Emails

Bauer: "Jared Loughner ... Would Fit In Well With The Occupy Wall Street Movement"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 10/21/2011 9:46 am

We are not quite sure what it is that Gary Bauer actually does these days.  We know that he has been involved in the Emergency Committee For Israel that he founded with Bill Kristol, but mostly he just seems to send out daily emails to activists through his American Values organization.

And yesterday's update contained a couple of real head-scratchers, as Bauer oddly tried to tie the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords earlier this year to the Occupy Wall Street protests: 

As it turns out, the assassin, Jared Loughner, was an apolitical radical who would fit in well with the Occupy Wall Street movement ... [T]he pundits and talking heads turn a deaf ear to all the hyperbolic rhetoric on the left. They were quick to point out one or two odd signs at a Tea Party rally, but they ignore the blatant anti-Semitism in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Bauer then went on to offer his thoughts on the Viki Knox controversy where he offered up this bizarre explanation for why the teacher's union was defending her anti-gay statements:

Knox, by the way, happens to be black. The teachers’ unions won’t defend her because they have fully embraced the homosexual rights movement. And in the liberal pecking order of minority rights, gay trumps black.

Barton, Kern Stoke Fears That Gays And Lesbians Threaten Lives Of Critics

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 10/11/2011 10:46 am

Yesterday, David Barton and Rick Green hosted Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern on WallBuilders Live to discuss her new book, The Stoning of Sally Kern, and caution listeners about the dangers of saying “something disparaging about homosexuality.” Kern’s book details her political activism and the fallout of her claim that the “homosexual agenda is destroying this nation ... it’s the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” a sentiment she recently repeated, telling anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera that homosexuality is “more dangerous” than terrorism.

Barton said, “If you touch homosexuality, be prepared to pay a price,” warning that it “may cost your life.” Later in the interview, Green said Kern must have experienced a “physical fear” of the “militant” gay-rights activists, and Kern told her story of how she was prepared to lose her life over the issue.

Listen:

Barton: With all of the protection we have for free speech, there’s still a number of areas where you’re not free to speak out on certain things. If you touch homosexuality, be prepared to pay a price, not just attacks, it’s gonna cost you economically, other things as well, may cost your life. This is, the way people respond to what you say about homosexuality if you criticize it and we got Sally Kern today, State Rep from Oklahoma who experienced that first time, what happens if you exercise your right of free speech and happen to say something disparaging about homosexuality.

…

Kern: I have to be honest with you Rick, when I was sitting there in my car that day and when she told me that those emails were coming from homosexuals, honestly, fear gripped by whole body, because I was very aware of the homosexual lobbyists and the power that they have. And people say, ‘oh you’re so brave, so heroic,’ but I’m not, I’m just a sinner saved by grace and I was gripped with fear that day. I just said, ‘Lord, what have I done?’

Green: And not just I would think not just fear, not a political fear, physical fear; there’s a militant agenda out there as well.

Kern: It entered our mind but honestly, and I mentioned this in the book, the Saturday night when my husband and I sit down and really talked about this and prayed about it, when we asked ourselves the question, are we willing to even lose our lives over this? I can’t tell you, Rick, how liberating that was, it really was.

Mefferd Rejects Gheen’s Talk Of “Violent” And “Illegal” Activities Against The Government

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 8/26/2011 11:39 am

As first reported on Right Wing Watch, William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show and discussed the possibility of a military coup and other “extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent” to overthrow “Dictator Barack Obama.” While Gheen later denied the comments, even after they were replayed to him verbatim on Alan Colmes’s show, Mefferd yesterday weighed in on Gheen’s statements.

Mefferd strongly distanced herself from Gheen and made clear that she does not endorse Gheen’s extreme rhetoric. “I don’t think President Obama is a dictator. And I also don’t advocate the illegal or violent overthrow of the government; in fact William himself has now said that is not what he was trying to say either,” Mefferd said, “I don’t advocate military coups.”

Mefferd: I just want to make a quick clarification on a guest who was on my show the other day, William Gheen is the head of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC. We had had him on the show before and he was a good guest, he had some valid thoughts on the subject of illegal immigration. So we had talked to William Gheen before, he’s on the other side of the issue and we decided to invite him back on the show and find out what his thoughts were. And if you heard that interview you heard that William had some strong words of objection to the recent decision, he had some very strong words in some instances to this decision. And after the interview there were some far-left websites and radio shows who picked up on this, we’re getting some emails complaining that we allowed him to say some of the things he said.

So briefly I want to see this: in the case of William Gheen referring to President Obama as a dictator, that is not my opinion. I don’t think President Obama is a dictator. And I also don’t advocate the illegal or violent overthrow of the government; in fact William himself has now said that is not what he was trying to say either. I don’t advocate military coups.

So I just want to make that clear. I interview a lot of people on this show, and I’ll tell you quite honestly there are an awful lot of political and theological opinions that guests say and callers say on my show that I don’t agree with. But I tend to let people talk, and that tends to be more of my style. I think my listeners are smart enough to draw their own conclusions by people’s statements. So that is generally what I tend to do. I ask the question, I get out of the way and I allow people to decide for themselves whether or not the segment that was just aired was worthwhile. In this case you though know it’s a judgment call on every front whether or not to engage someone on a strong opinion with which you disagree or just to let it go and move on.

But later on when I was able to hear some of the remarks that he had made, I realized I should’ve engaged him right then and there and I should’ve just talked to him directly about what he had just said and clarified what he was really trying to say. So honestly at the time he had an awful a lot to say and the exact statement and question slipped past me at the time. And were I to go back and be able to it again I would’ve addressed it and I would’ve said something to William, and said, ‘William, is that really what you mean? Do you really mean what some people might interpret that last statement to say? Anyway, I thought it was worthwhile to let you know that William’s statements on those particular things did not reflect my views, at all.

Williams: Homosexuality And American Idol Ruining America

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 8/4/2011 1:33 pm

Armstrong Williams, the conservative columnist and radio talk show host, wrote in Townhall today that America will soon “be set adrift upon a sea of relativism with no direction, no purpose and no destination.” While positively comparing a television show in Afghanistan that revealed the story of a pregnant woman who had to quickly marry the father of her child to avoid a heavy jail sentence for pre-marital sex to the Casey Anthony case (which apparently represents most American families), Williams suggests that America has abandoned the “moral standards” that he believes still exist in Afghanistan.

Williams, who was sued by his male personal trainer for sexual harassment (they settled out of court), praised ancient Greek and Roman civilization for having homosexuality “shunned” because they realized pederasty had “weakened the state from within.” He even scorns the popular show American Idol for endorsing “idolatry” over the worship of God. Williams concludes that while laws to punish “moral crimes” in Afghanistan may be “draconian,” it is better than the U.S. where they go unpunished!

An utterly riveting cable TV show called the "Love Crimes of Kabul" follows the stories of Afghan women who have been imprisoned for breaking strict Sharia law governing sex outside of marriage. Their crimes would be hardly recognizable in the United States: adultery, fornication, prostitution and lewd behavior have become pretty much the norm here.

