James Dobson

It seems like every few weeks, James Dobson interrupts the schedule of his daily radio program to bring his listeners updates on the nation's rapid descent into immorality at the hands of President Obama and the Democratic Congress. 

And today was just such a day, where he was joined by Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council to "discuss the alarming rise of anti-family, anti-faith initiatives coming out of Washington, D.C."

Dobson kicked off the program by asking Perkins if he had ever seen such a relentless "assault on traditional values, the institution of the family, and on freedom and liberty" to which Perkins replied that he had not but that he was not discouraged because "God is still on the throne" and he is "looking to us to be his agents of change in influencing the world around us":

Dobson then said he has been fighting these battles for thirty years and that they had had some success in "holding back a tsunami all that time [but now] the dam has broken and it is flooding across the landscape":

Perkins then chimed in to say that while Democrats and Republicans are clearly part of the problem, the real problem is "complacency among Christians" but took solace in the fact that Christians are now having an awakening that it is their responsibility to fix what is broken:

Dobson then talked about the last election, saying that he had been "trying to warn people about what I saw coming, which is what we are dealing with right now" and complains that "I got beat-up more than I ever have before,"  yet now "here we are with the consequences of that, and I'm not going to back off": 

Of course, Dobson was "beat-up" primarily because he was a hypocrite who had publicly and repeatedly stated that under no circumstances would he ever support John McCain ... and then he announced that he was supporting John McCain.

After Dobson, Minnery, and Perkins spent several minutes decrying the national debt and attempts to overhaul the nation's health care system, they turned their attention to hate crimes legislation, which Minnery claimed would threaten pastors' ability to preach against homosexuality, at which point Dobson chimed in with a nonsensical point claiming that media distorted his statement on the murder of Dr. George Tiller and using that as proof that hate crimes legislation will be used to silence ministers:

There are apparently so many right-wing anti-marriage groups popping up in Maine that Focus on the Family, which has set up its own PAC in the state, can't even figure out to whom it is giving its money:

Focus on the Family, a 31-year-old national Christian group based in Colorado Springs, Colo., formed a Maine political action committee in support of the effort to repeal Maine's same-sex marriage law on Monday, according to state records.

The group describes itself as a "global ministry" whose radio broadcasts by Dr. James Dobson are heard by more than 230 million people around the world each week, according to its Web site. The group has more than 9,000 households on its Maine mailing list, according to a spokeswoman.

The newly formed PAC has received $22,000 in contributions, according to filings with the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices. Last Thursday, it made a $10,000 contribution to the Maine Marriage PAC, which is headed by Bob Emrich, according to state records.

The contribution came as a surprise to Emrich, who said last week he was teaming up with Marc Mutty of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and others to form a coalition behind the StandForMarriageMaine PAC.

"No, that's incorrect," he said Monday, of the $10,000 contribution to his Maine Marriage PAC. "We definitely did not receive money from them in the Maine Marriage PAC, that much I can tell you for sure. There's obviously some sort of reporting error."

Emrich said he had approached Focus on the Family earlier in the year asking for money. He speculated that the group was confused by all of the groups seeking to repeal the law. He also speculated that because his own name is listed on two different PACs, Focus on the Family contributed to the 'wrong' one.

"I don't want to be accountable for that on the wrong PAC, that would mess everything up," Emrich said, adding that he planned to make calls on Tuesday to straighten out the situation.

"I was not expecting a contribution, I was hoping; I was actually hoping that there would be one larger than that, but every bit helps," Emrich said.

To further confuse the situation, a spokeswoman for Focus on the Family said its contribution was made to the Maine Marriage Alliance, another anti-gay marriage group with which Emrich is associated. That group does not have a PAC.

Over the last few years, James Dobson has been slowly relinquishing control over Focus on the Family and, earlier this year, stepped down as the organization's chairman.  To be sure, Dobson remains the face and primary voice of the organization and remains as committed as ever to pressing his right-wing agenda, but eventually he will step aside completely and control will be handed over to Jim Daly, FOF's President and CEO.

