Posts on Star Parker

Finally, after hours of unrelenting boredom, middling hectoring, and partisan complaining, Star Parker finally took the stage and delivered some of the right-wing frothing we've come to expect from these sorts of events. 

Here, Parker schools us on "social justice" and what it does not mean: it does not mean redistribution of wealth, which is a violation of scripture; it doesn't mean doctors should be required to inseminate lesbian women; it does not mean that parents are required to send their kids "to these cesspools we call schools so that they can be indoctrinated by anti-Christian worldviews;" and it most certainly does not mean that "clergy of Biblical conviction can be slandered by a salacious media that will swim in the sewer to destroy our cause":

Soon after breaking with televangelist John Hagee, John McCain rejected another right-wing pastor who had campaigned with him, Rod Parsley. While Parsley, like Hagee, subsequently withdrew his endorsement, it remains to be seen whether he will put his Ohio-based “Patriot Pastors” machine in motion on behalf of the Republican candidate before November.

But the McCain campaign may be more concerned about fallout greater than these two pastors and their television audiences. In working for the Hagee endorsement and incorporating Parsley into the campaign, McCain was no doubt hoping to solidify the Religious Right credibility he has been sweating over for the past two years. While Hagee and Parsley are influential and well-connected, meeting with the president and lobbying Congress, they are active primarily outside of D.C., in the megachurch, “prosperity gospel” world of Trinity Broadcasting Network. As this blog and others revealed some of the pastors’ rough edges—just a sample—McCain was forced to walk a fine line between losing his “maverick” reputation among independent voters and alienating the right-wing base he feels he needs.

McCain’s decision to dump Parsley and Hagee has prompted some warning shots from the Right. “This move may cost him the mainstream evangelical vote. At the very least it will make the Senator suspect to other pastors and millions of unconvinced believers,” wrote Bishop Harry Jackson, who added that the two televangelists have “10 times the outreach muscle” of Barack Obama’s controversial ex-pastor Jeremiah Wright.

Star Parker wrote, “John McCain wants Americans to elect him to provide tough leadership in a dangerous world. But when it just takes some mud slung from a few left-wing websites to drive him under a rock, you have to wonder.”

And Gary Bauer, an ally to both McCain and Hagee, said that “radical left” blogs managed to “drive a wedge” between evangelicals and McCain.

But as CBN’s David Brody reports, the McCain campaign is at the same time stepping up its efforts to woo the Religious Right by running weekly meetings with Bauer and other activists and consulting right-wing groups such as the Family Research Council and the Eagle Forum. Brody writes:

Look, here's the bottom line: The McCain campaign is gearing up for a true battle over Evangelicals this fall. They are NOT taking them for granted. They know they have work to do but what we are seeing here is a ramped up effort that is fully supported by the head guy, John McCain. The Hagee endorsement and subsequent retraction was not the campaign's best moment but the system they have in place now is starting to make headway.

It’s likely McCain’s efforts will pay off in getting the support, explicit or implicit, of the Religious Right groups and activists who have long wedded their politics to the GOP’s—especially if he keeps meeting their demands on judges and other issues. But as they continue to pull McCain to the right, the conflict between the base and independent voters—the conflict McCain saw with Hagee and Parsley—will expand.

The pundits, said Mike Huckabee, "say the math doesn't work out. Folks, I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles-and I still believe in those."

Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference just two days after Mitt Romney dropped out of the presidential race, and after a host of right-wing activists urged the grassroots to fall in line with John McCain, Huckabee didn't exactly strike a confident pose.

But for the candidate who made his personal faith the center of his presidential bid, and who relied on church-based organizing to keep him limping along where broad-based support failed, the call for a "miracle" is simply the latest prong of his faith-based campaign.

Huckabee said he was inspired to take up the conservative cause as a young man by reading Phyllis Schlafly's pamphlet, "A Choice, Not an Echo"--an indictment of Republicans who were tempted to compromise and a manifesto in favor of Barry Goldwater, whose quixotic campaign in 1964 birthed the modern right wing. And he made the title of the book the theme of his speech: primary voters, he said, "deserve more than a coronation" of John McCain. That was the "choice" part, at least, and he reeled off his right-wing positions on the war (pro), taxes (against), abortion (bad), "sovereignty" (hours before Schlafly herself was scheduled to be warning of a "North American Union" plot), and judges. Huckabee proposed that judges who "invoke some international law" should be "summarily impeached."

