BOOK EXCERPT: Rove Demands ‘Just Get Me A F—ing Faith-Based Thing. Got it?’
BOOK EXCERPT: Rove Demands ‘Just Get Me A F—ing Faith-Based Thing. Got it?’
David Kuo, the former second-in-command of President Bush’s Office on Faith-Based Initiatives, has a new book detailing how the office was “used almost exclusively to win political points with both evangelical Christians and traditionally Democratic minorities.”
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann had an exclusive report on the book last night (watch the video), and part two of his report airs tonight at 8 PM ET.
ThinkProgress has obtained an excerpt from the book, set shortly after Bush’s 2001 inauguration:
Every other White House office was up and running. The faith-based initiative still operated out of the nearly vacant transition offices.
Three days later, a Tuesday, Karl Rove summoned [Don] Willett [a former Bush aide from Texas who initially shepharded the program] to his office to announce that the entire faith-based initiative would be rolled out the following Monday. Willett asked just how — without a director, staff, office, or plan — the president could do that. Rove looked at him, took a deep breath, and said, “I don’t know. Just get me a f—ing faith-based thing. Got it?” Willett was shown the door.
Kuo also writes that Rove referred to evangelical leaders as “the nuts,” and claims Rove deputy Ken Mehlman “knowingly participated in a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly ‘nonpartisan’ events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.”
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Is anyone really surprised by this? Honestly?
October 12th, 2006 at 2:16 pmI know some people are thinking this is old news (I mean, most of us realized the contempt of this administration for the Christian Right from the beginning) but I think now many people are just learning this. I think this might be the nail in the coffin for the Bush Administration.
My fundie relatives are up in arms over the “pervert they let run after those pages” so this could be the straw for them.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:16 pmEven Karl Rove screws the far-right religious freaks > they deserve it > lol.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:18 pmThis has to be a coordinated deomcratic hit-piece coming as it does just before the election. I’l bet Kuo was just waiting to release this, to cause maximum political damage for the republicans!
October 12th, 2006 at 2:18 pmCongress is too busy investigating Clinton to be bothered with a scheme by republicans to use taxpayer funds to mobilize religious voters.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:20 pmOne of the simplest scams for any con artist is to take people of faith to the cleaners. They’re easy marks because they can’t distinguish between feelings and facts and they desperately want to believe things which seem to support their dogma.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:22 pmThe evangelicals got duped. Rove is not a Christian. Neither is Bush nor Cheney. There’s nothing righteous in what they do. They are devious and evil. But the evangelicals are too stupid to discern. No wonder Rove calls them NUTS. Right-wing nuts. This Christianity thing is all a myth. I can’t wait to see the day when religion becomes irrevelant. Too many died or got killed in the name of religion.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:23 pmbarfly: “This has to be a coordinated deomcratic hit-piece coming as it does just before the election.”
David Kuo is a religious republican who worked for the Bush administration.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:24 pmHope Karl is waving bye bye to the “base”
He has to be pissed. Sob……weep….of course Karl will deny everything.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:25 pmWhere’s Daryl to tell us just how morally right these true Christians are? Nothing says working for Jesus than dropping a few F-bombs.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:25 pm[…] Original post by Think Progress Read More… […]
October 12th, 2006 at 2:26 pmI keep telling you people: Bush isn’t a Texan, he’s not a conservative, and he’s not a Christian.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:29 pm.
This book would probably be worth the read. David Kuo seems like a decent man. He was an insider to the Bush Administration and was former Special Assistant to President Bush. He was also Deputy Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, watching as all the taxpayers $$$ was being passed out to the religious groups lined up for the gravy train.
Rumor has it he has a used tux for sale—-bow tie and cummerbund included. I guess he knows he won’t be attending any more White House dinners for awhile.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:31 pmThanks, Grand+Moff. Bush isn’t a cowboy either. He wears the boots and the hats, but he’s afraid of horses. In Calle, we call that a “poser.”
October 12th, 2006 at 2:31 pmExley, Daryll, Mighty far Righty I think Karl Rove is talking about you.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:34 pmAmen
October 12th, 2006 at 2:35 pm“a scheme to use the office, and taxpayer funds, to mount ostensibly ‘nonpartisan’ events that were, in reality, designed with the intent of mobilizing religious voters in 20 targeted races.”
Well…. DUH.
Why raise your own sheep when it’s easier to co-opt a herd?
October 12th, 2006 at 2:38 pmI question Mr. Quo’s statements. There’s always somebody trying to defame the President and his officials because he was released from his billet. Shame on you Mr. Quo and TP bloggers.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:40 pmNo kidding. Before 04 I was screaming at Christian supporters about how they were being played for chumps and nothing that they wanted be given to them. This “Aw shucks, I’m a born again Christian” schtick is as fake as his drawl and his 50,000 dollar “I’m blue collar just like you!” wardrobe.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:41 pmDavid Kuo is a religious republican who worked for the Bush administration.
Comment by Bluedog49
I know. I was in MA mode.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:42 pmSnap!..Good to see this come out in print by someone my old reich winged neighbors will believe….Maybe…I told them before the lier and thief was installed not to vote for this bunch and they woulden’t believe me, Said ” he’s a christian”, my coments then were, Yah,? right, as christian as a drunk druggie can be….Well here we are 6 years and thousand’s of dead, two war’s, displaced citizens, huge debt, and the passing of bill’s that have taken our constitution to be reduced to toilet paper by these nut jobs…..Can you hear me now.? Can you read the headlines.? Or are you reich wingers still going to play the old “I can’t see or hear it from my place.” song and dance….Blessings…..Peace
October 12th, 2006 at 2:43 pmNo kidding. How many times will the Religious Right have to be told that they’ve been played like chumps and will continue to get played before they realize whats going on? Bush’s religiosity is as phoney as his southern drawl and his 50,000 dollar “I’m Joe Average!” wardrobe.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:43 pmSpake the Rove - Get me some faith based shit, now!
October 12th, 2006 at 2:44 pmDaryll, that means you! Get yer ass over to Rove’s office right now! Move it!
You are obviously a faith based single cell organism, so help Karl win the election. Now! Move it! Go! Vamoose!
This just makes me laugh. Religious whackos being taken to the cleaners by a bunch of political whackos! And all they are accomplishing is sinking this country to a place alongside the Titanic.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:45 pmI question Mr. Quo’s statements. There’s always somebody trying to defame the President and his officials because he was released from his billet. Shame on you Mr. Quo and TP bloggers.
Comment by Daryll
Actually, I was just anticipating. I knew a winger would say this.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:45 pmDaryll - ‘released from his billet’? As in being cured of his alcoholism or from going AWOL from his barracks?