And when that does happen, it looks as if we can expect some changes at the organization, at least in terms of tone, according to this lengthy profile of Daly in the Denver Post:

The secret of Jim Daly's success, he says only half-jokingly, is "low expectations" ... Daly is as low-key, quick with a self-effacing joke and seemingly lighthearted as Dobson was authoritative, intense and formidable in defense of Christian values.

"I cannot be Dr. Dobson. I'm hoping for a different pair of shoes," Daly said. "He's black and white — a scientist. That's a good thing. He's provided clarity for the culture. For me, it's more about having a conversation with people."

...

Dobson rarely engaged directly and publicly with political opponents, although he sometimes met them behind the scenes. Daly expects to be more open.

"We're in a democracy. How do we express Christian ethos in a way that draws people into the discussion?" Daly asked. "We are the church. We have to be more understanding and not expect the world to act like the church. We also don't accept the church acting like the world."

Dobson had first handed over the Focus presidency to interim leader Don Hodel, then 68, in 2003 and then hand-picked a 44-year-old Daly to serve in that position in 2005.

It took Daly some time to feel comfortable in the new role.

"I literally laughed when they said they were considering me," Daly said. " 'Oh, no,'

I said. 'You're making a mistake.' I wasn't elated. I went home that night with a feeling of heaviness."

Jim also saw his wife Jean's "deer in the headlights" look at the thought of following Dobson's wife, Shirley, an elder stateswoman of conservative Christianity in her own right.

"At Jim's investiture ceremony, I could not stop sobbing," Jean said. "I thought I had to be Shirley Dobson. Jim told me, 'I have no expectations of you.' And, nothing's changed for me."

A few months ago, when the 72-year-old Dobson resigned as chairman of the Focus board, completely surrendering any administrative role over the 1,000-person staff, Daly and the new generation of leaders truly came into their own.

Dobson was no longer the boss, just the voice of the flagship radio broadcast.

When Dobson stepped down, he said a few words on the occasion. And then Daly spoke.

"What we want to see are more families like Barack Obama's," Daly said.

"Everybody's jaw went clunk, including Dr. Dobson's," Daly recalled, laughing. "But we can respect what Obama does well. We can focus more on the positive. And I respect his family."

Daly says he is results-oriented, not an ideologue.

"When those who are right, left and center all say, 'Let's make abortion rare,' let's meet at that starting point," Daly said. "Let's shove off the rhetoric and get together on practical matters."

I have seen several articles in recent days about the on-going cases stemming from the massive anti-abortion protests that took place at Notre Dame surrounding President Obama's address there last month.

Both the Thomas More Law Center and the American Center for Law and Justice have stepped in to provide representation and the right-wing narrative seems to be disbelief that these protesters are even being prosecuted:

Attorney Tom Dixon told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) Tuesday that none of the charges have been dropped, and only two individuals accepted an offer to plead guilty in return for a sentence of time served and a fine. The rest face a maximum sentence of a year and prison and a $5,000 fine.

Asked about Notre Dame's involvement in the case, Dixon said he has "not heard anything" from the school, "except that they don't have any interest in exploring ways to resolve these matters."

...

"The general council's office of Notre Dame has responded to me by saying that Fr. Jenkins has no interest in discussing these matters any further," Dixon told LSN. The attorney said he sought help from Notre Dame's Bishop John D'Arcy to intercede with Fr. Jenkins, but has gotten no reply from the bishop's office.

Dixon said he does not think Jenkins "has any idea just how oppressive are these cases to these people."

"I just have to think that if he did have any idea, he would make some statement about how he doesn't desire to see them prosecuted," he added.

Oddly, there doesn't seem to be any similar sort of right-wing crusade to turn these anti-abortion protesters into martyrs - I wonder why that is:

A Colorado Springs municipal judge today jailed two anti-abortion activists after they refused to pay a fine for trespassing at the Focus on the Family headquarters.