He didn't explain what the "echo" part was, but that was clear enough: Although Huckabee had long been seen as carrying water for McCain during the acrimonious Republican race, here he was accusing the presumptive nominee of "echoing" the left--of being Nelson Rockefeller to his Goldwater.

"This race is not to the swift or the strong, but to those who endure to the end," said Star Parker in introducing Huckabee. Indeed, in the end Goldwater won the nomination, and while he lost the general election in a landslide, he left a movement in his wake. It's possible that Huckabee really believes he can pull together some kind of "miracle" out of bitter-enders like Parker and now James Dobson. But it's more likely that these activists are concerned less with winning than about maintaining the place of power the far right holds in the Republican Party.

An organization called Republicans for Black Empowerment announces a press conference urging Mike Huckabee to stay in the race: "Inside-the-beltway Republicans have lost touch with the increasing seriousness with which heartland conservatives relate to the traditional values agenda," states Star Parker, a nationally syndicated columnist and conservative activist. "More and more folks are feeling personally assaulted by the meaninglessness that is gripping our culture and believe that Mike Huckabee is the only republican candidate that embodies the moral clarity of the GOP ideals. The groundswell generating support for Huckabee's candidacy understand that moral and economic health go hand in hand and should not be underestimated."

Several articles have appeared in recent months suggesting that Mike Huckabee is some sort of “new breed” of evangelical – one who is not committed only to opposing abortion and gay rights, but also cares about the environment and the poor.  And Huckabee has worked hard to play up the idea that he is nothing like traditional demagoguing Religious Right preachers such as Pat Robertson or the late Jerry Falwell.  

As Huckabee likes to say, while he may be conservative, he’s “just not angry about it” – or, to put it another way, he drinks “a different kind of Jesus juice. To the press, this seems to be enough to qualify Huckabee as a “different kind of evangelical,” and exempts him from having to explain himself when he proclaims that we need to “amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards.” 

An example of this sort of coverage appeared on the New York Times over the weekend:

Much of the national leadership of the Christian conservative movement has turned a cold shoulder to the Republican presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, wary of his populist approach to economic issues and his criticism of the Bush administration’s foreign policy. But that has only fired up Brett and Alex Harris.

The Harris brothers, 19-year-old evangelical authors and speakers who grew up steeped in the conservative Christian movement, are the creators of Huck’s Army, an online network that has connected 12,000 Huckabee campaign volunteers, including several hundred in Michigan, which votes Tuesday, and South Carolina, which votes Saturday.

They say they like Mr. Huckabee for the same reason many of their elders do not: “He reaches outside the normal Republican box,” Brett Harris said in an interview from his home near Portland, Ore.

The brothers fell for Mr. Huckabee last August when they saw him draw applause on “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” for explaining that he believed in a Christian obligation to care for prenatal “life” and also education, health care, jobs and other aspects of “life.” “It is a new kind of evangelical conservative position,” Brett Harris said. Alex Harris added, “And we are not going to have to be embarrassed about him.”

The article noted how Huckabee’s rise in the polls has occurred “without the backing of, and even over the opposition of, the movement’s most visible leaders, many of whom have either criticized him or endorsed other candidates.”  While Religious Right powerbrokers like Tony Perkins, James Dobson, and Gary Bauer have credited Huckabee for energizing evangelical voters, all have made clear that they do not support his candidacy and seemingly have no intention of doing so.

But just because the most prominent right-wing activists are reluctant to climb aboard the Huckabee bandwagon doesn’t mean that those already on board are in any way moderates or representative of some sort of new, more moderate evangelical movement.  In fact, most of Huckabee’s backers are even more radical.

The right-wing endorsements just keep pouring in for Mike Huckabee.

In addition to B-list celebrities like Chuck Norris and Ric Flair, Huckabee has also been racking up endorsements from B-list Religious Right leaders such as Rick Scarborough, Don Wildmon, and Tim and Beverly LaHaye. And now Huckabee has secured the support of Jerry Falwell, Jr.:

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee announced the personal endorsement of Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. Falwell is the son of the late Jerry Falwell, founder of Liberty University and Falwell Ministries.