…

People naturally chafe under rules and customs that limit their choices. We all want immediate gratification. But moral wisdom teaches us restraint. The essential choices we call virtues were distilled over centuries of trial and error – from the time when homo-sapiens were not even aware of the biological processes of reproduction, through the Roman times when polygamy was the norm. Homosexuality was ultimately shunned because of its effects upon the social structure, when, in ancient Greece men's passion for boys became a distraction that weakened the state from within. It is interesting to note that among meditations of the Roman ruler and philosopher Marcus Aurelius is a passage praising his father for overcoming his love of boys.

…

The media is partially to blame for this. Rupert Murdoch's English tabloid shamelessly hacked into the private emails and phone messages of crime victims. As long they were selling papers, they could care less about how many lives they tore apart in the process. As we watched this spectacle we were all disgusted; and naturally so. But why are we not disgusted by a television program that actually calls itself 'American idol?' Why is idolatry celebrated in the public realm, while God is shunned?

I fear for this country in these times. I fear that as we lose our moral compass we will be set adrift upon a sea of relativism with no direction, no purpose and no destination. When that happens we might as well pack up and move to Afghanistan or some other place where at least they have moral standards. While their customs may be strange and their laws may be draconian, at least they have retained some sense of honor.

Lively: Gay Marriage Is A Sign Of The End Times

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 8/2/2011 2:42 pm

Earlier this year the The Boston Globe profiled notorious anti-gay activist Scott Lively and reported that he was going to be "toning down his antigay rhetoric and shifting his focus to helping the downtrodden."

Needless to say, this "kinder and gentler" Scott Lively was rather short-lived ... so it is no surprise that he is now writing pieces that are literally titled "'Gay Marriage' as a Sign of the End Times":

God has chosen rampant homosexuality to be a key warning sign for judgment of the world as a whole, and not just of individual nations ... I have made this point before, but it bears repeating. I am 53 years old. When I was born homosexuality was illegal throughout the entire world. In the space of just half a century this tiny 1-3% of the population have made themselves a global political power with greater influence in the courtrooms and legislatures of the world than the Church of Jesus Christ. This astonishing transformation surpasses that of Darwinism, Marxism, and even Islam in its speed and breadth of reach. To my thinking, this can only have been accomplished by the god of this world (Satan 2 Cor 4:4) who knows his time is short and is making his move. What is more alarming is the shocking apathy of the church, which I take as a sign of the apostasy warned about by Jesus in Matt 24:12. The “love of most” for the truth of God truly has grown cold.

Recently the State of New York legalized “gay marriage,” just in time for the “Gay Pride Parade” (that included many of NYC’s political elites), and for the first time, the United Nations officially declared homosexuality a “human right.” I am finding triumphal emails in my in-box from homosexual activists, gloating over their latest victory. In the past I would have found these irritating, but now they simply confirm my impression that the time is very short. I believe it is the same triumphalism described in Revelation 11:7-10 upon the murder of God’s two witnesses: “When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified…And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.” Why is the great city (Jerusalem) mystically called Sodom in the final days? I think because of the centrality of the spirit of sexual perversion in the Anti-Christ system. What “torments” worldly people? The simple truths of God.

Traditional Values Coalition Warns California Schools Will "Promote The Gay Lifestyle"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 6/20/2011 2:49 pm

Religious Right activists have been vigorously fighting a California bill that would make sure textbooks address the role of LGBT figures in the state’s history, even going so far as to urge parents to take their kids out of public schools if the bill is signed into law. Save California has warned of “sexual brainwashing” and a “tsunami of perversity” if the legislation passes, and now the virulently anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition is calling for people across the country to protest the bill. Benjamin Lopez of the TVC told Charisma that the bill represents politicians “messing with the minds and the innocence of children for their own twisted benefit”:

The FAIR Act, written by self-admitted homosexual state Sen. Mark Leno of San Francisco, will force all California schools to use textbooks and instructional materials that include homosexual, bisexual and transgender teachings. Despite its name, the Traditional Values Coalition says there is nothing fair, accountable, inclusive or respectful about it.

“The state of California is on the verge of financial collapse,” Benjamin Lopez, legislative advocate for Traditional Values Coalition, told Charisma News. “The last thing we need is to make an unnecessary expenditure to promote the gay lifestyle in California’s schools.”

…

“The victory and the nail in the coffin for the gay agenda” would be if there was a “ a groundswell across the country demanding textbook companies say no to gay teachings in textbooks,” Lopez explains. Lopez and the Traditional Values Coalition urge everyone to help stop the law from passing before it gets voted on at the State Assembly. “If they’re California residents, we want them to absolutely bombard the state assembly with phone calls, letters, emails and faxes, demanding that legislators reject SB 48,” Lopez pleads.

“For people across the country—for everyone outside of California looking in—they’ve got to think, 'As California goes, so goes the nation.' We need people outside of California to write their local legislators saying, 'Don’t even consider doing what they’re doing in California.'

“My very stern plea is for people ... to take action. [Lawmakers are] messing with the minds and the innocence of children for their own twisted benefit. If that doesn’t bug you, I don’t know what will,” Lopez says.

Barton: The Bible Opposes Net Neutrality

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 4/19/2011 2:08 pm

David Barton believes that everything should operate under Biblical principles, and according to Barton, the Bible even has a view on rules for Internet service providers like Net Neutrality. Here’s a hint: the Bible opposes it. As noted in People For the American Way’s new report, “Barton’s Bunk: Religious Right ‘Historian’ Hits the Big Time in Tea Party America,” Barton finds that the Bible always has a pro-corporate, pro-GOP message.

Barton and his partner Rick Green hosted Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) [no relation], a vocal foe of Net Neutrality who has received significant contributions from Net Neutrality opponents like Comcast, Verizon and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Net Neutrality ensures that Internet service providers can’t charge higher rates for faster delivery of content. The New York Times explains that Net Neutrality allows “Internet users [to] get access to any Web site on an equal basis” and without the policy, service providers can “give preferential treatment to content providers who pay for faster transmission, or to their own content, in effect creating a two-tier Web.”

But David Barton says that the Bible, Ben Franklin and the Pilgrims all opposed Net Neutrality because it violates the rights of huge corporations to charge higher rates and discriminate on content, calling it a “wicked” policy and “socialism on the Internet.” Apparently, the National Religious Broadcasters and the Christian Coalition, two prominent supporters of Net Neutrality, have missed the memo. But, David Barton insists, “'fair' is a word that no Christian should ever use in their vocabulary”:

Rick Green: Today, David a topic we actually haven’t covered that much, it has to do with the Internet, and it’s called Net Neutrality, a wonderful sounding name-

David Barton: But we talk about it today because it is a principle of free market. That’s a Biblical principle, that’s a historical principle, we have all these quotes from Ben Franklin, and Jefferson and Washington and others on free market and how important that is to maintain. That is part of the reason we have prosperity. This is what the Pilgrims brought in, the Puritans brought in, this is free market mentality. Net Neutrality sounds really good, but it is socialism on the Internet.

…

David Barton: This is the Fairness Doctrine applied to the Internet, and I’ll go back to what I believed for a long time is: fair is a word no Christian should ever use in their vocabulary. Fair has nothing to do with anything. What you want is justice, you don’t want fairness. Fairness is subjective, what I think is fair, what you think, what happened to Jesus wasn’t fair. That’s right, but we needed justice so God did that for us.

