Submitted by Brian Tashman on February 7, 2012 - 12:20pm
Today on Family Talk[2], James Dobson interviewed Daniel Lapin, the Religious Right’s favorite rabbi[3] with a history of extremist[4]rhetoric[5] and corruption[6]. Dobson hailed Lapin at the beginning of the show as one of the most “brilliant” speakers in the country and asked him why he thinks American culture is a “mess” right now. Thankfully, Lapin knows just what is responsible for the collapse of civilization: the pill. According to Lapin, women who use the birth-control pill ruined masculinity and “created the possibility of perpetual male adolescence,” which went on to wreck traditional American values.
Dobson: How did we get in this mess? I mean, we can all see that something is going wrong, but why now? What’s going on right now?
Lapin: Again it is the tug of sexuality; it is not an accident. Future historians might say that the big dividing line between a time when American values really meant something and a time that we look today with unconcealed dismay at our own prospects, when do you think that began? Wouldn’t you agree that most people somewhere in the 1960s, back then in the ’60s perhaps one of the most notable events and I think its significance can hardly be exaggerated was the arrival of the birth control tablet in the early ’60s. What that did for the very first time is it created the possibility of perpetual male adolescence, it made it possible for the first time for men to really never grow up and essentially it transformed masculinity with all the implications of honor and respect and courage and the ability to defer gratification, everything that we think of as responsible masculinity, and got transformed into a very simple question, ‘did you remember to take your pill honey’?
Submitted by Brian Tashman on February 6, 2012 - 2:30pm
At the American Heartland Forum in Columbia, Missouri before the upcoming presidential primary in the state (which is non-binding and awards zero delegates), Rick Santorum joined Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to push the myth[11] that the recently passed health care reform law would lead to ‘death panels.’ Santorum has made criticism of the law a chief aspect of his campaign and during the event repeated James Dobson’s claim, which he says he learned from a caller on a talk radio show, that stroke patients over the age of 70 “will not be granted treatment,” a charge the Health and Human Services Department called “absolutely false.” Challenging health care reform with debunked smears, unfortunately, is not new from either talk radio or Republican presidential candidates.
To bolster this claim, Santorum rehashed another myth about the dangers of government involvement in healthcare by maintaining that euthanasia represents “10% of all deaths in the Netherlands,” and “ObamaCare” will surely lead the U.S. down a similar path. However, a recent study shows that just 1.8% of all deaths in the Netherlands[12], where euthanasia is legal, are a result of physician-assisted suicide, and the rate is going down.
Santorum also seemed to express nostalgia for the days of back alley abortions when abortion was a crime and “people who did abortions were in the shadows, people who were considered really bad doctors.”
The Associated Pressreported[14] from the event on the ‘death panels’ claim:
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum on Friday backed prominent conservative James Dobson's claim that President Barack Obama's administration would block medical treatment for stroke patients over age 70. Professional medical groups have called such statements bogus.
During a forum inside a church, Dobson cited an anonymous caller to a conservative radio show who said "for patients over 70 years of age, that advanced neurosurgical care was not generally indicated." The caller claimed that patients would be offered "comfort care" unless a panel of bureaucrats approved more significant treatment.
"That's called 'death panels.' Sarah Palin was right. That means death to that person," said Dobson, founder of the conservative group Focus on the Family.
Palin, the GOP's vice presidential nominee in 2008, coined the term "death panel" in response to the administration's health care law, although her argument was roundly criticized as inaccurate.
Santorum seemed to go along with Dobson, arguing that government-run health care would result in limits on care. He brought Obama's health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, into the argument.
"When you become a cost, then the government starts to allocate resources," Santorum said. "Well, who should we be allocating these resources to? We shouldn't be allocating it to 70-year-old of people who have strokes, according to Kathleen Sebelius."
The regulation does not exist, medical professionals said.
The American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons said in a joint statement they were "unaware of any federal government document directing that advanced neurosurgery for patients over 70 years of age will not be indicated and only supportive care treatment will be provided."
…
The Health and Human Services Department also rejected the allegation. "These claims are absolutely false and the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons have both gone on the record to denounce these false rumors as well," spokeswoman Erin Shields said in a statement.
