Foreign policy

The feud between Glenn Beck and William Kristol over Beck’s bizarre and paranoid ranting about the crisis in Egypt has become increasingly bitter. Beck prophesizes an alliance between the political left and an Islamic caliphate that he claims will takes over Europe and the Middle East. Beck believes that progressives and Islamists “stand together” as “one nation” and predicts that the anti-Mubarak uprising will engender a pernicious socialist-Islamist-Chinese union will try to takeover the world. Conservative writer William Kristol responded in his Weekly Standard column that as Beck “lists (invents?) the connections between caliphate-promoters and the American left, he brings to mind no one so much as Robert Welch and the John Birch Society. He’s marginalizing himself, just as his predecessors did back in the early 1960s.”

Beck, in his own signature obsessive way, has struck back at Kristol, earning further criticism from conservative writers including the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin. But not all neoconservatives are defending Kristol, who unlike Beck supports Egypt’s democracy movement. One major backer of Bush’s neoconservative foreign policy is rushing to Beck’s defense. David Horowitz has a long-held belief that an axis between radical Islamists and progressive activists and university professors will attempt to topple the US government (among others), a claim embraced by other right-wing commentators like Rush Limbaugh, Cliff Kincaid, and Robert Spencer. Even Gateway Pundit is trying to use Code Pink’s support for the anti-Mubarak protests to tie the group to the Muslim Brotherhood.

On his blog, Horowitz writes that Kristol should immediately apologize to Beck and “should be embarrassed by his own ignorance of the agendas of both American radicals and their jihadist allies.” He continues:

Bill Kristol is entitled to his optimism about democratic revolutions in the Islamic world. Perhaps the elections in Egypt will turn out better than those in Gaza where Hamas now rules a terrorist state; Iraq, which has instituted an Islamic Republic; Lebanon, where Hezbollah now rules a terrorist state; and Afghanistan, which is a kleptocracy wooing the terrorist theocracy in Iran. What he should not be doing as a conservative leader is demonizing Glenn Beck, who has done more to educate Americans about the unholy alliance between the secular left and the Islamic jihadists than anyone else. Kristol needs to apologize to Beck for comparing him — outrageously — to the conspiracist Robert Welch, and should be embarrassed by his own ignorance of the agendas of both American radicals and their jihadist allies. At this point in time, such ignorance is not only inexcusable but dangerous.

Previously, Horowitz even tried to link right-wing boogeyman Bill Ayres to the Muslim Brothers:

We saw the unholy alliance at work in the Hamas inspired campaign to break the Gaza blockade. Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn were leaders of the American wing of the Hamas coalition against the blockade and went to Gaza to meet with Hamas shortly before the terrorist Flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces. The Gaza blockade was jointly instituted by Israel and Egypt – by the Mubarak regime in Egypt. Hamas is the Muslim Brotherhood’s army. If the Muslim Brotherhood topples the Mubarak regime, Hamas’s war against the Jews will be immeasureably [sic] strengthened. The radical left in America and internationally is committed to Hamas and its genocidal campaign against the Jews and its general war against the United States. That is why the fate of Egypt in this crisis resonates for all of us.

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Haley Barbour

Mississippi: Uses private jet for political and entertainment outings, state spent over $500,000 for his air travel (Politico, 12/27).

Race: Controversy over Barbour’s Citizens Council “whitewash” continues (Christian Science Monitor, 12/22).

John Bolton

Government: Says government should not cut defense spending to shrink the deficit (TPM, 12/27).

Social issues: Denounces non-binding treaty on the rights of indigenous people (Fox News, 12/25).

Mitch Daniels

Social issues: Stands by his support for a “truce” on social issues (Politico, 12/27).

Education: Details private school voucher plan (Courier Journal, 12/24).

Mike Huckabee

GOP: Think Progress investigation ties Huckabee to “a firm notorious for defrauding families facing foreclosure with false promises and predatory fees” (Think Progress, 12/27).

Health Care: Huckabee and Palin’s own 2009 speech challenge Palin’s criticism of Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity efforts (The Hill, 12/27).

Sarah Palin

Language: Claims “Refudiate” was a typo, but she used the term in an earlier interview on Fox News (NY Daily News, 12/27).

Environment: Says conservationists are hypocrites for using pencils and paper (HuffPo, 12/27).