…

David Barton: This is really, I’m going to use the word wicked stuff, and I don’t use that word very often, but this is wicked stuff.

Even though David Barton claims to know that the Bible is decidedly against Net Neutrality, evidently he has no idea what Net Neutrality is, since he is decrying the policy as “redistribution of wealth through the Internet.”

David Barton: There's groups out there that their business requires a whole lot more bandwidth than, say, you and I do sending emails. I mean, if you're Skype, you got a lot of bandwidth being used. If you're YouTube, you got a lot of bandwidth going with videos. Guess what? You got more bandwidth, you're going to have to pay a little more.

Oh no. That's not fair. That's not Net Neutrality.

Well, if you don't pay more, these broadband providers say "we're going to cut you off because you're using more of our space." Government says "that's not fair, you can't do that."

Rick Green: So when they say "selectively block," what they mean is we're not going to let you choose who you need to charge more to.

David Barton: That's right, that's exactly right. I mean, if Skype uses eighty-five percent of the server space, you can't charge them eighty-five percent of the fees because that would be unfair. And if Skype says "well, we don't want to pay that," and you say "well, you're off our server," no you can't do that. You can't kick them off just because they won't pay.

I mean, this is crazy stuff. This is redistribution of wealth through the internet and it really is redistribution. This is socialism on the internet

TVC Front Group Frightens Seniors By Claiming The Bible Has Been Outlawed

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/3/2011 11:45 am

One of the unintended results of running this blog is that we sometimes get mistaken for the Religious Right groups that we monitor.  If you do a Google search for "Faith 2 Action" or "Generals International," for example, you see that a link to our posts about those groups tend to show up near the top of the search results.  As such, we frequently get emails mistakenly sent to us that are intended for them ... usually, angrily demanding that they stop mailing and/or calling them seeking donations.

And nine times out ten, these emails are intended for the Christian Seniors Association, which bills itself as a conservative alternative to the AARP but is really just a front group established by the Traditional Values Coalition to try and trick seniors out of the money. The CSA doesn't even have a website and if you didn't know it was a project of the TVC, you'd never be able to contact them, which is why we seem to get so many angry emails intended for them.

And, as if we needed more evidence that the CSA is a shady group willing to mislead donors in order to raise money, yesterday the Southern Policy Law Center's Hatewatch blog put up a post noting that their latest fundraising letter claims that the Hate Crimes Prevention Act has outlawed the Bible:

The anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) once again is turning to a highly valued traditional device to raise funds: fear and falsehoods.

The Christian Seniors Association (CSA), a front group of the TVC, recently sent out a fundraising letter claiming that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009, which added sexual orientation to the classes protected by federal hate crime legislation, “makes the Bible illegal ‘Hate Literature.’” The letter further claims that “under this law, criticism of homosexuality is deemed discrimination — just like racism,” and ultimately, the intent of the law is to “outlaw Christianity.”

The SPLC kindly sent us a digital copy of the letter and that is indeed what the CSA is claiming:

TVC Front Group Frightens Seniors By Claiming The Bible Has Been Outlawed

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 2/3/2011 11:45 am

One of the unintended results of running this blog is that we sometimes get mistaken for the Religious Right groups that we monitor.  If you do a Google search for "Faith 2 Action" or "Generals International," for example, you see that a link to our posts about those groups tend to show up near the top of the search results.  As such, we frequently get emails mistakenly sent to us that are intended for them ... usually, angrily demanding that they stop mailing and/or calling them seeking donations.

And nine times out ten, these emails are intended for the Christian Seniors Association, which bills itself as a conservative alternative to the AARP but is really just a front group established by the Traditional Values Coalition to try and trick seniors out of the money. The CSA doesn't even have a website and if you didn't know it was a project of the TVC, you'd never be able to contact them, which is why we seem to get so many angry emails intended for them.

And, as if we needed more evidence that the CSA is a shady group willing to mislead donors in order to raise money, yesterday the Southern Policy Law Center's Hatewatch blog put up a post noting that their latest fundraising letter claims that the Hate Crimes Prevention Act has outlawed the Bible:

The anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) once again is turning to a highly valued traditional device to raise funds: fear and falsehoods.

The Christian Seniors Association (CSA), a front group of the TVC, recently sent out a fundraising letter claiming that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) of 2009, which added sexual orientation to the classes protected by federal hate crime legislation, “makes the Bible illegal ‘Hate Literature.’” The letter further claims that “under this law, criticism of homosexuality is deemed discrimination — just like racism,” and ultimately, the intent of the law is to “outlaw Christianity.”

The SPLC kindly sent us a digital copy of the letter and that is indeed what the CSA is claiming:

Live Action Video Just The Beginning of Religious Right's Latest Attack on Planned Parenthood

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 2/2/2011 11:54 am

Within hours of the release of Lila Rose's latest hoax video attack on Planned Parenthood, Religious Right anti-choice leaders had already lined-up in support and began using it to demand that the organization be de-funded.

Taking down Planned Parenthood has been a primary goal of the Religious Right for years and it looks like plans have been in the works to exploiting this latest video for some time now, because these same leaders have already launched a new effort called Expose Planned Parenthood complete with its own website:

Anti-abortion groups will launch today an aggressive campaign aiming to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding.

A new website, Expose Planned Parenthood, went live late Tuesday backed by a coalition of national and local anti-abortion groups. The website, previewed exclusively to POLITICO, will serve as a hub for the movement’s efforts to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds.

...

The new anti-Planned Parenthood campaign, led by Susan B. Anthony List and Live Action, also includes Concerned Women for America, Americans United for Life, 40 Days for Life, Students for Life, the Family Research Council, and New Jersey Right to Life.

“If there is a point where we can say ‘this is too much,’ this is it,” Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser told POLITICO. “Contributing to a group willing to be a chief ally in the exploitation of women and girls is indeed too much. Taxpayer support of Planned Parenthood is just that.”

The site hosts an online action center where anti-abortion activists can lobby their members of Congress to support Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-Ind.) Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would strip the group of federal funding. The outreach campaign will ask activists to lobby members through emails, letters to the editor and letters to local Congressional offices.

And these same leaders are all joining together for a webcast tomorrow to be hosted by the Family Research Council:

A new undercover sting operation shows abortion giant Planned Parenthood's willingness to exploit the victims of child prostitution.

Shocking undercover video footage reveals a Planned Parenthood clinic manager assuring a pimp that the clinic would secretly offer full access to abortions and other services -- despite knowing full well that the girls were underage victims.

To respond swiftly to this crisis -- and to take decisive action to strip Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer funding -- the pro-life movement is uniting this THURSDAY NIGHT on a nationwide webcast ... and your attendance is critical!

Register today for our webcast and you'll be among the first to see the disturbing undercover video footage -- that already has Planned Parenthood in panic mode -- and you'll learn how YOU can take action to help defund Planned Parenthood, which received more than $363 million in taxpayer dollars over the last year

FRC Action President Tony Perkins will be joined by Lila Rose, president of Live Action. Lila will show the video footage, explain the specifics of the sting operation, and detail Planned Parenthood's inexcusable actions.

