Minnesota

Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid has once again dedicated his latest colmun to not only defending the proposed legislation in Uganda that mandates life in prison and, in some cases, the death penalty for gays, but to attacking Sen. Tom Coburn for opposing the bill and for associating himself with gays: 

In a case of strange political bedfellows, conservative Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has joined leftist comedian Al Franken, a Democratic senator from Minnesota, in sponsoring a bill denouncing Uganda's Christians for considering passage of legislation to outlaw certain unhealthy and immoral homosexual practices.

The original sponsor of the U.S. Senate bill (S. Res. 409) is Democratic Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, who supports the entire "gay rights" agenda, including forcing Christian-owned businesses to accept homosexual employees under the so-called Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).

Echoing the claims of liberals in the media, who have targeted Uganda for isolation and a denial of foreign aid for considering the legislation, Coburn has called it "an absurd proposal to execute gays" that somehow threatens progress against AIDS.

...

Coburn spokesman John Hart confirmed that the senator has also been working with a "gay" Republican group, GOProud, to defeat the Ugandan bill.

On the website of the group, which is co-sponsoring the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. next week, Jimmy LaSalvia, Executive Director of GOProud, declared, "We were thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. Coburn back in December when he forcefully spoke out against the proposed Ugandan law, and we are pleased that he continues to lead on this issue."

LaSalvia was previously director of programs and policy at the Log Cabin Republicans, another Republican homosexual group that seeks to water down the GOP's commitment to traditional values.

Conservative and Christian groups have denounced CPAC organizer David Keene of the American Conservative Union for accepting GOProud as a sponsor. Keene previously accepted CPAC sponsorship money from George Soros-funded groups such as the ACLU and the Drug Policy Alliance.

• PFAW Statement: Tancredo Sets the Tone For Tea Party: Extreme, Racist, Nativist.
• Think Progress: Ollie North On What Happens If Gays Are Allowed To Serve Openly In Military: ‘NAMBLA Members’ Are Next.
• Box Turtle Bulletin: AZ Senator Jack Harper discusses the details of a gay soldier’s life (without permission) in order to advance his anti-gay agenda.
• Minnesota Independent: Bachmann: Obama ‘wants to annihilate us!’
• Finally, the Orlando Sentinel's Scott Maxwell blasts the Florida Family Policy Council for its "dirty tactics," and the FFPC responds by attacking Maxwell for not giving them enough time to apologize.
  

April 7, 2010 may just be the day the universe collapses upon itself when the orbits of two massive right-wing stars finally converge:

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann (MN-06) announced today that former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will come to Minnesota to assist Bachmann's re-election campaign on April 7, 2010.

"There is absolutely no one more in tune with the hearts and minds of everyday Americans than Governor Palin, and I'm excited to welcome her back to our beautiful state this spring," Bachmann said.

Both Governor Palin and Congresswoman Bachmann are well-known and respected conservative leaders whose bold and unwavering stances in defending the U.S. Constitution and commonsense approaches to issues like health care, taxes and government bailouts have attracted millions to their message.

"It didn't take the American people long to see through the extreme liberal agenda of President Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress," Bachmann said. "We saw American's frustration start in the form of tea party protests in states from coast to coast. It continued with the health care town halls throughout last summer. But we saw it come into full focus yesterday in conservative Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts, taking back a Senate seat that was held by Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy for decades. The American people have spoken, and the momentum is clearly at the backs of conservatives heading into the 2010 elections."

There has been a lot of talk lately about the fact that organizers of the National Tea Party Convention were trying to keep the media from covering the event, especially the speeches that will be delivered by Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

Well, apparently Palin has decided that her speech can be covered by the press, according to The Tennessean:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has decided to allow media coverage of her speech at next month's Tea Party Convention at Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.

Palin's speech was initially announced as being closed to the media, but the former vice presidential candidate requested the press be allowed in after all, the event's organizer announced Wednesday.

The nation's first Tea Party convention will take place Feb. 4-6 at Gaylord Opryland.

Although the convention is sold out, according to the Tea Party Nation Web site, banquet tickets are still available. Besides Palin, Republican Congresswomen Marsha Blackburn and Minnesota's Michele Bachmann will both be speaking at the convention.

