« Traditional Values Coalition
July 1, 2008
At End of Supreme Court Term, Right Wing Points to November
According to Politico, the Right is warming to John McCain’s far-right stance on judicial appointments, and with the 5-4 decisions that closed out the Supreme Court’s term, we can see the outline of McCain’s and the Right’s campaign to get the base to turn out in November on the issue of judges.
Last month’s Supreme Court decision on habeas corpus was likened by the Right a “white flag of surrender” that would cause “more Americans to be killed”; Fred Thompson, a judicial advisor to John McCain, wrote that the “remedy” was for “concerned citizens to turn out on Election Day to elect a new president.”
The more recent decision overturning D.C.’s gun ban inspired Ted Nugent to write in Human Events that “the 5-4 ruling is another painful example” of “a divisive culture war raging on, and four supreme justices frighteningly disconnected from the heart and soul of America.” Michael Reagan warned that the majority “will vanish if the liberals manage to elect Barack Obama and give his party sufficient control of Congress to guarantee that future Court vacancies will be filled with activist liberal justices who will turn the Constitution upside down.”
The Family Research Council called the Second Amendment case “a reminder for voters of just how important the elections are this fall.”
The next President is likely to name 2-3 Supreme Court justices, who will be examining the constitutionality of a variety of laws for the next few decades. Life, marriage, and religious freedom are all issues that are likely to land in front of the Supreme Court. … For fiscal, social, and national defense conservatives, judges are one issue that brings all conservatives together.
According to the Weekly Standard, a case restricting capital punishment to murderers and not rapists of children demonstrated “that the fight to turn the Court from a capricious and imperious vanguard of liberalism into an impassive umpire is far from over.” The Standard’s Matthew Continetti advised McCain to “take this opportunity to explain how his judicial philosophy differs from Obama's, and why it matters.” A National Review editorial similarly responded, “Too many of our justices are evolving away from democracy. Let’s not elect a president who will encourage them — and appoint more of them.”
Traditional Values Coalition’s Lou Sheldon wrote that the death penalty case and the habeas corpus decision “are perfect examples showing why it’s important that Americans choose the right person to assume the Presidency in January 2009.”
The person who becomes President and Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces will likely have to replace Justices Stevens, Ginsburg, and Souter – all liberals who use their power to impose their leftist ideology upon all Americans. …
If we fail to put a man into the Oval Office who understands judicial restraint and the rule of law, our legal system will be set back 30 years. This is especially true if a liberal President appoints young liberals to the Court and fills up the federal judiciary with more radical leftist judges.
Finally, there’s the 5-4 decision overturning the “Millionaire’s Amendment,” a part of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that lifted contribution limits for politicians facing self-funded opponents. Despite McCain’s role in originally passing the law, McCain supporter Hans von Spakovsky wrote that the narrow ruling “graphically illustrates just how important the next president's appointments to the Supreme Court will be to preserving our First Amendment rights in the political arena.”
“[G]iven the number of Supreme Court appointments a Democratic president will be able to make, an Obama victory will move America more radically leftward than ever in its history,” Dennis Prager summarized.
All these cases will continue to be cited by the Right in pushing its unmotivated constituency to the polls, as “are reminders that elections are not just about putting candidates in office for a few years,” as Thomas Sowell put it to those “who are thinking of venting their frustrations by voting for some third-party candidate that they know has no chance of being elected. There will be a president chosen this November, and he will appoint Supreme Court justices during his term, regardless of whether you stay home or go to the polls.”
Posted by Ezra at 5:42 PM | Permalink
June 4, 2008
String of Losses Causes Right to Lose It
As we noted a few weeks ago, the Right did not react well to the California Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of equal marriage rights for gays and lesbians, with people like Janet Folger going so far as to proclaim it signals the end of the world.
In the days since the ruling was handed down, the Right doesn’t appear to have mellowed … if anything, some of them seem to be getting more and more riled up by the day. Take, for instance, this recent rant by Concerned Women for America’s Matt Barber:
So-called "same-sex marriage" is a counterfeit. It's a fraud and not even a good one at that. If marriage is a Rembrandt, then the ridiculous and oxymoronic notion of "gay marriage" is a Rembrandt knock-off from the pages of Mad Magazine. It's a silly novelty.
I know. I'm "mean-spirited." But in light of the California Supreme Court's recent opinion - which enigmatically manufactured a "constitutional right" to "same-sex marriage" out of thin air - I think we need to come back to earth for a moment. Mind you, re-entry into reality's atmosphere will inevitably burn some folks.
When same-sex friendships (or more often, seconds-old acquaintances) are twisted and sexualized, practitioners of "the sin that dare not speak its name" are forced, at every level, to merely mimic the genuine article. They jump through a series of inelegant hoops to create a fantasy world wherein two people of the same gender clumsily imitate natural heterosexual pairings properly designed for procreation and the healthy rearing of children.