Dobson, who has endorsed Santorum's candidacy and has joined him at campaign-style appearances, seemed unaware of the disputed statement.
"Secretary Sebelius in the Obama administration, within the Obamacare plan, decreed a few weeks ago that as of January first of next year, if you are over 60 years of age — I beg your pardon — if you're over 70 years of age and you have a cranial bleed — blood is running into your brain, which is a horrible condition, it destroys the brain tissue, if you survive it, you will never the same again — they decreed that you will not be granted treatment," Dobson said.
Submitted by Brian Tashman on February 2, 2012 - 11:45am
Focus on the Family founder and Family Talk host James Dobson appeared with Rick Santorum at a campaign rally in Colorado[19], which has its caucus on February 7. Dobson joined other Religious Right leaders in endorsing Santorum[20] and hailed him for fighting against same-sex marriage, and reportedly also backed Santorum because he disapproved of Newt Gingrich’s third wife Callista[21]. Dobson said that neither Mitt Romney nor Gingrich are authentic conservatives, lauding Santorum for caring “about the moral integrity of this nation” and his consistent “fight for marriage and fight for the unborn.” While Dobson stressed social issues, the former Pennsylvania senator claimed that his image as a “social conservative” was responsible for his third place defeat in Florida:
After delivering a pointed version of his stump speech before a crowd of more than 1,200 people at Mr. Biggs Family Funhouse here, Santorum introduced Dobson, the head of the conservative group Focus on the Family.
Dobson, who endorsed Santorum in January, made the point that he was at the event “as a private individual,” and this disclaimer may have allowed him to be a bit more candid.
“It would appear to me that Mitt Romney is not a conservative,” Dobson said to much applause. “And Newt Gingrich is not – well I don’t know what he is. You’re the only true conservative in the race.”
The two men then had a conversation that veered more personal than political, with Dobson explaining the rationale behind his decision to support Santorum in the Republican primary.
“I believe you really care about the moral integrity of this nation and I believe you will fight for it,” Dobson said to Santorum. “Fight for marriage and fight for the unborn child and fight for the all the other principles that matters so much to me and so many others.”
During his opening remarks, Santorum suggested that his image as a staunch social conservative potentially damaged his efforts to appeal to the majority of the Republican electorate whose primary concern for 2012 is the flagging economy.
“I had the highest favorability as anybody in Florida,” Santorum said. “But I didn’t win, even though I had the most positive – highest positive, lowest negative. I didn’t win, and you ask the people why, ‘well, we’re not sure you can win. People think you’re a social conservative and we need someone who’s an economic conservative.’”
But looking at the issues, Santorum argued, none of the three other major GOP candidates differ in their stated positions on social issues. “What makes me more socially conservative than they? Some would suggest that I actually believe what I’m saying as opposed to them,” Santorum said.
Submitted by Brian Tashman on January 27, 2012 - 2:50pm
Yesterday, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson appeared on a conference call with Champion the Vote, a nominally non-partisan group that focuses on mobilizing Religious Right voters[25]. Dobson spent much of his time on the call[26] criticizing the gay rights movement for disingenuously using the “human rights and anti-discrimination” message and the “‘live and let live’ concept” for advancing “homosexual adoption, homosexual marriage [and] requiring foster parents to attend classes so they can indoctrinate the foster kids that they have with the gay and lesbian concept.”
Dobson reserved his most heated attacks for California’s SB48 law, which ensures that schools cover the accomplishments of prominent LGBT historical figures, calling it “the most egregious state law that is on the books today.” According to Dobson, “five year-olds toddling off to schools on their wobbly little legs” in California are now forced to hear teachers tell “them about adult sex perverse behavior.”
Listen:
Dobson: One reason that the gay community is so successful and it was a strategy that was worked out in the 1940s but one reason that they’ve been so successful in making their argument is because they have made a very compelling case for human rights and anti-discrimination, I was kind of referring to that a minute ago, and obviously we all agree with that and Christians do not want any of their fellow human beings to be denied basic rights and human rights and be subjected to discrimination. Christians see the logic in that argument but that ‘live and let live’ concept makes it easier for gays and lesbians to fight for the agenda of their cause, including homosexual adoption, homosexual marriage, requiring foster parents to attend classes so they can indoctrinate the foster kids that they have with the gay and lesbian concept.