UPDATE: According to a press release issued by the organizers, it looks like only right-wing news outlets will be allowed to cover the event:

First, we are pleased to announce that the convention has sold out and we now have a waiting list which we will continue to try to clear as opportunity presents.

In this light, we have had numerous requests for press passes and the resulting expected coverage. However, as we have set expectations that this is a working convention, we have tried not to make it a media event.

In fact, Tea Party Nation has received hundreds of requests for press credentials to cover this convention. Everyone from a small town newspaper in Iowa to Fox News has asked for press credentials. We have had requests from Canada, England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Norway, Croatia and Japan. We have been hard pressed to accommodate all of these requests and do not have the space or resources to support the entirety of the press corp. Indeed, we have asked the hotel if they would be willing to provide a press room during the convention.

However, given these practical limitations, we have approved the following press organizations:

Fox News

Breitbart.com

Townhall.com

The Wall Street Journal

World Net Daily

Earlier this week, we noted that tonight The Family Research Council would be holding a special anti-healthcare reform "prayercast" this evening featuring several Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sen. Jim DeMint, as well as Religious Right activists like Lou Engle and Harry Jackson.

Today, FRC announced that the event had picked up several new Focus on the Family participants, including James and Shirley Dobson, as well as FOF President Jim Daly:

Tonight, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 8:30 pm ET, Family Research Council Action, The Call to Conscience and Focus on the Family Action will host a special one hour webcast that will mobilize thousands of Christians and churches to join in corporate prayer over the health care overhaul bill. Family Research Council Action President Tony Perkins will be joined by Congressional leaders, prominent pastors, and policy experts to discuss and pray over significant concerns within the bill that will have far reaching consequences for the Christian community and our society.

FRC Action President Tony Perkins made the following comments:

"Life and death hinges on the Senate health care bill. We face significant threats to the God-given right to human life through government funding of abortions, our health from rationing, our family finances from higher taxes, and our general freedoms posed by the government plan to take over health care.

"There have been a number of critical hours in American history. Our nation has struggled mightily and, under God, always risen to the challenges before us. Tonight, we will face this moral crisis by taking action and obeying the Biblical mandate to pray for our nation and its leaders."

Who:
Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council Action
Lou Engle, Founder and President, The Call to Conscience
Jim Daly, President, Focus on the Family Action
Dr. James Dobson, Founder, Focus on the Family Action
Shirley Dobson, National Day of Prayer Task Force Chairman
Hon. Sam Brownback, United States Senator, Kansas
Hon. Jim DeMint, United States Senator, South Carolina
Hon. Randy Forbes, United States House of Representatives, Virginia
Hon. Michele Bachmann, United States House of Representatives, Minnesota
Bishop Harry Jackson, President, High Impact Leadership Coalition
Pastor Jim Garlow, Skyline Church, San Diego, Calif.
Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, President, National Hispanic Leadership Conference

On Wednesday December 16, Reps. Michele Bachmann and Randy Forbes and Sens. Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback will be joining forces with the likes of Lou Engle, Tony Perkins, Jim Garlow, and Harry Jackson for a "prayercast" organized by the Family Research Council during which they will seek God's intervention to prevent the passage of healthcare reform: 

Did you know that deep within the Senate health care bill is a tax penalty for couples that are married? Or that in Nancy Pelosi's version of health care "reform" that not only is tort reform not included - but trial lawyers are rewarded even more? To learn more facts about this attempted government takeover of health care, tune your browsers this Wednesday night to FRCAction.org.

On December 16, FRC Action and The Call to Conscience will host a live video webcast entitled "An FRC Action PrayerCast: Government Takeover of Healthcare". Beginning at 8:30 p.m. (EST), this PrayerCast will feature a powerful line-up of speakers, including:

• Tony Perkins, President, Family Research Council Action
• Lou Engle, Founder and President, The Call to Conscience
• Hon. Sam Brownback, United States Senator, Kansas
• Hon. Randy Forbes, United States Congressman, Virginia
• Hon. Jim DeMint, United States Senator, South Carolina
• Hon. Michele Bachmann, United States Congresswoman, Minnesota
• Bishop Harry Jackson, President, High Impact Leadership Coalition
• Pastor Jim Garlow, Skyline Church, San Diego, Calif.

