I had hoped that this would not happen, and that Obama would not get dragged into this kind of conversation. The big news now is about old school politics and how the Clintons especially will use surrogates, especially BLACK ones, to try and plant the seeds of doubt about Obama.
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have become embroiled in racially tinged disputes as large numbers of black voters prepare to get their first say in the Democratic presidential campaign.
The candidates and their surrogates are heating up their rhetoric, and it could prove to be combustible beyond South Carolina's Jan. 26 primary.
Clinton, on defense over comments that she and her husband made regarding Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy and Obama's fitness for the White House, tried to turn the tables on her top primary rival. She accused his campaign of looking to score political points by distorting their words.
Hillary Clinton had said King's dream of racial equality was realized only when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, while Bill Clinton said Illinois Sen. Obama was telling a "fairy tale" about his opposition to the Iraq war. Black leaders have criticized their comments, and Obama said Sunday her comment about King was "ill-advised."
"I think it offended some folks who felt that somehow diminished King's role in bringing about the Civil Rights Act," he told reporters on a conference call. "She is free to explain that, but the notion that somehow this is our doing is ludicrous."
As evidence the Obama campaign had pushed the story, Clinton advisers pointed to a memo written by an Obama staffer compiling examples of comments by Clinton and her surrogates that could be construed as racially insensitive. The memo later surfaced on some political Web sites.
"This is an unfortunate story line the Obama campaign has pushed very successfully," the former first lady said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I don't think this campaign is about gender, and I sure hope it's not about race."
Clinton taped the show before appearances in South Carolina, where at least half the primary voters are expected to be black. On Monday, she planned to attend a union event honoring King's legacy in New York City.
But no sooner had Clinton said she hoped the campaign would not be about race than it got even more heated. A prominent black Clinton supporter, Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson, criticized Obama and seemed to refer to his acknowledged teenage drug use while introducing Clinton at her next event.
"To me, as an African-American, I am frankly insulted the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues — when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood; I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book — when they have been involved," Johnson said.
I remember as a child how my mother used to watch Reverend Ike. I was surprised to find out that the former huckster of magical, "prayer cloths," which claimed to cure everything from baldness to financial troubles.... is still around.
Last night I was watching Larry King Live and one of his guest was Dr. Creflo Dollar, (partial transcript to follow). This man is surely a philosophical decedent of Reverend Ike and his like! We live in the age of Super Churches, MEGA corporations with Ministers who live in Multi Million Dollar homes
KING: And a return visit to LARRY KING LIVE for Dr. Creflo Dollar, the founder and senior pastor of World Changes Church International. He is one of six television and mega-church preachers being investigated by the Senate. His new book is "Eight Steps to Create the Life You Want, The Anatomy of a Successful Life." And we'll talk about the eight steps in a little while. But first, Senator Grassley -- last time you were with us, we discussed the fact that he wanted all the details of your finances and what goes where and I understand you have declined to give that?
DOLLAR: Yes, sir.
KING: Why?
DOLLAR: We don't believe there's any legal obligation to do so, based on the Church Audit Act of 1984, which Senator Grassley co- sponsored. He made it very clear that there were protections for church organizations. For example, there's a difference between a church and a tax exempt organization. All churches are tax exempt, but not all tax exempt organizations are churches.
KING: Right, like a charity.
DOLLAR: Like a charity, so what happens is the church is exempt from annual filings and disclosure requirements that other tax exempt organizations have to be responsible for. Churches are exempt from filing a 990 Form, which is basically information return form.
KING: But when you see people complain about billions of dollars being spent on a luxurious lifestyle, wouldn't it be smart to give the information morally?
DOLLAR: It wouldn't be smart to give the information for the entire public to examine.
KING: Why? DOLLAR: Because you don't want to get involved with excessive entanglement with the First Amendment. There are some people who don't want their information to be exposed so other people can take them through the scrutiny of why they decided to give to this ministry or why they decided to support --
KING: I'm talking about you, Doctor Dollar, what have you got to hide?
DOLLAR: I don't have anything to hide. I want to make sure that if a senator has some obligation and responsibility to keeping the law and the process -- if there are certain laws and processes that are there to protect privacy, then I want to make sure I take full example of those laws.
KING: So it has nothing to do with excessive spending.
DOLLAR: Nothing at all. We are fully compliant with the IRS. The IRS gets our taxes. The IRS, we comply with us 100 percent. And what I would prefer is if you wanted the information, then you would go ahead and tell the IRS to issue a subpoena, come in and evaluate it. And then we would have no problems doing that.
KING: Do you think they should do that?
DOLLAR: They have a right to do that. And if they chose to do that, then what we would have is protection by Code 6103, where the IRS is required to keep the Privacy Act for those who turn the information over.
KING: Do you ever, Doctor Dollar, that whether you should spend anything lavish on yourself, as long as some people are without?
DOLLAR: What's your question again?
KING: Do you ever think why should I spend lavishly on myself when there are some people who don't have anything? That's not God's message I don't think.
DOLLAR: The Bible says, Jesus said, the poor you will have with you always. But the miscalculated assumption is that if we buy anything nice, it doesn't necessarily mean that we are not helping people who are without. Our ministry helps people all over the world who are without. We give millions of dollars a year to help people who are without. We personally help people who are without. We have purchased homes for people. I have purchased over 100 cars for people. It's a part of the gospel that if you have to give to go and give.
KING: So then wonders why wouldn't you show all that?
DOLLAR: Again --
KING: That's a pretty good thing to show.
DOLLAR: If you could see it all, then what you would find out is a lot of good things. But that's not the point. The point is there are laws and processes in place --
KING: You're saying this is a principle?
DOLLAR: It's a principle.
I just loved this clip of him asking for money:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLAR: So it is Biblical to come into the church with an offering. Amen. Make sure that you can't be bought. Make sure that you have money, but make sure that money never has you.