Even "gay sex" (male-male anal sodomy) is a crude, man-made imitation of the natural heterosexual reproductive process (only the fallen mind of man could concoct such depraved and foul behavior). Sadly, as millions of homosexuals have had to learn the hard way, this disordered, makeshift simulation of a natural biological process is coldly rejected by the very human biology it mocks.
…
Ellen [DeGeneres] compounds the sin of homosexuality by using the platform she's been given to lead others astray. She guides her many adoring housewife fans into rebellion against God's divine and explicit natural order by suggesting they celebrate sin and entertain, along with her, the "gay marriage" delusion.
Still, God will not be mocked. It's the height of humanist hubris to believe that man (including judges) can radically redefine that which God has created. We can never sanctify that which natural law rejects and God expressly condemns. Especially when God Himself, out of sheer love for each of us, offers us so much more.
I'm sorry (well not really) for my lack of contrived "sensitivity," but Ellen, sweetie (to borrow from a presidential candidate), no amount of wishful thinking or going through the motions will make your illicit same-sex "relationship" with Ms. DeRossi a "marriage." You may get a piece of paper that says it is, but, in the eyes of God and most of the world, your counterfeit "marriage" will never be worth the paper it's written on.
Before he was hired by CWA, Barber worked for Allstate Insurance until he was fired for penning anti-gay columns for right-wing websites – go figure.
Speaking of right-wing groups going completely over the top, the Traditional Values Coalition weighs in on the equality legislation in Colorado that we wrote about a few days ago … or, as TVC calls it, “The She-Male Restroom Bill”:
“This obscene law will now put every man, woman and child at risk for shock and fear whenever they enter a restroom or locker room,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty. “What kind of trauma will a little girl experience in a restroom when she’s confronted with some hairy-legged transvestite sitting in the stall next to her? Does her privacy mean nothing? Apparently it doesn’t to Gov. Ritter.
“One can only wonder if Gov. Ritter will be upset if his teenage daughter encounters a she-male in a school restroom in the next few months,” said Lafferty. “Will he be so concerned about protecting these bizarre individuals or will he worry about his daughter’s privacy?”
For good measure, TVC finally got around to sharing its views on the pregnancy of Thomas Beatie, which it did with its typical reserve and respectability:
Liberal and lazy journalists reporting the story about Beatie/Lagondino routinely refer to her as “he.” This is factually and scientifically incorrect. No one can “change” their sex. They can mutilate their bodies and take hormones to look like the opposite sex, but there is no way a person can be anything other than their birth sex. Femaleness and maleness are embedded in the DNA of each person.
If journalists were doing their job of reporting the facts, Lagondino would be described as a woman, a “she” or a she-male. To describe her as a man is inaccurate, unscientific and is evidence that journalists have caved in to the homosexual/transgender lobby.
Journalists who write about transgenderism should either report the facts honestly or openly admit that they’re in the tank for the homosexual/transgender agenda.
…
Journalists who have caved in to the homosexual/transgender agenda are helping perpetuate mental illnesses, the destruction of the family; and the mutilation of children who are being exploited by activist pediatricians for political gain!
Posted by Kyle at 3:26 PM | Permalink
April 10, 2008
Schaffer, Abramoff, and TVC
The Denver Post reports that The Traditional Values Coalition financed then-Congressman, and curent Senate candidate, Bob Schaffer's trip the to Mariana Islands on behalf of Jack Abramoff: "Schaffer's $13,000 trip was paid for by the Orange County, Calif.-based Traditional Values Coalition, which Schaffer described as a religious group 'concerned with human rights.'"
Posted by Kyle at 2:45 PM | Permalink
February 22, 2008
The Right Targets Barack and Michelle Obama – Hitlers in Waiting?
Even though the Republican primary process hasn’t yet come to a close thanks to Mike Huckabee’s stubborn refusal to withdraw and allow the “coronation” of John McCain, some on the Right seem to be looking ahead and preparing for the general election against the presumed Democratic nominee, Barack Obama.
TVC - whose leader, Lou Sheldon, had backed the failed candidacy of Mitt Romney - explains:
[I]t is essential that voters understand exactly what Barack and his wife Michelle believe in – and what they plan for America if elected as President and First Lady.
As more information becomes available about this first-term Senator with no discernible accomplishments in the Senate, the more concerned voters are becoming.
TVC informs us that, in his past, Obama not only had “a Communist mentor,” but also “a socialist mentor” and “a black power mentor.” That would be bad enough, but it is nothing compared to his wife Michelle, who gave what TVC calls a “Hitler-like” speech. TVC declared that the speech contained “frightening authoritarian statements” about how her husband might “rule our nation.”
What scared TVC was this:
Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.
