Politics

Cross-Posted on the People For blog

Here at People For the American Way, we’ve spent the last several weeks marveling as Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans a blockbuster Christian prayer rally in Houston, gathering around him a remarkable collection of Religious Right extremists – from a pastor who claims that the Statue of Liberty is a “demonic idol” to a self-described “apostle” who blamed last year’s mysterious bird deaths in Arkansas on the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Perry claims the event is apolitical, but it is conveniently timed to coincide with the possible launching of his presidential bid and bolstered by groups that are dedicated to working far-right evangelical values into American politics.

Which is why we were all surprised today to find a story in The Hill titled “At second glance, Texas Gov. Rick Perry not as conservative as some think.” Really?

The evidence presented for Perry’s maverick-moderate tilt is that the governor has taken some reasonable positions on immigration reform and that he once angered Religious Right groups by requiring that all 6th grade girls in the state receive a vaccine for HPV, a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to cervical cancer.

Perry’s 2007 executive order requiring that the vaccine be offered to Texas’s sixth graders was a wonderful, progressive public health policy…but seemed a little odd coming from a far-right Texas governor. Interestingly, while the move angered Perry’s supporters on the Religious Right, it made one constituency very happy: lobbyists for Merck & Co., the pharmaceutical giant that manufactured the vaccine and stood to gain billions from the new law. The Associated Press reported at the time on the cozy relationship Merck had developed with the newly-reelected Texas governor:

Merck is bankrolling efforts to pass laws in state legislatures across the country mandating it Gardasil vaccine for girls as young as 11 or 12. It doubled its lobbying budget in Texas and has funneled money through Women in Government, an advocacy group made up of female state legislators around the country.

Details of the order were not immediately available, but the governor's office confirmed to The Associated Press that he was signing the order and he would comment Friday afternoon.

Perry has several ties to Merck and Women in Government. One of the drug company's three lobbyists in Texas is Mike Toomey, his former chief of staff. His current chief of staff's mother-in-law, Texas Republican state Rep. Dianne White Delisi, is a state director for Women in Government.

Toomey was expected to be able to woo conservative legislators concerned about the requirement stepping on parent's rights and about signaling tacit approval of sexual activity to young girls. Delisi, as head of the House public health committee, which likely would have considered legislation filed by a Democratic member, also would have helped ease conservative opposition.

Perry also received $6,000 from Merck's political action committee during his re-election campaign.

Maybe Gov. Perry just really cared about helping prevent an epidemic and helping girls in Texas receive good medical care. On the other hand, health care for Texans doesn’t seem to have been a major priority for Perry: by last year, the tenth year of his governorship, Texas ranked last in the country in terms of the percentage of the population with health insurance and the percentage of insured children.

The “Perry bucks the Religious Right for the health of young girls” story will probably continue to reappear as he continues to be lauded as the Republican Party’s last, best hope for 2012. But the full story in no way proves that Perry’s an independent-minded moderate. Instead, it offers a case study of the sometimes conflicting priorities of the Religious and Corporate Right, and a politician who tries to appease them both.

 

Michele Bachmann’s relationship with Jan Markell, a Messianic Jewish activist who leads Olive Tree Ministries, recently faced growing scrutiny because of Markell’s End Times beliefs and claims that “the gay agenda and abortion” bring God’s judgment on America. Bachmann was once a frequent guest on Markell’s radio show, where she attacked gay rights and complained about the alleged persecution of American Christians.

Despite her numerous appearances with Markell the congresswoman has denied knowing her, maybe because Markell contends that the deadly earthquake in Japan was punishment for the Japanese not converting to Christianity and that the Mattel toy Little Mommy Cuddle 'n Coo subliminally promotes Islam.

But now Markell wants to set the record straight that she is not only a Bachmann stalwart but a longtime friend. She told the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow that she has known Bachmann for thirty years and “cannot speak highly enough of” her:

The head of a Minnesota-based Messianic Jewish ministry says she's known Michele Bachmann for 30 years and can testify that the Republican presidential candidate stands for "all things righteous."

…

But Jan Markell, founder and director of Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, has known Bachmann for 30 years and says she is convinced that she "absolutely has national leadership written all over her."

"If anyone is truly competent to hold the office of president or vice president of the United States -- and particularly, I think starting out as vice president would be a little bit more suited at this time -- it is Michele Bachmann," Markell contends.

Moreover, she has much to say about Bachmann's faith.

"This woman is a wonderful Christian; she is as pro-Israel as they come," the Olive Tree Ministries founder accounts. "I cannot speak highly enough of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and her stand on all things righteous."

She adds that Bachmann has taken the country by storm, but only God knows if she will continue to do so through November of 2012.