And remember, you give because you love god, because you honor god, and because you respect god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Dr. Creflo Dollar has a new book out, "Eight Steps to Create the Life You Want, the Anatomy of a Successful Life." Success meaning financial success?
DOLLAR: Success meaning being able to fulfill your purpose and the reason why you're here.
KING: And you figured it out and have broken it down into eight steps?
DOLLAR: I believe I have. It starts out with words. Words are very important. We have four basic needs that every human has to get met. Number one, you have the need of acceptance, feeling that you're loved and needed. You have a need of identity, feeling that you are significant and special.
You have a need of security, feeling that you are protected and you'll be cared for. And then finally, a need for understanding your purpose and the reason why you're alive and why you live. Now if those four basic human needs are not met, you're going to have trouble. If you don't get them met by parents, if you don't get them met somehow, you're going to end up in a bad situation.
So what I had an opportunity to do in this book is to divide it up into eight steps so that you can understand life. And if you don't like where you are, then you can at least diagnose life and then fix it and do some repairs and some adjustments so that you can live a successful life.
KING: Am I better person the more money I have?
DOLLAR: No, you're not. Prosperity -- money by itself cannot define prosperity. But prosperity is defined as wholeness in every area of your life, spirit, soul, body, family, marriage. It includes money, but money is not the basis of success.
KING: Are you successful?
DOLLAR: I'm successful because I believe I found the will of god for my life.
KING: Did you find it early on?
DOLLAR: Yes, sir, I found it at the age of 22 on a college campus. And I really didn't want to be a preacher. In fact, I didn't like preachers because in those days the preachers used to come over to your house and eat up all the chicken before anybody else got a chance to sit down and eat. But I had an opportunity to understand that there was a calling on my life and anointing to fulfill the will of god in my life.
KING: The book is "Eight Steps to Create the Life You Want." Dr. Creflo Dollar is the author. We have an email from Jaime in Bend, Oregon; are the monetary amounts you spend yearly for your multiple homes and cars and luxuries equal to or less than what the church provides to those in need within the congregation.
DOLLAR: Much less, much, much less.
THE MONEY SHOT
KING: But when they something -- Do you need plural -- do you need more than one home?
DOLLAR: No, you don't need more than one home. But, you know, people in our society today have always had a problem with excess. And we don't have any problems with movie stars having more than one home. We don't have any problems with sports people having more than one home. But, boy, if you get a man of god that has more than one home, then he's got to be doing something wrong.
KING: That's because the man of god claims to be preaching the word of god. And the sports star doesn't. The movie star doesn't.
DOLLAR: But the word of god says, and he makes it very clear in proverbs, the blessings of the lord maketh rich and addeth no sorrow. See, Larry, we also believe in the gospel of prosperity that god wants you to be successful in every endeavor of your life.
KING: Including rich?
DOLLAR: Including financially.
Okay, so let me see if I got this right. With all the hungry people in the world, the homeless, etc.... Do you think Jesus would be driving a Bentley, or would he figure out how many meals that Bentley could buy? I rest my case...
Craig: Well, I don't know where the Senate's going to be on that issue of an up or down vote on impeachment, but I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure resolution and it's a slap on the wrist. I'’s a, bad boy, Bill Clinton. You're a naughty boy. The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy. I'm going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
Let me describe NASTY to you Senator.... Nasty is when you have a wife and kids at home and you are traveling the Glory Hole Circuit. That Senator is NASTY!
To call some of the thugs in the Republican Party Nazi's? I guess there is nothing hypocritical about calling the two democratic front runners communist?
Would figure out a way to make the whole Craig mess seem like a Democratic Hypocrisy issue... My buddy Jay Tea did not disappoint:
It's just now come out that Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June in the men's room of a Minnesota airport and charged with "disorderly conduct" by an officer investigating complaints of "lewd behavior" there.
Prepare for Senator Craig to be referred to as a "prominent" or "leading" Republican extensively in the next few days, along with mention of Mark Foley and old whatshisname, the evangelist from the Mountain States, but nary a mention of Gerry Studds, Barney Frank, Jim McGreevy, or any other prominent Democrats caught up in gay scandals.
Of course niether Frank nor McGreevy have made a career of condemning gays, or denying them rights... Small little detail. Jay Tea is a really good friend, but man I have to tell you, the way Jay and others simply ignore that which is inconvenient, is incredible. Check out his comments here. This from a guy who once refused to retract an article on Wizbang where he accussed Senator Obamma of being an undercover Muslim, when the very article he quoted said just the opposite. But, as an agonistic, he could care less about religion... At the same time, he does not hesitate to insist that as a condition of debate, that any Liberal or progressive, 'do their homework."
Of course Jay does not stop there, he goes on to write a rambling piece in which he implies things about Senator Ted Kenney, and geesh, I dont even know what the hell he is talking about... But then ANYTHING to take the heat off the fact that another blustering, self hating homosexual Republican has been exposed. At least progressive Gays dont try to hide it. It must REALLY suck to be Gay and have to hide behind the anti gay bully routine...
Kind of makes you wonder how many Right Wing Bloggers have dirty little secrets...
JERUSALEM (CNN) - Israel on Sunday rejected 50 Africans -- most of them reportedly from Sudan's Darfur region - who had illegally entered the country from Egypt, a government official said.
The move angered many Israeli lawmakers and human rights advocates because of reports that some Sudanese refugees are being killed or mistreated by authorities in Egypt.
Israel has been struggling with how to cope with an increasing number of Africans, including some from Darfur, who enter the country through Israel's southern border with Egypt.
According to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, the refugees were arrested Friday evening as they tried to cross from Egypt into Israel. They were held at a military base in southern Israel before being driven back to Egypt on Sunday, the newspaper reported.
The nationalities of the 50 sent back Sunday were not released, but the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing figures from the Israeli military, said nearly all of them had escaped the genocide in Darfur.
