want America to continue its foreign oil dependence," reads the caption underneath the graphic.

Now, Americans for American Energy has turned from accusing its opponents of being in league with terrorists to accusing them of fighting a “war on the poor,” and this message seems to have resonated with Republicans on Capitol Hill.  A number of rank and file Congressional Republicans showed up on-message at the kick-off press conference, including Rep. Bill Sali of Idaho, co-sponsor of a bill suspiciously entitled the “Americans for American Energy Act,” which “would open ANWR and the OCS to increase production of American crude oil and give the right incentives to boost conservation, improved efficiency and bring alternative energy online sooner.”

But they’ve gained a much higher-profile ally in Senator Orrin Hatch, who mentioned the campaign, quoted one of its leaders, Bishop Harry Jackson, and plugged its website, all on the Senate floor:

Unfortunately for the Democrat party, the poor are beginning to wake up that the liberals they have always looked to are behind the War on the Poor. By War on the Poor, I refer to the movement by the anti-oil extremists to close off every good domestic oil resource, which is a direct cause of the high energy prices Americans face.

Democrats in Congress have been forced to choose between the very well funded extreme anti-oil interests and the poor, because on energy prices there is no compromise between the two. The Democrats have begun to recognize the position they are in, and are trying to have it both ways with today’s vote.

Earlier this month, a group of protesters came to Capitol Hill calling on Congress to Stop the War on the Poor by groups and congressmen who are closing off America's energy resources.

Included in the group were pastors and civil rights leaders calling on this body to unlock America's oil resources for the benefit of Americans, and especially for the benefit of lower income Americans.

One of the Participants was Bishop Harry Jackson. I would like to quote some of his remarks for the record. These are his words:

"I am a registered Democrat, but this has nothing to do with partisan politics. Unless the public understands that there are specific people and organizations that are fueling this war against the poor, nothing will change and the poor will continue to suffer. We will unmask those behind this war regardless of their political party or ideology. Party labels and partisan ideologies are meaningless when it comes to protecting the lives of America's most vulnerable citizens,"

By the way, Mr. President, you can see more about the stop the war on the poor movement on the web at www.stopwaronpoor.org.

Ironically, Niger Innis, co-chair of the Stop the War on the Poor effort, says that U. S. politicians are "being cowered by a very powerful, well-funded environmental extremist lobby that has a great deal of influence over them, and a great deal of influence over policy” and that their primary mission is "’outing’ the extremist groups and the politicians it says are doing their bidding.”

Bold words for a man heading an effort that is itself a phony Astroturf campaign on behalf of energy interests. 

Elaine Donnelly blames everyone but herself for her embarrassing performance: "'The follow-up media describing this hearing just continued a very abusive atmosphere. It was not by any means the kind of fair hearing that we had been led to expect,' she contends. 'But that was for two reasons -- the Democrats were determined to shape the hearing into the image that they had in mind. And secondly, the Republicans did not show up.'
According to a statement released by Donnelly Monday afternoon, she and Brian Jones -- a retired sergeant of the Army's Delta Force -- had difficulty being heard 'because liberal members of the committee attacked our motives, asked absurd questions, and tried to bully us in the presence of hostile media.'"

OneNewsNow reports that FRC's Tony Perkins gave the staff the day off to "take part in a day of prayer and fasting for the nation": "'Literally before us, we're seeing God's institution of marriage being redefined – 5,000 years of human history disregarded. I think that the church needs to be awakened, and that begins with each of us as believers. And as we work alongside of pastors and churches, our hope is that, as a church, that we will repent, that we will take our rightful role in society ... But first we must get right with God, and that begins with our personal relationships.' According to Perkins, the nation is witnessing a rising tide of evil that threatens the very foundations of the Republic"

Back when Vision America’s Rick Scarborough first announced his bold “70 Weeks to Save America” tour, the goal was to with the goal of sign up “100,000 Values Voters, 10,000 key leaders, 5,000 Patriot Pastors and 5,000 women” to “vote their Christian values on Election Day 2008.”  Since then, its messaging has been, at best, confusing and its efforts to rally supporters have repeatedly run into problems, especially once his partner in the endeavor, Alan Keyes, decided to run for president.  

But Scarborough has forged ahead, apparently opening new chapters of Vision America in New Mexico and Kansas and planning scaled-down “One Day Crusades” in both states.  In fact, Scarborough was just in Kansas yesterday for one of his events where Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline was the featured speaker.  In fact, helping Kline in his primary re-election bid next week seems to have been the primary reason for the event

Scarborough said the first thing the Kansas City media has been asking him is, Why is he here?

“The reason I am here is because of Phill Kline,” Scarborough told the audience. “It’s the only reason I’m here.”

Kline is seeking a four-year term as district attorney. On Aug. 5, he faces former Johnson County prosecutor Steve Howe in the GOP primary.

Of course, even though the event was held explicitly for Klein and just one week before his primary election, Scarborough insists that the event was entirely nonpartisan:

Scarborough wasn’t here to endorse Kline, however.  As a non-profit, Vision America would run afoul of IRS rules if he did so.

He was here as part of the group’s mission to encourage pastors to be pro-active in restoring Judeo-Christian values in communities across the nation.

But apparently, local pastors weren’t buying Scarborough’s assurances and wisely stayed away in droves:

Scarborough said he checked with his lawyers in advance and was told that there would be no problem with Kline “sharing his faith” at those meetings.

