February 2010

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 6:46 pm
  • Media Matters: Rep. Trent Franks: Blacks Better Off Under Slavery.

  • Andy Birkey: Rosa Parks didn’t ‘move to the front of the bus to support sodomy.’

  • Amanda Little: James Inhofe, Senate’s top skeptic, explains his climate-hoax theory.

  • Stephanie Mencimer: Roy Moore: Next Alabama Governor?

  • Alvin McEwen: Why won't One News Now tell us what 'Miss Beverly Hills' said about gays?

  • Alan Colmes: Gun Paranoids Believe ObamaCare Is Step Toward Refusing You A Gun.

  • Finally, as Steve Benen says, there is a key difference between the quality of our health care system and our health insurance system and if would be nice if Republicans could recognize that simple fact.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 6:36 pm
  • Today was James Dobson's final broadcast for Focus on the Family, and to show there are no hard feelings, Focus donated $1 million toward his new venture with his son.

  • Tony Perkins' being uninvited to the prayer luncheon was big news on right-wing outlets today.

  • A collection of Religious Right leaders have sent a letter to Congress asking it to stop DC's march toward marriage equality.

  • "Atheism and Secular Humanism" were to blame for The Holocaust, not Christianity. Good to know.

  • The CADC's Gary Cass,  who continues to insist that the murder of two street preachers in Florida was an act of anti-Christian violence despite an utter lack of evidence, declares that "we need to send a message that this kind of violence against Christians cannot be tolerated in our culture."

  • Finally, quote of the day from WorldNetDaily columnist Robert Ringer attacking Mike Huckabee for interviewing First Lady Michelle Obama: "Mike Huckabee's Slick Willie cleverness makes him hard to pin down, but his interview with Michelle Obama connected a lot of the dots for me. I once speculated that Mike Huckabee could possibly get the Republican nomination without the support of the Republican Party's conservative base if he could put together a coalition of evangelicals and disenfranchised independents and liberal Democrats. Today, I'm here to tell you to forget about that theory. It won't happen. By interviewing Michelle Obama on his show – apparently without concern for Rush Limbaugh's recent chest pains – he lost any chance he may have had for gaining the Republican nomination."

Anti-Gay Diatribe Opens Huckabee, Vander Plaats Event In Iowa

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 3:49 pm

Let's say you have several minutes to fill before your featured guests, Mike Huckabee and Iowa gubernatorial candidate Bob Vander Plaats, arrive at your event and take to the podium to speak.

What do you do?

Well you give that time to local radio host Jan Mickelson to spend several minutes railing against gay marriage, of course, just like the Iowa Family Policy Council did earlier this week:

Christians can’t “tolerate” same-sex marriage because to do so would be to give up beliefs and accept the homosexual lifestyle as “healthy and normal,” radio host Jan Mickelson said while introducing GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bob Vander Plaats and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at a public event Wednesday.

Mickelson was addressing a fundraiser for the Iowa Family Policy Center. The influential social conservative organization has formally endorsed Vander Plaats’ campaign and vowed to sit out the November election if he’s not the candidate.

“Personally, I think two guys pretending to be sexual mates are making a mistake,” he said. “More than that, they are violating the design of their bodies. More than that, they are sinning against their maker. More than that, they are likely to shorten their lives in this world and impair their destinies in the next.”

...

Mickelson quickly turned his attention to the current situation in Iowa, saying that because a “a liberal court, a liberal legislature and a liberal governor” are standing up for same-sex marriage, groups like the Iowa Family Policy Center, and candidates like Vander Plaats, must resist.

“I’m really up for it,” Mickelson said. “I’m really up for this ruckus.”

Then Mickelson turned the podium over to Huckabee and Vander Plaats.

FRC: Failure to Mandate Pledge of Allegiance Creates More "American Talibans"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 1:08 pm

Earlier this week it was reported that, back in January, a teacher at Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown, Maryland had publicly reprimanded a student who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and even called the school's security officer to escort the student to the counselor's office when she continued to refuse.  This, despite that fact that the "Supreme Court ruled in 1943 that students cannot be forced to salute the flag [and] Maryland law explicitly allows any student or teacher to be excused from participating in the pledge."

The ACLU got involved and now the teacher has agreed to apologize, but Robert Morrison of the Family Research Council is outraged about the whole thing, holding it up as evidence that the ACLU is creating "future American Talibans":

Is the Montgomery County school case too trivial to merit national attention? No. It illustrates how classroom discipline and American patriotism are under constant assault by the ACLU. Our tax dollars are funding this radical outfit. Thomas Jefferson said “to require a man to provide contributions of money for the propagation of opinions he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical.” Surely, the fact that the ACLU uses our tax money against us is a gross violation of our rights.

