Religious Crackpots

The Daily Show covers two crackpot religious leaders, one of whom describes Obama as the Antichrist, the other as Hitler. Funny until you realize that these two whackjobs have been featured on CNN and of course Fox Noise.

Even scarier if they've gotten federal funds for their "faith-based" evangelism.

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He Hate Me chosen to give invocation at Obama inauguration.

WTF?

Megachurch minister/thief Rick Warren is a hateful bigot who is anti-stem-cell-research, anti-choice, anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-gay marriage, and basically a big dope. He's gone on Fox Noise in the last month to apologize for the Bush torture regime and to proclaim that Jesus was pro-assassination. Basically he is Jerry Falwell in a fat suit. He's Rupert Murdoch's pastor, for crying out loud. He's a hater.

Obama can throw him bones for the rest of his life and that faker isn't going to change one position. Naive and deeply disappointing decision by Obama. It is a gratituous insult to all of Obama's supporters who support gay rights.

I'll turn my back when he speaks.

Crazy

Guardian (uk):
Election revelations: 666 reasons not to vote for Barack Obama
GuardianFilms election road trip, day 15: While the Guardian's Ed Pilkington was researching a story on biofuels in Missouri, the general manager of an ethanol plant told him why he could never vote for Obama

Watch this video of a Guardian reporter interviewing an ethanol plant manager in Craig, Missouri. The reporter is shocked when the official begins telling him that he cannot vote for Obama because he believes he is the anti-Christ. [The reporter is wearing a jacket that comes up around his mouth, but it is pretty clear that he is trying not to laugh as the man very seriously tells him that Obama is a Muslim, and he should read Revelations 13.]

There a lot of crackpots out there in the good old U S of A.

The Wasilla Project: #3

The third in the series of videos by the Wasilla Project. Here's how they describe this one:

On the heels of the final, historic 2008 presidential debate, the Wasilla Project releases Part 3 of our series, where we examine Palins record as a fiscal conservative. Clearly, the economy has emerged as the dominant issue of the 2008 presidential campaign and we hope that this video will be a useful contribution in understanding some of the history of Palins public service in Alaska.

After 8 years of a Republican White House, there still seems to be a reality distortion field around the concept of Fiscal Conservative. Governor Palin presents herself as a fiscal conservative who has a record of helping taxpayers in her state. The reality has often been quite different.

Its surprising that someone who came into office as mayor to cut wasteful spending and lower property taxes, actually left office with Wasilla over $20 million in debt, when records show that she entered office with city debt at one million or less.

Some $14-15 million of that debt was due to a hockey rink she built while in office, land for which Wasilla negotiated the purchase for $145,000. They eventually paid out nearly $1.5 million for the land, not counting legal fees, due to Palin moving forward on the project before the city had clear title to the land. This echoes in significant ways Palins later negotiations as governor on the Alaskan pipeline, where she committed $500 million in taxpayer money, without assurances that a Canadian company would even build the pipeline.

As the economy worsens in the United States, markets around the world are crashing and people are losing their homes and pensions, its irresponsible not to question the economic positions and records of the candidates. In the case of Palin, her record has been extremely troubling and reflects part of the reason that she has lost credibility with so many Alaskans in recent weeks.

Rape Victims Deserve Choice

This powerful ad ran on CNN after the debate, according to Americablog:

Transcript:

[Young woman narrator] I was raped and then I got pregnant. Sarah Palin believes that the government should be able to force me to carry the pregnancy to term. Sarah Palin believes that the government should make that choice, not me. Governor Palin, I didn't have a choice about being raped, but I should have a choice about this.

The Wasilla Project: #2

Sarah Palin's background as a social conservative, and how she has used her religious affiliation to advance her political career.

The Wasilla Project: #1

Video with residents of Wasilla, Alaska revealing Sarah Palin's history of charging rape victims for rape kits.

Palin's Witch-Fighting Pastor

Scrubbed video from Wasilla Assembly of God church (May, 2005). Sarah Palin appears starting at 7:12

Max Blumenthal: The Witch Fighter Anoints Palin

The audio on this video is pretty loud, so be forewarned.

As a lapsed Catholic/current atheist I find this deeply weird. The Kenyan witch-fighting pastor actually prays to protect her from the "spirit of witchcraft," and she stands there with her eyes closed as though this were a perfectly reasonable faith.

When I hear witches I think Salem and The Crucible (hysteria and woman-hating) or Wiccans (peaceful, earthloving humanists.) This guy looks like he'd fit right in in Salem.

Wingnut Email for Sarah

Palin's address to the Wasilla Assembly of God church/mashup

I find this very creepy. Sarah Palin belongs to a far-right Assembly of God church, and one of her church's beliefs is that the world will end in her lifetime.