Joining the Webcast will be top pro-life leaders, including:

* LILA ROSE, Live Action
* MARJORIE DANNENFELSER, Susan B. Anthony List
* TONY PERKINS, Family Research Council
* DAVID BEREIT, 40 Days for Life
* ABBY JOHNSON, Former Planned Parenthood Director, Now Pro-Life Activist and Author
* DR. ALVEDA KING, Priests for Life
* WENDY WRIGHT, Concerned Women for America
* CHARMAINE YOEST, Americans United for Life
* STEVE WAGNER, The Renewal Forum
* KRISTAN HAWKINS, Students for Life of America

Amazing, isn't it, how in less than 24 hours after the release of this video, the Religious Right had already unified behind a press release, created a website, and coordinated a webcast. 

Live Action Video Just The Beginning of Religious Right's Latest Attack on Planned Parenthood

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 2/2/2011 11:54 am

Within hours of the release of Lila Rose's latest hoax video attack on Planned Parenthood, Religious Right anti-choice leaders had already lined-up in support and began using it to demand that the organization be de-funded.

Taking down Planned Parenthood has been a primary goal of the Religious Right for years and it looks like plans have been in the works to exploiting this latest video for some time now, because these same leaders have already launched a new effort called Expose Planned Parenthood complete with its own website:

Anti-abortion groups will launch today an aggressive campaign aiming to strip Planned Parenthood of its federal funding.

A new website, Expose Planned Parenthood, went live late Tuesday backed by a coalition of national and local anti-abortion groups. The website, previewed exclusively to POLITICO, will serve as a hub for the movement’s efforts to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds.

...

The new anti-Planned Parenthood campaign, led by Susan B. Anthony List and Live Action, also includes Concerned Women for America, Americans United for Life, 40 Days for Life, Students for Life, the Family Research Council, and New Jersey Right to Life.

“If there is a point where we can say ‘this is too much,’ this is it,” Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser told POLITICO. “Contributing to a group willing to be a chief ally in the exploitation of women and girls is indeed too much. Taxpayer support of Planned Parenthood is just that.”

The site hosts an online action center where anti-abortion activists can lobby their members of Congress to support Rep. Mike Pence’s (R-Ind.) Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act, which would strip the group of federal funding. The outreach campaign will ask activists to lobby members through emails, letters to the editor and letters to local Congressional offices.

And these same leaders are all joining together for a webcast tomorrow to be hosted by the Family Research Council:

A new undercover sting operation shows abortion giant Planned Parenthood's willingness to exploit the victims of child prostitution.

Shocking undercover video footage reveals a Planned Parenthood clinic manager assuring a pimp that the clinic would secretly offer full access to abortions and other services -- despite knowing full well that the girls were underage victims.

To respond swiftly to this crisis -- and to take decisive action to strip Planned Parenthood of all taxpayer funding -- the pro-life movement is uniting this THURSDAY NIGHT on a nationwide webcast ... and your attendance is critical!

Register today for our webcast and you'll be among the first to see the disturbing undercover video footage -- that already has Planned Parenthood in panic mode -- and you'll learn how YOU can take action to help defund Planned Parenthood, which received more than $363 million in taxpayer dollars over the last year

FRC Action President Tony Perkins will be joined by Lila Rose, president of Live Action. Lila will show the video footage, explain the specifics of the sting operation, and detail Planned Parenthood's inexcusable actions.

Joining the Webcast will be top pro-life leaders, including:

* LILA ROSE, Live Action
* MARJORIE DANNENFELSER, Susan B. Anthony List
* TONY PERKINS, Family Research Council
* DAVID BEREIT, 40 Days for Life
* ABBY JOHNSON, Former Planned Parenthood Director, Now Pro-Life Activist and Author
* DR. ALVEDA KING, Priests for Life
* WENDY WRIGHT, Concerned Women for America
* CHARMAINE YOEST, Americans United for Life
* STEVE WAGNER, The Renewal Forum
* KRISTAN HAWKINS, Students for Life of America

Amazing, isn't it, how in less than 24 hours after the release of this video, the Religious Right had already unified behind a press release, created a website, and coordinated a webcast. 

2012 Candidates Weekly Update 1/11/10

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 1/11/2011 10:28 am

Michele Bachmann

PAC: Vast majority of MICHELE PAC money went to Iowa politicians or PACs (National Journal, 1/10).

Religious Right: Potential 2012 bid wins plaudits from Religious Right activists (RWW, 1/10).

Iowa: Speaks to Iowans for Tax Relief PAC in Des Moines on 1/21 (Iowans for Tax Relief PAC, 1/7).

Mitch Daniels

Indiana: Makes 7th State of the State address with emphasis on education (South Bend Tribune, 1/11).

CPAC: To address the Conservative Political Action Conference along with other 2012 prospects (Politico, 1/6).

Newt Gingrich

Religious Right: Invited to speak at the Freedom Federation’s Awakening 2011 along with other potential 2012 candidates (RWW, 1/10).

Iowa: Listed to address Iowa Renewable Fuels Association in Des Moines on Janurary 25th (Des Moines Register, 1/10).

Mike Huckabee

Iowa: New poll shows Huckabee on top with 24% support from Republicans (TPM, 1/10).

Poll: Gallup finds in nationwide poll that Huckabee has the highest favorable rating among potential GOP candidates (WSJ, 1/10).

Reproductive Rights: Scheduled to address anti-choice fundraise in Tennessee on February, 14th (Knoxville News Sentinel, 1/9).

Sarah Palin

Extremism: Faces torrent of criticism over "bullseye" map with target on Giffords's congressional district, defends herself to Glenn Beck (The Week & NYDN, 1/10).

Reality TV: Doesn't sign on for a second season of Sarah Palin's Alaska (Forbes, 1/10).

Tim Pawlenty

2012: Tells newspaper he is "seriously considering running for president" (St. Petersburg Times, 1/10).

Book: Memoir focuses on his faith, attacks on Obama (MN Public Radio, 1/8).

Palin: Calls Sarah Palin "a force of nature" (Mediaite, 1/7).

Mike Pence

Reproductive Rights: Introduces legislation to de-fund Planned Parenthood (Human Events, 1/10).

2012: Tells an Indiana Rotary Club that he will decide on future political plans by the end of January (The Republic, 1/10).

South Carolina: Keynote speaker for South Carolina’s America Conference (Politico, 1/4).

Mitt Romney

Foreign affairs: Met with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai as plan of tour of Afghanistan and Middle East (Boston Globe, 1/10).

Poll: Pew poll has Romney as most competitive candidate against Obama in Nevada (UPI, 1/10).

Rick Santorum

Religious Right: Speaks with group founded by right-wing activist Ovide Lamontagne (Granite Oath PAC, 1/10).

New Hampshire: Hires GOP Congressman Frank Guinta’s strategist as state director of his America’s Foundation PAC (Union Leader, 1/5).

GOP: Says Romney’s Massachusetts health care law will make it “very hard for us to nominate” him (National Journal, 1/4).