Judge Spencer A. Gresham sentenced Kenneth Scott to 11 days in jail and Rev. Bob Enyart to nine days for their role in a Sept. 4 protest against Focus on the Family founder James Dobson's decision to endorse GOP presidential candidate John McCain ... During the trial, the defendants expressed frustration at not being able to raise anti-abortion issues or what they viewed as Dobson's "broken pledge" in supporting McCain's losing campaign against Barack Obama.

...

Prior to the sentencing, Lisa Anderson, a spokeswoman for Focus on the Family asked the judge to consider the organization's concern over safety for its employees and visitors.

...

When both men refused to pay [fines, the judge] offered them the option of public service, which they also rejected.

"I refuse to do public service to a system that is killing babies," Scott said.

Let this be a lesson to all right-wing protesters out there: if you protest President Obama and get arrested for trespassing, the Right will coming running to your defense - but if you protest James Dobson and get arrested for trespassing ... well, you are on your own.

GOProud, a new organization claiming to represent gay conservatives, formed a few months ago for the purpose of selling the conservative agenda to the gay community. 

As GOProud explains:

While hate crimes and employment protections may be worthy goals, there are many other important priorities that receive little attention from the gay community. GOProud's agenda emphasizes conservative and libertarian principles that will improve the daily lives of all Americans, but especially gay and lesbian Americans.

At the time, executive director Jimmy LaSalvia said that "if you pulled the lever for John McCain in 2008, then passing hate-crimes legislation ... is probably not your priority" and so the organization's mission was instead to focus on painting traditional conservative policies as gay-friendly policies. 

If you are confused about just what the means, this ought to clarify:

One month after successfully tucking an amendment into the credit card reform bill that expanded gun rights, a small number of Senate Republicans are looking at the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as another chance to score a victory for the Second Amendment. The possible plan — to add an amendment that would allow gun owners to carry their weapons from one state to another in accordance with concealed carry laws. The possible rationale — to defend gay rights.

“It makes sense for a group of people who would be protected by hate crime legislation to support something that would let them defend themselves before or after the crime,” said one Republican Senate aid familiar with the discussions. “It’s relevant, and we want to work together with gay groups to get the message out.”

While the aide described the discussions over a gun rights amendment to the hate crimes bill as “very fluid,” conservative and pro-gun rights gay groups outside of the Senate are ready to make a real push for it. GOProud, a new gay rights group that broke away from the Log Cabin Republicans in April, has talked with top staffers for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) about how to make the civil rights case for conceal and carry reciprocity.

“We support this because we think it’s advantageous to make it legal and relatively easy for gay people to arm themselves so they can protect themselves,” said Jimmy LaSilva, who became the executive director of GOProud after three years working on policy for the Log Cabin Republicans. “In the next few weeks we want to start highlighting some of those stories. There are people who have averted gay bashings because of their ability to use guns.”

GOProud doesn't see the need for hate crimes legislation or even necessarily support its passage, but that doesn't mean that they won't try to use it in order to advance the gun-rights agenda under the guise of a gay-friendly policy.

In related hate crimes news, Janet Porter reports that, starting this weekend, the Religious Right is going to start making a coordinated push to defeat the legislation:

This Sunday, June 14, Flag Day, pastors across America will be standing for freedom by exposing this dangerous bill that could land them in jail for the "crime" of reading from Romans.

And this Monday, June 15, leaders like Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Dr. Don Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, and Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council will be calling on their members and listeners to call their senators to stop S. 909: The anti-freedom Pedophile Protection Act. If you care about freedom, get ready to shut down the Capitol Switchboard to stop this dangerous bill that will criminalize Christianity and protect pedophiles. It's already passed the House and Obama has promised to sign it. Our last chance to stop it is in the Senate.