The Wasilla Assembly of God and its parent denomination -- the three-million member General Council of the Assemblies of God -- espouse core beliefs not widely ascribed to by major Christian factions. Many members pray in undecipherable sounds or "tongues." The denomination's Web site says some scholars believe that the "end times" foreshadowing the end of the world was confirmed in 1948, with the founding of the state of Israel, marking the Jews' return to the Holy Land, fulfilling a Biblical prophecy. The Assemblies of God is part of a Pentecostal movement that numbers 80 million people world-wide.

No one has asked what her beliefs on the issue are, as she has only been interviewed by marshmallow, faux "journalists" Charlie Gibson and Sean Hannity. But among religious conservatives, this freaky email has been circulating, claiming that she "chosen by God for an important end-time role". Oh. My. God. This woman CANNOT be a heartbeat away from the nuclear football. You want endtimes, she'll give you endtimes. Eeek.

salon.com: Sarah Palin, anointed by God

[] As best as I can tell, the text of the e-mail was originally written by Jim Bramlett, an author and former vice president with the Christian Broadcasting Network. (You can read more about him in this WorldNetDaily article about his claim that he's obtained recordings of angels singing.)

[]

Further excerpts from the e-mail are below.

Dear friends:

Barack Hussein Obama has taken the nation by storm. From obscurity, with zero executive experience, or much of any kind, he has vaulted into the position of Presidential frontrunner. It is stunning. On the surface, it appears attributable only to his eloquent oratory and his race. But an invisible factor may be a strong spiritual force behind him, causing some people to actually swoon in his presence...

Last week at Obama's acceptance speech, that spirit exalted itself in front of a Greek temple-like stage, and to a huge audience like in a Roman arena. Obama was portrayed as god-like. His voice thundered as a god's voice.

At the end, Democratic sympathizer Pastor Joel Hunter gave the benediction and shockingly invited everyone to close the prayer to their own (false) gods. This was surely an abomination, but it was compatible with Obama's expressed theology, and Hunter's leftist leanings.

God was not pleased...

Enter Governor Sarah Palin. With incredible timing, the very next day, Sarah Palin also appeared out of nowhere...

We quickly learned that Sarah is a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, attends church, and has been a ministry worker.

Sarah is that standard God has raised up to stop the flood. She has the anointing. You can tell by how the dogs are already viciously attacking her. But they will not be successful. She knows the One she serves and will not be intimidated.

Back in the 1980s, I sensed that Israel's little-known Benjamin Netanyahu was chosen by God for an important end-time role. I still believe that. I now have that same sense about Sarah Palin...

Only God knows the future and how she may be used by Him, but may this noble woman serve to bring renewal in the land, and inspiration.

People Who Live In Glass Houses

Mudflats: This is Getting Ugly. New Palin Rumors Fly.

The latest story the National Enquirer is working on is that Palin had an affair with Todd’s ex-business partner in an Anchorage Car Wash venture. This was an interesting twist because it was also rumored that Todd Palin had an “Edwards problem”. Maybe he has an Elizabeth Edwards problem. I generally try to resist getting too caught up in the smarminess, unless it becomes impossible. It just did.

Two days ago, Todd’s ex-business partner filed an emergency motion to have his divorce papers sealed. Yesterday the motion was DENIED.

Maybe that's why Caribou Barbie had to run back to Alaska?

This Poisonous Mushroom Was Cultivated

Nina Burleigh, HuffPo: Who is the Handler?

...Sarah Palin's entry into politics and subsequent rise has all the hallmarks of having been engineered, coached and groomed by bigger outside forces with a bigger plan.

Her first election to mayor in 1996 was based on "wedge Issues" - abortion, gun control, and proof of hard-core religiosity - issues that had never been discussed before in the town of 7,000, where politicians had run on where they stood on bingo revenue and fixing muddy roads.

[]

There was a time when America's small town governments were about local civics and its churches really were mainly about spirituality. That quaint era vanished, within living memory, with the rise of the "Christian right" which literally infected mainstream American Christianity with hateful brochures about gays, guns, and abortion.

The movement didn't emerge from within those little country churches, either. It was brought to them by a sophisticated set of well-funded groups and foundations, many with ties to the Republican Party and its copious moneybags. These organizations are based a long ways from Wasilla, in places like Washington, D.C., Arlington, Norfolk -- the state of Virginia, in fact, seems to have spawned or hosted most of them.

But they have a long reach and they are run by cautious, clever, watchful men.
I learned never to underestimate these right wing Svengalis involvement in small things....