LaBarbera: "If You Are Not On The SPLC Hate List, You Are Not Doing Enough"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 12/6/2010 12:34 pm

Last week, Peter LaBarbera interviewed Barbara Anderson of the Minnesota Family Council and Andy Birkey of the Minnesota Independent reports that the discussion eventually turned to the topic of the Southern Poverty Law Center having designated LaBarbera's Americans for Truth About Homosexuality as anti-gay hate group, which Anderson called "a badge of honor," prompting LaBarbera to assert that if you didn't find your group on the list, "you are not doing enough":

The Minnesota Family Council’s Barb Anderson sat down with Peter LaBarbera of Americans for the Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) for a radio interview recently. The duo talked about bringing “ex-gays” into the Anoka-Hennepin School District and the fact that AFTAH is now listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a designation Anderson calls a “badge of honor.” The organization recently added 13 new groups to its hate-group map, many for anti-gay positions. The Minnesota Family Council, which opposes homosexuality, has associations with a number of groups that are now on the SPLC list.

“We are one of the rare groups that is opposed single-mindedly against the homosexual activist movement,” said LaBarbera, who founded AFTAH in 1996. “The so-called gay lobby has reached the zenith of its power. They are everywhere.”

“I don’t feel like a homophobe; as one guy said, I’m homo-nauseated,” he continued. “They are everywhere. You can’t get away from them, even in the schools, so today we are interviewing Barb Anderson of the Minnesota Family Council.”

Both LaBarbera and Anderson agreed that AFTAH’s recognition by the SPLC is a point of pride.

“There’s a lot of hatred out there in the so-called gay lobby,” LaBarbera said.

Anderson agreed: “Absolutely. They call us a hate group but the emails and the responses we get from them are just full of anger and hateful comments that they make towards us.”

“I think it’s becoming perhaps a badge of honor to be called a hate group,” said Anderson.

LaBarbera added, “If you are not on the SPLC hate list, you are not doing enough.”

“You are not doing your job,” agreed Anderson. “I think the greatest threat to our freedom and to the health and well-being of our children is from this radical homosexual agenda which is just so pervasive.”

Christian Conservative Must Replace Jewish TX House Speaker Because Christians "Do The Best Jobs Over All"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 12/6/2010 12:09 pm

For the last few weeks, we've been chronicling efforts by right-wing activists in Texas to replace Republican House Speaker Joe Straus, who is Jewish, with a true "Christian conservative." And last week we noted that while David Barton was saying that the efforts to replace Strauss had nothing to do with his faith, State Republican Executive Committee member John Cook was sending out emails saying "We elected a house with Christian, conservative values [and] we now want a true Christian, conservative running it."

Now, via The Washington Monthly, we see that the Texas Observer's Abby Rapoport has gotten Cook to speak on the record about his campaign, allowing him to explain that conservative Christians "do the best jobs over all" and that he could not possibly be bigoted against Straus because "Jesus Christ is a Jew, and he's my favorite person that's ever been on this earth": 

And Cook, who stands by his email, doesn't mince words: he maintains that his demands are in no way bigoted. Here's a summary of our conversation, and I'll leave it to readers to judge.

"When I got involved in politics, I told people I wanted to put Christian conservatives in leadership positions," he told me, explaining that he only supports Christian conservative candidates in Republican primary races.

"I want to make sure that a person I'm supporting is going to have my values. It's not anything about Jews and whether I think their religion is right or Muslims and whether I think their religion is right. ... I got into politics to put Christian conservatives into office. They're the people that do the best jobs over all."

...

Cook said his opposition was not about Straus' religion, although he prefers Christian candidates.

"They're some of my best friends," he said of Jews, naming two friends of his. "I'm not bigoted at all; I'm not racist" ... Cook was absolute that his position was not bigoted.

"My favorite person that's ever been on this earth is a Jew," he said. "How can they possibly think that if Jesus Christ is a Jew, and he's my favorite person that's ever been on this earth?"

Barton Says Antisemitism Not Playing a Role In TX Speaker Race

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 12/1/2010 1:33 pm

A few weeks back, we noted that Religious Right activists in Texas were lining-up against Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and that the campaign had started to take on religious overtones as activists openly sought to replace Straus, who is Jewish, with a true "Christian conservative."

David Barton has been deeply involved in this effort and he even produced a six minute video outlining the reasons that Straus needs to be removed.  Starting at the 2:20 mark, Barton claims that the campaign against Straus is in no way rooted in antisemitism:

Also not surprisingly, liberals and those from left-of-center have come to the defense of Speaker Straus. For example, Harvey Kronberg, editor of a popular political newsletter, is claiming that the conservative movement against Straus is being fueled by antisemitism. But most Texans are unaware of Straus' honorable Jewish heritage and it wouldn't matter if they did know, for they are not reacting against his venerable religion, but rather against his liberalism.

While Barton is claiming publicly that the effort against Straus has nothing to do with his religion, emails obtained by the Texas Observer seem to suggest otherwise:

Well in case you thought the bout of anti-Semitism in the Speaker's race was over, think again. An email between State Republican Executive Committee members, obtained by the Observer, shows some Republicans at high levels are concerned at the idea of a non-Christian Speaker of the House—sentiments earlier expressed by some activists.

"We elected a house with Christian, conservative values," SREC member John Cook wrote Tuesday morning to other SREC members. "We now want a true Christian, conservative running it. This is not about Straus, this is about getting what the people want."

Religious Right Wants Jewish TX House Speaker Replaced With a "True Christian" Conservative

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 11/17/2010 2:12 pm

Back in 2009, a battle erupted in the Texas House of Representatives as Republicans fought over which member would serve as Speaker of the House.  The Religious Right lined up behind Tom Craddick, but everyone else supported Joe Straus who ended up winning, leading Rick Scarborough to decry it as a "coup."

And now a similar battle is unfolding yet again, as the same coalition of right-wing activists have mounted an effort to replace Straus with someone more inclined to do their bidding:

A group of conservative groups is trying to capitalize on that frustration, issuing a letter Nov. 4 calling for a new Speaker. The signatories include representatives from a lot of major conservative groups, including Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, Texas Right to Life, Americans for Prosperity, the Texas Eagle Forum, [Vision America,] Liberty Institute, former Republican Party of Texas Chairman Cathie Adams, and former Republican Party of Texas vice-chairman David Barton. Of particular concern to grass roots conservatives is the fate of bills requiring showing photo ID prior to voting and bills that limit property taxes.

And, not surprisingly, the effort has started to take on religious overtones: 

[A] handful of outside socially conservative groups are running a fairly deceitful but noisy campaign trying to pressure lawmakers who actually like the speaker’s management style to vote against him.

They blame him for the failure of the sonogram bill but the pro-life Texans for Life said the claim is false. They blame him for the failure of voter ID by permitting the Democratic filibuster, but that’s false. Straus followed the direction of his colleagues in the Republican caucus

They said that Straus appointed moderate chairman, but the budget under Straus was more fiscally conservative than the last one under Craddick.

Now, the so-called grassroots effort has crossed over the line with coordinated email and robocall programs calling for a true Christian speaker. Straus is Jewish.

The Texas Freedom Network reports that supporters have also been sending out emails explaining the importance of replaced Straus with a Christian:

Has the religious right’s effort to topple Texas House Speaker Joe Straus become an anti-Semitic smear campaign? Quorum Report (subscription required) has now posted various e-mails from groups and individuals opposed to Straus, who is Jewish. Excerpts:

“Straus is going down in Jesus name.”

“[W]e finally found a Christian conservative who decided not to be pushed around by the Joe Straus thugs.”