Over the weekend President Obama spoke, as scheduled, at the University of Notre Dame and, as expected, the protests being led by Alan Keyes and Randall Terry continued.

The protesting has been good for the activist’s profiles, as they have received a lot of media coverage and Keyes was even scheduled to appear on Friday’s episode of “Hannity” but couldn’t make it because he had been arrested and was sitting in jail.  As such, Terry took his place and spewed the sort of nonsense everyone expects from the founder of Operation Rescue while Hannity nodded along in agreement.

The interesting thing about Hannity and Terry coming together to decry this sort of apostasy against the “pro-life” movement was that the last time Terry was throwing around these sorts of accusations was back in 2007 when the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani was seeking the Republican presidential nomination and Terry was targeting those who dared to support him:

So-called 'pro-life Republicans' that are endorsing Rudy - like TX Governor Rick Perry, or NY Representative Pete Sessions, are typical treacherous politicians. They have betrayed innocent blood to support a child-killer; we can only wonder what '30 pieces of silver' they are seeking. Pro-life Republicans are on trial, to see what we value more: life or power; principle or party."

Eventually, Terry focused his ire on Pat Robertson for endorsing Giuliani and even began protesting outside of the CBN office in Washington DC.

And who immediately came to Robertson’s defense?  None other than Sean Hannity, who brought Robertson on the show to explain his endorsement.  And the reason he did that is because Hannity was also an early supporter of Giuliani’s presidential campaign:

It's no secret that Sean Hannity, the conservative Fox News commentator, has helped to raise Rudy Giuliani's profile - but now he's helped the former mayor raise money, too.

In a little noticed event this month, Hannity - co-host of Fox News' "Hannity & Colmes" and host of a popular WABC radio show - introduced the Republican front-runner at a closed-door, $250-per-head fund-raiser Aug. 9 in Cincinnati, campaign officials acknowledge.

In so doing, some believe that Hannity - while clearly a commentator paid to express his opinions - crossed the line from punditry into financial rainmaking for a presidential candidate whose bottom line is now better for it.

When a group of Religious Right leaders declared that they would sooner leave the GOP than support Giuliani if he got the party’s nomination, Hannity brought James Dobson on the program and practically begged him to reconsider, but Dobson would not budge. Eventually, all of Hannity’s championing of Giuliani started getting under the skin of the Religious Right, with leaders like Tony Perkins calling him out for pushing their concerns aside and trying to sell this pro-choice candidate to the right-wing anti-choice base.  

So, just over a year ago, when Hannity was supporting a pro-choice candidate in Rudy Giuliani, he had no use for the hardliners on the Right and their incessant focus on abortion.  

But today, when the pro-choice President of the United States delivers a commencement address, Hannity brings those same hardliners onto his program to join him in lamenting Notre Dame’s betrayal of the sacred principles of the anti-abortion movement.

I've written several posts recently debunking the claim that the James Dobson and, by extension, the Religious Right are about to throw in the towel. While the Republicans are out of power at the moment and the Religious Right is growing fearful that it is being marginalized as the GOP seeks to regain its footing, that didn't mean they had any intention of giving up the fight.  As Dobson put it recently, "we're not going anywhere."

And they aren't, but it looks like the Right's irrelevance at the moment is starting to absolutely terrify its leadership. That's because, as Dan Gilgoff reports, Dobson is admitting that they have no power at the moment and cannot prevent the "utter evil," by which he meant things like hate crimes legislation, coming from Congress from getting passed and he literally cannot understand what is happening to this nation:

I've been on the air for 32 years and I've never seen a time quite like this. It just illustrates what happens when we don't have what the Founding Fathers referred to as checks and balances, where the excesses of one party or one branch of government limit the reach of power hungry and self-serving people and keeps them form doing things that are harmful to the country. That's the way the system was designed. We have 2 major political parties in this country, not one. And bipartisanship is a media creation that's designed to promote one point of view instead of the debate that should occur. And that's why media doesn't talk about bipartisanship when conservatives are in power...[today] the radical left controls the executive branch through the president, and the Congress... and the Judiciary through the courts... now they control it all, including every department of government. As a result, the legislation that should shock the nation, if people were paying attention, is being rushed into law.

