James Dobson/Focus on the Family

Republican Senator Larry Craig: Focus On The Family's Perfect Presidential Candidate

Richard729 — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:18:44 -0400

Republican Senator Larry Craig: Focus on The Family's Perfect Presidential CandidateBy Richard A. StittJames Dobson, Focus on The Family founder and a strong proponent of what he calls "traditional Christian values," has said that he and his evangelical following will not endorse any candidate for president unless he is pro life. There should be little doubt that Idaho U.S. Senator Larry Craig fits their qualifications perfectly. American citizens can learn much from the votes of pious, sanctimonious Republican legislators like Senator Larry Craig, Congressman Mark Foley and Congressman David Vitter, all of whom presented themselves to the voters as paragons of virtue and practitioners of Christian moral values while simultaneously voting to strip away rights of American citizens and condemning them for the very lifestyles in which they themselves were engaged.

As long as the list of these self-righteous congressmen is, Republicans who took over our government for over twelve years gained the rock-solid support of the evangelicals, but now they act appalled that anyone is questioning their probity and exposing their tableau of lies and hypocrisy on which they used to worm their way into every governmental agency and institution, the primary purpose of which has been to dismantle programs which were put in place to serve the public needs.

Here is a partial list which I excerpted from Project Vote Smart - Senator Craig - Voting Record revealing some of the most recent issues voted on by Idaho Senator Larry Craig, issues which are near and dear to the hearts of James Dobson's religious sect who wish to impose their punitive, theocratic policies on every citizen in the United States:

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice America 0 percent in 2006.2005-2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the National Right to Life Committee 100 percent in 2005-2006. 2004 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Christian Coalition 100 percent in 2004.

2004 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Eagle Forum 100 percent in 2004.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Republicans for Environmental Protection 0 percent in

2006. 2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Family Research Council 100 percent in 2006.

2005-2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the American Family Association 100 percent in 2005-2006.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Gun Owners of America 100 percent in 2006.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees 0 percent in 2006.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 0 percent in 2006.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Parkinsons Action Network 0 percent in 2006.

2005-2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association 0 percent in 2005-2006.

2006 Senator Craig supported the interests of the Disabled American Veterans 20 percent in 2006.

2006 In 2006 Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America gave Senator Craig a grade of D-.

An Internet search reveals Republican scandals breathtaking in scope, yet they are only the tip of the iceberg when you consider the mountain of criminal activity conducted by the entire G. W. Bush administration whose modus operandi over the last six years has been to ignore laws they don't like and make up their own -- just like a dictator or totalitarian government would.

Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales decided that Bush has the right make up new laws with vague interpretations which he uses as his Constitutional authority to wage war, spy on American citizens, negate habeas corpus, torture with impunity, pass new laws like the Military Commissions Act, denying detainees and those named by Bush to be "enemy combatants" access to U.S. courts.

These acts are totally repugnant to everything our U.S. Constitution stands for. Abominable as they are, they represent the core values that James Dobson supported and still seeks to impose on the rest of America. Larry Craig should stick around at least until November 2008 just so the public gets a clear picture of what this depraved Republican Party truly represents. But, the rest of the (cognizant) country needs to observe this odious, repulsive vermin over the next 14 months as he tries to insulate himself in his little cocoon of self-righteousness. Watch his charade as he tries to foist himself off as a man of superior spiritual and moral values, traits which are nothing but a veneer and a cloak of lies which reflect the dishonesty of the entire Republican Party and their sordid hypocritical characters like Idaho Senator Larry Craig.

Lies and deceit were the catalysts that prompted Bush to bomb, invade and occupy Iraq, a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. Lies prompted former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to usher in a new era of totalitarian government when he said that Bush has unbridled powers to torture with impunity, murder tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children, put 3,810 U.S. military in body bags and send over 27,000 wounded U.S. Marines and soldiers home, many with lifetime disabilities.

Lies were told to the American people that mushroom clouds would appear over U.S. cities unless we forfeited our civil liberties and freedoms and authorize Bush to spy on, arrest without cause, deny access to our courts or legal representation, any person, including American citizens.

So, why should Larry Craig, one of Bush's most loyal anti-U.S. Constitution enablers, be drummed out of the U.S. Senate for acting in a manner any different from his corrosive, corrupt Republican colleagues who never saw a miasma too noxious or a toilet stall too putrid for any of them to drink their swill from?