Another e-mail calls for replacing Straus as House Speaker so

“…that our nation will again prosper and hold to values that the Christians and Republicans hold so dear in their souls.”

Straus only needs the support of 76 members and has reportedly already secured pledges from nearly twice that number, but his opponents are not giving up. 

In fact, just today, Mike Huckabee through his support behind challenger Ken Paxton:

While Republicans across Texas and across the nation had many great victories on November 2nd, the battle for true conservatism is not over. Now, as the majority Party in many State Houses, and the U.S. House, Republicans have the duty and ability to select strong conservatives to be new Speakers of the House. That position should be filled by one who has the knowledge, ability and relationships to create and push a strong conservative agenda. In Texas, that’s Ken Paxton.

Huck PAC and I are pleased to again endorse Ken, this time for Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

Soon to start his fifth term in office, Ken has twice been named "Texas Taxpayer Hero" by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. Ken proudly believes in the sanctity of life, and supporting conservative family values like traditional marriage between one man and one woman. Ken recognizes that the matters of social issues directly impact our economy, and I’m confident having Ken’s conservative voice lead the new Texas House of Representatives will result in some great accomplishments.

I hope you will join me in supporting Ken Paxton. Texas is fortunate to have him serving in the State House, let’s make sure we make him the next Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

Meet Tim Griffin: Karl Rove’s Man in Congress

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 11/10/2010 12:13 pm

Following last Tuesday's election, RWW will bring you our list of the "The Ten Scariest Republicans Heading to Congress." Our fifth candidate profile is on Tim Griffin of Arkansas:

Running in an open Democratic district, Tim Griffin defeated progressive champion Joyce Elliott to win the election to represent Arkansas’s 2nd Congressional District.

Tim Griffin worked in the two Bush presidential campaigns and McCain’s 2008 campaign as the Republicans’ chief opposition researcher. In 2000, he said with regards to his opposition research department: “We think of ourselves as the creators of the ammunition in a war…. We make the bullets.” Conservative columnist Robert Novak called Griffin “a protégé of Karl Rove, who is a leading practitioner of opposition research — the digging up of derogatory information about political opponents.”

He received notoriety in 2004 for his work to advance the false smears propagated by the discredited group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

Griffin next came to light when President Bush appointed him U.S. Attorney as part of his ongoing efforts to politicize the Department of Justice. “In December 2006, US Attorney Bud Cummings was fired from his district in Northeast Arkansas and replaced with Tim Griffin,” writes investigative journalist Shannyn Moore, as the Bush Administration used a little known provision of the USA Patriot Act to avoid confirmation hearings and votes by the US Senate. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNaulty later testified that “Cummings was fired to make a place for Griffin at the urging of Karl Rove and Harriet Miers,” the former White House Counsel. Kyle Sampson, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’s Chief of Staff, wrote in an email that “getting him appointed was important to Harriet, Karl, etc.”

Paul Charlton, who was also ousted in the Bush Administration’s Purge of US Attorneys, said that Griffin “spread the rumors around the White House that Bud Cummins was not a good U.S. attorney” in order to get him fired. Another U.S. Attorney who was pushed out during the purge, David Iglesias, maintains that Tim Griffin “never should have been U.S. Attorney, he was fundamentally unqualified.”

When defending Griffin’s nomination, the Bush Administration used “misleading talking points” which significantly exaggerated his experience as a prosecutor.

Griffin continued his deeply political work while serving as a U.S. Attorney, but was forced to resign in 2007 when he was caught in a “vote caging” operation to prevent minorities from voting. The BBC uncovered emails sent by Griffin during the 2004 campaign which included ‘caging lists’ to bar typically marginalized groups voting, and Griffin’s “caging lists were heavily weighted with minority voters including homeless individuals, students and soldiers sent overseas.”

According to Iglesias, his management of the vote caging maneuvers represents “reprehensible conduct and it may be illegal.” As a result of his disreputable background, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) rated him one of the “most corrupt” candidates for Congress.

When he was not working in the Bush Administration or for GOP campaigns, Griffin was a high-paid consultant and earned hundreds of thousands of dollars while working for “lobbying and consulting firms on shadowy causes,” including the corporate astro-turf campaign that was fighting Alaska’s Clean Water Initiative.

Throughout his congressional campaign, Griffin has closely followed the Karl Rove-playbook of appealing to both corporate interests and the Religious Right. Griffin wants to repeal health care reform and once supported the elimination of corporate taxes in favor of a national sales tax. At a candidate forum, he even went out of his way to laud the state’s relatively low wages for workers and anti-union laws.

An opponent of equal rights and a woman’s right to choose, Griffin supports a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, believes that employers should be allowed to fire their employees due to their sexual orientation, and has pledged to protect the discriminatory Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA). The fervently anti-choice group Americans United for Life Action ran ads boosting Griffin and criticizing his opponent, saying that she does not care about “the life of an innocent child.”

After a long career of dirty tricks, corporate astro-turfing, and Rovian politics, Griffin is a darling of the Republican leadership and set to become a star member of the GOP’s freshman class.

Watch this segment from the Bill Moyers Journal on Tim Griffin:

 

 

 

Scarborough: Pastors Must Use Politics To Maintain Order Until Jesus Returns

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 10/6/2010 11:21 am

You have to admire Vision America's Rick Scarborough for finally giving up the pretense of being "nonpartisan" and openly admitting that he votes Republican 90% of the time.

Scarborough claims to be a "Christocrat," but since he freely admits that he votes Republican as a "matter of principle," it's pretty obvious that when he tells people to vote a followers of Jesus Christ, he is really saying "vote Republican."

As such, it comes as no surprise that he is sending out emails seeking to get other pastors likewise commited to voting Republican in the coming elections:

Next year Texas will receive four additional Congressional Seats in the House of Representatives. Currently Republicans hold a slim three vote majority in the Texas House of Representatives and the party that holds the majority in the Texas House will control how the new seats are allocated through redistricting. Both parties decry the politics involved in redistricting, but the fact remains that either the Republicans or the Democrats will draw those lines and you can rest assured they will draw them up in such a way to affect outcomes. Right now millions of dollars from liberals are pouring into Texas from around the country seeking to buy enough seats in our state legislature to assure a liberal outcome.

I believe that Pastors and Christians are the secret to making sure these efforts fail.

Are both parties the same? According to the non-partisan American Conservative Union, Democrats vote for abortion and for the redefinition of traditional marriage approximately 85% of the time while the Republicans vote exactly opposite. That means that if Democrats control our state legislature, Texas will send a majority of liberal Democrats back to Washington DC in 2012 and for the next ten years.

Your vote on November 2nd does matter. And what your Pastors says and does matters even more because of the tremendous influence for good or bad that he possesses. I am a Minister who believes that every Pastor should address moral issues from the pulpit, including encouraging their congregations to vote, not as Republicans or Democrats but as sons and daughters of Jesus Christ.

And to that end, Scarborough has also recorded this accompanying video in which he explains that while Jesus might be returning at any moment, pastors are called up to maintain order and establish righteousness until he does ... and the way that they do that is by getting people to vote for Godly conservative candidates in the upcoming election:

My name is Rick Scarborough and I want to give you a greeting in Jesus' name. We're here in my office in Nacogdoches, Texas where I headquarter an outreach to pastors all across America.