October 12th, 2006 at 2:45 pmNo, Daryll, shame on you for defending these hucksters.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:46 pmDaryll…. go back to sleep!!!
October 12th, 2006 at 2:47 pmI question Mr. Quo’s statements. There’s always somebody trying to defame the President and his officials because he was released from his billet. Shame on you Mr. Quo and TP bloggers.
Comment by Daryll — October 12, 2006 @ 2:40 pm
I have witnessed many examples of devout Chrisitians who are simply poor judges of character. For some reason they cannot distinguish actions from words, and so they are easily duped again and again. The Republicans have been using and abusing them for decades now, and they just don’t seem to get it.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:47 pmBush profession his faith, but where and when does he go to church?
October 12th, 2006 at 2:48 pmBush professes his faith but when and where does he atend church?
October 12th, 2006 at 2:49 pmNow you just stay bent right over there, Daryll - they’re not quite done with you yet.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:49 pmI question Mr. Quo’s statements. There’s always somebody trying to defame the President and his officials because he was released from his billet. Shame on you Mr. Quo and TP bloggers.
Comment by Daryll — October 12, 2006 @ 2:40 pm
Then also question how many of those people there are coming out. Is there a pattern? Is the sheer quantity enough for you to question why? These people have been steady Republicans and now coming out against Bush. Could it possibly be that they see how wrong Bush is?
The religious right and the Bush administration used each other and now the truth is out.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:55 pmThis reminds me so much of Jason M. Hendler, when he stated he suspends his Christianity when the occasion calls for it.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:56 pmDaryll, doesn’t ‘your’ President also talk to God?
Do you?
Methinks both of you could use some couch time.
I know it’s expensive, but it may keep you from
going completely insane.
Citizen Dad,
October 12th, 2006 at 2:56 pmCan you also copy & paste Hasturd’s lucrative land
deal facts?
Thanks, buddy. We appreciate your objectivity.
The evangelicals with vote for anyone that opposes gay marriage and abortion, they are too narrow minded to see they are being had by the GOP.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:57 pmRove referred to evangelical leaders as “the nuts,â€
Finally, after all of these years, something I can agree with Rove on.
October 12th, 2006 at 2:58 pm#35
October 12th, 2006 at 3:03 pmOh dear lawdy, I completely forgot about the “suspension of Christianity” line by good ol JMH, which lead to some completely laughable posts (mine included)
Daryll, go back for seconds on the Kool-Aid. You didn’t seem to get a large enough dose.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:04 pmThe (real) Darth Vader: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.”
October 12th, 2006 at 3:04 pmI keep telling you people: Bush isn’t a Texan, he’s not a conservative, and he’s not a Christian.
~GrandMoffTexan
Damn straight. He also isn’t the President. This asswipe is.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:05 pmChristianity as we know it in this day and age is a FEAR based initiative used to control people and resources, so naturally it goes hand in hand with Corporate Fascism, as represented by the current regime.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:06 pmI can understand that anyone willing to believe a guy who was executed some 2000 years ago for being a threat to the (then) current regime is coming back to save them from themselves; will suck up the same nonsense from a current “leader” who claims to believe what they do.
Liars are liars, and anyone who can not see that Dubious and Co. are pawns of the dark side are stumbling around in the blackness themselves.
There’s always somebody trying to defame the President and his officials because he was released from his billet.
Comment by Daryll
And notice how Daryll basically says that everyone who criticizes Bush has an ax to grind. Everyone. It is a standard Rove tactic, the blanket smear.
Keep up the smears, Daryll. Carry their water. You fit right in. Hypocrite.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:07 pmPaul paid them back for the duping by duping Hastert…
October 12th, 2006 at 3:07 pmBut seriously Daryll, which billet did you mean? His Alabama National Guard Billet where not a single person remembers him ever showing up for? Or his supposed cure of his lifelong curse of alcohol and cocaine addiction?
October 12th, 2006 at 3:12 pmWow! somebody wrote a book about the obvious! Well…obvious that is, unless you are evangelical sheeple people.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:16 pmSorry fundies….you thought you had GWB at “Hello,” when he actually had you by the nads.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:21 pmOur Heavenly father, please help liberals to understand that satan uses certain individuals to attack those trying to carry out your plan. Lord, this book may have appeared in stores, but I know that you will pass the truth to the American citizens. Please forgive liberals for mocking President Bush’s intimate talk with you. Jesus, please get rid of the filthy judgement and sin from the liberals, and I’ll give your name the honor forever amen.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:28 pmFear will keep the local systems in line…fear of this battlesta….oops wrong thought process.
I’m still laughing (or crying) that we have a drunken, coke-snorthing, fundy-poser, former cheerleader, as president who has never been on the battlefield (unless you count the time he was protecting Alabama from the Vietcong …and even skipped out on that). I’m in the wrong business I guess - I could be cashing in on this crazy religion that hinges on the “end of days” happening just around the corner (since its inception). Doomsday averted again and again fundies. Send me your money instead! lol
I hope this revelation of Rove’s comments gets more circulation so folks who really are religious get some idea of who they’ve been wrongly supporting. The Christ I always heard about was about helping the poor, not consolidating and enhancing the rich.
Who would Jesus Bomb?
October 12th, 2006 at 3:29 pmWell, Rove did promise his followers an “October surprise”. “Surprise” fundies! Bwahahahahaha
October 12th, 2006 at 3:30 pmGrand Moff: “I keep telling you people: Bush isn’t a Texan, he’s not a conservative, and he’s not a Christian.” - - Ahh, the Axis of Prime Evil.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:31 pm“and I’ll give your name the honor forever amen.”
Comment by Daryll — October 12, 2006 @ 3:28 pm
Daryll, don’t the rules of your faith call for you to do that anyway? Are you trying to cut a deal with god on a TP thread?
October 12th, 2006 at 3:34 pmDaryll,
It’s good you recognize that Satan is using you. It’s the first step to recovery…
October 12th, 2006 at 3:35 pmRealScientist #29
Time magazine (I think it’s the last september issue with the monkey on the cover- it’s lead article is about how close we humans are to chimps)…
…has a great article by a Log Cabin Repulsivescum last name of Sullivan (whom I believe has seen the proverbial light)…
…its an excellent article that touches upon your point about religious fanatics (Jews, Christians, and Muslims) and their absolutist doctrines…
I was really impressed by the deep thought this “reformed” Repulsivescum employed in writing this very relevant and timely (no pun intended) article…
…I believe that these Christian fanatical hypocrites are just plain weak!