Speaking to CNN, Israeli government spokesman David Baker described them as "economic refugees from Africa."
Baker told The Associated Press that Darfurians would not be immune from Israel's ban on unauthorized immigrants.
Israeli law denies asylum to anyone from an enemy state, AP reports. Sudan's Muslim government is hostile to Israel and has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.
Eytan Schwartz, an advocate for Darfur refugees in Israel, told AP that about 400 have entered Israel in recent years. Baker said they would be allowed to live in Israel, and that the ban applied to new arrivals.
Dozens of Israeli lawmakers recently signed a petition urging the government not to deport Sudanese refugees.
Arab militias supported by Sudan's government have committed numerous human rights atrocities, U.N. officials say, including the slaughter and gang rape of civilians, destruction of water sources, looting and burning of buildings and crops.
Earlier this month, Israel's Channel 10 interviewed Israeli soldiers who said they had witnessed Egyptian security officers executing several Darfur refugees.
According to Channel 10, their testimonies were backed up by Israeli military security cameras that showed Egyptian soldiers shooting and killing several asylum-seekers.
Channel 10 did not air the video.
I guess one set of folks Genocide is more important than others... I have always been blown away by the hypocrisy of a government who arrests whole families for the crimes of one of the members, executes people without trial, bulldozes houses, making homeless whole families.... and then laments injustice against them. You would think that Israelis would have some affinity for the victims of Dafur....
Since I somehow made the mistake of starting to read Hugh Hewitt again and commented twice about his nonsense, I might as well continue on with another post. Today, I am mentioned by name:
I am not surprised that the Bush haters like Sullivan and Cole are outraged that General Petraeus would be interviewed by an admirer of the president, or that the anti-war extremists like Greenwald, Yglesias and the others cannot disguise their contempt for the military (though they think their attack on General Petraeus' integrity won't identify them as anti-military.)
I'm not surprised that new media journalists producing interviews of a sort far superior to what MSM serves up in one minute sound bytes excites the anger of folks who prefer their defeatist agendas advanced by a dominant MSM. They don't want the Beltway-Manhattan media elites to lose their monopoly on "important" interviews as that means instead of Democratic journalists like Tim Russert, George Stephanopoulos and Chris Matthews asking defeat-slanted questions, new media outlets will step in and allow serious people to make extended arguments about the stakes in Iraq and the state of the various battles in the broader war on terror.
Dear Hugh- I don't hate Bush. I voted for him twice (votes I now deeply, deeply regret), and I hate what he has done to this country, I hate his incompetence, I hate that he has let propagandists such as yourself take the lead in designing and pushing policy, I hate that he has lost or is losing not one, but two wars, I hate that he has politicized (more accurately, allowed his lackeys to politicize) everything from NASA to the FDA to the Pentagon to a level that would have made Hugh scream out in rage were the President's last name Clinton. I hate all of those things.
But for all that, I still don't hate Bush. I think he is a small, shallow, feeble-minded man, whose "resolve" you cherish is merely the result of a man incapable of thinking on the spot and changing course. While he is ultimately responsible for anything that has been done during his tenure, I am of the opinion that he is little more than a puppet.
So, Hugh, I don't hate him. In fact, I almost feel sorry for him. This will go down as the most incompetent and morally compromised administration in history, and when those history books look back, they will not refer to this sorry period as the "Cole administration," nor will they refer to it as the "Hewitt administration," despite the fact that so very many of your bad ideas have, in fact, been instituted (and usually not because they reflect or represent your 'deep' principles, but because you felt there was some sort of immediate political/electoral gain to be seized). History will dub this sorry era as the Bush Administration.
There was a time, during the last two presidential elections, where I seriously considered the sanity of the people on the Right. I started reading John Cole early last year, and he is one of the few BIG Conservative Bloggers that just makes sense! The guy does not march lockstep with anyone or anything except his own conscience.
This guy used to be one of my heroes, and was in fact one of the first major Conservative Blogs to see the light. It seems, that he has become so dissapointed that he does not even write about politics any, well at least not directly...
I miss the old days when we could have honest, good spirited debates. But it seems more and more common, that even the most die hard supporters of Bush and his policies are either taking a hard look at what they have wrought, and finally speaking out... Or simply choosing to change the subject or pretend that certain things did not, are not or will not.... happen... Or that if they did, are will.... they are not responsible for it. Others will stay with the ship, LONG after it has sunk into history as one of the worst disasters in American History. (Sigh).
My own work life has prevented me from posting much lately or participating in the debate. I have a comeback plan and intend to get back into the blog, but I would rather take the time to do it right, rather than posting simply for posting sake.
By the way, I dont hate Bush either. I'm a...
My Conservative Identity:
You are a Flag-Waving Everyman, also known as a patriot. You believe in freedom, apple pie, rooting for America at all times, and that God gave us a two-day weekend so we could enjoy football and NASCAR.
Heh.... I don't think so. But the test was funny anyway!
The Real Me:
My Liberal Identity:
You are a Social Justice Crusader, also known as a rights activist. You believe in equality, fairness, and preventing neo-Confederate conservative troglodytes from rolling back fifty years of civil rights gains.
Pat Tillman's brother's testimony was devastating...
Pat Tillman's brother accused the military Tuesday of "intentional falsehoods" and "deliberate and careful misrepresentations" in portraying the football star's death in Afghanistan as the result of heroic engagement with the enemy instead of friendly fire.
"We believe this narrative was intended to deceive the family but more importantly the American public," Kevin Tillman told a hearing of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. "Pat's death was clearly the result of fratricide," he said.
"Revealing that Pat's death was a fratricide would have been yet another political disaster in a month of political disasters ... so the truth needed to be suppressed," said Tillman, who was in a convoy behind his brother when the incident happened three years ago but didn't see it.