According to Pastor John Hagee, the U.S. military is no longer able to win wars because of Satan worship and increasing “paganism” in America. Hagee, who is an official endorser of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally and a prominent Religious Right leader, delivered the remarks in a speech to last year’s Word Explosion Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Perry has said that The Response is needed to solve problems that are “spiritual in nature,” adding that to create his policy platform he will simply “hand it over to God.” Many of the pastors and activists working with Perry to organize The Response already have “spiritual answers” to issues regarding the economy, corruption, marriage, the size of government, national security and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

Now we can add to the list foreign policy. Hagee claims that God is no longer showing favor to America because of environmentalism (which he labels paganism), religious freedom and Satan worship:

America right now has its fist in the face of God and in the name of pluralism we are honoring paganism coast to coast in this nation.

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You want to know what drives environmentalism in America? Paganism, paganism, this is exactly what Paul spoke about in Romans. And Paul said, when a generation does this I will give them over to a reprobate mind, they will believe a lie and they as a generation will be damned. Let me say this to you very clearly and those of you watching over the internet: There is one God in this book, it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Allah is not God, Buddha is not God, Mary is not God, Mary Baker Eddy is not God, birds, animals and bugs are not God, Jehovah God is the God of all Gods. He is a jealous God, and He demands that He be the Lord of all or not at all!

…

We have allowed the worship of Satanism in the U.S. military, most Americans are not aware of that, and we wonder why it takes us ten years to defeat our weak enemies as Moses said in Deuteronomy 28. How is it that in World War II we whipped the world in four years and now we’re bogged down in one lingering war after another that does nothing but rape our economy and kill our young men? Why? Maybe the God of Heaven is not with us. He says when you accept another God, I leave. I’m either the only Lord, or you’re on your own. That means stop voting for pagans and putting them in public office

People keep asking Herman Cain about his statement that he would not appoint any Muslims to serve in his cabinet if elected president, and Cain just keeps lying about it as happened again earlier this week when Cain was asked about it by the BBC's Matthew Wells, as Think Progress reports:

Wells: You said you wouldn’t have a Muslim in your cabinet two weeks ago. Is that still your position?

CAIN: That wasn’t a statement I made. Let’s get it right. I was asked if I would be comfortable, and my response was I would not be comfortable with a terrorist in my cabinet. Not all Muslims are terrorists, but a lot of the terrorists are Muslims, so I just have to be real careful about who I put in my cabinet.

Think Progress lays out how Cain's explanation has evolved over time as he has tried to distance himself from his original position, but for some reason nobody ever asks Cain about the unmistakable statement he made in the early days of this controversy when he openly bragged to Bryan Fischer that "I wouldn't have Muslims in my administration":

Cain: I have been upfront, which ruffles some feathers, but remember Bryan, being politically correct is not one of my strong points; I come at it straight from the heart and straight from the way I see it. And the comment that I made the become controversial, and that my staff keeps hoping will die, is that I wouldn't have Muslims in my administration. And it's real simple: the Constitution does not have room for sharia law. I want people who are going to believe and enforce the Constitution of the United States of America. And so I don't have time, as President of the United States, to try and screen people based upon their religious beliefs - I really don't care what your religious beliefs are, but I do know that most of the people of the Muslim faith, they believe in sharia law. And to introduce that element as part of an administration when we have all of these other issues, I think I have a right to say that I won't.

Cain has been asked about his statement dozens of times, and every time he insists that he merely said he would be not be "comfortable" with having terrorists serve in his administration.

But that claim is absurdly false, as the above video proves. 

So if reporters are going to keep asking Cain about his position, can they at least follow up his stock answer by asking him about the very clear statement he delivered to Fischer that he "wouldn't have Muslims in my administration" and that he has every "right to say that I won't."

Alice Patterson is in charge of "Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma Church Mobilization" for Gov. Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally and is, not surprisingly, deeply involved in the New Apostolic Reformation movement where she focuses on "racial healing."

Last year she released a book entitled "Bridging the Racial and Political Divide: How Godly Politics Can Transform a Nation" in which she explained how she had served as Field Director of the Texas Christian Coalition for years until she discovered the works of "apostles" and "prophets" like Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Dutch Sheets and Ed Silvoso.  Her growing involvement with this movement led her to step down from the Texas Christian Coalition in order to focus on "reaching entire cities for Christ." 

As the granddaughter of a former Ku Klux Klan member, Patterson dedicated herself to reaching out to African Americans through "identificational repentence" whereby individuals repent for the sins of their forefathers in order to break the various curses that plague this land because of past unforgiven sins.