…They want someone to explain and be responsible for EVERYTHING about them…
…tell me how to walk, talk, judge someone or not, why is this or that…
…just LEAD me!
…their self-centered hypocrisy is what condemns them…
October 12th, 2006 at 3:36 pmThat’s a good one. After Little Tucker’s slip earlier this week, this comes as the last proof of the GOP curroption.
The “nuts” thought finally someone cared about what they see as good values. It’s all politics. Someone should have told them that before they lost a day of work/worship to elect these people.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:40 pmWhy don’t you “fundies” have your “GOD” strike Bush down? Isn’t that how it works with you people?
October 12th, 2006 at 3:41 pmFor all those FAUXNews talking heads who will say that is old news…
It’s new if you’re just learning about it.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:44 pmCan’t wait for the reaction from Falwell, Roberston, Perkins, Dobson and the rest of the “American Taliban.”
October 12th, 2006 at 3:45 pmWell too bad it isn’t on video tape, Rove talking shit about his base.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:46 pmProbably the only time I agree with Rove. But Rove does not have a grasp of history. In 4th century Rome, when, in the pagan tradition of religious tolerance, Emperor Constantine ended the Diocletian persecution. This ensued a bloody debate between Christians as to what was the real Church (ie real true Christianity) and what was the real dogma ie, the incarnation of Jesus whether it he was of a homosian or homousian nature. What was at stake was the Imperial treasury, as the state had always supported pagan temples (the pax decorum) with money and land so it was of necessary importance to the view of whose dogma would win to establish what true Christianity was.
Christians ignore all of this today and the nuances of the mystery of the incarnation and the Imperial role.
However, a clever person could re-invigorate this contention and watch once again, as Christians destroy themselves over the federal funds as part as the presidents’ faith based programs.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:53 pmI’m not in the least surprised by this. Do you think the wingnuts will hear about this? And if they do, will it finally dawn on them that they’re being used?
As a progressive, I respect the beliefs of these people, no matter how nutty. It’s when they start imposing them on other people and, much worse, dictating public policy according to their beliefs that they have to be stopped.
October 12th, 2006 at 3:56 pmDaryll:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:15, KJV)
October 12th, 2006 at 3:58 pmEnjoy your weekend!
October 12th, 2006 at 4:06 pmWith a little bit of luck, conservatism, Republicanism, and Christianity have been thoroughly discredited by all this, so much so that no one that seeks public credibility will associate themselves with any of this despicable coven of hypocritical losers until such time as the chief Rabbis of Israel declare Hitler was actually a Zionist.
It’s felt like an eternity, but in the grand scheme of things, five years is not very long to have to wait for major payback. I’ve never seen a group of oligarchs so thoroughly discredited so quickly. Think of it - the most powerful group of men in the world totally discredited and abandoned by their base for their disloyalty to it in only five years. Despite everything - loss of habeus corpus and corporate run media, it looks like the system’s working… Let’s see if they bomb Iran or Diebold steals the election…
October 12th, 2006 at 4:06 pmEnjoy your weekend
October 12th, 2006 at 4:07 pmRove Demands ‘Just Get Me A F—ing Faith-Based Thing. Got it?’
October 12th, 2006 at 4:11 pmCan anyone see the Irony in that statement? Kind of like,”Man, I f*ucking love Jesus”…
Mr. Bush and his officials aren’t false phophets. They’re men and women after god’s own heart. There children of god. Democrats, get rid of your foolish ways. Our government is currently running smoothly.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:13 pm#12 Amen brother. Bush is not from Texas, he didn’t go to school anywhere near here and he definately ain’t no Christian (maybe A KKKristian, but not a Beatitudes Christian). He’s Yankee Aristocracy and has more in common with the Kennedy’s than he does with Audie Murphy…or JR Ewing (sp?) Anyhow, we do all we can to stave off some of the well deserved hits on us down here, but please spare us from the Christ Posse and GWB.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:15 pmo.k.
question for a congressional investigation:
(or even an investigation by a major news corporation, but that is much less likely.)
how was the money for the bush administration’s “faith-based” program spent.
how much was used to buy off willing preachers?
this kind of program begs corruptible officials to misuse public funds. i’m willing to bet the faith-based programs were a swamp of corruption.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:19 pmI don’t know whether to laugh at Daryll in the hopes it’s all sarcasm, or to cry about the fact someone may actually, truly believe what he posts.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:21 pmUnholy+Moses, accept it. The President and his officials are trying to bring our unrighteous country back to biblical standards. Some of you need to do the same, read Acts 2:38.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:24 pmDaryll,
It appears as if you mean well, but you must, and soon, come to the understanding that you have been wrong about George W. Bush. Perhaps, early on you were seduced by his “courage” to proclaim his faith in public, but know that it is and has only been a political ploy. One that you fell for and are trying to convince others of, in vain.
It is important that you and others like you make this understanding soon and become a bit more cynical to the use of “faith” as a political ploy. Or it could mean the destruction of our great country, the one which allows us our free practice of Religion.
Perhaps it is G-d working through us “liberals” on this site trying to help you see the light, not vice-versa; therefore, please consider that not all “liberals” mock faith in G-d itself, just its use as a cunning ploy.
In all sincerity,
G-d Bless,
October 12th, 2006 at 4:26 pmJune
Jesus was a Communist!
October 12th, 2006 at 4:27 pmNow let’s see…if you want something, and get it, ‘It’s a MIRACLE!’….but..if you don’t get it…’The Lord works in mysterious ways’….a win win deal for the un-realists. The bible could be summed up in 5 simple words: ‘Be good to each other’. Men have raped the ‘intent’ of it all for personal gain. We are born greedy. Just watch 2 little kids and a pile of toys..mine..mine! We must overide this as we grow up. The ‘bad’ christians/republicans have infected our country, so it’s time to remove them from power.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:27 pm“Our Heavenly father, please help liberals to understand that satan uses certain individuals to attack those trying to carry out your plan. Lord, this book may have appeared in stores, but I know that you will pass the truth to the American citizens. Please forgive liberals for mocking President Bush’s intimate talk with you. Jesus, please get rid of the filthy judgement and sin from the liberals, and I’ll give your name the honor forever amen.”
Comment by Daryll — October 12, 2006 @ 3:28 pm
Wow, what incredible use of sarcasm! Are you a writer for the Colbert Report?