He said the Tillman family has sought for years to get at the truth about Pat Tillman's death.
"We have now concluded that our efforts are being actively thwarted by powers that are more interested in protecting a narrative than getting at the truth and seeing justice is served," he said.
Tillman was killed on April 22, 2004, after his Army Ranger comrades were ambushed in eastern Afghanistan. Rangers in a convoy trailing Tillman's group had just emerged from a canyon where they had been fired upon. They saw Tillman and mistakenly fired on him.
Committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., contended that the federal government invented "sensational details and stories" about the death of Pat Tillman and the rescue of Jessica Lynch from Iraq.
"The government violated its most basic responsibility," said Waxman.
Jessica Lynch is up now... And the Hollywood storty is being ripped apart... You know, Jessica deserves a medal, for being brave enough to cut through the propaganda and bullshit and to acknowledge the real heroes.
In the meantime, our young people continue to die in Iraq, and there is no end in sight.
Funny how this is the biggest story of the day, and the Right's biggest blog is ignoring it.
My Evil Dictator is more EY-VIL than your Evil Dictator!
Now that the Weblog Awards are over, and I have offered all my congrats, including the winner in my category, Babalu, it's time to get back to some discussion...
In light of all concern lately in the news about the victims of Latin American dictators see if you can find the terms "anti-Pinochet extremists" or "anti-Pinochet hardliners" or "rabidly anti-Pinochet hotheads" linked to any of those who sought "justice" for the Chilean Junta's "human rights abuses." Look for any hint that these noisy Chilean malcontents are "intransigent," and "living in the past."
Okay, now replace the word "Pinochet" in the above phrases with the word "Castro" and see if you manage to find any of these terms ABSENT from any media mention of those who seek justice for a list of (genuine) victims that dwarfs the one for Pinochet's rule.
While we're at it, go back a bit and see if you find the term "anti-apartheid extremists" or "anti-aparthied hardliners" or "rabidly anti-aparthied hotheads" used for those who advocated economic sanctions against South Africa.
Now I have not read Babalu since last years competition. I mean there is so much of "Castro Sucks, yada, yada," I can take. And frankly I have not given a damn about Right Wing Cuba fantasies for a while now, especially since they decided to make a kid a political pawn. Yep, you heard me right. I am a daddy, and I don't give a Rats Ass what a bunch of Right Wingers think, if the mother of my children dies, I make the call on where they live, as long as it is with me. If I want to sell dried yak meat on the slopes of Mounth Kilimanjaro, it's my damned business.
I left a comment on Babalu, will repost here...
A murderous dictator is a murderous dictator, the number "about 3000," is bandied about as if someone is keeping score on who is worse. I think that is tacky as hell... and seems to miss this important point:
Chile's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Commissioned after the country’s transition to democracy in 1990, it found that some 3,197 Chileans had been killed, 29,000 tortured, 957 "disappeared," and untold thousands banished into exile during Pinochet’s 17-year reign.
Eh, in case you haven't figured it out yet... DISAPPEARED is DEAD! None of these people are going to suddenly reappear and proclaim Pinochet a Saint.
As an African American, I find it equally disgusting that somehow Castro's persecution of his people is somehow supposed to be more heinous than what happened under Apartheid. I live in Latin America, love Latin Culture, and have met some wonderful Cuban people, but I find that many of the white Cubans, and even some that obviously have more African Blood than European, somehow consider themselves better than blacks. This is stupidity in it's highest, and one of the reasons that we all get pissed on.
Apartheid was a criminal system of monstrous proportions, as was the political murder of Pinochet opponents. I have no problem sympathizing with those who would seek to oust Castro, but Frank at the Beach is a hypocrite. A dictator who murders his own people, on the Right or Left, is a murderous dictator, and anyone who acts as an apologist for them is a morally bankrupt person.
One of the Babalu regulars, I imagine, has already jumped into the debate with me in comments to the post.
A typical Right Wing response... Make it all about me... Not about the issue... File this one under Whatever... It fits.
Have you noticed how many of the Right Winger Blogs have been discreetly... oh so discreetly, trying to downplay Pinochet's murderous reign over his country... It's the old "but the trains ran on time," argument, updated for the late 20th century!
I must admit, Marc, I am extraordinarily disturbed by the growing chorus of apologia for brutal thug Augusto Pinochet. The argument seems to be twofold: 1) A left-wing dictator would have been worse, and 2) at least he helped spark the economy. Both, I feel, are being wielded far too casually to excuse one of the hemisphere's most notorious tyrants.
To the first, yes, Pinochet is likely better than Fidel Castro. Castro, for his part, is likely better than Adolph Hitler. The debate as to whether right-wing or left-wing dictators are "worse" is tiresome and, I feel, puts the desire to score partisan points ahead of what should be a bipartisan and universal norm of condemning all of history's murderous tyrants to the hell they belong. Moreover, I can't be too impressed by Pinochet voluntarily stepping down and "pav[ing] the way for liberal democrac[y]" after over a decade in office, given that he got there by overthrowing a democratically elected government in Salvador Allende. Allende may not have been ideal, but he was the elected leader (unlike Mr. Castro), and I think its an absurd attempt at counterfactual to assert that he, too, would have been a brutal thug. Democracy, at the very least, already existed in Chile. Pinochet replaced democracy with a particularly vicious tyranny.
To the second, I don't feel these sort of extrinsic issues can or should in any way be used to lament the loss of evil. I'm no fan of stagnated economic development, but I dislike thousands of "disappearances" and mass torture a whole lot more. Giving points to Pinochet for improving the economy is like giving props to Castro for increasing the literacy rate, or the British colonial government for making the trains run on time. When weighed against the type of incalculable evil waged by Pinochet against his populace, it is a flyspeck.
David is spot on...