And what’s going on right now in California and Massachusetts which is without question the most egregious state law that is on the books today where, speaking in California, from kindergarten to grade 12, every single year and in most classes, the teacher is required to teach the contributions and the great benefits not only of homosexuality through the years but bisexuality and transgendered sexuality and lesbianism, and it starts in kindergarten! Can you imagine this! We’re talking about five year-olds toddling off to schools on their wobbly little legs and they get there and a teacher with all the authority that can be invested in an adult stands before them, and they are sitting on the floor with their legs crossed, and begins telling them about adult sex perverse behavior. I mean, that takes my breath away!
Submitted by Brian Tashman on January 19, 2012 - 1:35pm
Focus on the Family founder and Family Talk host James Dobson endorsed[29] Rick Santorum today, which comes as no surprise as Dobson advocated for Santorum behind closed doors at a meeting with fellow Religious Right leaders in Texas. According to reports[30], Dobson feared the repercussions of electing Newt Gingrich and having “a woman who was a man’s mistress for eight years” as First Lady.
In his endorsement, Dobson said that “the institution of the family” is “in serious jeopardy,” warning that the “very definition of marriage is threatened, which has implications for the next generation and the stability of society itself.” Dobson has previously compared Santorum to Tim Tebow[31] and saluted him for “standing up for righteousness[32],” and joins social conservative activists Maggie Gallagher[33], Penny Nance[34], Richard Viguerie[35], John Stemberger[36] and Gary Bauer[37] in endorsing the former Pennsylvania Senator:
Dr. Dobson, well-known radio broadcaster, psychologist and author of 35 best selling books, and consultant to three U.S. Presidents, said today, "The institution of the family is the key issue facing this great nation. It is the foundation, the bedrock, upon which every dimension of Western Civilization rests. If it is undermined or weakened by cultural and governmental forces, the entire superstructure will collapse in short order. And indeed, today it is in serious jeopardy. The very definition of marriage is threatened, which has implications for the next generation and the stability of society itself.
"Of all the Republican candidates who are vying for the presidency, former Sen. Santorum is the one who has spoken passionately in every debate about this concern. He has pleaded with the nation and its leaders to come to the aid of marriages, parents, and their children. What a refreshing message. The Congress voted in 1969 to impose a marriage penalty tax on husbands and wives who were struggling to raise their children. That unfair tax continued for 32 years, until George W. Bush rolled it back. Now, if Democrats and some Republicans have their way, the marriage penalty tax will be re-imposed in 2013. We desperately need a president who will intercede on behalf of those who are caring for the next generation and working to build this nation.
"While there are other GOP candidates who are worthy of our support, Sen. Santorum is the man of the hour. His knowledge of international politics, especially Israel and the turmoil in the Middle East, is highly relevant to the dangerous world in which we live. This is why I am endorsing former Senator Rick Santorum for president of the United States, and urge my countrymen to join us in this campaign."
UPDATE: Rick Santorum thanked Dobson in a statement[38] and hoped his endorsement would help “build upon our momentum generated from our Iowa Caucus win”:
I am truly honored to receive Dr. Dobson's endorsement today. Dr. Dobson has been a light for conservative movement, an unwavering leader in the face of forces both within and outside our Party to call a truce on the foundational principles that make our nation the greatest in the history of the world, but he knows that calling a truce is nothing more than surrendering. I commit to never surrender our principles, our foundational values, and the moral enterprise that is America. I am excited to work with Dr. Dobson in the weeks to come as we build upon our momentum generated from our Iowa Caucus win.