Focus On The Family founder, James Dobson, has drunk from that ladle of swill so often in the past that his dream of Armageddon can only be hastened by a presidential candidate like Republican Senator Larry Craig who precisely radiates the values of that political party's depravity. Larry Craig is James Dobson's perfect candidate.

Republican Congressman Blames His Gay Sex on His Fear of Black Men

davidswanson — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 19:39:42 -0400

According to news reports, Florida Representative Bob Allen (Republican) was arrested last July 11 for soliciting sex from an undercover black male cop. The reason he gave was his fear of black men...

Now many will quickly ask what rational person would believe such a cockamamy story ?

But hold on, now.. READ THE REST

Democratic Voting Guide -- From the Religious Right!

Bob Geiger — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 10:02:12 -0500

Maybe I've been wrong about the American Taliban.

For as long as I've been aware of the Family Research Council (FRC) and Focus on the Family (FOF), I've always assumed that they only existed to polarize the country along religious lines, undermine the Constitution, elect right-wingers and foster hatred of gay people.

But now, with election day approaching, they've actually done a 180 on me and provided an incredibly helpful guide for how proud liberals should vote on Tuesday.

FRC and FOF recently took a break from pushing intolerance and bigotry long enough to publish their 2006 Vote Scorecard in which they have monitored the votes made in the second half of the 109th Congress and rated all Representatives and Senators on
"significant votes representing a cross section of issues affecting the family."

"We have singled out for inclusion the most clear-cut, pro-family votes that came before Congress," they say in their introduction to the ratings. "The votes recorded here are only part of our effort to protect the family. Only through your help as informed and active constituents, working with us in contacting your Members of Congress on pro-family issues, can we truly make headway with the increased pro-family majority in Washington."

The gist, of course, is to tell us which people in Congress most conform to the Religious Right's view of how our society should operate and, using that as a guide, help us decide how to vote in this critical midterm election.

And help us they did because, I've got to tell you, their conclusions make a lot of sense to me.

To evaluate what they consider to be the "pro-family issues" and associated votes made by U.S. Senators in 2006, the two organizations looked at eight items considered by the Senate:

Cloture motion on the nomination of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court
Confirmation of Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr., to the Supreme Court
Confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Court of Appeals
Cloture motion on Marriage Protection Amendment
Embryonic Stem Cell Research Act
Lautenberg Sex-Ed Amendment
Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act
Sponsorship of Marriage Protection Amendment

So, you've got your basic anti-choice, anti-gay, right-wing judge agenda there -- man, and they say we liberals have a litmus tests for government officials.

For the record, the Lautenberg amendment would have modified the Child Custody Protection Act -- synonymous with the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act -- by funding sex education and condom-distribution programs for at-risk teens which, according to the Religious Right, would have "… undermined abstinence-until-marriage education programs."

After all, you don’t want hormone-driven teens educated on how to avoid pregnancy, do you?

They then scored each of the Senators on the percentage of times they agreed with the agenda of FOF and FRC and it certainly does provide a helpful guide for us.

There were 23 Republican Senators scoring 100 percent for compliance with these groups and among those was the following Rogues Gallery of guys who happen to be up for reelection on Tuesday:

Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Jim Talent (R-MO)
Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Mike DeWine (R-OH)
Rick Santorum (R-PA)
George Allen (R-VA)

So, you see, the Religious Right is helping us already… Even if we didn’t know from experience what an Algonquin Roundtable this rubber-stamping, six-pack is, just knowing how much FOF and FRC loves them makes us want to vote for anyone else.

The only Democratic challenger to this sterling line-up who was in Congress this year was Ohio Congressman Sherrod Brown who rated a perfect zero percent with James Dobson and Tony Perkins -- yet another thing to like about Brown.

Notes from other Senate races include Democrat Amy Klobuchar's opponent, GOP Congressman Mark Kennedy, and Bill Nelson's non-opponent Katherine Harris, both in 100-percent religious compliance, while Democrat Ben Cardin of Maryland and Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont both check in with FOF and FRC liking them to the tune of zero percent.