More Video From Sarah Palin's Church

Wasilla Assembly of God Clip


When I was a kid, the local community church hired me & my friend to babysit kids while the church hosted a revival. Only one kid got dropped off in the kids room, so we had plenty of time to watch the revival. I remember vividly watching an elementary school teacher of mine drop to her knees in the aisle and begin wailing in tongues. It just seemed so false to me. Like the wandering zombies in this video.

John McCain is certainly a POW: Prisoner Of Wingnuts.

UPDATE: Edited to add link to BoingBoing, where I saw this video.

Jesus Was A Community Organizer

zazzle


Jesus was a community organizer, and John McCain is a POW: a Prisoner of the Wingnuts. Only a Republican wingnut like Sarah Palin would have the chutzpah to mock community organizers in her first major speech on the national stage.

Hey, you know another community organizer? John Lewis, Congressman from Georgia, chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee fighting for civil rights during the 1960s; beaten to a bloody pulp by police during the Selma march in 1965; recently cited by Republican hypocrite John McCain as someone he would look to for advice. So, McCain would look to community organizer and American hero John Lewis for advice, but he sends out his pitbull in lipstick Sarah Palin to attack Obama as a lowly community organizer.

The Rethugs have nothing. They don't have any policies to offer except for four more years of George W. Bush's failed policies. So they're on the attack. We're not falling for it this time.

Insightful diary from organicdemocrat at dailykos.

Jesus Was a Community Organizer

Martin Luther King was too. So was Gandhi. Mandela. Also John Hancock, who organized a boycott of [t]ea imported from China.

The Republican Party is run by powerful corporate interests who feel threatened by any citizen organization. Mitt Romney made money at his East Coast hedge fund by taking over companies, firing his workers and looting their pension fund. (While Mitt was talking, Nero called. Wants his fiddle back.) Rudy Giuliani, as Mayor, lived in fear of community organizers from Harlem and Brooklyn who held him accountable for his brutal tactics. They have no credibility even with their base. Even Huckabee's "Aww shucks" act falls flat.

So they go out and hire an attractive young spokeswoman. Write a speech for her. Attacking Obama at his core. Before even introducing her properly to the public. It is not going to work either. Because Obama's brand is more established than hers.

[]

The proper response is not to go after Sarah Palin. Instead, hit McCain at his core. If Obama is a community organizer, the defining trait of McCain is POW. Take over that word. Own it. Mock not his war record, but the way he has been exploiting it for cheap political purposes. Obama cannot do it. Nor even Biden. But the rest of us can. We are the community they are mocking. Let us organize to give them a piece of our mind. Two million voices.

Every American knew a year ago that McCain was a POW. By offering up nothing more than that, no economic plan, not even a coherent foreign policy ( supposed to be his strong suit), the Republican are risking over exposure. And there will be even more today. McCain does not really have anything else to talk about.

McCain's greatest weakness is his association with Bush. Obama has gone after that. But the tactic of attacking an opponent at his strength is effective. Do not be afraid to go after McCain's strength as POW. Trivialize him.

What does POW stand for again? Prisoner of Wingnuts. He can't even make a phone call without permission from his minders.

What war did he get taken Prisoner in? The Culture War. The man who once derided Falwell and Robertson as "agents of intolerance" is now pimping for them.

McCain is a coward. He runs in fear from the Press that once adored him. The "Angry Left" that he is running from is that well known young radical, Larry King.

[]

THIS is what they were mocking tonight.

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Matt. 25:34-40

Remember This Speech

When you're watching the speech McCain's Bushies have carefully crafted for Sarah Palin over the last few days, remember this speech. This is who she really is: a rightwing loon with not a lot going on upstairs, speaking in a chirpy voice.



PZ Myers calls her Palinanity. He's right.

This is a terrifying video. It's Sarah Palin going on and on in front of her Assembly of God church, talking about the war in Iraq as "a task that is from God", promising the congregants the gift of prophecy, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus…it ought to make any rational human being ill.

It's scary to think that there are a lot of people out there who will admire this.

Religious Right Picks McCain a Running Mate

What's the old horndog looking at, anyway? Bet he had no idea what she was going to say. James Dobson did, though.

John McCain has thrown caution, and judgment, and good sense to the wind and chosen first term Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Well, I use the word "chose" and that may be taking it too far; it is pretty obvious that Palin was chosen by the evangelical Christian wing of the Republican party, by James Dobson and his ilk. The secretive Council for National Policy vetted Palin last week. Who are they?:

...[A]n ultra-secretive cabal that networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.