During the webcast, you will hear the latest on the threats to the God-given right to human life through government funding of abortions, our health from rationing, our family finances from higher taxes, and our general freedom posed by the government plan to take over healthcare.

We will enter into a time of prayer for the nation, and our leaders. Your engagement and urgent prayer is more critical than ever as Congress will very soon vote on a final health care bill. Register today!

According to this profile of Concerned Women for America founder Beverly LaHaye, we have her to thank for motiviating Michele Bachmann to become involved in politics and eventually run for Congress ... and LaHaye is overjoyed that God is using Bachmann to do his work in America:

U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann, R- Minn., an emerging leader in the conservative movement, attributes much of her background knowledge to materials provided by LaHaye and CWA.

Bachmann said she first heard of CWA in its infancy when, as a new bride, she received a cassette tape featuring LaHaye’s views on the feminist movement and other social issues of that era.

“I was highly motivated by what I heard Mrs. LaHaye say,” the Republican offered before casting a vote at the U.S. Capitol. “Something got ahold of me about the course of where our country was heading.”

In 1998, while caring for some of their 27 foster children, Bachmann said she became more involved in the process by addressing concerns she had with public schools and with the “political correctness” movement that threatened her values, attitudes and beliefs.

In 2000 she was elected to the Minnesota state senate until six years later when voters sent her on to Washington as a U.S. Congresswoman. Bachmann said she found LaHaye to be an authoritative and credible voice to listen to, primarily because of LaHaye’s commitment to research, skills she is finding useful as she now represents her own constituents.

“She (LaHaye) doesn’t see herself as extraordinary, but we see her as an extraordinary woman of God who has completely abandoned herself to the will of God,” the congresswoman said. “I consider myself extremely fortunate to be her friend and to have benefited from the sacrifices she made early on in this effort. And she did sacrifice by holding on to what works, what matters and what’s right for our society.”

LaHaye is equally enamored with Bachmann and her pro-family tenacity.

“I thought, ‘Praise God,’” the CWA founder said. “This young woman had a lot of capabilities. She was a farm wife, a lawyer, she’s now a congresswoman, and she is standing up for our values in Washington D.C. I’m so proud of her, and there are others, too, who just come to the top. God is using them in a mighty way. These are the women that I think of when the Bible talks about ministers of God. These women are truly ministers of God.”

I wonder what it was that LaHaye said that so moved Bachmann to action?  Maybe this:

"Christian values should dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office."

As always, you can't read much into polls conducted more than three years before the next election, but since Mike Huckabee keeps coming out on top of polls asking Republicans to choose their favorite 2012 candidates, we are going to keep posting them:

Twenty-nine percent (29%) of Republican voters nationwide say former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is their pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential campaign. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds that 24% prefer former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney while 18% would cast their vote for former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets 14% of the vote while Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty gets 4%. Six percent (6%) of GOP voters prefer some other candidate while 7% remain undecided.

These numbers reflect an improvement for Huckabee since July when the three candidates were virtually even. Huckabee’s gain appears to be Palin’s loss as Romney’s support has barely changed.

In head-to-head match-ups, Huckabee beats Romney by 5 points and Palin by a whopping 20 points.

Huckabee continues to insist that he had not yet made up his mind if he'll seek the nomination in 2012, but since just about every poll conducted has him either leading or among the leaders, it's hard to imagine that he'd pass by this opportunity.

But while he makes up his mind, you can rest assured that we will continue to monitor his ties to the most radical fringes of the right-wing movement.

• Michele Bachmann action figures - get 'em while they're hot.
• Politico: Tonight, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and his wife Callista Gingrich host the premiere of their documentary — “Rediscovering God in America II: Our Heritage” — at the Capitol Visitor Center.
• FRC: Wednesday, September 30th, at 1:00 pm, at a National Press Club luncheon, Family Research Council will release a groundbreaking report, A Passion to Serve, A Vision for Life, which shares the tremendous contributions of pregnancy resource centers since the inception of the movement over forty years ago.
• The "personhood" effort comes to California.
• Finally, a variety of right-wing leaders are blasting the "Obama Apology Tour."