I'm speaking to you because I need your help. A lot of times preachers won't listen to anyone talk about politics. I want to speak to your pastor for two or three minutes, so I want to ask you if you find worth in this - watch it all - if you think it's worthy, to send it when an email covering personally to your pastor and urge him to watch what I am about to say.

Pastor, when the people go to the polls on November the second, just three weeks away from the time of this taping, they're going to choose either conservative leadership or continued liberal leadership. I think most of us who preach and pastor and minister to people and pick up the remains of the liberal agenda through broken lives, abortions, homosexuality, and all the attendant ills that go with all of these things that are happening in our country, shake our heads in disbelief and say "how did this happen and how can it be stopped?"

So of us believe that a lot of these things have to happen before Jesus returns and I live every day of my life anticipating the return of Christ. But frankly, a thousand years with the Lord is like a day, and a day is but a thousand years and while we anticipate the imminent return of Christ, it may be another generation or longer before Christ comes. And what you and I have got to do is maintain order, establish righteousness in the public place until he comes.

I'm not asking you to depart from preaching the Gospel, I would never do that and I know you wouldn't do it if I asked. But I am asking you to see the urgency of this election. I am asking you to encourage your people to vote not as Republicans or Democrats but as followers of Jesus Christ and particularly this election year on November the second.

I urge you to stand in your pulpit and remind the people that their rulers will make the laws under which they will live. And the only way to reverse the direction of this country is to elect righteous men and women.

We are providing though our organization, at VisionAmericaAction.org, down-loadable free voter guides, I'll be sending you emails with all the right information where you can download nonpartisan voter guides. We're hosting luncheons across the state that many of you pastors will get invitations to over the next couple of weeks. I want to urge you that when you get that invitation to respond to it. And I want you to pray for the redemption of this nation. It is now or never for the church and the only hope of this church being mobilized that you and I attend is for you and I to stand before those people and say "vote your values on November the second."

Pastor, would you help me?

Our website is VisionAmericaAction.org. We have another educational website, VisionAmerica.org. Please look at what we have to say there and download the materials. We even have preaching materials there for you.

God bless you, dear brother. I wish you well and look forward to meeting you soon.

Why The Religious Right Never Talks About Divorce

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 9/30/2010 10:40 am

Via Al Mohler we get this fascinating study by Mark A. Smith of the University of Washington in "Political Science Quarterly" entitled "Religion, Divorce, and the Missing Culture War in America" [PDF].

In it, Smith examines why Religious Right groups who spend all of their time talking about family values and the sanctity of marriage seem to give only lip-service, at best, to fighting divorce, despite the fact that it is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible. The Right may mentione it, generally when bemoaning the deteriorating culture, but they invest little to no effort in actually trying to change the laws to make it more difficult to obtain a divorce.

Smith notes that neither Jerry Falwell with his Moral Majority nor Pat Robertson with his Christian Coalition paid much attention to the issue; a trend which continues today with the Family Research Council: 

The FRC regularly sends email alerts to its members and supporters in an attempt to inform, persuade, and reinforce their attitudes and beliefs about matters of interest to the group. In 2006 and 2007, the FRC dispatched hundreds of these, most of which contained three paragraph-length items. Surprisingly for an organization that structures its activities around marriage and the family, only 8 of the 1,366 items centered on divorce. In the context of its total volume of communication with members and supporters, the FRC rarely broached the topic of divorce. The organization has stated that “we will not relent in our insistence to reform divorce laws,” but that abstract support has
not been matched by a sustained commitment to spending time or resources on the issue.

Perhaps the FRCʼs emails do not accurately reflect its priorities, meaning that analyzing a different facet of the groupʼs activities would yield a different answer. Accordingly, it will be useful to examine the messages the FRC expresses when it broadcasts its views through the mass media. As part of a larger strategy to influence both the mass public and political leaders, the FRCʼs staff regularly write editorials and attempt to publish them in leading news outlets. During 2006 and 2007, the staff succeeded in placing editorials on topics falling within the organizationʼs mission, including abstinence programs in schools, gay rights and hate crimes, abortion laws in the states, and judicial activism regarding online pornography. Yet FRC staff also published editorials that criticized wasteful government spending, warned against universal health care, and challenged the science behind global warming. Certainly no one could deny that government spending, health care, and global warming are important subjects for American citizens and political leaders to consider. For an organization whose self-definition holds that it “champions marriage and the family,” however,
these issues are considerably removed from its core mission.

The FRC has stated that constraints of budget, time, and staff prevent it from engaging questions surrounding same-sex marriage and heterosexual divorce at the same time, but it managed to allocate its scarce resources to addressing many other issues of current interest. Even if one could justify on practical or biblical grounds prioritizing gay marriage over divorce, such a view could hardly justify pushing divorce all the way to the bottom of the pecking order, below issues with only a tenuous connection to marriage and the family. Of course, a comprehensive search of all of the FRCʼs communications with members, the media, and government officials from 1983 to the present would probably uncover sporadic advocacy for changing public policy regarding divorce. Such a finding would not undermine the conclusion drawn here, namely that the subject occupies a low spot on the groupʼs priority list. Indeed, in the statement from its Web site quoted above, the FRC conceded that it spends little time on divorce.

Smith notes that FRC's lack of focus on divorce is especially odd given that FRC President Tony Perkins authored the nationʼs first covenant marriage bill back when he was a state legislator in Louisiana. 

But Smith also notes that there is very little chance that FRC or any other Religious Right group is going to "move beyond just saying that they endorse divorce reform and actually turn that abstract support into concrete action" because Americans so widely accept divorce to such an extent that even a significant portion of the Religious Right's base would oppose such efforts:

Needless to say, it is not a winning strategy for mobilization to tell your potential constituents that they have committed immoral acts that you are attempting to restrict through governmental regulations. Without an organized and vocal constituency making positions on divorce a litmus test for political support, it is difficult to imagine how the issue could join the ongoing culture war.

Ralph Reed "Proud" Of His Work For Jack Abramoff: "It Was Outstanding & It Advanced Sound Public Policy"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 9/22/2010 2:25 pm

Last night I watched "Casino Jack and the United States of Money," a documentary all about the shady dealings of Jack Abramoff and his cronies.  One of those cronies was Ralph Reed, who just so happened to be on Alan Colmes' radio program last night pitching his new novel "The Confirmation."

First, Colmes asked Reed about his infamous "I do guerrilla warfare ... You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag" quote, which Reed claimed was simply a poor choice of words for his method of taking on the boring, ground-level grunt work like knocking on doors and turning out voters - it is not sexy or flashy, but it wins elections.

Colmes then turned to Reed's work with Jack Abramoff exploiting his clout within the Religious Right to protect Abramoff's client's gambling interests, which Reed defended on the grounds that he made it clear that he would not accept any money that was derived from gambling and never was. 