You have to stay at the seat at the table of democracy with a man like Barack Obama not just on Tuesday but in a year from now, in four years from now, in eights years from now, you will have to be engaged.
We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another -- that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation."
Whether or not you support her husband’s candidacy, Michelle Obama’s speech strikes us as more akin to JFK’s “ask not” speech than to something from a Nuremberg rally. But then the Right has had many years of experience launching scurrilous accusations against Hillary Clinton and her husband, and they’re just getting started on the Obamas - though so far they have managed to allege that he is secretly a Muslim while also saying that his “Christianity [is] woefully deficient,” comparing him to Karl Marx and Fidel Castro while his wife “spits like a cobra” and is plagued by “narcissism.”
But TVC has clearly set a high bar, managing to cite Hitler, Muammar el-Quadaffi, and the communist threat all in one attack piece. Who’s gonna top that?
Posted by Kyle at 4:40 PM | Permalink
January 15, 2008
Confusing Seniors For Profit
It looks like The Traditional Values Coalition’s front-group, the Christian Seniors Association, is again mailing out its bogus “U.S. Taxpayer Census” forms in an attempt to extort donations from confused senior citizens:
Local seniors who contacted this newspaper said they found the letter they received from the Christian Seniors Association confusing, saying at first glance it appears to be a government mailing of some kind.
On the front of the document, in large block letters, are the words "U.S. Taxpayer Census" and a seal similar in design to the U.S. official seal. (The official seal of the United States, which features an eagle holding arrows in one claw and olive leaves in the other, differs in detail from the design on the letter).
Also printed on the front of each letter are the words, "Census Document #" (followed by a 11-digit number) and the words "assigned to:" (followed by the recipient's name).
Inside, the form further identifies itself as a "U.S. Taxpayer Census on the Social Security Preservation Act (HR 219).
In smaller print at the bottom of the first page of the document, the mailing is identified as "a special citizen action project of Christian Seniors Association, a division of Traditional Values Coalition."
…
The monetary appeal portion of the letter has check boxes next to suggested donation amounts of $15; $25; $50; $100; $250; $500 and "other."
Alternatively, seniors are invited to donate $8 to cover the "cost of tabulating my census and delivering results to Congress," if the recipient feels they are unable to make "a substantial contribution" in the amounts suggested above.
It is no surprise that TVC would stoop to this sort of fundraising tactic considering that, according to their most recent tax filing, their “total net assets” are -$4,288,151.
Posted by Kyle at 4:29 PM | Permalink
November 7, 2007
GOP Only Party With a "Truly Biblical Worldview"
So says Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition: “Americans need to understand that these pseudo-evangelicals are nothing more than shills for the Democrat (sic) Party and (are) trying to use whatever credibility they think they have to draw Christians away from the Republican Party and a truly biblical worldview.”
Posted by Kyle at 3:21 PM | Permalink
August 3, 2007
TVC: Calif. Non-Discrimination Bill 'Aimed at Silencing People of Faith'
Anti-gay group claims civil rights act "should more appropriately be called the 'Christian Persecution Act of 2007.'"
Posted by Ezra at 9:42 AM | Permalink
July 26, 2007
Religious Right's Ever-Expanding Definition of 'Traditional Values'
One of the most notoriously anti-gay groups on the Religious Right has taken its “traditional values” in an unusual direction – joining the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers to counter a bill in Congress that would set stricter fuel-economy standards. From the AP:
The lawmakers were joined by leaders with the United Auto Workers, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, who said families needed roomy, safe vehicles.
We’ve seen the Religious Right’s expansion of their agenda -- to pension policy, terrorism, and tax cuts – before, at least around election time, when right-wing activists worked to promote the Republican Party. But this issue isn’t so clearly partisan, making the participation of Sheldon – called “Lucky Louie” by corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who allegedly sent TVC tens of thousands of dollars to work on behalf of his clients – all the more mysterious.
Posted by Ezra at 8:43 AM | Permalink
June 18, 2007
Theologian-in-Chief
One of the key issues facing GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney in the primary is whether evangelical Republican grassroots voters will be willing to cast a vote for a Mormon:
Here's the problem with electing a Mormon president, as Jason Thurman sees it: "I don't believe he would be guided by God."
Thurman, 26, is tidying the annotated Bibles in the Shepherd's Fold bookstore. Over by the rack of Christian CDs, his co-worker Marty Thomas raises a similar concern.
"When it comes right down to it," says Thomas, 40, "a Mormon's strength is human. A Christian person's strength is superhuman. I want [a president] who has that extra on his side."
In an attempt to counter this problem, Romney met with various right-wing leaders last year in an attempt to ease their concerns about his religion:
Romney, who is ramping up preparations for a 2008 campaign, huddled privately at his Belmont home last Thursday with about a dozen evangelicals, including conservative activist Gary Bauer, president of the group American Values, and Richard Land, a prominent leader in the Southern Baptist Convention.