October 12th, 2006 at 4:28 pmDaryll: you need to go back and read the teachings of Jesus. By far his most often stated belief was that we should help the poor. Of course, Bush and the rest of you Conservatives conveniently ignore that one.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:30 pmHow presumptuous of you, Daryll. I happen to be a Christian and a Democrat and I know what the Bible says about people who claim that G-d talks to them and I can say with absolute faith that George Bush is not one of those people. And since he claims to be a Christian, it is our duty (as Christians) to judge his actions (I Corinthians 5:12-13). He is a false prophet and only the spiritually immature are duped by his retoric.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:30 pmWith all these outrageous scandals surrounding organized religion and we are still criticized for being atheists.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:31 pmwoo-hoo! bet ol’Daryll didn’t expect he’d get in a tangle with others who can quote scripture back at him - thanks, Kind Christians, for bringing the Word to bear for the good guys, and against the hypocrites.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:40 pmSilly Republicans. You just let all this stuff well up, by opposing hearings, impeding all oversight and stamping everything “secret.”
There really should be no surprise that this information is coming out. Just bad timing on your part.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:44 pmOk Daryll, now you’ve just jumped off the cliff. I don’t believe acts 2:38 is in our constitution. And getting back to biblical standards? An argument can be made that that’s what the radical Islamists are fighting for. To go back in time several thousand years.
Unrighteous in whose eyes? Don’t go there.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:48 pmLadies and Gentlemen, my views are the truth. You can only give so much to the poor, we can’t constantly feed them like pigeons. They must learn to surivive on their on like everyone else in society. As stated before, I give to the Red Cross, local food bank, and the 700 club “feed the children” charities. How do you guys know that Jesus didn’t talk to Bush. Did you seek him to verify whether or not that was true? We have to rid our country of homosexuality, abortions, illegal immigration (their breaking the law), welfare (Jesus said, “you must work in order to eat”), etc. President Bush and his officials are attemting to carry this action, but you unrighteous people our trying to hinder him. God’s plan will go through. Republican views are based biblically. Your party reminds me of Sodom and Gamore.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:49 pmThat has to be one of the funniest … posts … ever.
Very well done!
October 12th, 2006 at 4:51 pmOh, and for some that have asked, I attended Oral Roberts University.
October 12th, 2006 at 4:57 pm#90 Daryll, your not even paying attention to this orignal thread. The republican leadership called people like you “nuts”. Nuts as in crazy. They are using people like you and you don’t get it. And every time you blather on using your slanted religious tones you confirm to all who have read this post that you are exhibit A.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:00 pmEveryone:
I’m a progressive Christian myself, which means that I and my fellow progressive Christians believe the preponderance of Jesus’s teachings about helping the poor, turning the other cheek, etc. Not that any of us are perfect in this. I am also rather skeptical, and have often said that I’m an Episcopalian because I don’t HAVE to believe a damn thing. My church encourages open inquiry and thinking for yourself.
I would like to say, though, that I know quite a few fundamentalists, and many of them are good people at heart, who do charitable works, and aren’t as intolerant as often depicted. Credulous? Yes, in many cases. As someone pointed out upthread, many of them have a hard time distinguishing words from actions. But let’s have a little charity toward them. Their house of cards is coming crashing down around them, and the only fault of many of them is to have believed in and voted for people who didn’t deserve their belief and respect.
Also, all of us have difficulty in admitting when we are wrong. Again, a little charity here.
Daryll: assuming you aren’t being satyrical here, I would like to suggest the following thought for you. I’m 60. With past administrations there have been critics and occasionally people who have left those administrations and been critical of them. But never in all my 60 years have I seen so many people formerly in the Bush administration, and so highly placed yet, quit that administration and publish very pointed criticism. Their criticisms are also quite consistent with one another. And they fit with what we are seeing happen today, with Iraq as a cluster f—, Katrina grotesquely mishandled, etc., etc. There is a pattern here. I suggest that you pay attention to it.
I knew that Bush and crew would be bad news when he was “elected”, although I didn’t realize just HOW bad.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:01 pmWow, I’m really surprised that I was duped by a satirist as there is NO WAY someone could think that the Bush Administration is doing G-d’s work and that the Republican positions are biblically based. When Jesus that “the poor will always be with you” He didn’t mean “…so you don’t have to help them”. He said, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me”. I’m afraid that these so called Christian Republicans are going to end up with the goats (I’m sure you know what I mean…to the non-Christians, that’s an inside dig).
And I take what I said earlier about David Kuo’s book being the final nail in the coffin…I just saw that today’s Oprah is about truth in government and she talked about Iraq (some of the transcript is online now). I think once Oprah’s in on it, you’re done.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:05 pmYou can only give so much to the poor, we can’t constantly feed them like pigeons.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:05 pmSpoken like a true follower of Jesus (In fact, I think He said this!)
How do you guys know that Jesus didn’t talk to Bush. Did you seek him to verify whether or not that was true?
I talk to Jesus everyday, I don’t expect Him to verbally talk back
I give to the Red Cross, local food bank, and the 700 club “feed the children†charities.
True Christians don’t brag about how much they give to charity
We have to rid our country of homosexuality, abortions, illegal immigration (their breaking the law), welfare
Remind me again about the 2 most important Commandments per Jesus. something about only 1 God, and love thy neighbor (unless their illegal immigrants who happen to be gay seeking abortion covered by welfare)
God’s plan will go through. Republican views are based biblically. Your party reminds me of Sodom and Gamore.
By misleading the country into hundreds of thousands of innocent lives destroyed, by smearing an opponent, by letting thousands die after a natural disaster because of their economic status…these are your biblical views? and what is a Gamore, anyway? Happy Gamore, the movie with Adam Sandler?
Anyway, God Bless, and have a wonderful day
Darryl,
“my views are the truth”
A bit presumptuous and blasphemous here, no?
“Your party reminds me of Sodom and Gamore. “
I think you mean Gomorrah, but I digress. Which party was Mark Foley a member of?
You can no longer claim that G-d is partisan. That much should be obvious to you by now.
You base your belief against homosexuality on one line in the Bible. You don’t even know who wrote that line or why. What if homosexuality and, yes, abortion (which I don’t believe is even mentioned in the Bible), are perhaps of G-d’s answers to overpopulation and overeaching depletion of the Earth’s resources? You just don’t know, but it certainly is your right to believe; however, know that the Republicans intentionally use these as wedge issues to get people like you out to vote for them so that they can make themselves more wealthy.
And Illegal Immigration? Did G-d invent borders? How dare you pretend and imply that this is a cause of Christ.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:06 pmOk, now I know you’re a satirist because “Oral Roberts University” is way funnier than saying, “Bob Jones University” or some other fundie school
PS. I went to Covenant College (Presbyterian) myself. Go SCOTS!