Of all Democratic Senators, 24 of 44 rated an absolute zero from the Religious Right which tells us that, whatever disagreements we may have in some areas, there's still a lot about them to like. Here they are with the ones who need your vote on Tuesday in bold:

Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Barack Obama (D-IL)
Richard Durbin (D-IL)
Evan Bayh (D-IN)
Edward Kennedy (D-MA)
John Kerry (D-MA)
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD)
Paul Sarbanes (D-MD)
Carl Levin (D-MI)
Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)
Mark Dayton (D-MN)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Hillary Clinton (D-NY)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Patty Murray (D-WA)
Russell Feingold (D-WI)

In the ratings for the House of Representatives, which FOF and FRC ranked on seven issues, 140 of 202 Democrats also scored zero percent with the Religious Right, which makes them just fine with us.

See how easy they’ve made this?

One other amusing note: A true sign of the current state of the GOP was the section of this document called "House membership changes during this session." They were forced to list the deletion of Tom DeLay (corruption) and Mark Foley (pedophilia) who both resigned in disgrace, while noting the addition of Brian Bilbray who was elected in June to replace Republican Duke Cunningham (corruption) who also resigned in shame.

So I have to hand it to the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family. If their goal is to use their criteria -- which, if they could have their way, would call for an even mesh of church and state in Washington -- to give us all a clear signal on how we should vote on Tuesday, I think they've accomplished their mission.

This may be the most sense these characters have ever made.

You can read more from Bob at BobGeiger.com.

Religious Right Hits Another Low on Gay Marriage

Bob Geiger — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 12:30:41 -0400

Well, at least we know that James Dobson's Focus on the Family (FOF) occasionally showers Republicans with a little hateful smearing along with their usual Democratic targets.

While researching some anti-gay assertions made by Kansas Republican Sam Brownback on the Senate floor yesterday, I stumbled across this charming little ad about same-sex marriage being run by FOF against Chuck Hagel (R-NE):

Isn't that sweet?

"It is a painful but very real truth. Homosexual marriages intentionally create motherless families or fatherless families," reads the newspaper ad. "But a compassionate society would not deliberately deny a child a mother or father."

And here's the money line:

"Yet Sen. Hagel has stated his intentions to vote against the Marriage Protection Amendment if it survives a filibuster and comes up for a vote."

It continues…

"Every child understands how important a mom and a dad are. But apparently Sen. Hagel needs a reminder. Please call or fax his office today, and urge him to support the Marriage Protection Amendment."

It then gives every way of contacting each of Hagel's offices. And lest you think they're just picking on Hagel, they've also targeted a number of Senators they believe may be winnable votes on the bigoted legislation including Democratic Senators Pryor and Lincoln of Arkansas, Landrieu of Louisiana and Republicans Collins and Snowe of Maine.

"If the future of marriage and the family is important to you, please commit to contacting your elected officials right away," says FOF on their web site.

I guess the Religious Right figured they weren't being successful enough at just getting their minions to hate the gay community on general principles of bigotry -- now they need to fool people into thinking gay folks hate children.

Heck of a God these people worship.

You can reach Bob Geiger at geiger.bob@gmail.com

James Dobson's Bitch Introduces "Christian Nation Act of 2006"

Bob Fertik — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 15:11:14 -0400

On Wednesday's Hardball, Christopher Hitchens referred to Richard Armitage as Colin Powell's "bitch" - so I guess that term is fair use now.

Rep. John Duncan (R-TN) is James Dobson's bitch. That's why he will introduce a resolution making July 30 the day Americans celebrate the 1956 adoption of "In God We Trust" as a national motto. Carpetbagger Report has the scoop:

The national motto as the 'American trust in the Christian Deity'

We had a perfectly good motto for nearly 200 years. The founding fathers went to a lot of trouble to pick "E Pluribus Unum" ("From many, one") as a reflection of American diversity and unity. Sure, it wasn't in English, but it was a pretty good motto nevertheless.

In 1956, during the Cold War, politicians decided the motto wasn't religious enough, so they picked a new one, "In God We Trust." And to celebrate the golden anniversary of the phrase, Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) has an idea.

James Dobson's Focus on the Family sent this alert to its membership yesterday via email (no link available):

U.S. Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., has plans to introduce a resolution reaffirming the motto, one that would call on Americans to celebrate it on or around its July 30 anniversary with patriotic and sacred assemblies and prayer. […]

[The resolution includes a] list of 16 historical findings, including that "the fundamental trust of the American people upon the God of the Bible is irrefutable." It also cites Psalm 33:12 ("Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord") and proclaims that "This American trust in the Christian Deity dates from the earliest colonial days."