Foreign policy: Former Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino says Palin’s reality show and policy role give her an “authenticity” problem (The Right Scoop, 12/26).

2012: Peggy Noonan predicts that Palin won’t run for President but will have immense clout in the primary (GOP12, 12/26).

Tim Pawlenty

2012: Upcoming book tour could serve as “a test of his appeal” to Republican voters nationwide (Gannett, 12/24).

Religious Right: Sidesteps judicial nomination process and appoints Religious Right activist and deputy chief of staff’s wife to district court (RWW, 12/23).

Mike Pence

Religious Right: Leaders of Religious Right groups believe Pence can unite social conservatives with fiscal hawks (WSJ, 12/27).

GOP: Columnist believes Pence can successfully run for the nomination by “reuniting the Reagan Coalition” (Forbes, 12/23).

Mitt Romney

Health Care: Struggles to balance his criticism of coverage mandate with his support for a mandate in Massachusetts (HuffPo, 12/27).

2012: Holiday card asks, “Guess which grandchild heard that Papa might run again?” (Politico, 12/22).

John Thune

Government: Flounders in attempt to oppose earmarks while requesting more than $100 million (AP, 12/28).

Minnesota: Headlining MN GOP’s Lincoln/Reagan Dinner (Star Tribune, 12/22).

Mike Huckabee

Religious Right: LGBT activists call on Huckabee to break ties with Lou Engle (Advocate, 12/13).

2012: Believes he is best prepared to “bring in ethnic voters than most Republicans” (National Journal, 12/13).

Obama: Says the President was “amateurish,” less difficult to defeat in 2012 than Republican opponents (National Journal, 12/8).

Sarah Palin

Haiti: Travels to Haiti with Franklin Graham, Greta van Susteren (CBS News, 12/13).

Foreign affairs: Plans trips to Israel and UK, wants to meet Margaret Thatcher (NY Post, 12/9).

Ron Paul

WikiLeaks: Claims that WikiLeaks exposes failure of neoconservative foreign policy (The Nation, 12/13).

Tea Party: Paul’s ideas gain traction as House GOP embraces the Tea Party (NYT, 12/12).

Tim Pawlenty

Religious Right: Talks about faith on Christian Broadcasting Network profile (MN Independent, 12/13).

Labor: Pens WSJ Op-Ed criticizing public employee labor unions as “exploiters” (WSJ, 12/13).

Mike Pence

Obama: Says that the President wants American people to behave “like a dog” and “simply to obey” (US News, 12/13).

South Carolina: Hosts GOP fundraiser in early-primary state with Tea Party favorite and Gov-Elect Nikki Haley (Politico, 12/13).

GOP: George Will looks into Pence’s appeal in the Republican base (WaPo, 12/8).

Mitt Romney

Op-Ed: Slams compromise tax plan in USA Today (USA Today, 12/14).

Independents: Public Policy Poll finds Romney most popular Republican among independent voters (GOP12, 12/13).

Poll: Only GOP contender who leads Obama in Marist poll match up (McClatchy, 12/10).

Rick Santorum

Pennsylvania: Republicans in PA react to Santorum’s potential presidential run (Tribune Review, 12/12).

John Thune

Iowa: Thune’s experience in retail politics in rural, neighboring South Dakota to help bid in Iowa (Politico, 12/12).

Budget: Tells Hannity that unemployment extensions should be paid for but tax cuts shouldn’t (ThinkProgress, 12/9).

A large coalition of right-wing leaders have signed on to a letter addressed to Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Haley Barbour calling on the GOP to focus on a core set of principles as it moves forward with setting its agenda:

Dear Senator McConnell, Representative Boehner, and Governor Barbour:

On behalf of conservatives from across America we write to you on the occasion of this tremendous Republican victory to express our support, as well as our expectation that this victory will be used to restore the principles of limited, constitutional government.

We are united in strongly urging you, for the sake of our nation and its future, to go before the American people jointly and present a unified vision of what this Republican victory will stand for grounded upon these principles:

• A commitment to restoring free enterprise and implementing tax and spending reduction, deregulation, and other policies that promote economic growth and prosperity.

• A commitment to protect individual liberty by reducing the size and scope of the Federal government and to reducing government spending to only those functions entrusted to it in our great constitution.