October 12th, 2006 at 5:07 pmhellinabucket, per my previous emails, that’s why I’m here, to uphold the christian conservative name. There is no proof that Rove made that statement. Mr. Kuo is a sore loser who’s distraught because he lost his government position, and for you to believe his statement basically means that you’re gullable. Open your eyes, the Republicans are trying to instill Jesus back in our system. That’s a glorious thing.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:11 pmDaryll - here’s my prayer for you
…”O Great Spirit of the South, whose warm breath of compassion melts the ice that gathers round our hearts, whose fragrance speaks of distant springs and summer days, dissolve our fears, melt our hatreds, kindle our love into flames of true and living realities. Teach us that he who is truly strong is also kind, he who is wise tempers justice with mercy, he who is truly brave matches courage with compassion.”
©1996 Noel Knockwood, B.A.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:13 pmElder
Are the Fundies flattered that Karl & W (or the people they hastily delegated the whole thing to) spent a whole weekend putting a pork-barrel program together, especially for them - wow - really deomnstrates the depth of their devotion, don’t it?
October 12th, 2006 at 5:17 pmAbramoff-Scanlon School of Sleaze
October 12th, 2006 at 5:18 pm“The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees,” Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.” More:
http://dir.salon.com/ story/ news/ feature/ 2005/ 11/ 03/ abramoff/ index.html
Tucker Carlson on Evangelicals getting fooled:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnXImj4_OJ0
Olbermann Exclusive: Dissecting new Book: Tempting Faith:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/ 2006/ 10/ 11/ olbermann-exclusive-dissecting-new-book-tempting-faith/
“How do you guys know that Jesus didn’t talk to Bush.”
LOL. Just because Bush says he did doesn’t make it true. Seeking out Jesus won’t help either. Bush saying he did something because Jesus told him too is as ridiculous as a 911 bomber saying he did it because Allah told him too.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:28 pmSo Jesus was an advocate for legalized torture?
Funny how they left that out of the Bible. You’d think something that essential to the Christian values of Bush and Co. would be in there somewhere …
October 12th, 2006 at 5:28 pmRove calls them “the nuts”. Scanlon calls them “the wackos”.
If that doesn’t make the fundies wake up, open their eyes, and give the Republicans the middle finger, nothing will.
Not even sheep are led to the slaughterhouse this easily.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:30 pmYou alsmot got it. Here:
I holy war is what these nuts think they are having. Both sides, not just the crazy Muslims. The Crazy Christians too.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:35 pmDaryll, I don’t believe Jesus was ever “in” our system. Seperation of church and state thing. How do you know anything about Mr. Kuo? Aren’t you the one casting dispersions. You may feel comfortable in your religion but you come off as a hypocrite
October 12th, 2006 at 5:37 pmI just asked Jesus if he talked to Bush and God interupted and scolded Jesus for talking to a burning Bush!
October 12th, 2006 at 5:42 pmIf the God of the Israelites really existed, Bush would have been turned to a pillar of pretzels long ago.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:46 pmIf only people would learn from history — that Absolute Power Corrupts; and Power Corrupts Absolutely.
I don’t care if you are wearing a WWJD bracelet; or you’re a flaming atheist. Nothing immunizes a person, organization or movement against the effect of power and control. Throw money in the mix and all hell is guaranteed to break loose.
That (alleged) conservatives - those who seek to maintain the status quo - would be ignorant of history, is itself a pathetic irony.
Why would anyone think Rove/Bush’s Faith-Based Initiative would turn-out differently? Religion corrupts a State as much as a State corrupts Religion. Jefferson and other brilliant Founding minds knew this — NOT from theory, but from practice and reality.
Yet, our modern “brilliant” minds think they know better and venture into an experiment that was already tried - and failed - centuries before. Of course, these are the same clowns who are repeating the mistakes of a war fought not more than 50 years ago; even bringing back the same failed players - e.g. Henry Kissinger.
Are the neocons and their reactionary religious enables so arrogant as to think they will defy the outcome of those who conducted similar experiments before them? Are they wiser? Smarter? Better? What explains their flagrant disregard for the lessons of the past?
Barry Goldwater castigated the Religious Right throughout the 1980s, having nothing but contempt for the likes of Jerry Falwell. Goldwater was ahead of his time. If not a student of history, he at least instinctively realized the long-term effect of marrying a political party to a reactionary brand of religion.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:52 pm#90
“Daryll”
You sound much like the “Pharisee” in Luke 18:9-14 …
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 Jesus said “I tell you that this man- the tax collector, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
In your own words …
I give to the Red Cross, local food bank, and the 700 club “feed the children†charities.
The words of the Pharisee …
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
In your own words …
We have to rid our country of homosexuality, abortions, illegal immigration (their breaking the law), welfare
The words of the Pharisee …
‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.’
And, by the way, Jesus was not too fond of men worshipping other men (or women) as deities (gods).
So … this might be a good time to recognize that George W. Bush is just a plain old human being who made mistakes ( well, a lot of mistakes ) and is too stubborn to face up to them.
That’s all he is Daryll.
Nothing more than that.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:53 pmOpen your eyes, the Republicans are trying to instill Jesus back in our system. That’s a glorious thing.
Comment by Daryll — October 12, 2006 @ 5:11
The air must be very thin up on the Mount; otherwise, you’d know how Jesus feels about “collateral damage” in a war of choice. You’re just another fake Christian. Why don’t you become a monk, and do us all some good.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:57 pmDaryll, have we met?
You sound quite familiar………
Wait, I think I got it!
Weren’t you in the next stall at that rest area in ( )?
You know, when you started talking about that the end was coming soon, and we needed to prepare ourselves, and, like, well, you know………………
You just took off so fast, I never did have the chance to tell you I was only kidding around as well, after I told you about the flying saucers coming tonight to pick me up, and that you could come too if you wanted, only that first you had to go buy an orange hat so that they would know you were OK………..
October 12th, 2006 at 5:59 pm#110:
“Politicians are like diapers, and should be changed frequently, for the same reasons” kind of fits.
October 12th, 2006 at 5:59 pmI have witnessed many examples of devout Chrisitians who are simply poor judges of character. For some reason they cannot distinguish actions from words, and so they are easily duped again and again. The Republicans have been using and abusing them for decades now, and they just don’t seem to get it.
Actually, reactionary Christianits rely too much on their own “6th sense,” believing as they to be filled with the Holy Ghost. That, and they rely far too much on emotions to judge if they are right.
How many people remember Bush telling the world that Putin was a good, decent man. Bush claimed to know this by looking into the man’s eyes and therefore into his soul. It seems that the Chimp is no better at knowing a man’s heart than he is of basing his decisions on facts.