Does it matter? John Walker Lindh is currently sitting in federal prison. He is the so-called American Taliban who was convicted of fighting against Americans in Afghanistan. Young Lindh was educated in Montgomery County Public Schools. Was he taught anything about why he should be loyal to his country? Why jihadism is a threat to all our rights? I seriously doubt it. By punishing a teacher who simply tried to give students the opportunity to express their patriotism and support for our country during a time of war, the Montgomery County public schools are doing nothing to avoid future American Talibans.

Let The Outrage Begin: Atheists Get Meeting With Administration Officials

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 12:00 pm

When I saw this article this morning reporting that Obama Administration aides were scheduled to meet with representatives of the Secular Coalition for America today, I wondered how long it would take for some Religious Right group to throw a fit that the Administration was meeting with atheists.

Turns out, it took about an hour:

The advocacy group In God We Trust today ripped the Obama administration for meeting to plot political strategy with 60 atheist activists representing organizations comprising the Secular Coalition of America.

"It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation," says In God We Trust's Chairman Bishop Council Nedd.

...

"President Obama seems to believe that it is a good idea to have a key senior aide plan political strategy with people who believe faith in God is a disease," Nedd says. "Some of the people in this coalition believe the world would be better off with no Christians and no Jews and they aren't shy about it. The fact that this meeting is happening at all is an affront to the vast majority of people of all faiths who believe in God."

...

"The President should tell the American people whether he believes these groups' hate-filled views to be 'mainstream' and worthy of his supposedly inclusive administration," Nedd says.

Outrageous! 

President Bush would never have met with anyone who esposed "hate-filled views" ... would he? 

  • For the period April 2001 through June 2006, Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Emeritus James Dobson visited the White House 24 times; 10 of those visits were to President Bush.
  • Andrea Lafferty, Executive Director of the Traditional Values Coalition, made an astonishing 50 visits to the White House starting on February 1, 2001, and continuing through March 16, 2008. Six of those visits were to President Bush.
  • Wendy Wright, President of Concerned Women for America, made 43 visits to the White House between May 2001 and August 2006. Four of those visits were to President Bush.
  • Gary Bauer, President of American Values, made 10 visits to the White House, starting with a January 6, 2003 visit to Vice President Cheney and ending with a July 20, 2006 visit to President Bush.
  • The late Jerry Falwell, of Jerry Falwell Ministries, made eight visits to the White House between May 2001 and September 2004. Three of those visits were to President Bush.
  • Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, visited the White House 14 times between February 2001 and June 2006, including two visits to President Bush.
  • Louis Sheldon, Chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, made 19 visits to the White House between March 2001 and September 2006, including two visits to President Bush.
  • The late Paul Weyrich, the Founder of Free Congress foundation, made 17 visits to the White House between May 2001 and July 2005, including six visits to President Bush and one to Karl Rove.
  • Donald Wildmon, Founder of the American Family Association, made three visits to the White House between July 2001 and March 2003, including one visit to President Bush. 

Of course, this is different because it is Obama Administration officials who are meeting with the Secular Coalition of America today at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building while these Religious Right leaders only got to meet with President Bush at the White House.

Perkins' Revoked Invitation Is Just Like Dred Scott

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 2/26/2010 11:29 am

I have to say that the American Family Association's decision to promote Bryan Fischer from the head of the Idaho Values Alliance to the AFA's Director of Issue Analysis for Government and Public Policy last year has been a real boon for this blog as be has since become a constant source of good posts.

Today he weighs in on the news that the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins had his invitation to speak at a Andrews Air Force Base prayer luncheon rescinded with a complete and utter meltdown, declaring it proof that the Constitution is on the verge of collapse and likening it to Dred Scott and McCarthyism:

The homosexual agenda represents a clear and present danger to virtually every fundamental right given to us by our Creator and enshrined for us in our Constitution.

Start with freedom of religion and freedom of speech, the first two of our inalienable rights secured for us in the Bill of Rights.

As a culture, we must choose between the homosexual agenda or the Constitution because we can't have both.

Further proof comes from the abjectly pathetic decision of the chaplains' office at Andrews Air Force Base to rescind a long-standing invitation to Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council. Perkins had been invited to give a non-political talk at a prayer luncheon on the base yesterday, but was abruptly dis-invited for one simple reason: he supports the current law which makes homosexuals ineligible for service in the United States military.

...