CNP members have included Tony Perkins, James Dobson, Grover Norquist, Tim LaHaye and Paul Weyrich. At a secret 2000 meeting of the CNP, George W. Bush promised to nominate only pro-life judges; in 2004, then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told the group, "The destiny of the nation is on the shoulders of the conservative movement." This year, thanks to Sarah Palin's selection, the movement may have finally aligned itself behind the campaign of John McCain....

...while Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice.

Palin has been governor of Alaska for 20 months. Before that she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town with a population of less than 8,500.

Wasilla City Hall

Her duties as mayor were gargantuan, for sure, for according to their municipal code she had to be prepared on day one to:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;
2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

Now that's quality experience for being a heartbeat away from leading the country!

She has no foreign policy experience, though comically both Fox Noise and [fellow former beauty queen] Cindy McCain claim she has foreign policy experience because Alaska is next to Russia. I grew up in New York, and that's next to Canada, so I have foreign policy experience, too! She only got a passport last year, and is listed as having visited Kuwait and Ireland, though I think her visit to Ireland is the dreaded Shannon layover. Maybe she got some duty-free hooch.

She's being investigated in her own state for a scandal Alaska calls "troopergate"; Palin has been using the power of her office and her staff, trying to get her former brother-in-law fired from his job as a state trooper.

She left the tiny town of Wasilla $20,000,000 in debt.

She doesn't believe in global warming, favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and is suing the federal government to get the polar bear taken off the endangered species list.

She's an extreme social conservative: anti-abortion even in cases of rape or incest; against sex education; in favor of teaching creationism in public schools.

She has five children, and her fifth was just born in April. He was premature and diagnosed with Down's syndrome; despite this, when her water broke when she was at a political event in Dallas, Texas, she went ahead with her speech, then flew back to Anchorage and drove to Wasilla to have the baby half a day later. Talk about risky behavior! (And the British press is reporting that there are internet rumors that the baby is actually Palin's oldest daughter's baby. Whew.)

She (or someone close to her) made 30 changes to her Wikipedia entry the day before McCain announced her selection.

Since I started writing this post, the Palin campaign has issued a press release stating that Palin's 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant and that she has chosen to have the baby and will marry the father. (And I wonder, how could she choose to have the baby if the family is anti-abortion? Did she really have a choice? If she did, why doesn't Sarah Palin support other children having the same choice? And you know what? The kid would have benefitted from sex education, and a lesson on contraception.)

And just now it has been reported that Palin's husband has a DUI arrest in his background.

She claims to be a reformer, but she was actually the head of indicted Senator Ted Stevens 527 group.

McCain appears not to have vetted Palin; it is reported that his vetting staff arrived in Wasilla yesterday and have taken 8 hotel rooms. Also that his campaign never asked to see the archives of the local newspaper.

Not that any of this will matter to the fundies. She is an extreme social conservative and that is all that matters to them.

Personally, I think I had better put this post up fast before Sarah Palin resigns from the McCain campaign to spend more time with her expanding family.

If she does resign, perhaps McCain can blame the 21-year-old who has been advocating for Palin to be VP for over a year.

I can't decide which prior failed nomination this pick is more like: Spiro Agnew, Harriet Miers, Clarence Thomas, or Thomas Eagleton. What do you think?

I'm going to call McCain's campaign Palin/Tired '08, from the good Roger Ailes.

More funny: PHILOSORAPTOR: Ham Sandwich McCain's Actual Choice for Veep

Connecticut Voters Must Be So Proud

HuffPo: [Senator] Joseph Lieberman To Headline Upcoming Pastor Hagee Summit

Senator Joseph Lieberman is scheduled to headline Pastor John Hagee's 2008 Christians United For Israel Washington-Israel Summit this July 22. In accepting Hagee's invitation, Lieberman became the most senior elected representative confirmed to appear at the annual gala. Last year, when Lieberman spoke at Hagee's summit, he compared the Texas televangelist to the biblical prophet Moses, dubbing him "an Ish Elochim," or "a man of God." Unless he rescinds his pledge to appear at this year's summit, Lieberman can be expected to deliver another soul-stirring tribute.

Hagee's vitriolic condemnation of Catholicism, his jeremiad declaring Hurricane Katrina divine punishment for New Orleans' hosting of a "homosexual rally," and his generally disturbing apocalyptic theology became national news last February when John McCain accepted his endorsement in a widely publicized ceremony.

Will Holy Joe talk about how his good friend John McCain had to reject Hagee's endorsement?

Maybe Hagee will reprise his sermon about how Hitler was sent by God to drive the Jews to Palestine.

When Lieberman addresses the Republican convention in August, can we throw him out of the party then? Harry Reid? How 'bout it?