October 12th, 2006 at 6:07 pmThey american christian taliban already says they will still vote repub because in the end they know they republicans will do better than dems. We are all in trouble.
October 12th, 2006 at 6:35 pmThey Democrats would have a chance at the evangelicals if they offered something. But evagelicals know a Democratic majority will pass gay marriage, and pass judge the likes of those on the 9th Circuit.
Evangelicals have no place else go.
October 12th, 2006 at 6:50 pm#116
The “leadership” of this group probably will.
Not to “judge” - but let’s just say the leadership is “partly” interested in religious issues and “partly” interested in politics. I’ll leave it to the reader to figure out the true “balance.”
The leadership of the “American taliban” - as you call them - will vote repub to satisfy their political needs. They have no political future with the Dems.
I think that you will have significant defections at the “member” level, however. Many of the members “wanted to believe” the spin - so they did.
You can argue that it is their fault for being so gullible - but the “fundies” that I know see it as being played in the worst way.
And they should.
October 12th, 2006 at 6:52 pmDaryll thx for you theocracy pitch
I hope you remember the fact that our founding fathers created the Constitution to AVOID stupid people like you from creating a theocracy…
October 12th, 2006 at 7:22 pmCan it be any more clear that Bush is genuinely evil?
Wake up Christians!
He even lied to you and used religion against you.
He is genuinely evil!
October 12th, 2006 at 7:39 pm#120
Sam If only it was that easy. Some trolls will pander to any sort of stupidity as long as it comes from an idiot with a southern ancent. If he calls for everyone to have surveliance cameras in each of our homes, these idiots will do it; if he tells us to kill all gays, libs, and minorities, the idiot trolls will like the idea too. Unfortunately that is the way they work. They just have a lack of understanding and MUST be educated before it is too late!!!!!
October 12th, 2006 at 7:57 pmNice to see how the Republican sleaze machine feels about people of faith.
October 12th, 2006 at 9:01 pmRepublican Family Values Tour:
Sept.29, 2006:
Another Republican Congressman turns out to be a skanky perv
Excerpt: Congressman Mark Foley (R-Florida), as chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus, had introduced legislation in July to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet. He also sponsored other legislation designed to protect minors from abuse and neglect.
June 28, 2006:
Republican advertising consultant behind anti-Clinton smear convicted of child molestation
Excerpt: A political consultant whose company was behind a television ad accusing the Clinton-Gore administration of giving away nuclear technology was convicted of child molestation charges.
April 28, 2006:
Defense contractor allegedly provided hookers for Cunningham
Excerpt: The allegations were raised by Mitchell Wade, another defense contractor who also has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the bribery conspiracy involving former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the officials said. Cunningham is serving a prison term of eight years, four months after pleading guilty in November to taking $2.4 million in homes, yachts and other bribes.
Wade is cooperating with investigators as part of his plea agreement in February. He has told them that Brent Wilkes, a San Diego defense contractor who has been identified as a co-conspirator, secured prostitutes, limousines and suites at two Washington hotels for Cunningham, the officials said.
April 20, 2006:
Republican claims tight finances,
gets child support obligation cut in half,
then gives $250,000 to his own campaign for Governor
Excerpt: Scottsdale businessman Mike Harris has put $100,000 of his own money into his campaign for governor just months after convincing a judge he was too poor to make full support payments for his only child.
Harris said he got the court to cut his support payments in half, to $1,000 a month, after coming close to bankruptcy. Harris said he now is in much better financial health, which is why he has committed to spend up to $250,000 in personal funds on his bid for the Republican gubernatorial nomination.
But Harris said he doesn’t intend to start paying more to support John Carter, 7, who lives with his mother in Northern California. Harris, who describes himself on his campaign Web site as a “proud and loving father,” said $1,000 a month “for one kid for a four-year marriage is pretty darn generous.”
Oct. 10, 2005:
Christian Coalition head molested three family members, family says
Excerpt: After news broke that local law enforcement officials were investigating complaints that Louis Beres, longtime chairman of the Christian Coalition of Oregon, had molested three female family members when they were pre-teens, The Oregonian in Portland went out and interviewed Beres’ family members.
Two told reporters that Beres, indeed, had molested them. All three said they have been interviewed for several hours by detectives.
“I was molested,” said one of the women, now in her early 50s. “I was victimized, and I’ve suffered all my life for it. I’m still afraid to be in the same room with [Beres].”
The coalition led by Beres, 70, champions socially conservative candidates and causes. Its Web site describes the group as “Oregon’s leading grassroots organization defending our Godly heritage.” The group opposes abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research. It is affiliated with the national Christian Coalition, which was founded in 1989 by television evangelist Pat Robertson.
July 28, 2005:
Anti-abortion activist raped girl at his “home for unwed mothers”
Excerpt: John Burt, an anti-abortion extremist, was taken into custody yesterday after losing an appeal of his conviction for molesting a 15-year-old girl who was in his care at his so-called home for unwed mothers, Our Father’s House. A three-judge panel of the First District Court of Appeal ruled unanimously to uphold Burt’s conviction, the Associated Press reports. Burt will continue to appeal his conviction and sentence of 18 years in prison, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
In the early 1980s, John Burt, who was the Regional Director of Rescue America at the time, was at the center of disruptions at the Pensacola, Florida clinics. In 1986, Burt led an invasion into the Ladies Center Clinic in Pensacola, which led to his arrest and conviction along with Joan Andrews Bell, an associate of James Kopp, who was convicted of assassinating Dr. Barnett Slepian. Joseph Scheidler was touring at the time on his book, “99 Ways to Close an Abortion Clinic.†Scheidler was on the lawn in front of the clinic at the time of the invasion. This incident was the impetus for the NOW v. Scheidler case, which will be heard by the US Supreme Court for the third time this fall.
In 1993, Burt was leading a Rescue America protest outside the second Pensacola clinic when an Our Father’s House volunteer, Michael Griffin, shot and killed Dr. David Gunn in the rear of the clinic. Burt was also an associate of Paul Hill, who murdered Dr. Bayard Britton and volunteer escort James Barrett outside the Ladies Center Clinic in Pensacola in 1994. Burt was videotaped helping Paul Hill identify Dr. Britton outside the clinic in the weeks before Hill shot and killed Dr. Britton and his clinic escort.
