Louisiana

I guess that it if the BP oil spill in the Gulf is due to God's anger over President Obama's treatment of Israel, then it only stands to reason that the best way to end the crisis is prayer.

And that is exactly the solution that four Southern Republican governors appear to be banking on:

Four Gulf Coast governors are calling on residents to set aside Sunday as a Day of Prayer to pray for a solution to the oil spill and for citizens impacted by the disaster.

Alabama's Bob Riley, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, Mississippi's Haley Barbour and Texas' Rick Perry all issued proclamations calling on prayer for the spill, which entered its 66th day Thursday.

"Throughout our history, Alabamians have humbly turned to God to ask for His blessings and to hold us steady during times of struggle. This is certainly one of those times," Riley said in a statement.

Riley's proclamation reads in part, "Citizens of Alabama are urged to pray for the well-being of our fellow citizens and our State, to pray for all those in other states who are hurt by this disaster, to pray for those who are working to respond to this crisis, and to pray that a solution that stops the oil leak is completed soon."

Perry's proclamation says it "seems right and fitting that the people of Texas should join with their fellow Gulf Coast residents" and others across the country and around the world "to thank God, seek his wisdom for ourselves and our leaders, and ask him for his merciful intervention and healing in this time of crisis."

Barbour's notes that the spill threatens the "livelihoods of our fellow citizens, the environmental beauty of our coast, and our quality of life." Jindals's says "Louisianians all across the world are united in hope for an end to this catastrophic event and pray for" the coast's recovery.

Jindal, in fact, participated in a prayer vigil earlier this week where, according to the Louisiana Famly Forum (Tony Perkins old haunt,) "intercessors" laid hands upon him:

Pastors Dino Rizzo, Apostle Lloyd Benson, Bishop Ricky Sinclair, Bishop Raymond Johnson, and Pastor Dennis Blackwell led in prayers for the bereaved families, for our government officials, for the environment, for the people and businesses of the Gulf Coast, and for solutions to this economic and environmental crisis.

And they were not alone, as Southern Baptist Convention is calling on churches and Christians "to pray for the end of this catastrophe and for the homes, lives, cultures, and livelihoods of those in the Gulf Coast region" while John Stemberger of the Florida Family Policy Council "is working on a coordinated effort, and is asking believers and churches across America to unite in prayer for the Gulf this Sunday" and even Wallbuilders is "urging everyone across the nation to join with these states, asking for God's hand to be on all the decision-makers and lawmakers, that He would give them discernment and guidance, and that a solution would be forthcoming."

Interestingly, Wallbuilders' David Barton "drafted the prayer day proclamations for the governors to adapt."

Last week we posted on the toolkit that the Family Research Council was distributing to its members urging them to organize town hall events in opposition to healthcare reform in their local churches.

Well, it looks like this effort has gotten off to a fast start, thanks to Sen. David Vitter, who recently participated in one of these events which was organized by and featured FRC President Tony Perkins:

On his Facebook page, David Vitter just thanked Family Research Council President and former Louisiana legislator Tony Perkins for hosting a Vitter event in a church last night.

"Last night I participated in a community wide town hall in Greenwell Springs to discuss health care reform. Was a great meeting. Special thanks to Tony Perkins and a group of local churches who partnered together to host a panel discussion on health… care, allowing over 800 in attendance to participate in this important topic."

Several videos from the event have now appeared on YouTube and they show the event to be every bit as enlightening as we would expect.

Right off the bat, after Sen. Vitter thanks "Tony," he says that he is particularly delighted to finally participate in a church-based discussion about healthcare and hopes to have several more such faith-based discussions around the state.

Then came questions from the audience about the entire effort just being a power-grab by Obama, as well as questions about abortion and conscience protections.  At no point did Vitter try to correct the audience's misunderstandings and, instead, worked to reinforce them.