Meanwhile, the Red White and Blue Fund, a pro-Santorum Super PAC, is airing a new ad[39] in South Carolina narrated by Bauer, who helped found the Family Research Council with Dobson[40], calling Santorum an opponent of “liberal elites and those who seek to undermine the nation’s freedoms and moral fabric”:
Submitted by Brian Tashman on January 17, 2012 - 10:50am
Did social conservative leaders come together and jointly endorse Rick Santorum at the Texas retreat over the weekend? That is the way Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and many in the media interpreted the meeting of leading Religious Right luminaries[44], where on the second ballot Santorum led Gingrich 70 to 49, and on the third ballot 85 to 29. Perkins claimed there was a “strong consensus” behind Santorum, who has won the backing of Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Young Nance[34], former National Organization for Marriage president Maggie Gallagher[33], American Values president Gary Bauer[37] and the expected endorsement of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson[45].
But have Religious Right leaders really coalesced around Santorum?
Gingrich has locked in the support of prominent social conservative leaders: Concerned Women for America founder and chairman Beverly LaHaye[46]; Council for National Policy founder and author Tim LaHaye[47]; American Family Association founder and chairman Don Wildmon[48]; Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver[49]; California pastor and Proposition 8 organizer Jim Garlow[50]; evangelical pollster George Barna[51]; Restoration Project organizer David Lane[52] and pastor and former congressman J.C. Watts[51].
Gingrich supporters have even claimed[53] that the third ballot, which showed Santorum winning handling, occurred after many leaders left the meeting and that some Santorum boosters were involved with “ballot-box stuffing.” Bob Vander Plaats, an early Santorum endorser, told Bryan Fischer on Focal Point[54] that the Texas gathering only showed “divided support” between Santorum and Gingrich, and Red State’s Erick Erickson, who attended the meeting, said that “it was divided with many thinking Gingrich is the only one who can win.”
While it remains to be seen if social conservatives will really “coalesce” behind Santorum, it is clear that the Religious Right leadership that begged Perry to enter the race has now utterly abandoned him.
But following last night's vote in Iowa in which Perry finished a distant fifth[77], causing him to return to Texas to "assess" the future of his campaign, activists will be meeting again next weekend to plot how to stop Mitt Romney:
A group of movement conservatives has called an emergency meeting in Texas next weekend to find a "consensus" Republican presidential hopeful, POLITICO has learned.
"You and your spouse are cordially invited to a private meeting with national conservative leaders of faith at the ranch of Paul and Nancy Pressler near Brenham, Texas, with the purpose of attempting to unite and to come to a consensus on which Republican Presidential candidate or candidates to support, or which not to support," read an invitation that is making its way into in-boxes this morning.
The meeting is being hosted by such right-leaning figures as James Dobson, Don Wildmon and Gary Bauer. Many of the individuals on the host list attended a previous closed-door session with Rick Perry this summer.
Movement conservatives are concerned that a vote split between Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum among base voters could enable Mitt Romney.
A source who shared the invitation said the meeting was about how to avoid such a possibility.
Given that Michele Bachmann will reportedly be dropping out[78] and Newt Gingrich's campaign is floundering after his dramatic failing in Iowa, it looks like it will only be a matter of time before the Religious Right finally begins to unify behind Rick Santorum.
Submitted by Brian Tashman on December 22, 2011 - 11:05am
On the second segment of Rick Santorum’s appearance[32] on Family Talk[79] with James Dobson, the presidential candidate said that one of the reasons he entered the race is because of the “degrading of our respect for human life” he sees upheld by President Obama and other pro-choice politicians. A staunch opponent of reproductive freedom, earlier this year Santorum said he found it “almost remarkable” that a “black man” like Obama could support abortion rights[80]. On an earlier episode of Dobson’s show, he linked Planned Parenthood with Nazism[81].
Santorum maintained that while the election may be focused on issues like “economics and jobs,” the country is on the verge of walking away from God’s “teachings,” which will bring about “dire consequences to our society”:
Santorum: This is the kind of just unsettling, degrading of our respect for human life that we see in the political arena, and it was one of the reasons that I felt compelled to get out there because everything is so focused on economics and jobs, which are of course important, but this country is a great country because we were blessed by God and that we are a country that lived according to His principles and His teachings. If we walk away from that, there are dire consequences to our society.