...

I want to tell you up front that we're not going to ask you to do anything, to make a phone call or to write a letter or anything.

There is nothing you can do at this time about what is taking place because there is simply no limit to what the left can do at this time. Anything they want, they get and so we can't stop them.

We tried with [Health and Human Services Secretary] Kathleen Sebelius and sent thousands of phone calls and emails to the Senate and they didn't pay any attention to it because they don't have to. And so what you can do is pray, pray for this great nation... As I see it, there is no other answer. There's no other answer, short term.

Of course, this isn't to say that Focus on the Family isn't trying to prevent passage of hate crimes legislation, because they are. 

In fact, Dobson dedicated most of his program to this legislation as he was joined by Tom Minnery, Gary Bauer, Rep. Louie Gohmert, and Rep. Steve King, who then proceeded to spread just about every right-wing lie about this legislation. Listening to the program, the sense of panic among the group was palpable:

Dobson: I love my country. And I love the institution of the family. And I love the church. And I love the clergy. And almost every good thing is under attack today.

Gohmert: And I'm told sometimes, when I get passionate and upset about this, that I don't sound as sane as I would like to.

Dobson: Are you kidding? What you're doing is desperately needed and there are very few people who are willing to say it like it is.

Bauer: We need about 250 members of Congress as insane as you.

Gohmert: But, you know, this is the way we lose nations. It's like Colson said several years ago: "you cannot have the morality of Woodstock and not expect a Columbine."  Or not expect a Madoff. You can't have those morals and not get where we are today and so we've got a tough fight ahead of us, but I know in my heart, in my soul, that we can have another 200 years, but there is only one way - and that's if we have another awakening.  If we don't, I'm not sure what's left.

Dobson says he's "never seen a time quite like this" and I have to agree because I have never seen the Religious Right as utterly terrified as it is at the moment.

Update: Media Matters has posted this clip of Dobson once again claiming the legislation would protect necrophilia, pedophilia, and incest:

Yesterday I wrote a post about the Religious Right blasting the Obama administration for abandoning the "tradition" of hosting an official National Day of Prayer event at the White House, despite the fact that said "tradition" was started and observed by exactly one president: George W. Bush.

So instead of an event at the White House, an event was held at the Capitol and James Dobson, whose wife Shirley heads the pseudo-official National Day of Prayer Task Force, criticized for White House for not only refusing to host an event itself but for not even sending a representative to the event held on the Hill:

Evangelical author and radio host James Dobson said that he is "disappointed" that for the first time in nearly two decades there was no representative from the White House during the National Day of Prayer event.

"I have not asked to meet with the president and certainly he has not asked to meet with me, but I would just like this country to remember its foundation, to remember its heritage and honor it, especially on the day set aside by George Washington in the beginning for prayer in this country," he said. "And I would hope that that would have occurred."

...

"The national day of prayer is important for people all across the country and I think the president missed a wonderful opportunity," he said. "...Not only did he not have any ceremony himself, he did not send any representatives from the White House to this event."

Well, according to Dan Gilgoff, it turns out that that was because Day of Prayer organizers "stipulated that the White House representative had to be opposed to abortion rights:"

"The administration's representative had to be pro-life," says the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Nobody else was allowed to go."

National Day of Prayer Task Force Marketing and Media Manager Becky Armstrong declined to comment on the report. An E-mail message sent yesterday to Focus on the Family's vice president for media relations, Gary Schneeberger, went unreturned. The prayer day task force operates out of Focus's Colorado Springs headquarters and is chaired by Shirley Dobson, the wife of the Focus founder.

...

[T]he well-placed source said the only Obama cabinet secretary to receive an invite to yesterday's event was Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, an anti-abortion rights Republican. LaHood did not attend the event.