• A commitment to restoring traditional moral values by passing laws that recognize the sanctity of life, promote rather than penalize traditional marriage and the family, and respect freedom of religion.

• A commitment to rebuilding our nation’s military and establishing a foreign policy grounded upon America’s national interest, rewarding our allies, and removing threats to freedom and security from abroad.

Among those who have added their names to this letter [PDF] are:

Edwin Meese
Brent Bozell
Alfred Regnery
Tony Perkins
Wendy Wright
Herman Cain
Gary Cass
Jerome Corsi
Elaine Donnelly
Ernest Istook
Jim Garlow
Alveda King
Tim & Beverly LaHaye
Tom Minnery
Kelly Shackelford
Penny Nance
Phyllis Schlafly
Richard A. Viguerie
Mat & Anita Staver

On a conference call for Rick Scarborough’s Vision America, Bishop E.W. Jackson of STAND (Staying True to America’s National Destiny) America PAC claimed that the Democratic Party “embraces this anti-Christian, anti-God” worldview. Bishop Jackson continued to say that the Democratic Party is “nothing less than a party of dependence, [and] in effect created a new form of slavery on a liberal plantation that it wants to keep black people on.”

Bishop Jackson and Rick Scarborough joined Tom DeLay and Phyllis Schlafly in releasing a voter’s guide that shows the average score of Republican and Democratic members of Congress from the American Conservative Union. Scarborough called himself “a Christocrat” but that “as a matter of principle I simply vote Republican 90 percent of the time.” Schlafly added that “you’re better off to vote the straight Republican ticket than the Democrat ticket.”

All four speakers criticized the Democrats while praising the Tea Party. Bishop Jackson maintained that the Democratic Party represents “godlessness,” and stands for “fiscal irresponsibility, moral relativism or amorality, anti-Christian bigotry, and a foreign policy of surrender and appeasement.” Addressing concerns that the Tea Party was ignoring social issues, Bishop Jackson said that Tea Parties are “very, very socially conservative as well,” and Scarborough asserted that he receives “rousing ovations at Tea Parties when I talk about the God-factor.”

Towards the end of the call, the speakers defended California Republican nominee Meg Whitman, whose campaign is reeling from the scandal surrounding her employment and firing of her family’s maid who was an undocumented immigrant. Scarborough even wondered why Jerry Brown isn’t prosecuting the maid, and DeLay said that “this is the plight of almost every employer in America: you don’t know what you’re hiring.”

Today's installment of Random Book Blogging comes from "A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization" by Jonathan Kirsch.

In this excerpt, Kirsch is discussing the impact made by end-times theology as explained in the book "The Late Great Planet Earth" by Hal Lindsey:

The countdown clock for doomsday, Lindsey argued, began with the establishment of the modern state of Israel, and he interprets various fragments of biblical text to confirm that the end will come within the lifetime of the generation that witnessed its rebirth in 1948. On the assumption that a generation is equivalent to forty years, Lindsey suggests in The Late Great Planet Earth, first published in 1970, that the Rapture will take place in 1981, followed by seven years of persecution under the Antichrist and then, in 1988, the battle of Armageddon and the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Lindsey, of course, was proven wrong. As the year 1981 approached and the Rapture seemed no nearer, he rechecked his end-times calculations and offered a slightly revised schedule in The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon (1980). After the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the early 1990s, however, he was inspired to offer a new end-times scenario in Planet Earth 2000 A.D. (1994): Islamic fundamentalism rather than the Red Army will be the final adversary of Jesus Christ at the battle of Armageddon, although he insists that "the 'collapse' of Communism is part of a masterful game of deceit engineered by Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet KGB." Still later, Lindsey offered another insight into the workings of Satan: UFO sightings, he argued, are "deceptive ruses by demons, who will soon stage a massive UFO landing to mislead earthlings into believing in life on other planets."

Lindsey himself, like Father [William] Miller, remained cheerful and unchastened even though his prophecies proved to be wrong and his revisionist works failed to achieve the same stellar sales that had been racked up by The Late Great Planet Earth. As it turned out, Lindsey had achieved something new, significant, and enduring in spite of the manifest failures of his prophecies: he played a crucial role in leveraging the apocalyptic idea of the fundamentalist churches and into the mainstream of American civilization. Among his 20 million readers, for example, we a man who would take the book of Revelation out of the tent meeting and into the White House.