Pinochet was a ruthless dictator who was responsible for the murder, rape and torture of thousands in his country. If you want to know what happened in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America during the battle against the spread of communism, read Empire's Workshop. Pinochet got an express ticket to Hell, where he will be tortured for all eternity by the screams of his victims. You know, the ones who were thrown out of airplanes flying over the Pacific Ocean, or of the women who watched their babies bludgeoned to death, before they were raped and had their throats slit. He might also hear the cries of the mothers of the dissapeared... I have no sympathy for the man. Nor do I celebrate the Shock Therapy that led to the so called economic miracle, that starved his population, and drove many into bankruptcy, before "curing them."
It's amazing to see Pinochet compared with Castro, as if it makes sense to compare two mass murders and to conclude that one was "less evil," than the other. Castro is an evil man, who is responsible for the death of thousands, and a brutally oppressive regime. When his time comes, he will share hell with Pinochet. It is the ultimate in hypocrisy to lessen the crimes of a murderer because he fits one's political ideology, or because he ultimately retired, or that the legally elected President he replaced MIGHT have been worse.... All ridiculous and immoral arguments, literally spitting on the graves of those who died at the hands of Mr. Pinochet, many guilty only of being "suspected," of being a communist, or being a family member of one, or... simply speaking out against the atrocities... Everyone eulogizing this monster should be forced to sit in a room with the survivors of his victims and listen to their stories of horror.
Interesting the hypocrisy of these people... If you are a murderous dictator that thumbs your nose at the US, you are bad. If you are a murderous dictator who works closely with the CIA to murder your own people, and commits acts of terrorism on U.S. soil, you are just slightly flawed.
I live in Central America. I personally know people who suffered under repressive dictatorships during the late 20th Century. Pinochet was one of many ruthless dictatorships or puppet governments sponsored by the U.S., and installed with CIA dirty tricks, and the wounds have not healed. Even today, in a country like Costa Rica, which was spared most of the worst of U.S. intervention, there is resentment. This resentment is most often today expressed in the form of opposition to the CAFTA agreement, which is seen by many intellectuals as an extension of traditional American Imperialism.
Pinochet was a murderer and a thief who stole tens of millions of dollars from his country's treasury during his rule. To remember him as anything less is immoral...
Paul Barnes of Grace Chapel, a 2,100-member church in the Denver suburbs, resigned last week and came out to his congregation in a 32-minute videotaped message that was played during services yesterday:
"I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy,” Barnes said in the 32- minute video, which church leaders permitted The Denver Post to view. "... I can't tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away."
But before anyone can do anything for this guy, he needs to face up to who, and WHAT he is.
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. - The Rev. Ted Haggard this week formally begins his long journey toward recovery from a drugs-and-gay-sex scandal that forced him to step down as one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the nation.
Haggard, 50, has turned himself over to a team of counselors who are "assessing his spiritual, emotional and mental condition," said the Rev. H.B. London, who is helping to guide Haggard through the process. London and two other pastors will then set out a rigorous "restoration plan" requiring Haggard to spend hours each week in counseling, Bible study, prayer and soul-baring talks - by phone or in person - with his mentors.
The team's first task will be to push Haggard to acknowledge any addictions and come to an honest understanding of his sexuality. "Ted is not in touch with reality," said the Rev. Mark Cowart, a friend. The mentors can confront Haggard or rebuke him forcefully; they may also ask him to submit to a polygraph test.
"Ted says he's not a homosexual," said the Rev. Mike Ware, a good friend. "The restoration team wants experts to evaluate that."
Haggard's high-profile ministry collapsed last month after a male prostitute went on talk radio to allege that the pastor regularly paid him for sex over the last three years. Mike Jones - who advertised in gay publications as a masseur - also said he had seen Haggard take methamphetamine.
Haggard denied the accusations. But when Jones produced two voice-mail messages from Haggard, the pastor said he had hired the prostitute for a massage and had purchased meth, only to throw it away. In a letter to his congregation, Haggard admitted that he had succumbed to "desires that were contrary to everything I believe and teach."
"I am a deceiver and a liar," Haggard wrote. "There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life."
Haggard resigned as president of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, a powerful post that brought him in frequent contact with the White House. He was also dismissed as senior pastor of New Life, the church he founded in his basement and grew to a congregation of 14,000.
Since his public confession, Haggard has secluded himself with his wife, Gayle, and their five children. Those close to him say he's humbled, ashamed and grieving - yet prayerful that the scandal might strengthen his family and his faith. "It seems to be a time of hope," said Carolyn Haggard, his niece.
New Life's trustees are working on a severance package to sustain Haggard (who earned about $140,000 a year) and his wife (who earned about $50,000 a year for her work with women's ministries). Associate Pastor Rob Brendle said the Haggards had also received a "generous outpouring" of gifts from congregation members, including donations.
Those close to the restoration will not say whether Haggard will undergo therapy to try to eliminate same-sex attractions. But the conservative Christian leader James C. Dobson, a close friend, has said the healing process - which could last years - will probably aim to eliminate any homosexuality.
White evangelicals as a group tend to view homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, not an inborn trait, with 56% holding that sexual orientation can be changed, according to a poll taken this summer by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. (By comparison, the same poll showed 31% of Catholics and 22% of white mainline Protestants believe change is possible.)
In many evangelical congregations, men and women with same-sex attractions are expected to use prayer and Bible study to help them resist the temptation to sin. Haggard comes from a charismatic tradition that puts particular emphasis on the devil's corrupting influence. He has described supernatural visions of demons waiting to infect newborns with sinful desires.
This theology of constant spiritual warfare has led some of his followers to blame Haggard's fall not on any personal weakness but on Satan's cunning. As congregation member Jan Long, 60, put it: "The enemy wants to destroy us."
Such constructions worry the Rev. Tony Campolo, a liberal evangelical leader who helped guide President Clinton's spiritual restoration after the Monica S. Lewinsky affair. "The idea that this is a matter of some evil spirit taking hold of him is setting Ted Haggard up for disaster," Campolo said. "He may have a tendency to pretend that he's been delivered from his homosexual feelings... and all is well."