A Side of Parsley

Here's the ABC Report on "Reverend" Rod Parsley that apparently caused McCain to distance himself from the whacko:



Here's what McCain said about Parsley in accepting his endorsement:

"One of the truly great leaders in America"

"A moral compass"

"A spiritual guide"

May 22nd is Pastor Renouncing Day for John McCain

Yesterday I wrote about "Pastor" John Hagee and his unbelievably offensive sermon claiming that Hitler was sent by God to force the Jews to Palestine. Apparently that video making the mainstream media was enough to make McCain "renounce" his endorsement from Hagee; not to be outdone, Hagee then withdrew his endorsement from McCain. ABC News ran video (watch at this link) of crazy McCain endorser "Reverend" Rod Parsley in which he

describes Islam as "anti-Christ" and Mohammed as "the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil."

Here's the "Reverend" Parsley in action, interspersed with McCain's wet kisses to Parsley after he endorsed him:


NYTimes: McCain Cuts Ties to Pastors Whose Talks Drew Fire

Senator John McCain on Thursday rejected the endorsements of two prominent evangelical ministers whose backing he had sought to shore up his credentials with religious conservatives.

Mr. McCain repudiated the Rev. John C. Hagee, a televangelist, after a watchdog group released a recording of a sermon in which Mr. Hagee said Hitler and the Holocaust had been part of God’s plan to chase the Jews from Europe and drive them to Palestine.

Later in the day, he also rejected the endorsement of the Rev. Rod Parsley of the World Harvest Church of Columbus, Ohio, whose anti-Muslim sermons were broadcast on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday.

CNN: McCain officially rejects Hagee endorsement

ThinkProgress: McCain rejects Parsley’s endorsement.

McCain Sought Endorsement From Anti-Semitic Pastor John Hagee

"Pastor" John Hagee is nuts and John McCain solicited his endorsement of McCain's Presidential campaign. If you get cable TV, you can probably watch Pastor WhackJob two or three times a day, spewing hatred and soliciting money (he is a thief, like all the TV religious charlatans). In the clip below, he says Hitler was sent by God to drive the Jews to Palestine. Yes, listen to the video, he really says that. Tristero (below), blogging at Hullabaloo, is exactly right. What kind of person would go out of his way to seek out such a maniac to endorse him? And then not disavow him when he learns what a nut he is? A man without a moral compass: John McCain.



Hullabaloo: Fishers, Hunters, And St. John McCain

In fairness to PyschoPastor Hagee, his anti-Catholic screeds (calling the Church "The Great Whore" and the like) should not go unremarked. He's not merely an anti-semite. He hates everyone who doesn't think (I use the term loosely) like him.

Nor, despite the size of his congregation, is Hagee the real issue. McCain's character is. A fool who would actively seek out this loon's endorsement. A moral coward - yes, coward - who would equivocate about denouncing such ideas and the bigots who hold them.

Such a person is not a serious candidate for president. Which is not to say he has no chance; he does. But only if the mainstream media gets away with refusing to expose him for what he is. I hesitate to leap on the paranoid bus and say the media is actively suppressing knowledge of how crazy Hagee is in order to prop up McCain, but if Bruce Wilson's documentation of Hagee's intoleration - and McCain's refusal to dissociate himself with him - doesn't lead to headlines and tv news stories, then there is little choice but to think They are up to no good.

Media Giving McCain Another Free Pass

Rod Parsley (photo via Evangelical Right)


Columbia Journalism Review: Rod Parsley’s Free Pass
Jeremiah Wright gets torched, while McCain’s “spiritual adviser” offends with impunity

Both Barack Obama and John McCain have religious allies who have made controversial, and sometimes flat-out offensive, public statements. But the media have treated them very differently.

[]

Meanwhile, John McCain has a Christian ally of his own. At a rally in late February, McCain appeared with Rod Parsley, the pastor of an Ohio mega-church, and called him a “spiritual guide.”

Parsley has his own history of controversial statements. As David Corn reported this week for Mother Jones, Parsley has called for Christians to wage war against the “false religion” of Islam, in order to destroy it. He does not distinguish between Islamic extremists and ordinary Muslims. “What some call ‘extremists’ are instead mainstream believers who are drawing from the well at the very heart of Islam,” he has written.

And it’s not just Muslims he’s got it in for. Last year, Parsley’s organization called for people who commit adultery to be prosecuted, and in January he compared Planned Parenthood to the Nazis.

But the press has largely shrugged off the Parsley story. I couldn’t find one mainstream American news outlet that has so much as mentioned Parsley’s extremist views since McCain appeared publicly with him in late February.

McCain has the media eating out of his hand.