"I knew Jerry's dad for more than 30 years and have admired the long tradition of Liberty University and the legacy for creating 'Champions for Christ'," Huckabee said. "Dr. Falwell's vision of helping students to start with nothing to believe they can change the world is exactly what our campaign is all about."

Huckabee also unveiled his Faith and Family Values Coalition which, as one would expect, is chock full of Religious Right figures of varying fame and influence:

Dr. Jerry Jenkins, best-selling author, including the Left Behind series; Colorado

Star Parker, Founder and president of CURE;* Washington D.C.

Michael Farris, Chair of Home School Legal Defense Association* and Chancellor of Patrick Henry College;* Virginia

William J. Murray, Chair of Religious Freedom Coalition,* Chair of Government is Not God PAC,* and author; Washington D.C.

Don Wildmon, Founder and Chairman of American Family Association;* Mississippi

Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary;* Texas

Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America;* Texas

Jerry Cox, President of Arkansas Family Council;* Arkansas

Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action;* Florida

Jim Pfaff, President and CEO of the Colorado Family Action;* Colorado

Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel*/ Dean of Liberty University Law School;* Virginia

Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute and President of Free Market Foundation;* Texas

Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values;* Ohio

As for Janet Folger, not only is she a member of the coalition, she is also serving as co-chair. This comes as no surprise, as Folger has been Huckabee's most vocal backer ever since he won the straw poll at the Values Voter Debate, which she organized.

It should also be noted that Folger personally invited the Grand Avenue Church of God choir to perform their rendition of "Why Should God Bless America?" at the debate:

In recent weeks, Folger has been going all out for Huckabee in her WorldNetDaily columns, calling Hillary Clinton "Queen of Slaughter" and claiming that, if elected, Clinton will put Christians in prison.

For that, Huckabee appears to have decided that she deserves to serve as co-chair of his Faith and Family Values Coalition.

Below are short biographies of those who have been mentioned as participating in tonight's "Values Voter Presidential Debate" in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

It looks as if the Right has taken some time out of its never-ending war against gays, abortion, and the secular culture to issue a “Declaration” calling on the US to stay in Iraq and warning of “catastrophic consequences” should US forces withdraw.   

Operating under the name The Forgotten American Coalition, Gary Bauer, Don Wildmon, Pat Robertson, Paul Weyrich, John Hagee, Lou Sheldon, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, Janet Folger, Rick Scarborough, Wendy Wright, Morton Blackwell, Gary Cass, Star Parker, Mathew Staver and other have issued the following Declaration:

It looks as if the “Values Voter Debate” we mentioned a few weeks back is moving ahead, judging by this new press release:

A Values Voter Presidential debate will be held at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, September 17th at 7:30 p.m. The majority of the Republican candidates have confirmed their attendance at the event.

30 of the nation's most influential groups will asking the questions of the presidential candidates that matter most to the Values Voters - the largest voting block in America.

Also participating will be key pro-family leaders including:

    * Phyllis Schlafly, President of Eagle Forum,

    * Don Wildmon, Chairman of the American Family Association,

    * Paul Weyrich, President of the Free Congress Foundation,

    * Judge Roy Moore, Chairman of the Foundation for Moral Law,

    * Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action,

    * Rick Scarborough, President of Vision America,

    * Mat Staver, Chairman of Liberty Counsel,

    * Star Parker, President of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education,

    * Bobby Schindler of Terri's Fight, and

    * Stephen Bennett of Stephen Bennett Ministries.

The debate will reportedly be aired on Sky Angel television and be streamed live on the ValuesVoterDebate.com  and AFA.net websites.  

The organizers say that “All of the candidates who place our values (and our votes) as a priority will be there” though they have yet to provide any confirmation about just which Republican hopefuls will actually be attending.  Not too long ago, the organizers were claiming that “seven of the nine Republican presidential candidates” had agreed to participate, but that has since been reduced to “a majority of the Republican candidates.” 