In this capacity, Patterson worked closely with Susan Weddington who, at the time, was Chair of the Texas Republican Party:

As intercessors began to pray many weeks before the [Republican State] convention, one of them envisioned Susan pouring oil on bricks. So we started looking for bricks. Susan wanted to meet privately in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston and pray about whatever caused Black Republicans to walk away from the political party they had founded in that city. I called Doug Stringer in Houston, founder of Somebody Cares America and he sent two Black ministers from his staff. Tim and Joyce James, pastors of Total Man Christian Ministries in Houston, a mostly Black congregation and formerly on my Pray Texas board, came as well. It was a small group. We met in a little park right across the street from the convention center. Lo and behold, there were the bricks!

We worshiped. The presence of God came. When it came time for Susan to pour the oil on the bricks as the intercessor had visualized, Susan surprised me. I thought she would ask forgiveness for whatever White Republicans did to drive Blacks away from their party but instead she prayed, "Lord, I forgive our leaders for walking away. And I open the door and invite them back in."

As part of the effort to bring African Americans back to the Republican Party, Patterson reveals, Weddington eventually reached out to none other than David Barton:

Two years before, Susan had asked David Barton to do research to find out why Black Republicans had left the party they founded. He had been researching for two years and he discovered some astounding facts. David's research is now in both DVD and a book, "Setting the Record Straight: American History in Black and White."

And with the research in hand Patterson, Barton and others then embarked upon a campaign to use it to win African Americans back to the GOP: 

We had an agenda. Worship to invite the presence of God, repent for racism share Dr. Jackson's testimony, and have David Barton give the truth about American and Black history. This wasn't a Republican meeting even though Susan and David were Republican Party officials. It was a spiritual meeting. And lives were changed.

Our team consisted of Blacks Dr. Jackson and Falma Rufus, Hispanic Ruben Duarte, and Whites David Barton, Susan Weddington, and me. Ruben led us into God's presence with worship. Falma released the prophetic word in song and worshiped along with Ruben. They are powerful together. Susan or I would repent for racism. Dr. Jackson would share his story and give his favor to David. David shared hidden truths about America's spiritual heritage and eye opening facts about Black History.

As we have have been saying all along, Barton's attempt to "set the record straight" on this issue was blatantly misleading and obvious propaganda designed to convince African Americans to stop supporting the Democratic Party.

And now, thanks that Alice Patterson, we have proof that that was in fact the intention all along.

• Andy Birkey @ Minnesota Independent: Religious right rushes to Bachmann’s defense following ‘ex-gay’ reports.
• Justin Elliott @ Salon: Rick Perry's Confederate past.
• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Neo-Confederates and the Revival of “Theological War” for the “Christian Nation.”
• Warren Throckmorton: The strange bedfellows involved in Rick Perry’s prayer meeting.
• Towleroad: Mitt Romney Rejects Conservative Iowa Group's 'Marriage Vow', Calls It 'Undignified and Inappropriate.'
• Igor Volsky @ Think Progress LGBT: Pawlenty Won’t Sign FAMiLY LEADER’s Pledge After Courting Group’s Endorsement.

• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: God’s Law is the Only Law: The Genesis of Michele Bachmann.
• Towleroad: ABC News Looks into Marcus Bachmann's 'Pray Away the Gay' Clinic.
• Igor Volsky @ Think Progress LGBT: Bachmann: I’m ‘Very Proud’ Of Husband’s Ex-Gay Therapy Clinics.
• Good As You: Bachmann in '04: 'It’s part of Satan, I think, to say this is gay.'
• Justin Elliot @ Salon: The man behind the Marriage Vow.

Willie Wooten of is one of the latest official endorsers of Texas Governor Rick Perry’s The Response prayer rally. Wooten, of the New Orleans-based Gideon International Christian Fellowship, is a self-proclaimed Apostle who claims to have “had a positive influence in the governmental arena and has been instrumental in preventing ungodly laws from being enacted within the state of Louisiana and also throughout our nation.”

A critic of gay rights, Wooten has compared being gay to polygamy and incest and argued that “homosexual marriage is not a civil rights issue; it’s a moral issue. It is a deviant type of behavior and lifestyle. How do they do it? It’s too nasty.” Wooten feverishly works against legislation in Louisiana that would grant gay and lesbian couples legal rights and protect gays and lesbians from employment discrimination and school bullying. Wooten claims that because black legislators have oftentimes proposed such legislation, the black community faces a curse from God. According to an article from the Louisiana newspaper The Advocate:

"We call on our lawmakers -- and especially the Black Caucus members -- to be strong and courageous as you give priority to this matter and do all that is in your power to protect historic marriage," Wooten said.