The days of Dred Scott have returned. Christians now are the ones are being confined on the plantation, and warned about being too uppity ... McCarthyism has now struck the U.S. military with a vengeance. The question now that the military is asking is this: "Are you now, or have you ever been, a supporter of traditional morality?" If the answer is yes, you go on our blacklist, and we deprive you of your freedom of religion, speech and military service.

Realize the ominous portents here for the future of our military. Perkins' view represents the view of the vast majority of Americans, especially those considering military service. The new standard appears to be that, even if you are heterosexual, you must embrace the homosexual agenda or you will be banned from the military. That's where this is going, and at Andrews Air Force Base, we're already there.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/25/2010 6:52 pm

Right Wing Leftovers

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/25/2010 6:40 pm
  • Ryan Dobson says the only real difference between him and his dad, James Dobson, is a matter of style: "My dad and I believe virtually identically across the board, I think. Stylistically we have some differences, but as far as political, theological and sociological belief systems, we're fairly identical."

  • Rifqa Bary insists there is no chance of any sort of reconciliation between her and her parents.

  • Marco Rubio seems to have a history of charging personal expenses to the Florida GOP.

  • You know, I don't think Newt Gingrich has ever had a "real job," for that matter.

  • FRC's Tony Perkins says he was uninvited to a prayer luncheon at Andrews Air Force Base because of his opposition to repealing DADT, and Bill Donohue is demanding an investigation.

  • Finally, a related quote of the day from Tony Perkins opposing repeal of DADT:  "People who are HIV-positive are not permitted to enlist in the military. But if someone on active duty becomes infected, they cannot be deployed in combat -- yet current policy also forbids them from being discharged. Since scientists have said that homosexuals and bisexuals are fifty times more likely to contract HIV, it is inevitable that welcoming them into the military will increase both medical costs and the number of personnel who are essentially dead weight within the force."

Religious Right Now Exporting Its Anti-Marriage Equality Abroad

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/25/2010 5:44 pm

By now, we are all used to out-of-state Religious Right groups descending on places like Maine, Washington, DC, and elsewhere in order to set up shop in their nonstop effort to fight marriage equality ... but I have to admit that I never expected them to start exporting their efforts abroad.

But here they are, setting their sights on now fighting marriage equality in Mexico:

In response to a move to institute same-sex marriage in the Federal District which includes Mexico City (on March 4), more than 120 pro-family/pro-life leaders from 35 countries have signed the "World Congress of Families Leadership Petition To Save Marriage In Mexico City."

The Petition notes that "Mexico's Constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman." Further, that all social ills begin with the decline of the family. Also "marriage substitutes ... undermine marriage and the family." The Petition observes that "children need both a mother and a father" and that those raised by two men or two women are "psychologically and socially disadvantaged."

The Petition calls on the government of Mexico City to refrain from implementing same-sex marriage and demands that the issue be decided at the national level, "with due regard to the nation's religious traditions, the wishes of the Mexican people and the needs of children and families, and consistent with Mexico's Constitution." Click here (www.worldcongress.org/special/wcf.mexpetsig.1002.pdf) to access the full Petition along with a list of signers.

U.S. signers (signing as individuals) include: Gary Bauer (American Values), Allan Carlson (World Congress of Families), Tom DeLay (former Majority Leader, U.S. House of Representatives), Joseph Meaney (Human Life International), Tony Perkins (Family Research Council), Michele Velasco (Priests for Life), Don Wildmon (American Family Association), Wendy Wright (Concerned Women for America), Maggie Gallagher (National Organization for Marriage), Dr. Paige Patterson (Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary),Yuri Mantilla (Focus on the Family) and Dr. Jerry Newcombe (Coral Ridge Ministries).

Dobson Teams Up With Porter For May Day Prayer Rally

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/25/2010 5:27 pm

I can't decide if this is evidence that Janet Porter is becoming more "mainstream" within the Religious Right movement or evidence that James Dobson is moving further out toward the fringe, but Dobson has recorded an audio message on behalf of Porter's upcoming "May Day" prayer rally at the Lincoln Memorial:

Hello everyone, I'm James Dobson and today I hope you'll give some serious though to participating in a very important event this spring; it's called "May Day 2010: A Cry to God For a Nation in Distress." Our nation faces what is perhaps the most serious moral crisis since the Civil War as we've turned our backs on God and have clearly displeased him.

May Day 2010 is a time to come together and proclaim what God has done in the past, to pray for forgiveness, and to plead for God's mercy on all of us. It will be held Saturday, May the first at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

We're looking for thousands of pastors and churches to get involved. Call (405) 796-PRAY or log-on to Mayday2010.org to find out how you can participate or volunteer.