Then came this fascinating statement from an audience member in which he claimed that Vladimir Putin had recently written a column for Pravda urging President Obama not to try Marxism because it doesn't work before declaring that he was one of those uninsured that politicians keep talking about, but that he was uninsured by choice.  It seems that the audience member doesn't trust medicine and doesn't see a need for it and that what is really needed is to "get Americans weaned off of the medical care system all together" ... at which point the audience bursts into applause before the speaker goes on the cite a doctor in New Orleans who has been able to cure every cancer patient he has seen in the last twenty years in just three weeks by simply using Vitamin C:

This final video starts out with an attack on Van Jones, which is reinforced by Sen. Vitter who says that all of Obama's czars are unconstitutional. The next question is about the past writings of Obama's science adviser John Holdren, which has been a topic of right-wing outrage for several weeks now. Around the 4:00 mark of this video, Perkins' voice pops up in response to the Holdren question where he decries the "influence of authors who put these crazy ideas out there and are embraced by liberal politicians" and saying that he has "no dobut" that healthcare reform would lead to forced sterilization:

There have been several articles speculating, as far back as last year, that the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins might be considering a challenge to Louisiana Senator David Vitter stemming, in large part, from Vitter's ties to a prostitution ring.  

As such, as he looks ahead to his re-election campaign, Vitter has been working hard to seal off his right flank from any potential challenge, such as Perkins, by unleashing a flurry of legislation aimed at establishing himself as one of the Religious Right’s most committed and vocal allies on Capitol Hill.

But it looks like it might not be enough, because Politico has gotten Perkins to go on the record for the first time about his interest in possibly challenging Vitter ... and while Perkins is non-committal at the moment, he certainly sounds like someone who senses an opportunity:

Perkins tells POLITICO he just might [present a serious challenge for Vitter].

“I will say this: I have people in Louisiana encouraging me to consider it,” said Perkins, a former Louisiana legislator who joined the FRC after losing to Vitter in the 2002 Senate primary.

When Vitter’s name turned up in the phone book of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey in 2007, Perkins said “there’s room to make a mistake and come back” — and said that even he’d vote for his friend Vitter again if Vitter could show that he had “moved on” from the scandal.

Two years later, however, Perkins says it’s still a problem for Vitter.

“I don’t think he needs to say anything else about it, but I don’t think he can do anything else about it,” Perkins said. “Can people feel a sense of trust in him to publicly stand with him and support him and help him? Maybe he has [gotten to that point]. I know I still get some questions. I think he is certainly vulnerable [to] a challenge from the right — a candidate without issues.”

While Perkins is not generally known for making the sorts of outrageous statements that plague many of his Religious Right allies, if he thinks that he’d be a “candidate without issues,” he is sorely mistaken.

For its part, the National Republican Senatorial Committee says it'll be supporting Vitter in his re-election bid, but Perkins seems to sense that he just might be able to suck up enough of the right-wing vote in the primary to knock Vitter off:   

Having spent the past five years at the vanguard of the social conservative movement, Perkins could stand between Vitter and the conservative base he needs.

Perkins wouldn’t say for certain whether he’ll enter the race. He said he could decide to stay out of it for the sake of his family.

At the same time, however, he said: “Politically, it may be an advantageous time for me to run.”

The Times-Picayune reports that Sen. David Vitter opened the first day of the 111th Congress by unleashing a flurry of bills designed to endear himself to the Religious Right, on whom he is counting for support when he runs for re-election next year:

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has unleashed an onslaught of legislation, filing 34 bills and resolutions, on the first day of the 111th Congress that convened Tuesday.

Beyond making plain his intention to seek re-election in 2010, Vitter's opening-day volley also amounts to a political manifesto, staking unambiguous claim to issues dear to Christian conservatives -- abortion, public prayer, stem cell research, home schooling, drugs, the death penalty, illegal immigration and protecting the American flag -- with a thoroughness that leaves little room for any challenge on those issues from the right.

It'll be interesting to see how right-wing leaders respond this obvious attempt to woo them, considering that Vitter was linked to a prostitution ring back in 2007.  Knowing them, they have never been much for holding one of their ally's obvious hypocrisy against them when it comes to making political calculations and will probably rally to his defense as he seeks to maintain his seat in the Senate during the next election.