Haggard is a Gay man, and you don't cure, or pray that away. I actually feel sorry for the guy. But more sorry that he can't live his religion, and HIS LIFE.
Could you tell if he was tweaking when you were together?
Well, kind of. He would get this weird glare in his eyes and he'd become much more sensual. When we were together it was usually for just an hour or so.
This is something I have always wondered about: closet cases with wives and children ...
I have no doubt in my mind that they fantasize about men. That's the only way they can get it up.
Is it safe to assume that Haggard's a bottom? Maybe a power bottom, but a bottom nonetheless.
When people see him, the first impression is, Oh my god, he looks gay. When they were having the service at his church and reading his apology letter, all the reporters that were there came back to me and said, "You know what, Mike? It's really strange. All the guys that were up on stage were young, good-looking men."
Bottom, or power bottom? Well, let me just say ... yes, bottom.
What turned Reverend Haggard on the most about you?
I think my body, for sure. Also, it probably didn't hurt that I'm pretty well-endowed.
Reverend James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, basically said he didn't have time to help save this man, who had been one of his closest friends—
Dobson doesn't want any connection with him. Since this happened, lots of people have asked me if I think [Haggard] is gay. My answer to that is yes.
Ken Mehlman is gay? Say it aint so! And OH the outrage! Get over it Ed! You guys crack me up! If the guy is gay, he is gay. ITS THE Hypocrisy Ed! It's sort of like the discussion I have been having with my hommie Marty about being Black and supporting the Republicans. You gotta have a whole lot of self hate built up to support someone who tries to deny you status as a human being... Ya think?
Continues to support these people... To my Sisters and Brothers in the Rightsphere, how can you sit still for this shit?
I want to call on every DECENT American to look at this... To understand the absolute scummyness of these people. Failing to do that, I ask... And you know who you are? HOW, Why... How can you look at yourself in the mirror and know, this is the party you support.
$45 for a six pack of coke? Tell me how that is supporting our troops. Conservatives like to go on and on about how they support our troops. $45 is what Halliburton is selling a six pack of coke to our Troops in Iraq. Watch this video.
Go see Greenwald's film here. Then VOTE on Tuesday!
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- The Rev. Ted Haggard was fired as pastor of the Colorado church he founded in his basement more than 20 years ago, after an independent board ruled he had committed "sexually immoral conduct."
Haggard admitted on Friday that he bought methamphetamine and got a massage from Mike Jones, a former male prostitute. Jones said the prominent pastor paid him for sex over a three-year period.
Haggard, in an interview with CNN affiliate KUSA, denied having sex with Mike Jones and said he did not use the drug and threw it away.
The board of the 14,000 member New Life Church said in a statement, "Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct."
"In consultation with leading evangelicals and experts familiar with the type of behavior Pastor Haggard has demonstrated, we have decided that the most positive and productive direction for our church is his dismissal and removal."
Haggard, 50, and his wife were informed of the decision, the statement said, and "they have agreed as well that he should be dismissed and that a new pastor for New Life Church should be selected according to the rules of replacement in the bylaws."
The statement said "a letter of explanation and apology" from Haggard and "a word of encouragement" from his wife, Gayle, would be read at Sunday morning services.
The Rev. Ross Parsley, the church's interim leader, sent the statement to church members before it was released to the media.
"Please continue to pray for Pastor Ted and his family, and let's all continue to stand strong together for the kingdom of God," Parsley's note to church members said. "We will get through this together. Remember, New Life Church has never been a man, a building or anything else -- we are a family."
The couple have five children.
On Saturday, shocked church members came to New Life Church's sprawling Colorado Springs campus.
"It's a hard time for all of us. I have been a personal friend to Ted for some time, and it's a hard time for me," Associate Pastor Rob Brendle told CNN. "And at the same time, I'm grateful that we have a resolution, and I'm confident that we have a road ahead where our church will stay strong and will continue to have the opportunity to serve the people of this community."
He said church members were "grateful" the board had come to a prompt decision.
"I was a member from the basement days," said Kurt Serpe, referring to the church's origins in Haggard's basement in 1985. "I'm very shocked. He wrote the bylaws, and he's standing by the bylaws."
"I'm very shocked. He wrote the bylaws, and he's standing by the bylaws."
Probably the most honorable thing he has done in this whole sordid affair. Though I doubt he had much choice in the matter.
Of course the White House is quickly distancing themselves from him:
"Although Time magazine had put Haggard on its list of the nation's 25 most influential evangelicals, citing his White House access, White House spokesman Tony Fratto insisted Friday that it was inaccurate to portray Haggard as having close White House ties."
Ted Haggard has been fired by the megachurch he founded in Colorado Springs. After an investigation, the board of the New Life Church found him “guilty of sexually immoral conduct.”
Today, Ted Haggard, the newly resigned leader of the 14,000 member New Life Church in Colorado Springs, admitted to asking male prostitute Ralph Jones to score him some meth for curiosity's sake and asking for a "massage". It is just a matter of time before the rest of the sordid truth unfolds.
Rumor has it that the gay community in Colorado Springs has known about Rev. Ted for years and that he not only has had sex with gay prostitutes, but has also had a ten-year long affair with one of his male aides, and has come on inappropriately to many young staffers. Deja vu, anyone?
Why do these people always try to go into denial mode. I said it with Clinton and I will say it with this poor moron. Just say "No comment." The truth is going to come out eventually, and when it does, you look so much worse.
I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know how this is going to turn out in the end, but this guy has already lied a couple of times. In the end, the truth... whatever it is, is going to come out.
I am always amazed at how hypocritical the conservative bloggers are.