Read that again. An elected lawmaker wants Congress to support a resolution that says all of us have an "irrefutable" trust in the "God of the Bible," and, more specifically, we've also always trusted the "Christian Deity." For good measure, Tanner even has plans to throw in a theocratic Bible verse in his resolution.

I know it frustrates a lot of conservatives when liberals talk about the "Taliban wing of the Republican Party," but we'll stop using the phrase just as soon as these guys stop acting like they want to a establish a theocracy.

Will House Democrats let the Republican Right divide the nation along religious lines?

Haven't we seen that bloody movie enough? Does anyone study the Reformation and the CounterReformation in Europe? How about Ireland and Northern Ireland? How about the former Yugoslavia? How about Iraq right now?

Why do James Dobson and John Duncan hate America's unique and precious freedom from religious warfare???

Ken Salazar v. James Dobson: A Catholic Democrat Fights Back

Bob Fertik — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 12:21:32 -0400

The battle over the filibuster of judges is really a battle over James Dobson's powerful effort to seize control of the Republican Party.

Who is James Dobson? Unfortunately most Democrats have no idea, because he is not a nutcase like Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell. Also, Dobson is based in Colorado, rather than the Washington DC area, so he gets a lot less media coverage.

Dobson used to be the third most powerful leader of the religious right. But Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition became irrelevant after Ralph Reed left to serve Mammon rather than God, according to Robertson himself.

some of Reed's past patrons -- including the Rev. Pat Robertson, the Christian broadcaster who set Reed on the national stage by hiring him to run the Christian Coalition -- say that his work with Abramoff's Indian casino clients raises questions about how he has balanced his personal ambitions with his Christian principles.

"You know that song about the Rhinestone Cowboy, 'There's been a load of compromising on the road to my horizon,' " Robertson said. "The Bible says you can't serve God and Mammon."

Jerry Falwell's heyday of power was with the Moral Majority in the 1980's, and he's mainly been riding on his reputation ever since.

But while Robertson and Falwell have been in decline, Dobson has been quietly consolidating his power through his two grassroots organizations - Focus on the Family (his covert political advocacy group, disguised as a tax-exempt charity) and the Family Research Council (the overt political advocacy group that he indirectly controls through his surrogates, first Gary Bauer and now Tony Perkins - see dKosopedia).

This Sunday, Dobson is declaring religious war on Democrats with his "Justice Sunday" telecast.

Welcome to the fight against filibuster abuse! Justice Sunday, scheduled for April 24, 2005, is a unique event designed to remind our U.S. Senators that the opportunity of public service must be fully open to people of faith. Screening potential nominees to the federal bench on the basis of their religious views and moral convictions violates the American sense of fair play.

This, of course, is an outright lie in direct violation of the Ten Commandments, which makes Dobson an evil sinner. None of the ten judicial nominees opposed by Democrats has been challenged on the basis of his or her religious views and moral convictions. All have been challenged on whether they follow the laws as written by Congress, or whether they engage in rightwing judicial activism.

While Democrats have fought energetically to protect the filibuster, they have been slow to respond to Dobson's declaration of religious war. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee posted a skimpy petition to Frist, but Frist is just the front man for the real power - James Dobson.

Now one Democrat is taking on Dobson directly - Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, who represents Dobson and his Colorado Springs organizations.

Dobson started the battle last week when he began running TV ads against Salazar over the filibuster battle. And that was a big mistake for Dobson, because Salazar decided to fight back.

[Salazar] said Wednesday that the religious right is using "un-Christian" tactics in pushing the nuclear option -- and he singled out the ultra-right group Focus on the Family for special attention. "I think what has happened is Focus on the Family has been hijacking Christianity and become an appendage of the Republican Party," Salazar said. "I think it's using Christianity and religion in a very unprincipled way."

This led to a counter-attack by Dobson's mouthpiece:

Focus on the Family spokesman Tom Minnery said he was "flabbergasted" that Salazar would "call our Christianity into question." And then he returned the favor. "Some of the nominees will be filibustered by the Democrats because of their religious views," Minnery said. "As a Catholic, I would think the senator would be especially alarmed about the anti-Catholicism of some of his colleagues."