Thus, it still remains to be seen just which candidates will agree to travel to Florida in order to rub elbows and be publicly grilled by this group of right-wing zealots.  

Some on the Right voiced criticism of radio host Don Imus, whose slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team led to his firing from CBS radio and MSNBC. Jerry Falwell, who was frequently mocked on the show, called Imus’s comments “the most demeaning thing possible.” “He has built his career on saying outrageous, indecent, racist, even blasphemous things,” wrote Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, adding that Imus also targeted Focus founder Dobson. Michael Steele, the former Senate candidate and new chairman of Newt Gingrich’s GOPAC, said Imus should be fired and criticized John McCain for supporting the talker.

But many right-wing commentators defended Imus or used the controversy to push their own agendas. Quite a few decided to attack Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as “race hucksters” (columnist David Limbaugh) or “nappy-headed demagogues” (Yale Kramer for the American Spectator). Mychal Massie, a spokesman for the right-wing Project 21, described the firing of Imus as a “lynching” and accused Jackson, Sharpton, and other Imus critics as “race-baiters” who “are today fomenting unrest and belching racial bile.”

Others used the opportunity to change the subject to their own issues and suggested that Imus critics are hypocritical for not making the same connections. John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute charged that “Imus’s insensitive remarks pale especially in comparison to disparaging comments and cruel recommendations made time and again by leaders of environmental groups.” Alveda King, director of African-American outreach for Frank Pavone’s Priests for Life and a frequent religious-right speaker, declared in a press release, “Yes, Don Imus's apologies are necessary. But I demand the same from every public figure who has ever said that babies in the womb are not persons.”

And a few commentators and activists have suggested that critics of Imus are ignoring “anti-Christian” references in the media. Catholic League President Bill Donohue complained about the lack of interest in his campaign against a Manhattan boutique hotel’s display of a “chocolate Jesus” sculpture and concluded, “In other words, Catholic bashing is humorous and an exercise in liberty. Racism is awful. Bigotry, then, is neither good nor bad—it just depends who the target is.” Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas also decried a supposed “double standard”:

Why aren't these keepers of the First Amendment flame coming to the defense of Don Imus? It's because they have a double standard. Evangelical Christians, practicing Roman Catholics, politically conservative Republicans, home-schoolers and others not in favor among the liberal elite are frequent targets for the left. Anything may be said about them, and frequently is. But if someone insults the left's "protected classes," be they African-Americans, homosexuals or to a lesser extent, adherents to the religion of "global warming," they must be silenced and punished.

According to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, “The message of the ongoing Imus scandal is simple: verbal offenses against anyone other than conservatives or Christians or Jews, will be treated as crimes, and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the judge and jury.” And Star Parker, author of “Uncle Sam’s Plantation,” warned that Congress is considering extending violent-hate-crimes protections to gays and wrote, “With the passage of this so-called hate-crime bill, pastors will be intimidated to condemn homosexual behavior from their pulpits. Is this the freedom we want?”

Finally, a few right-wing commentators tried to make Imus a symbol of white-male victimhood. MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan decried the “Imus Lynch Party,” writing, “The issue here is not the word Imus used. The issue is who Imus is -- a white man, who used a term about black women only black folks are permitted to use with impunity and immunity.” In a Human Events column, Mac Johnson declared that “Apologizing to Al Sharpton Was Imus’s True Racist Act” and speculated,

Now think about how stupid and racist all this is. Were Chris Rock, in the heat of a comedic diatribe, to call someone, say, a “limp-haired slut” what would he do next? Would he ask to go on David Duke’s radio show so that Duke could accept an apology on behalf of all “white people” and then issue a suitable penance? (“Donate to my charity, Chris! You don’t look sorry enough yet.”) Somehow, I don’t think so.

And Rebecca Hagelin, vice president of the Heritage Foundation, attacked “the tentacles of radical feminist thought” that she claims are “poisoning the image” of white males through the media and Title IX sports programs. “The white, Anglo-Saxon male, the young teenage guy, is probably the most discriminated against kid on the face of the earth right now,” she declared on “The O’Reilly Factor.”

See comments on the Imus controversy by People For the American Way Foundation staff and by founder Norman Lear here.

“Thou Shalt Not Covet,” advises Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education founder.