Of course, as I explained several years ago when I wrote a report of Reed and his ties to Abramoff, this explanation is entirely self-serving and frankly rather pointless, as Reed was fully aware of why Abramoff was working on there and where the funding for the effort was coming from, which is why it had to be routed through Grover Norquist in order to hide its origin:

In 1999, Abramoff subcontracted Reed’s firm to generate opposition to attempts to legalize a state-sponsored lottery and video poker in Alabama, an effort that was bankrolled by the Choctaw Tribe in order to eliminate competition to its own casino in neighboring Mississippi. Reed promised that Century Strategies was “opening the bomb bays and holding nothing back” and his firm ultimately received $1.3 million from the Choctaws for this effort, which included engaging the Alabama chapter of the Christian Coalition, as well as influential right-wing figures such as James Dobson, to work to defeat the proposals.

The strategy had one small problem: the Alabama Christian Coalition had an explicit policy that it “will not be the recipient of any funds direct or in-direct or any in-kind direct or indirect from gambling interests.” (Emphasis in original.) Knowing this, Reed and Abramoff worked to hide the source of the $850,000 paid to the Christian Coalition for its anti-gambling efforts by funneling money from the Choctaws through Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, DC anti-tax organization headed by their old College Republican friend Grover Norquist. When asked why the tribe’s money had to be funneled through conduits such as ATR, a Choctaw representative stated it was because Reed did not want it known that casino money was funding his operation: “It was our understanding that the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns.”

Nonetheless, Reed repeatedly assured the Christian Coalition that the funding for its work was not coming from gambling interests. This was technically true as the Choctaws were paying for it out of their non-gambling revenue, though their objective was obviously to protect their own gambling interests and revenue. According to emails obtained during a Senate investigation into Abramoff’s activities and reported in the media, Reed was well aware of who was paying for this anti-gambling effort. When the information began to surface in the press and the Christian Coalition learned of the source of the $850,000 it had received, it demanded an explanation from Reed who apologized in a letter saying he should have “explained that the contributions came from the Choctaws,” thus admitting that he had been fully aware of the source of the funding. But by the time Reed offered his “after-the-fact apology,” the gambling initiative had been defeated and the Christian Coalition had been duped.

When word of Reed’s work for Abramoff first broke, Reed claimed that he had “no direct knowledge of [Abramoff’s lobbying firm’s] clients or their interests.” But according to the report recently released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Abramoff’s bilking of the tribes, Reed was informed by Abramoff as early as 1999 that the money that was funding his anti-gambling operations was coming from the casino-owning Choctaw tribe.

The report published an email Abramoff sent to Reed instructing him to “page me with a page of no more than 90 words ... informing me of your completion of the budget and giving me a total budget figure with category breakdowns. Once I get this, I will call Nell [Rodgers] at Choctaw and get it approved.” A subsequent email to Reed asked him to send “invoices as soon as possible so I can get Choctaw to get us checks asap.”

Thus, Reed was clearly aware that the funding for his anti-gambling work was coming from the Choctaw and that he was indirectly working to protect the tribe’s multi-million dollar gambling interests. Despite the repeated references to the Choctaw in Abramoff’s emails, Reed continued to publicly insist that he did not know the source of the funding.

Reed told Colmes that he would not accept this sort of work today, which is not surprising given that it was this very work which caused him to lose his race to be the GOP nominee Lt. Governor of Georgia, but insists that he did nothing wrong and that the work he did for Abramoff "was outstanding, I'm proud of it, and it advanced sound public policy":

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Bauer: "Jared Loughner ... Would Fit In Well With The Occupy Wall Street Movement"
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Friday 10/21/2011, 9:46am
We are not quite sure what it is that Gary Bauer actually does these days.  We know that he has been involved in the Emergency Committee For Israel that he founded with Bill Kristol, but mostly he just seems to send out daily emails to activists through his American Values organization. And yesterday's update contained a couple of real head-scratchers, as Bauer oddly tried to tie the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords earlier this year to the Occupy Wall Street protests:  As it turns out, the assassin, Jared Loughner, was an apolitical radical who would fit in well with the Occupy... MORE
Barton, Kern Stoke Fears That Gays And Lesbians Threaten Lives Of Critics
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 10/11/2011, 10:46am
Yesterday, David Barton and Rick Green hosted Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern on WallBuilders Live to discuss her new book, The Stoning of Sally Kern, and caution listeners about the dangers of saying “something disparaging about homosexuality.” Kern’s book details her political activism and the fallout of her claim that the “homosexual agenda is destroying this nation ... it’s the biggest threat that our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam,” a sentiment she recently repeated, telling anti-gay activist Peter LaBarbera that... MORE
Mefferd Rejects Gheen’s Talk Of “Violent” And “Illegal” Activities Against The Government
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Friday 08/26/2011, 11:39am
As first reported on Right Wing Watch, William Gheen of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC appeared on The Janet Mefferd Show and discussed the possibility of a military coup and other “extra-political activities that I can’t really talk about because they’re all illegal and violent” to overthrow “Dictator Barack Obama.” While Gheen later denied the comments, even after they were replayed to him verbatim on Alan Colmes’s show, Mefferd yesterday weighed in on Gheen’s statements. Mefferd strongly distanced herself from Gheen and made clear that... MORE
Williams: Homosexuality And American Idol Ruining America
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Thursday 08/04/2011, 1:33pm
Armstrong Williams, the conservative columnist and radio talk show host, wrote in Townhall today that America will soon “be set adrift upon a sea of relativism with no direction, no purpose and no destination.” While positively comparing a television show in Afghanistan that revealed the story of a pregnant woman who had to quickly marry the father of her child to avoid a heavy jail sentence for pre-marital sex to the Casey Anthony case (which apparently represents most American families), Williams suggests that America has abandoned the “moral standards” that he... MORE
Lively: Gay Marriage Is A Sign Of The End Times
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 08/02/2011, 2:42pm
Earlier this year the The Boston Globe profiled notorious anti-gay activist Scott Lively and reported that he was going to be "toning down his antigay rhetoric and shifting his focus to helping the downtrodden." Needless to say, this "kinder and gentler" Scott Lively was rather short-lived ... so it is no surprise that he is now writing pieces that are literally titled "'Gay Marriage' as a Sign of the End Times": God has chosen rampant homosexuality to be a key warning sign for judgment of the world as a whole, and not just of individual nations ... I have made... MORE
Traditional Values Coalition Warns California Schools Will "Promote The Gay Lifestyle"
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Monday 06/20/2011, 2:49pm
Religious Right activists have been vigorously fighting a California bill that would make sure textbooks address the role of LGBT figures in the state’s history, even going so far as to urge parents to take their kids out of public schools if the bill is signed into law. Save California has warned of “sexual brainwashing” and a “tsunami of perversity” if the legislation passes, and now the virulently anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition is calling for people across the country to protest the bill. Benjamin Lopez of the TVC told Charisma that the bill represents... MORE
Barton: The Bible Opposes Net Neutrality
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Tuesday 04/19/2011, 2:08pm
David Barton believes that everything should operate under Biblical principles, and according to Barton, the Bible even has a view on rules for Internet service providers like Net Neutrality. Here’s a hint: the Bible opposes it. As noted in People For the American Way’s new report, “Barton’s Bunk: Religious Right ‘Historian’ Hits the Big Time in Tea Party America,” Barton finds that the Bible always has a pro-corporate, pro-GOP message. Barton and his partner Rick Green hosted Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) [no relation], a vocal foe of Net Neutrality who... MORE