There is, of course, no anti-Catholicism among Senate Democrats. So this is another lie from a "Christian."

Once again Salazar fired back, this time with a letter to Dobson. Salazar started with a solid defense:

I read in today’s newspaper a quote from your organization that said I should be “alarmed about the anti-Catholicism of some of [my Senate] colleagues.”

Your newspaper and radio ads also target Christians like me and Senator Harry Reid. I am proud that Senator Reid is a devout Mormon Christian and strong family man and that we share the fundamental values of Christianity.

I have not encountered any feelings of anti-Catholicism from any of my fellow Senators on either side of the aisle. Indeed, we have 24 United States Senators who are Catholic, both from the Democratic and Republican parties.

Then he switched to offense:

In contrast, I understand you are helping lead the effort on a national telecast against Democrats in the United States Senate with Dr. Al Mohler, among others. In March of 2000, Dr. Mohler said “I believe that the Roman church is a false church and it teaches a false gospel. And indeed, I believe that the pope himself holds a false and unbiblical office.”

My faith is the cornerstone of my values, as I am sure it is with you as well. I call on you to repudiate Dr. Mohler’s comments and hope you distance yourself from those who serve to divide the world’s Christian churches against one another.

Finally, Salazar offered Dobson an olive branch:

I would further encourage you to cease your unfounded attacks on the faith of my Democratic colleagues. The Senate controversy over judges is simply about whether the rules should be broken in the pursuit of power. The controversy has nothing to do with the faith of any Democratic U.S. Senator. Indeed, I would ask for your prayers that the United States Senate transcend the abuse of power at the root of this controversy, and move forward in a spirit of bipartisanship on the issue of judges, as well as the monumental challenges facing our Nation such as health care, transportation, energy, education and care for our elders. I am committed to helping find a solution to these challenges that confront us.

Dr. Al Mohler quickly fired back by defending his anti-Catholicism and offering an utterly bizarre defense:

R. Albert Mohler Jr., said Thursday he stands by the comments he made in March 2000 on the cable news show Larry King Live.

"I believe that the Roman church is a false church and it teaches a false gospel," Mohler said at the time. "And indeed, I believe that the pope himself holds a false and unbiblical office."

Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminar in Louisville, Ky., said he was shocked by Salazar's letter to Dobson.

"It's either a demonstration of the most grotesque form of manipulation or evidence of absolute ignorance," he said. "Anyone who is shocked that evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics disagree on fundamental theological doctrines is simply unaware of four centuries plus of church history."

In other words, Mohler's anti-Catholicism is perfectly ok now because Protestants began attacking Catholicism four centuries ago!

Dobson also attacked Salazar, naturally by booking himself onto FOX.

In an appearance on Fox News' Hannity and Colmes show late Thursday, he defended Mohler's past statements about Catholicism.

"This is not about Catholicism. This is about an effort in the Senate to block people of faith and also people with conservative views. It's not just those with Christian views," Dobson said. "It's not a fight against Catholicism."

Can anyone make sense of that incredibly convoluted statement? I sure can't.

All I know is that Dobson's mouthpiece introduced "anti-Catholicism" into the debate, and Salazar simply responded to it.

So now Dobson's key ally has been exposed as an unrepentent Catholic-hater. Yet Dobson refuses to condemn Mohler's views.

Salazar's defense is brilliant. Democrats of faith - Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and all other faiths - should come together and take on James Dobson directly.

If Dobson wants to end the separation of church and state and start a religious war, let's start it and finish it now, not during the next election.

Update: Armando blogged this story on Kos and linked to Colorado Luis, who is tracking the story from a progressive Colorado perspective.

"Nuclear Option" is turning into a "Nuclear Meltdown" for the Republican Party

Bob Fertik — Thu, 21 Apr 2005 11:54:30 -0400

For months, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has been threatening to unleash the "nuclear option" to end Senate filibusters and force Bush's seven most outrageously ideological judicial activists through the Senate.

But internal GOP polls show the "nuclear option" will create a "nuclear meltdown" for the GOP.

Santorum reads nuke polls, applies the brakes
By Alexander Bolton

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a leading advocate of the “nuclear option” to end the Democrats’ filibuster of judicial nominees, is privately arguing for a delay in the face of adverse internal party polls.

