David Brody

• The response to Gov. Bobby Jindal's address last night was almost universally negative ... with the exception of CBN's David Brody who said "Jindal's star is shining bright."
• Speaking of Jindal, Rush Limbaugh warns any conservative who dares to criticize him that he doesn't ever want to hear from them again.
• The Weekly Standard Gary Andres links to this Gallup poll on presidential approval ratings in a post titled "At One-Month Mark, Obama's Approval Rating Lower than Jimmy Carter's."  Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that Carter had the highest approval rating one-month into his term of any president in the last forty years, so every president has had a lower approval rating than Carter.
• Finally, the Liberty Counsel warns that Democrats are using the economic crisis to "undermine the rights of people of faith":

If America is truly in the worst financial crisis in 70 years, why are President Obama and Congress unleashing new attacks almost daily on our faith and families? ... The so-called "stimulus" bill proved this point. Ultraliberal politicians are using people's fears as a cover for a massive political makeover of our Nation! Their strategy is to profit off the misery of others in order to move forward a very liberal agenda. Such a strategy is just as deplorable for elected officials as the actions of profiteers who gouged people at the gas pumps following the hurricane Katrina disaster!

Unlike David Brody, I am not a journalist and don't regularly get asked to host programs and provide insight on CNN ... so maybe there is some journalistic definition of the word "exclusive" with which I am unfamiliar:

EXCLUSIVE: Video of Pastors Physically Blessing Obama's Inaugural Walkway
January 9, 2009

You have to check out this video. It was sent exclusively to The Brody File.

The video in question is of Congressman Paul Broun, Rob Schenck of Faith and Action and Patrick Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition anointing the doorway President-Elect Barack Obama will pass through on his way to being sworn in next week ... which we posted last week:

Considering that Schenck and company sent out a press release about it on January 7th and then posted the video the same day on Schenck's Faith and Action YouTube page, at which point we and others wrote about it, it's hard to understand how this is in any way a Brody File "exclusive." 

Sarah Palin sat down the CBN’s David Brody over the weekend and Brody has now posted various excerpts on his blog.

Among other things, Palin tried to explain her infamous “I read all of them” response to Katie Couric’s question regarding which newspapers she reads by saying she was irritated that Couric wasn’t asking her about real issues and that it’s the sort of thing that only “the Washington elite and the media” care about.

She also defended the recent tone at various McCain and Palin events, saying that if she ever heard people in the audience say anything inappropriate, she “would call 'em out on that,” and likewise defended her efforts to link Barack Obama to William Ayers, saying “I would say it again.”

She then explained to Brody why she wasn’t doing press conferences or appearing on news programs to be interviewed – and it’s because they will just mock her:

Brody: Let me ask you a little bit about media scrutiny because some of the media networks...wonder why you don't go on some of the 24/7 cable networks. What is your response to that?

Palin: Well sometimes it just doesn't do any good. I mean you set yourself up just to continually be mocked, you know so sometimes that doesn't do any good, but what I have done in this campaign is in reaching out to the American voters through our rallies, through the one on ones, through the small meetings that we've had trying to get our message out, our plans for this country out there minus the filter of some of the filter of the mainstream media because, because that filter as, as we see every day when we turn on the news too often there is this, this opaqueness, there is this, this spin, this contortion of a person's words and intentions and that does more harm than good, so it's a greater challenge for me and for John McCain to try to get our message out there without that filter of I think some of the world's media.

And speaking of being mocked, it’s not just Palin that is being ridiculed, it’s also God:

Brody: There have been some shots taken at you…regarding your Christian faith…The Pentecostal stuff, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Do you want to clear up exactly what you believe in and so that the record can be set straight a little bit? Because there have been some editorials and others taking shots at you regarding --

Palin: Yeah, and I think the saddest part of that is that faith, not just my faith, faith and God in general has been mocked through this campaign, and that breaks my heart and that is unfair for others who share a faith in God and chose to worship our Lord in whatever private manner that they deem fit and my faith has always been pretty personal. I haven't really worn it on my sleeve. I haven't been out there preaching it. I've always been of the mind that you walk the walk. You just don't have to be talking the talk about your beliefs, so just wanting maybe my life to be able to reflect my faith. So it's always been pretty personal and that was kind of a surprise in the last couple of months that people would misconstrue and spin anything that has to do with my faith or anybody else's and turn it into something to be mocked.

Hmmmm … tell that to Barack Obama.

Finally, Palin weighed in on the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment and couched it, as she always does, in her own assertion that she not bigoted or judgmental:

Brody: On Constitutional marriage amendment, are, are you for something like that?

Palin: I am, in my own, state, I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman. I wish on a federal level that that's where we would go because I don't support gay marriage. I'm not going to be out there judging individuals, sitting in a seat of judgment telling what they can and can't do, should and should not do, but I certainly can express my own opinion here and take actions that I believe would be best for traditional marriage and that's casting my votes and speaking up for traditional marriage that, that instrument that it's the foundation of our society is that strong family and that's based on that traditional definition of marriage, so I do support that.

So she’s not for telling anyone “what they can and can't do” … unless they are gay, in which case Palin is all for telling them they can’t get married.

Recently, CBN’s David Brody delivered the keynote address as the Baptist Press Collegiate Journalism Conference where he explained to his audience that journalism is a great way to spread the Gospel and win converts for Christ:

“If we can go ahead and say intelligent things on the air in a mainstream media network, then maybe they’ll listen to our Jesus talk as well,” Brody said. “And you never know how that’s subconsciously going through, but I can tell you that you definitely get witnessing opportunities to shine your light in the mainstream media world.”

…

“The blog that I write is viewed by the mainstream networks, and it’s an opportunity at that point to really talk to people about what it means to be saved and grace and redemption of Jesus Christ,” he said. “I do that quite a bit on my blog. You don’t hammer them over the head with it, but at the same time you don’t want to miss opportunities either.”

Brody declared that he prays before his on-air appearances because “no journalism can be successful without divine enabling” and that that it was because of prayer that he has managed to secure interviews with newsmakers like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (though he has still been unable to win over John McCain):

In addition to articulating a Christian worldview in their work, Christian journalists also must rely on God to sustain them and guide them, Brody said. He told how God has worked through prayer many times to land interviews and work out challenging details.

During the 2008 primary season, Brody worked for an entire year to get an interview with Hillary Clinton. The night before the scheduled interview, it was still uncertain whether Clinton would come, he said. But his producer spent an hour and a half in prayer, and Clinton showed up at the appointed time.

According to the article, Brody believes that “Christian journalists have an opportunity to change the world” and so it only makes sense that he plies his trade on behalf of Pat Robertson.  As for what CNN thinks he brings to the table, that remains to be answered.