Newspapers print stories about illegal torture, prison camps in Eastern Europe, or domestic spying, and these folks want to string the reporters up, and now we learn, that they led the movement to get the plans for nuclear weapons onto th internet... Just amazing! And the stones of these people.... They were braggin' about it this morning. I guess the RNC got around to sending out an email... Musta went something like this....
"Shut up FOOLS! This does not make us look good, it makes us look like morons."
There is not even a mention of it on Memorandum right now...
But dude... I understand the frustration. I can even understand the bald faced lies, "Documents Prove Saddam had active Nuclear Weapon Program." ACTIVE?
This is what the NYT said:
But in recent weeks, the site has posted some documents that weapons experts say are a danger themselves: detailed accounts of Iraq’s secret nuclear research before the 1991 Persian Gulf war. The documents, the experts say, constitute a basic guide to building an atom bomb.
Emphasis mine.
I see nothing in the article that screams "Saddam was a year away from having nukes in 2002!" As some of the Conservative bloggers implied AND implicitly stated today... I must have missed that part. Maybe that is why they have moved on to the next meme... Santorum's Gentle Christianity perhaps?
The boys of the Conservasphere used to be a lot more careful. But I guess it was easy when you were on attack mode for six years. Playing defense is a lot harder...
Haggard's denial collapsing... Wizbang continues to ignore!
Hehe... Sorry Kevin, had to take a shot... I mean this is the biggest story on the internet today, besides conservatives trying to resurrect the ghost of non-existent WMD's while ignoring why the Bush administration published nuclear bomb manuals on the "internets," and your blog focuses on what? Inspiring stories of Christian Candidates who pray for their opponents.
"The leader of 30 million evangelicals and vocal opponent of gay equality ... is gay, and the psychosis of the closet appears to have led him into a dangerous and self-destructive pattern of behavior with a male escort."
And he is also more than likely a drug head, and certainly a liar. The whole thing sort of symbolizes the hypocrisy I have been pointing out for years.
* Conservatives voting for politicians who are not only spending the country into a deeper and deeper hole, but who are contrary to Conservative philosophy, getting more and more into our personal lives.
*Republicans demonizing Gays at almost every turn, and yet every day a new one is exposed as being gay.
*Family values speeches from guys who spit on their wives and pay $500,000 to keep their Mistress from spilling the beans.
*Republicans running committees that are supposed to protect children and then playing Yahoo hot chat with under aged teenaged boys.
*Talking of bringing honor back to the white house and then selling the country to Halliburton.
*Being a UNITER that employs Karl Rove and demonizes the other party.
*Pandering the the Christian Right while turning Washington into Sodom and Gomorah, and allegedly allowing those same Christian organizations to be made fun of in the White House... Behind their back of course.
*Changing the justification for the War in Iraq as often as some people change their underwear.
Haggard's sins may or may not impact the election, but they have done something perhaps more powerful... They have exposed to the core... the hypocrisy behind these people. We man never look at the bloated arrogance and self righteousness of the holier than though Right, the same way.
There are some on the Right who had the dignity to step back from the brink and say enough is enough... Others hang on desperately to their Glory Days...
Unable to even consider the lie that their dream has become. They will fight to the last breath to hold on to the stinking corpse that was once their revolution. Regardless of how the election turns out on Tuesday, it will never be the same again... The nakedness of the Emperor, which many of us saw a long time ago... Is obvious to anyone who cares to look. That they chose not to, does not mean he ain't naked!
It is easy to look at conservatives and consider some of them stupid, but they are not. They are true believers. But all of us woke up one day and realized that the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause did not exist. For them too, that day will come.
Update: What I find really funny is how some of the Conservatives are talking about how Haggard "looksgay," whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. Yeah, actually making fun of the guy. A guy who just lost his church, his rep, probably his wife, though not right away... Oh don't get me wrong. I dont feel sorry for the guy. He made his bed, screwed in it and then cranked up in it... So I feel no pity other than that I feel for his wife and children. But these are his comrades in arms. Guys who probably would have kissed up to this guy a week ago, and now they are all but calling him a fairy. Pretty demonstrative of the way these people operate. Sad really.
Makes you kind of wonder why they didn't KNOW that this guy was gay?
After Pastor Ted Haggard went public Wednesday night denying allegations of a homosexual affair, senior church officials told KKTV 11News Thursday evening, Pastor Ted Haggard has admitted to some of the claims made by a former male escort. The church's Acting Senior Pastor, Ross Parsley, tells KKTV 11 News that Pastor Haggard has admitted to some of the indiscretions claimed by Mike Jones, but not all of them.
Thursday morning, Jones went on a Denver radio talk show and said Pastor Haggard paid him for sex over the past 3 years. Jones also claims Haggard used drugs with him.
Right now, the situation is under investigation by an independent panel of leaders from four outside churches. The leaders are from Colorado Springs, Larkspur, Westminster and Louisiana. The panel's role is to decide if Haggard will be exonerated, released from his duties or restored to his pastorship.
Looks like Mr. Haggard is in big doo-doo!
Okay, let the investigation finish. Innocent until proven guilty, yada, yada...
But one has to wonder. Why Republicans are so anti gay, when there seems to be so many of them hiding in the closet. One has to wonder why they are so venomous in their anti-gay tirades. One has to wonder why so many of these people seem to be so self loathing?
If the accusations against Mr. Haggard prove true, it is just one more example of how sick these people really are.
A Colorado TV station reported last night that Rev. Ted Haggard, a major figure in the evangelical movement who has not hesitated to cross over into the arena of secular politics, allegedly had an ongoing sexual relationship with a gay former male escort.
Outside the Beltway seeming to be the only exception from the Right, though I may be wrong. Honestly, I have not bothered to read most of it. But Josh does make a couple of interesting points:
Late Update: No mention of the Haggard story on Drudge. I thought sex and politics was Drudge's lifeblood. Maybe he's pretending not to notice this one. After all, you wouldn't want to demoralize the true believers at this late stage of the campaign.