The former Pennsylvania senator also claimed that the reason he has faced attacks on the campaign trail is because he is “standing up for the Son of Man” and is committed to “speak the truth.” Dobson compared Santorum to Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, who he said is being “reviled” for his public displays of faith, and Santorum lamented that it “is sort of sad that we have a society that wants our heroes to be broken”:
Dobson: I can ask you how you feel about the exhaustion and the constant pressure and the media in your face and all that it means to pay the price for the responsibility you’re reaching for.
Santorum: Well I just feel blessed to have the opportunity to be able to go out and speak the truth, and to do so as someone who is not the favorite, not expected to win, but went out there to witness. I really believe that we need folks who are willing to stand up and just speak the truth and take the consequences. I have several favorite Bible passages that talk about that ‘they will hate you’ and ‘they will call your name evil’ because of standing up for the Son of Man, this is a great comfort to me that this is part of standing up for Him and doing the part as being a Christian.
Dobson: You know I think of what Tim Tebow must be going through now, if you dare utter the name of Christ, you can talk about God every now and then, but if you dare to mention the name of Jesus Christ you are going to be reviled and rejected and mocked and made fun of. Would they rather Tim would be buying drugs on a street corner? Would they rather he would have eight women in a course of a year, or in a course of a month? I mean those things go on in professional athletics. You’ve got this man kneeling and saying, ‘thank you Lord,’ and when they ask him how he is doing or how he felt about winning a game, he deflects it, he talks about his teammates and his coaches, and they hate him for it. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you haven’t had a little bit of that.
Santorum: Well, certainly not on the scale that in the last week or so that Tim Tebow has, but he is a great inspiration to me and I think to many, many others. It is sort of sad that we have a society that wants our heroes to be broken.
Submitted by Brian Tashman on December 21, 2011 - 10:45am
On December 16, Rick Santorum and his wife Karen joined James Dobson on his radio show Family Talk[82] in a program, broadcasted today, where the Focus on the Family founder gushed that Santorum and his wife “epitomize what a Christian family is all about.” Today’s show comes a day after Santorum received the endorsement of leading Iowa Religious Right figures[83], and weeks following Michele Bachmann’s appearance on Family Talk, where Dobson hailed her and her husband as “role models[84].”
The conversation stayed clear of over political rhetoric and mostly focused on their family life, but the Focus on the Family founder lauded Santorum has the “guts” for “not being afraid” to speak “about the family, about marriage about childrearing, about the principles that we find in Scripture”:
Dobson: LuAnne, I’m looking forward to this program too because we’re honored to have the former US Senator Rick Santorum with us in the studio and also with us by phone is his lovely wife Karen, I have worked with both of these folks before and I love them like members of my own family and it’s just great to have them with us. These folks have been good friends for many years and they epitomize what a Christian family is all about.
…
Let me just express appreciation to you for standing up for righteousness, not being afraid to do so, speaking often about the family, about marriage about childrearing, about the principles that we find in Scripture. You have had the guts to do that, and with Karen more than that, to live it out, and that is very, very impressive to all of us.
Submitted by Brian Tashman on December 19, 2011 - 12:00pm
Bill Bennett appeared today on Family Talk[86] with James Dobson to promote The Book of Man[87], Bennett’s compilation of works about men at war, work, prayer, politics and the home. Like in his interview with Pat Robertson[88], Bennett decried “the feminist movement” and “the gay culture,” which he said “confused an awful lot of boys.” He went on to argue that the media and universities are also to blame for not sending “a consistent message to boys about what it means to be a man” and playing a role in the so-called collapse of manhood today:
Dobson: You’re concerned about manhood today, aren’t you?
Bennett: Yes.
Dobson: Especially in the Western world, we’ve forgotten what it means to be a man. And we’re not teaching our boy’s to be men. Why?
Bennett: That’s exactly right, because…moral relativism, the notion that there’s no right and wrong, who’s to say? The dizzying array of signals, the gay culture, which has confused an awful lot of boys, the message is there.
Dobson: The feminist movement has just hammered away at what manhood means.
Bennett: The feminist movement, remember Gloria Steinem, ‘a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.’ If you put on TV, if you go to the universities, if you check the popular culture, there is not a consistent message to boys about what it means to be a man, and as a result they’re confused.