Details of the polling numbers remain under wraps, but Santorum and other Senate sources concede that, while a majority of Americans oppose the filibuster, the figures show that most also accept the Democratic message that Republicans are trying to destroy the tradition of debate in the Senate.

The Republicans are keeping the “nuclear” poll numbers secret, whereas they have often in the past been keen to release internal survey results that favor the party. David Winston, head of the Winston Group, which conducts Senate GOP polls, did return phone calls seeking comment.

So why are the GOP polls so negative? Because Democrats are fighting back, and the American people are catching on to the fact that the Republican Party is being driven off the cliff by religious zealots and ideological extremists.

Senate and House Democrats have woven the Republican intervention in the Schiavo issue, DeLay’s statement about judges who declined to save her life, and GOP consideration of the nuclear option into a broad message that Republicans are abusing power. John Bolton’s stalled nomination to become U.N. ambassador has also become a distraction.

Amidst all of this ideological struggle, some interesting political struggles are emerging.

One key struggle is among Republicans who want the nomination for President in 2008. Frist, of course, is one of them - and so is Santorum. So even as they are allegedly working together, they are quietly competing for the right-wing GOP "base."

And a new struggle is emerging in Colorado between the leading rightwing advocate of the "nuclear option" - Focus on the Family's James Dobson, who is based in Colorado Springs - and Colorado's freshman Senator Ken Salazar. When Dobson began running ads attacking Salazar, Salazar hit back.

[Salazar] said Wednesday that the religious right is using "un-Christian" tactics in pushing the nuclear option -- and he singled out the ultra-right group Focus on the Family for special attention. "I think what has happened is Focus on the Family has been hijacking Christianity and become an appendage of the Republican Party," Salazar said. "I think it's using Christianity and religion in a very unprincipled way." Focus on the Family spokesman Tom Minnery said he was "flabbergasted" that Salazar would "call our Christianity into question." And then he returned the favor. "Some of the nominees will be filibustered by the Democrats because of their religious views," Minnery said. "As a Catholic, I would think the senator would be especially alarmed about the anti-Catholicism of some of his colleagues."

Kudos to Salazar for challenging Dobson's abuse of Christianity. In fact, this is an important debate that the American people need to hear. Is there a civic group in Colorado that could host an Oxford-style debate between Salazar and Dobson?

On Sunday, Dobson will take the filibuster war into the nation's churches through a "Justice Sunday" TV simulcast that will be beamed into churches around the country. This is prompting progressive ministers to fight back, as Frederick Clarkson details.

Update: Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), a 42-year-old evangelical Christian, also criticized self-appointed "Christian leaders" for politicizing Christianity.

Update: Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Priscilla Owen's nomination to the full Senate, and Janice Rogers Brown will follow shortly.

James Dobson leads Christian Soldiers into battle

Bob Fertik — Sun, 07 Nov 2004 16:51:22 -0500

The religious right is taking credit for Bush's "victory" and demanding its spoils - in the form of a religious crusade here in the USA. James Dobson is the leader of this crusade, even more than Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. So let's mark his words carefully...

Pundit Pap for Nov. 7, 2004
Arlen Specter: The Chimperor's Non-mandate
by the Pundit Pap Team
Jane Grice | JJ Balzer | Jodi Schmidt

If you really want to rub salt into the wound, you invite the most disgusting example of Xtian extremism who has managed to glom onto the "mainstream" media, say, someone like that sanctimonious champion of beating children, "Dr." James Dobson.

And Dobson, a man who has been described by at least one Christian writer as an outright fascist, was precisely whom ABC offered up as its contribution to the political discourse this Sunday.

Naturally, Dobson praised Dear Leader, saying "He makes the right choices." (Translation: he's going to cut and run with the extreme Taliban-Xtian agenda -- abolishing the right to choose, fetishizing embryos that will never be implanted in mothers, criminalizing gays and lesbians for being gays and lesbians, taking science out of schools and replacing it with superstition.)