Later update: I'm not the only one to notice a studied silence from our conservative brethren.
I have deliberately avoided commenting on this, believing that we are all innocent until proven guity, but this....
Ted Haggard, one of the most prominent evangelical pastors in the nation, resigned today as president of the National Association of Evangelicals amid allegations that he carried on a three-year sexual relationship with a male prostitute.
Haggard, founder of the 14,000-member New Life Church, has denied the accusations but said in a statement released by the church today that he could "not continue to minister under the cloud created by accusations made on Denver talk radio this morning."
He has placed himself on administrative leave pending investigation, spiritual counsel and a decision by the church's board of overseers, the church's legal counsel said. Haggard founded the church in 1985.
"I am voluntarialy stepping aside from leadership so that the overseer process can be allowed to proceed with integrity. I hope to be able to discuss this matter in more detail at a later date," Haggard's statement said.
does not look good for Haggard.
If the allegations turn out to be true, it will be yet another example of hypocrisy on the part of those who would seek to dictate morality to us.
Of course, John Kerry went to college and served in the military, with distinction. He is, in fact and by definition, a hero.
Now would be a good time to refresh their memories about the military service, or rather, lack thereof, of their own glorious leaders:
* VP Dick Cheney - several deferments, by marriage and timely fatherhood.
* Karl Rove, occasional Deputy Chief of Staff and alleged full time smear artist, escaped the draft and did not serve
* Secretary of State and former NSA Condaleeza Rice - did not serve
* Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve.
* Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - did not serve.
* Republican Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - did not serve.
* [Comedian] Rush Limbaugh - did not serve
* Sean Hannity - did not serve
* Ann Coulter - did not serve
* Bill O’Reilly - did not serve
Also did not serve:
* White House Press Secretary Tony Snow
* RNC Chair Ken Mehlman
* White House chief of staff Josh Bolten
* Our favorite GOP 2008 presidential nominee, Newt Gingrich
* Not-my-America’s-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani
* Every Gop’s favorite Dem, Sen. Joe Lieberman
* Fox News anchor Brit Hume
* Fox News chief Roger Ailes
And as to Dear Leader himself, while men like Sen. Kerry went to Vietnam to fight for the United States, George W. Bush was laying about in Texas and Alabama, drinking, doing coke and chasing women.
The German newsweekly Stern has reported that Germany's federal police (BKA) and foreign intelligence service (BND) found terrorism suspects are being tortured and beaten in an American concentration camp named "Eagle Base," located in Tuzla, northeastern Bosnia. One suspect, 70 years old, was beaten so savagely in the head with a rifle butt that he needed 20 stitches. The Good American soldier was, according to the German report, "visibly proud" of his actions. I'll bet that 70-year-old man doesn't threaten anyone with his dentures again.
Documents which American soldiers had seized in raids were "extremely blood-smeared" and one of the German agents there compared the actions of American soldiers with those of Serbian war criminals: "The Serbs ended up before the international court in The Hague for this kind of thing." It's not surprising that rather than help in the interrogations, as they were originally sent there to do, they instead informed German’s federal prosecutor. The irony of all of this occurring in Bosnia should be enough to choke a horse.
When did this happen, last week? Last month? No, this was just two weeks after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. American soldiers were torturing and beating suspects - not convicted terrorists, just suspects - almost immediately after the attacks which George W. Bush treats as an excuse to ignore all boundaries of law, morality, and justice. None of this should be surprising and it's not limited to concentration camps set up on foreign soil. Police right here in America will use truncheons, chemical sprays, and projectile weapons against peaceful protesters who are exercising their constitutional rights in a way that is inconvenient to the government’s corporate backers.
Did I say "constitutional rights"? Sorry about that, it's an old habit that's hard to break. Our "rights" are becoming more and more just "privileges" which the government hasn't found a reason to snatch in the middle of the night. Our Constitution, according to our Leader, George W. Bush, is "just a goddamned piece of paper" and, according to Attorny General Alberto Gonzales, an "outdated document." The concept of constitutional rights is no longer an American value under the current regime and it's certainly not one which their collaborators and Kapos among the media elite are willing to openly defend.
Although it appears that the Germans here acted with some dignity and morality, the German government doesn't get off the hook because they've been claiming that they've known nothing about secret American concentration camps except for what they've read in media reports. One Afghan formerly held as a suspect by the Americans has filed a lawsuit alleging that German special forces participated in his interrogations. An intelligence report reveals that the CIA offered German officials access to a German citizen they held if Germany quashed EU protests over secret CIA flights, prisons, and torture. Germany got access to the prisoner and EU protests died down. There is also currently a scandal developing in Germany over photos of German soldiers desecrating a corpse and playing with someone's skull.
Read the whole thing...
Now maybe you can understand why I want to fucking gag every time I read about our "sacred mission," or bringing Freedom, Democracy and Liberty, to the rest of the world.
There was a time when I was SO proud to be an American. I remember right after 9/11 when you couldn't see the walls of the American Embassy here in Costa Rica, for all the flowers that Costa Ricans placed there. I remember strangers approaching me in the street and offering condolences, as if I had personally lost someone in the attacks. Now flash forward to today. The American Flag is burned in the streets, and America is looked at as something akin to The Beast.
I am, still proud to be an American. I am proud because I realize that REAL Americans do not support the things that have been done in our name. Real Americans believe as I do, that no one is above the law, and that America should not stand for torture, should not invade countries that have not attacked us, and should not be about lies and manipulation of the political process for power.
The Gay Ole Party baby, the GOP! The GOP seems to be the party of self haters... Self hating Blacks, Self Hating Gays... Jesus, they suck. I mean a Gay person who joins the GOP and pushes an anti gay agenda is like a light skinned black joining the KKK. It's just sick!