Disasters "heaped upon" Louisiana's black community occur because "a lot of our legislators are not on the side of God and His moral laws,"

In fact, Wooten wrote an entire book about how the African American community is under a curse from God because black leaders have promoted liberalism and the Democratic Party. In Breaking The Curse Off Black America, Wooten blames African American political and religious leaders for crossing God through “immorality,” making God punish African Americans, which in turn leads to the curses of “adultery, incest, children from incestuous union, children born out-of-wedlock, destroyed virginity, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism.” Wooten says that African Americans beget God’s punishment by voting for Democratic candidates and tolerating homosexuality, and only through Wooten’s brand of ultraconservative politics and spiritual warfare can Black America be redeemed:

Increased numbers of young people were embracing homosexuality (the “Down Low” bisexual lifestyle), prostitution, and all sorts of perversion. How could this be, knowing that we were raised in different environments? Now it is becoming clear. There is a curse on Black America. As I could see this truth being realized, God began pouring an abundance of revelations into my heart (p. 19).

…

The result of a curse brings regret, mourning, and grief. For example, if the sin is sexual, it could bring adultery, incest, children from incestuous union, children born out-of-wedlock, destroyed virginity, bestiality, homosexuality, lesbianism, and sodomy. Other curses can be activated through rebellion against God and His words; parents, pastors, rulers and authorities, turning away from God, idolatry, pride, fleshly practices, and touching and harming God’s anointed (p. 64).

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A dark cloud appears to hover over Black America, even with our measure of achievements, we are engulfed in a culture of sin. Our leadership has led people to agree with sin, leading them into a political party and boldly chiding them if they attempt to go any another way. That party, the Democratic party, is consistently on the wrong side of moral issues. The party led the way for proabortion and homosexuality legislation. Ninety percent of voting Black America have been steadfast in voting democrat. They have not voted issues, they have voted the party and the party has used them. Blacks have been crying out for the same issues and problems to be addressed. Still the masses have voted for ungodly laws. Blacks are on the wrong side of moral issues nationwide (p. 82).

…

The man of God could not have his testicles damaged or defective. This speaks of his inability to procreate. There is an inability by far too many black leaders to produce sons of God who are truly spiritual people. Consequently, there is a great lack of discipleship, and also, there is an out-of-control sexual appetite among too many pastors and church leaders. God does not and never will accept the black leaders’ mantra of “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” or “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” or “touch not mine anointed.” There is too much immorality in the Black Church, namely greed, pedophilia, homosexuality, lesbianism, adultery, and fornication (p. 107).

Judson Phillips of Tea Party Nation is taking a stand for the Birther movement, months after President Barack Obama released his long-form birth certificate to quash discredited claims that he was born outside of the U.S. Naturally, conspiracy theorists were not satisfied by evidence, and the president of one of the country’s leading tea party groups still doubts the President Obama’s citizenship. In a column sent to Tea Party Nation members praising Orly Taitz, the fanatical birther activist who has floated armed rebellion against Obama is now embarking on yet another lawsuit based on research from the birther website World Net Daily. Phillips writes that Taitz should receive an award from the American Bar Association for her campaign to prove that Obama isn’t eligible to serve as president, suggesting she may “deserve a place among the great lawyers of this country”:

Orly Taitz has waged an almost one-woman war on the eligibility issue. She is absolutely convinced that Barack Obama is not legally qualified to be President. She had endured insults, threats, some from Judges, fines and every roadblock the Obama regime could throw her way. Had she been as tenacious on a similar issue with George W. Bush, she would be the toast of the legal community.

Orly probably does not want an ABA award, but she may be getting closer to something of great importance to her. It is the “holy grail” of the eligibility movement.

Orly Taitz may be about to get the original, type written birth certificate of Barack Obama.

…

If Obama was really born in Hawaii and everything is as advertised, his lawyers can simply let the birth certificate be provided to Orly Taitz and that will end the matter. Given the history of the Obama regime and his defense of his birth certificate, even though he has released a forged birth certificate, that is unlikely.

…

Some conservatives derisively dismiss anyone who supports the eligibility issue as a “birther.” There certainly is enough evidence out there to raise questions. The significance of the eligibility issue is what happens if we are right. If Obama was never eligible to serve as President, everything he did is void. Two Supreme Court Justices, gone. A host of Federal Judges, gone. Every bill he signed, gone. Obamacare, gone.

What are the chances of this happening? Who knows? The bigger question is, given the potential reward of undoing everything Obama has done, why any conservative dismisses the eligibility issues, as “birtherism” is simply beyond belief.

If Orly Taitz wins, she will deserve a place among the great lawyers of this country, who fought incredible odds to win justice. The left wing American Bar Association will never give her an award for this. But I’m willing to bet she’s not saving any space on her wall for an ABA award either.