May 30, 2005:
Morality mouthpiece raped and sodomized his wife, she says
Excerpt: According to his ex-wife, Linda Carruth Davis, W. David Hager (Bush appointee to the Food and Drug Administration)’s public moralizing on sexual matters clashed with his deplorable treatment of her during their marriage. Davis alleges that between 1995 and their divorce in 2002, Hager repeatedly sodomized her without her consent. Several sources on and off the record confirmed that she had told them it was the sexual and emotional abuse within their marriage that eventually forced her out. “I probably wouldn’t have objected so much, or felt it was so abusive if he had just wanted normal [vaginal] sex all the time,” she explained to me. “But it was the painful, invasive, totally nonconsensual nature of the [anal] sex that was so horrible.”
May 13, 2005:
Anti-abortion advocate says he boinked farm animals
Neal Horsley (anti-abortion activist) on Hannity & Colmes
Alan Colmes: “You had sex with animals?”
Neal Horsley: “Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule.”
Alan Colmes: “I’m not so sure that that is so.”
Neal Horsley: “You didn’t grow up on a farm in Georgia, did you?”
Alan Colmes: “Are you suggesting that everybody who grows up on a farm in Georgia has a mule as a girlfriend?”
Neal Horsley: It has historically been the case. You people are so far removed from the reality… Welcome to domestic life on the farm… You experiment with anything that moves when you are growing up sexually. … If it’s warm and it’s damp and it vibrates you might in fact have sex with it.â€
May 5, 2005:
Staunchly anti-gay Mayor of Spokane seems to be a gay child molester
Excerpt: Mayor James E. West, a Republican foe of gay rights, was accused in a newspaper story Thursday of molesting two boys decades ago and was caught by the paper using the trappings of his office to try to court a young man on a gay online chat room.
West on Thursday denied the molestation allegations, but acknowledged he “had relations with adult men.”
He admitted offering autographed sports memorabilia and a possible City Hall internship to what he thought was an 18-year-old man on the Web site Gay.com. The man was actually a private computer expert hired by The Spokesman-Review as part of a journalism sting operation.
West, 54, a former Boy Scout leader and Army paratrooper who was married briefly in the 1990s, denied that the online offers constituted abuse of his office, and he said he would serve out the more than three years remaining in his term.
“I am a law-abiding citizen,” West said during a brief news conference. He took no questions.
The Spokesman-Review ran interviews Thursday with two men who allege West molested them decades ago when they were Boy Scouts and the mayor was a troop leader and sheriff’s deputy. Both men have criminal records because of drug problems.
“I categorically deny allegations about incidents that supposedly occurred 24 years ago as alleged by two convicted felons and about which I have no knowledge,” West said.
April 15, 2005:
“I wanna marry the goat”
by Bill O’Reilly, Fox News
Excerpt: “So this is just the beginning, ladies and gentlemen, of this crazy gay marriage insanity — is gonna lead to all kinds of things like this. Courts are gonna be clogged. Every nut in the world is gonna — somebody’s gonna come in and say, “I wanna marry the goat.” You’ll see it; I guarantee you’ll see it.”
April 9, 2005:
Arch-Conservative consultant marries his gay partner
Excerpt: Arthur J. Finkelstein, a prominent Republican consultant who has directed a series of hard-edged political campaigns to elect conservatives in the United States and Israel over the last 25 years, said Friday that he had married his male partner in a civil ceremony at his home in Massachusetts.
Mr. Finkelstein, 59, who has made a practice of defeating Democrats by trying to demonize them as liberal, said in a brief interview that he had married his partner of 40 years to ensure that the couple had the same benefits available to married heterosexual couples.
“I believe that visitation rights, health care benefits and other human relationship contracts that are taken for granted by all married people should be available to partners,” he said.
He declined further comment on the wedding, which was in December. …
Feb. 10, 2005:
Phony White House reporter was real-life gay mail prostitute
Excerpt: Jeff Gannon (aka Jim Guckert) began covering the White House two years ago for an obscure Republican Web site (Talon-News.com). He was known for his friendly questions, including asking Bush at last month’s news conference how he could work with Democrats “who seem to have divorced themselves from reality.”
Gannon was also given a classified CIA memo that named agent Valerie Plame, leading to his grilling by the grand jury investigating her outing.
He came under lefty scrutiny after revelations that the administration was paying conservative pundits to talk up Bush’s proposals. By examining Internet records, online sleuths at DailyKos.com figured out that his real name was Jim Guckert and he owned various Web sites, including HotMilitaryStud.com, MilitaryEscorts.com and MilitaryEscortsM4M.com.
December 2004:
Anti-gay Republican Congressman outed as gay
Excerpt: By 1998, Rep. David Dreier (R-California, who voted for the “Marriage Protection Act of 2001″)’s homosexuality was at least tacitly acknowledged and accepted by high-level Republicans. …
Assured that local reporters would guard his secret, Dreier has amassed an antigay voting record so egregious that it has helped him garner a 92% approval rating from the Christian Coalition. Apparently the evangelical group failed to notice that Dreier’s roommate and constant companion is none other than Brad W. Smith, his appropriately entitled chief of staff.
Smith must be worth his weight in gold, as Dreier is paying his major domo the highest salary he legally can: $156,600 a year. That’s just $400 less than White House heavyweights Karl Rove and Andy Card.
Nov. 16, 2004:
Republican operative advertised for unprotected gay sex
Excerpt: Dan Gurley (Field Director for the Republican National Committee) sought unprotected sex with multiple partners on Gay.com. Gurley admitted to screenname, which had been erased, and then said that someone else had probably used his screenname to publish said profile. However, spokesman for Gay.com said that deleted screennames are not reused.
Aug. 31, 2004:
“Marriage amendment” sponsor seems to be gay as a lavender lily
Excerpt: U.S. Rep. Ed Schrock (R-Virginia, co-sponsor of the Federal Marriage Amendment) abruptly announced his retirement late Monday, citing unspecified allegations that “called into question my ability to represent the citizens of Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District.â€
… A Washington-based activist claimed on his Web site that Schrock engaged in homosexual activity, but offered no evidence. Schrock has refused to confirm or deny the allegations for two weeks.
“After much thought and prayer, I have come to the realization that these allegations will not allow my campaign to focus on the real issues facing our nation and region,†he said in a written statement. …
July 15, 2004:
Gay marriage is like marrying a turtle
by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Excerpt: “It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean that it’s right. … Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife.”
June 22, 2004:
Republican candidate wanted wife to accompany him to sex clubs, court papers say
Excerpt: The ex-wife of Jack Ryan, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, alleged in court papers filed in 2000 that he took her to sex clubs and asked her to engage in sexual activity in front of other patrons. Portions of the documents, which related to a visitation dispute over the couple’s son, were released Monday, after a judge in Los Angeles ordered them unsealed.