Earlier this week, the Family Research Council weighed in to criticize Obama for not hosting a White House event in a piece entitled "The National Day of Prayer Is Everyone's Day." 

Everyone, that is, except those who don't share the Religious Right's views, apparently.

For anyone tempted to think that James Dobson was about to throw in the towel, concede defeat in the culture wars and retire … well, think again: 

Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family founder and chairman emeritus, has recorded a special video message for a pro-family event in California ..."Now, perhaps more than ever in our nation's history, it's crucial that Christians stand up for their faith and for the defense of His Word," Dr. Dobson says. "I'm convinced that if God's people do not seek His blessing and mercy, the Church will be tested severely, as if by fire, over the coming weeks and years" …"Yes, the landscape looks bleak right now," Dr. Dobson says. "(But) citizens can move mountains when they unite in prayer and action. Remember that God is always faithful to hear and respond to the petitions of His people. As you enter this battle, make sure that you put on the full armor of God. 

Here is the video, in which Dobson freaks out about a variety of things, but primarily about hate crimes legislation, declaring “have we gone completely mad?”

 As I'm recording this video greeting, there's a so-called hate crimes bill that's working its way through the congress that contains no adequate safeguards to protect the preaching of God's word. Because the liberals in Congress would not define sexual orientation, we have to assume that protection under the law will be extended to the 30 sexual disorders identified as such by the American Psychiatric Association. Let me read just a few of them: bisexuality, exhibitionism, fetishism, incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, prostitution, sexual masochism, urophilia, voyeurism, and bestiality. Those are just a few. And I have to ask, have we gone completely mad? 

Good as You, Pam, and Towleroad all have more on this video, but I wanted to look at Dobson's claim that he has to " assume that protection under the law will be extended to the 30 sexual disorders" identified by the APA.

Of course, he does not “have to assume” anything of the sort – he is choosing to assume this because it is part of an intentional effort by the Religious Right to conflate protections for gays with protections for pedophiles and thus generate opposition to the legislation; a tactic that is being employed by everyone from the American Family Association to the Traditional Values Coalition.

But Dobson is correct that Congress did not define “sexual orientation” in the legislation - and during the mark-up of the legislation [PDF] in the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Tammy Baldwin explained why they didn’t do so and also why they rejected Rep. Steve King’s amendment to explicitly exclude pedophiles from the definition:   

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move to strike the last word in opposition to this amendment that—well, the gentleman claims that we have not pinned down a definition for sexual orientation. And indeed, in our earlier session yet today, I drew his attention to the fact that there is a definition with regard to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act.

I, during the break, searched to just confirm that what I had articulated earlier today was, indeed, the definition. And it is. Sexual orientation means consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality. That is the definition.

Now, as you have noted earlier, there is only one term defined in this legislation. And that is gender identity on page 14. And the reason for that is that that definition exists nowhere else in federal law. This is the first time it is occurring in federal law.

But in every other case, gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, national origin, color and—I am missing one—the architecture of the hate crimes statutes in the United States is those definitions do not lie within that architecture. They exist elsewhere in federal law, and we rely on them. So there is a clear, concise definition of sexual orientation.

Your amendment is unnecessary and also, I would add, inflammatory in terms of insinuations, I would say. But given the definition of sexual orientation meaning consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality, it is absolutely clear that that could not include pedophilia.

Aside from the astute point that King was merely trying to add unnecessary and inflammatory insinuations into the bill, Baldwin pointed out that the term “sexual orientation” was already defined in the "Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990.”  Here is precisely what that legislation says: 

As used in this section, the term "sexual orientation" means consensual homosexuality or heterosexuality. 

Thus, a definition of the term “sexual orientation” is not needed in the hate crimes legislation because it already exists.  And this definition does not cover things like incest, necrophilia, pedophilia, or bestiality, despite all of the Religious Right’s lies and scare-tactics.