The meetings have touched on several themes, participants say, but two topics being discussed are Romney's religious beliefs and how he should address his faith as the campaign progresses.
…
At last week's meeting at Romney's home, Land said, he told the governor that voters want "a commander in chief, not a theologian in chief."
Romney has continued to emphasize the idea that the President is "commander in chief, not a theologian in chief" and it has obviously paid off to the extent that last week he announced the backing of several high-profile right-wing leaders such as James Bopp, Jay Sekulow, and Lou Sheldon who have quickly begun parroting this talking point:
Sheldon says Romney has "an across the board appeal" to evangelical conservatives, business, and the average American worker. "He's not running for the head of any ministeriam or denomination or the pope -- he's running for a secular office that is called for secular issues," explains Sheldon. "And he has, I think, the moral and ethical basis to be a strong conservative in that office."
So Romney’s Mormon faith shouldn’t be a problem for evangelical voters, or any other voter for that matter, because he’s running for a secular position. Of course, these right-wing leaders only seem to feel comfortable saying this after they’d had a chance to personally grill Romney about his faith:
"He reads the Bible regularly. He has said -- and I asked him -- that he has received Jesus Christ as his personal Savior," [Sheldon] declares. "He believes that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God, only Son of God divine, and was crucified, buried and raised from the dead for our behalf. So, I think as he addresses those issues, that's certainly going to ignite good feeling [among Christians]."
Or as CBN’s David Brody reported:
Reverend Lou Sheldon, Chairman of Traditional Values Coalition and one of the members of Mitt Romney's Faith and Values Steering Committee, told The Brody File that he asked Mitt Romney point blank whether he would put his hand on the Bible or the Book of Mormon if he is ever sworn in as President of the United States.
His answer? The Bible.
Sheldon told me he spent nearly five hours with Mitt and Anne Romney and came away very impressed.
After all that time grilling Romney about his religious beliefs, it seems a little odd for Sheldon to turn around and dismiss others’ concerns about the candidate’s faith as irrelevant, especially since Sheldon described the presidency as a “secular office” only after having intensely questioned Romney about the tenets of his faith and determining that they meet Sheldon’s approval.
Posted by Kyle at 5:10 PM | Permalink
Romney Names High-Profile Supporters to Religious-Right Committee
Mitt Romney has been aggressively courting the Religious Right for months, slowly recruiting supporters from among the cadre of full-time activists. Earlier this year he scored Pat Robertson’s superlawyer Jay Sekulow, along with Gary Marx of the Judicial Confirmation Network and James Bopp, a prominent anti-abortion attorney.
Last week Romney’s campaign announced the formation of its National Faith and Values Steering Committee, a list of 50 better- and lesser- known religious-right figures. Among the co-chairmen of the committee are Sekulow, Marx, Bopp, Matthew Spaulding of the Heritage Foundation, Barbara Comstock of the Susan B. Anthony List (an anti-abortion PAC), and Jack Templeton, head of the Templeton Foundation and Let Freedom Ring – suggesting the kind of “values” Romney hopes to be absorbing from this caucus.
Most newsworthy was the endorsement of Lou Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition and one of the most fervently anti-gay activists in the country. Nicknamed “Lucky Louie” by imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who directed a gambling company to donate generously to TVC in exchange for support on legislation, Sheldon is the author of “The Agenda: The Homosexual Plan to Change America,” an agenda he describes as “an attack on everything our Founding Fathers hoped to give us,” consisting of Hitler-like propaganda designed to “recruit” children. “As Homosexuals continue to make inroads into public schools, more children will be molested and indoctrinated into the world of homosexuality. Many of them will die in that world,” he wrote in one “special report.”
"When I give my support for a candidate, I am giving the green light, if he wins, all the way down the line in terms of so many moral and social issues," Sheldon recently said. Sheldon joined other big-name religious-right leaders in a meeting with Romney last fall, and he recently met with the candidate for five hours, leaving with a promise that Romney would swear his oath of office on the Bible, not the Book of Mormon. “My thinking is that Mitt Romney is a person with the experience and with the Jude[o-]Christian moral values,” Sheldon told CBN’s David Brody, adding that he’d “been around Mormons long enough to know that … they are sincere about” Jesus.
Other religious-right activists on Romney’s committee include Christian Coalition board member Drew McKissic, Jay Sekulow’s son Jordan, anti-immigration writer James Edwards, and leaders or activists associated with the Alliance Defense Fund, Iowa Christian Alliance (formerly the Christian Coalition of Iowa), Heartbeat International, Legacy Law Foundation, and Citizens for Traditional Values.
Posted by Ezra at 5:00 PM | Permalink
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