...

[Ronald] Reagan appears to have been a convinced readers of The Late Great Planet Earth. "Every one of Lindsey's proposals for domestic and foreign policy," insists Stephen D. O'Leary, "was part of Reagan's campaign platform." To hear Lindsey himself tell it, Reagan was eager to win over the American military establishment to apocalyptic true belief. With the president's blessing, Lindsey asserts, he was invited to brief Pentagon war planners on the divine implications of nuclear war with the Soviet Union. And Reagan invited televangelist Jerry Falwell, another prominent and outspoken apocalyptic preacher, to attend briefings of the National Security Council and deliver the same sermon.

Last month, we posted a video of Janet Porter speaking at the Convergence 2010 conference during which she prayed that God would had control of the media over to Christians so that they could take dominion over the nation:

She followed that up a few days later by explaining that this was part of an effort to "to take dominion in every area" in order to "occupy until Jesus comes."

When Porter says that it is her goal to "take dominion" over every aspect of American culture, she is entirely serious, as this is a key part of a movement to capture the "7 Mountains" and is going to be a central feature of her upcoming May Day prayer rally:

7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Every hour will generally feature times of prayer and proclamation, including words from the Constitutions of all 50 States, as well as a number of our Presidents and American patriots. Prayer times will include both corporate and personal silent prayer. Prayers of repentance will be offered about each of the "Seven Mountains of Culture," which are: (1) Business; (2) Government; (3) Media; (4) Arts and Entertainment; (5) Education; (6) Family; and (7) Religion. A number of leaders have been asked to offer prayers of repentance in each of these areas and subcategories, such as the military and our court system.

This 7 Mountains theology was started by Bill Bright, Loren Cunningham, and Francis Schaeffer back in 1975 and aims at quite literally having Christains defeat "the enemines of the Gospel" in order to  gain complete control over every aspect of American life:

When it comes to government, the goal of the movement is to install a "virtual theocracy" overseen by "true apostles" who will fight Satan and his Antichrist agenda: 

All governments suffer from corruption, a built-in sabotage that guarantees their eventual implosion. The only government that will never have any corruption is the theocratic Kingdom of God. Here on earth, there will always be something less than a perfect government. We can (and should), however, insist on high ideals, principles, and individual character—people who can help manifest a form of government that is a blessing to a nation. We cannot instill a theocracy in a human government because theocracy is transcendent to humanity. The Kingdom of God can be superimposed on people through influence, but only God Himself can be “theo.” Therefore, any attempt to establish a physical theocracy is ill-conceived unless it is reinterpreted as something other than what it actually means. (-cracy—government, theo—of God). A government can potentially function as a virtual theocracy, but only as the individuals in power allow themselves to be puppets (i.e. servants) of the theocracy (God’s rule and reign). The goal is to bring the influence of heaven to bear on whatever political machinery that exists

...

One of the primary roles of future government leaders will be to instruct in righteousness. The more God’s judgments are poured out on earth, the more explicitly will they be able to give that instruction

...

We need to fill the entire mountain with children of the Kingdom who know why they are there: to allow the Lord’s house to be exalted. This mountain has many niches and grooves and many ways to approach it. Some may be called to go after unjust laws as their arena of action. Others may be called to formulate foreign policy or push for budget reform. The more significant the repercussions of those laws and policies, the higher the mountain level represented. However high we go, enough grace will be provided because this is our Promised Land

...

A new model of national leadership will develop as God exalts His mountain above all other mountains. There will be Joseph-type presidents of nations who will carry great spiritual authority and great civil authority. At various times, these presidents will need to step back and forth between those roles and address the concerns of each. There will be times to address the nation and say, “I will now speak to you outside of my civil authority but in my capacity as a minister and servant of God.” One can then address the moral and righteousness issues of the nation and speak out of the spiritual authority God has given him or her.

Among those listed as participating in Porter's May Day prayer rally are dozens of Religious Right leaders including James Dobson, Rick Scarborough, Mat Staver, Wendy Wright, Harry Jackson, and David Barton, as well as several Republican members of Congress: 

Congressman
Randy Forbes (Virginia)

Congressman
Trent Franks (Arizona)

Congressman
Louie Gohmert (Texas)

Congressman
Steve King (Iowa)

Congressman
Cliff Stearns (Florida)