Dobson then dived headfirst into "[t]he values thing -- I don't like the word," saying he prefers "morality." (Say what you want, but Dobson understands the principles put forth by Joseph Goebbels and Newt Gingrich: control and redefine the language. Dobson is saying that he and his followers, a remarkably small number considering the manner in which they have insinuated themselves upon politics, have "morality" and the rest of America doesn't -- the classic technique of fomenting and fostering hatred and divisiveness.) Bush, claimed Dobson, will pay a price if he does not implement "moral" laws including statutes that are "pro-life... wants to protect life, not only unborn life" (translation: save the embryos which will never be used, screw stem cell research, to hell with people who suffer from Alzheimer's like Ronald Reagan and his family), laws protecting the "institute of marriage" (translation: deprive gays who are eager to embrace traditional values and family the right to do so) and, in his most ambiguous demand, "putting CONSERVATIVE judges on the judiciary."

(Ha! Well, what do you know -- it's the wrongwingers who have a judicial "litmus test.")

Dobson wasn't over by a long shot about judges. Dobson said he believes Alberto Gonzalez is NOT acceptable to Dobson and his ilk based on "comments that he's made... [to the effect that] the Constitution could be set aside for a time."

(That's a lie -- Dobson knows that Gonzalez is a lot more liberal than the Borks, Estradas and Scalias of this world. Dobson is just grabbing onto an issue that will scare his dimwit followers.)

Your top pick? "Miguel Estrada." Dobson wouldn't name anymore, pretending that his naming them could "sabotage" the effort to politicize the courts. (Translation: Dobson's pretending he's being demonized by all those tens of millions of people who supposedly oppose Christianity. Like David Limbaugh said, Christians are under unrelenting attack in the United States. And if you believe that, we've got a crateful of concentrated purple Kool-Aid we're giving away for free.) Dobson continued his hysterical rant: Estrada "was hung out to dry by Senator Daschle... [Estrada's] a good man, an Hispanic." (Translation: Look at me, minorities? I'm INCLUSIVE! Never mind that my core suckers... er, constituency are White and easily duped.)

Steph played a video clip of Sen. Arlen Specter's comment about judges who are trying to reverse the right of woman to reproductive choice: "I think that is unlikely. I've said that bluntly during the campaign and before." Dobson's angry admission: "Senator Specter is a big-time problem for us." (You could almost sense Dobson doing everything in his power to prevent the words "atheistic troublemaking Jewy Jew" from slipping his lips.) With a flash of anger on his face, Dobson talked about how he had campaigned for Specter's rival in the Pennsylvania GOP primary earlier this year, a wingnut named Toomey. He then condemned Specter's words as "one of the most ill-considered and foolish statements that a politician has made."

Dobson continued with a rambling rant about "this mandate, this enormous victory." (Cue the laugh track: Hey, Jim-Bob, it was a Girly Mandate.) He then went back to attacking Specter: "He has been the champion of embryonic, of stem cell research... sabotaged Robert Bork."

(Note again that Dobson's pushing the notion of "sabotage" of the religious wronging agenda -- a desperate stretch to support the ridiculous argument that Christians are "victims.")

He ended his rant by repeating his anger at Specter "in opposition to this president [and] his enormous mandate."

Then, Dobson decided to bear a little false witness against a senator from Vermont. "Patrick Leahy is a God-people hater." Steph said that Dobson, who would not support his claim with anything approaching evidence, should apologize to Leahy. Dobson: "You think he ought to lecture me on what a Christian is?" "How do you back that up?" "There's been a lot of hate expressed in this election [against] Christian views."

(But not against Christians, Dobson. Dobson just isn't slick enough to confuse viewers -- save, perhaps, his own numbskull devotees.)

Dobson, showing not only ignorance of but contempt for science, claimed that people are not "born homosexual."

At the end of the interview, Steph suggested that Bush will fail Dobson. Dobson's reply: "I'm sure there are times when we'll be frustrated with the President."

Here's hoping that means 99.75% of the time...

Steph, for his part, went way too easy on this religious extremist who should never have been given any airtime by a broadcast network in the first place. He should have confronted Dobson about whether or not he thinks abortion should be criminalized. He should have asked Dobson about the overwhelming number of reports of Christian preachers endorsing candidates -- and whether he supports the loss of IRS exemptions for these churches that have no respect for civil or criminal law. At one point, Dobson claimed that tax cuts are a Christian value -- Steph should have asked him how this squares with Christ's comment about rendering to Caesar (or, in this case, the Simian Emperor).