However, the idea of it “apparently scared the pants” off the pastors, Scarborough said. The attendance rate of the pastors was the lowest the group has seen, he said.

Just last week we were noting that the recent surge of support among Religious Right leaders for John McCain seemed to hinge largely on his willingness to follow their advice and name Mike Huckabee as his running mate.  But as decision-time nears and the campaign begins airing lists of candidates which don’t include Huckabee, these right-wing leaders sprung into action to, once again, make their opposition known to Mitt Romney, the presumed front-runner:   

Prominent evangelical leaders are warning Sen. John McCain against picking former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as his running mate, saying their troops will abandon the Republican ticket on Election Day if that happens.

They say Mr. Romney lacks trust on issues such as outlawing abortion and opposing same-sex marriage and because he is a Mormon. Opposition is particularly powerful among those who supported former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year.

"McCain and Romney would be like oil and water," said evangelical novelist Tim LaHaye, who supported Mr. Huckabee. "We aren't against Mormonism, but Romney is not a thoroughgoing evangelical and his flip-flopping on issues is understandable in a liberal state like Massachusetts, but our people won't understand that."

…

David Barton, a former vice president of the Republican Party of Texas, said, "The key for Mr. McCain is to pick someone who opposes abortion but doesn't alienate any part of the general Republican voting coalition" as Mr. Romney does.

Longtime social-conservative leaders such as Phyllis Schlafly, Phil Burress, Donald P. Hodel and Mathew Staver said earlier this month that they can rally their voters around Mr. McCain largely on the issues of abortion and the judiciary, as long as they are confident that the vice-presidential candidate is pro-life. They are skeptical about Mr. Romney's views.

Mr. Barton, founder of the national pro-life group WallBuilders, said the downside for picking either Mr. Romney or Mr. Huckabee is that evangelicals still would vote for Mr. McCain on Nov. 4 - given the alternative of Mr. Obama - but not work as hard organizing and getting out the vote.

"Romney would bring to the ticket as much enthusiasm from supporters as Huckabee would bring, but Romney's would be from fiscal conservatives and Huckabee's would be evangelicals," he said.

Of course, Barton and just about every other person mentioned in this article just so happened to sign on to the Colorado letter that essentially warned McCain that he’d better pick Huckabee or else, so it is not as if they are disinterested observers. 

Barton’s suggestion that Romney would generate a lot of excitement among fiscal conservatives is a little suspect given that the best that organizations like Club for Growth could say about him was that they were “reasonably optimistic that [he] would generally advocate a pro-growth agenda."  It’s laughable to think that Romney would match among fiscal conservatives the rabid enthusiasm that Huckabee has had throughout the process from Religious Right leaders.    

Even so, what Barton and the other Religious Right leaders quoted in the article seem to be doing is daring McCain to pick a side:  us or them; bringing to a head a clash between social and fiscal conservatives that has been brewing ever since Republicans lost control of Congress back in 2006.

Throughout the summer, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has been placing billboards around the country reading "Imagine No Religion"

As the FFRF explains it: 

The Foundation is taking its irreverent message to what it calls the "unmassed masses" state-by-state. The billboard carries the Freedom From Religion Foundation's name and its website, ffrf.org.

"Wherever you go, our roadsides of full of religion and religious symbols," said Foundation copresident Annie Laurie Gaylor. "We think it's time to advertise an alternative." The Foundation has placed a second billboard message, with the same stained-glass motif, warning: "Beware of Dogma," in several states.

The Foundation's goal is to place billboards in every state. Currently, its "Imagine No Religion" message appears near the State Capitol in Denver. Billboards have appeared in Madison, Wis., Atlanta, Ga., Columbus, Ohio, and rural Pennsylvania and will be going up in Harrisburg, Pa., in September.

The ad has now gone up in Denver, though The Denver Post reports that “it will come down before the Democratic National Convention because the rate for that period was prohibitively high.”  But that hasn’t stopped a Virginia group called In God We Trust from trying to capitalize on it by sending a letter to Barack Obama telling him that he has an obligation to publicly denounce it and that failure to do so “will permanently damage your message of hope and inclusion with the American people”:

By placing their billboard in Denver, the FFRF hopes to ride your coattails to the Democratic National Convention and claim your success somehow validates their anti-religious views. The presence of this hate-filled message in a prominent location in the city where you will be nominated in just a few weeks has already garnered much media attention. Its message damages the Democratic Party's image with the 92% of Americans who believe in God. I urge you to publicly reject the stance of the FFRF. Failing to publicly denounce this attack on religion will permanently damage your message of hope and inclusion with the American people. Your silence will only show Americans that attacks on their beliefs will go unchallenged in an Obama administration.

Religious Right groups are voicing their opposition to efforts to honor gay rights activist Harvey Milk: "'What significant contribution did Harvey Milk bring to the state of California – other than encouraging gay people to come out of the closet?' asked Benjamin Lopez of the Traditional Values Coalition. 'This is yet another example of them trying to normalize and force acceptance of the gay lifestyle upon people,' he said ... Randy Thomasson, of Campaign for California Children and Families, which opposes AB 2567, said the bill is a new tactic in a long push to portray homosexuality in a positive light to kids. 'Harvey Milk Day is the equivalent of having Gay Day at every school in the state,' he said."