At a news conference Monday, Ryan reiterated the denial he made in his initial legal response to the charges by TV actress Jeri Lynn Ryan, in which he called the allegations “ridiculous” and “smut” and insisted he was “faithful and loyal to my wife throughout our marriage.”
“I am sticking by the exact things I said five years ago,” he said. “No one has ever said that I haven’t abided by every single law or abided by my marriage vows or abided by commitments I’ve made to people.”
Ryan also said he intends to stay in the Senate race, despite unease among fellow Republicans about the potential political fallout. “I think we’ll be victorious in November,” he said.
Jeri Ryan, who starred in the TV shows “Boston Public” and “Star Trek: Voyager,” also issued a conciliatory statement, saying that she now considers her ex-husband “a friend” and has “no doubt that he will make an excellent senator.”
While not addressing the sex club allegations directly in her statement, she said that “there was never any physical abuse in our marriage — either to myself or to our son — nor, to my knowledge, was he ever unfaithful to me.”
“Jack is a good man, a loving father, and he shares a strong bond with our son. I wish him all the best,” she said.
Several Chicago media organizations had sued for release of documents relating to the Ryans’ divorce, saying the public interest outweighed their concerns about privacy and the possible effect on their now 9-year-old son. Friday, a judge in Los Angeles, where their divorce was litigated, agreed to unseal portions of more than 360 pages of documents, although large parts remained blacked out.
Both Ryans had objected to the release of details in the documents, but they opted not to appeal the ruling.
Jeri Ryan said her then-husband took her on three “surprise trips” in the spring of 1998 to New Orleans, New York and Paris, during which he took her to sex clubs. She said she refused to go in the first and went into the second at his insistence.
“It was a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling,” she said in the court document, adding that her husband “wanted me to have sex with him there, with another couple watching. I refused.”
She said on arriving at the third club, in Paris, “people were having sex everywhere. I cried. I was physically ill. [He] became very upset with me and said it was not a ‘turn on’ for me to cry.”
In his legal response to her allegations, Jack Ryan said while he did arrange “romantic getaways” for the couple, they “did not include the type of activities she describes.”
“We did go to one avant garde nightclub in Paris, which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return,” he said.
Ryan, 44, a wealthy former investment banker, is locked in a tight race with Democrat Barack Obama for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald — a potentially key contest in the battle for control of the evenly divided Senate.
Rumors about allegations in Ryans’ divorce documents swirled during the GOP primary, but Ryan steadfastly refused to release them.
He said Monday that he and his wife tried to keep the documents sealed out of fear of the possible impact on their son, Alex.
“Jeri Lynn and I long ago put those issues behind us,” he said. “It’s not helpful for my son … to reopen those conversations.”
Ryan said he believes voters will not hold the allegations against him.
“I think that when voters look into their hearts and minds and say, ‘Can we trust this fellow Jack Ryan, or does he try to do the best he can, or is he in this job for the right reasons?’ I think they’ll see that same sincerity to try do the right thing, though knowing that in the end that I am human and I do fail.”
Feb. 14, 2004:
Sexual battery complaint against “Defense of Marriage” Republican
Excerpt:Oklahoma’s Speaker of the House Larry Adair, D-Stilwell, confirmed in a telephone interview with the Enid News & Eagle Friday morning that Rep. Mike O’Neal, R-Enid, is the state lawmaker being investigated by Oklahoma City police on a sexual battery complaint.
O’Neal is author of “Defense of Marriage Act,†legislation that proposes a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would define a marriage as a union between one man and one woman. He also introduced a bill in January 2003 limiting the use of incompatibility as a reason for divorce.
Oct. 23, 2003:
Anti-gay preacher charged with
soliciting sex from gay teen prostitute
Excerpt: Reverend Stephen White, infamous for preaching against homosexuality and sexual promiscuity at Yale and other college campuses, now faces charges that he solicited sex from a teenage boy in a Philadelphia suburb.
In recent years, White — known to students as “Brother Stephen” — has made informal speeches on Cross Campus and Beinecke Plaza denouncing minorities, homosexuals, religious groups and aspects of popular culture.
White was arrested in June after he allegedly offered $20 to a 14-year-old boy in West Chester, Pa. for permission to perform oral sex on him.
June 13, 2003:
Former Mayor gets 37 years for child molestation
Excerpt: Philip Giordano, the former Waterbury, Connecticut mayor convicted of violating the civil rights of two girls he sexually abused, has been sentenced Friday morning.
Giordano, who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to 37 years in prison. Giordano’s sister and mother attended the sentencing. His wife was not present.
“This case is the worst I have ever seen,” said U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas in passing sentence. “Your conduct is the worst I have ever seen. I’ve seen drug dealers, murderers. What you did is indescribable.”
Nevas also noted that Giordano did not speak during the sentencing hearing. “Most defendants have something to say, if nothing more than to turn and look at your mother and your sister and say, ‘I’m sorry.’”
Nevas said Giordano had been “preying on two small, innocent children.” “They knew nothing. You, sir, are a sexual predator.”
Giordano also was convicted in March of conspiring with a prostitute, who is the mother of one of the girls and an aunt of the other. Jurors convicted him on 14 of 15 counts of using an interstate device — a cell phone — to arrange the meetings with the girls. Prosecutors said that Giordano used his cellular phone — an interstate device — to set up liaisons with the children and a convicted prostitute, Guitana Jones. Jones pleaded guilty to federal charges and testified at Giordano’s federal trial.
The girls also testified against the mayor. Prosecutor Peter Jongbloed, who portrayed Giordano as a corrupt liar during his closing arguments, pointed out that Giordano has acknowledged having sex with a prostitute and taking payoffs from contractors.
The FBI was investigating municipal corruption — a probe it labeled “Operation LandPhil” — when it stumbled upon phone calls in which Giordano set up meetings with Jones, her daughter and her niece. Neither Giordano nor anyone else has been charged with corruption.
On one of the taped conversations, Giordano talks with Jones while his sons can be heard in the background playing.
On another call, Giordano told her, “I want one of the little girls.”
On their last recorded conversation, Giordano warns the woman: “If my name gets mentioned, you might as well put a knife through your throat and kill yourself.”
Giordano testified that he and the prostitute, a law client, had oral sex on numerous occasions but never in City Hall. He said the girls usually waited outside the law office.
Giordano said he became aroused watching one of the girls in the waiting room but said he did not touch the girls.
First elected mayor in 1995, Giordano ran for U.S. Senate against Democrat Joe Lieberman in 2000, when Lieberman also ran for vice president on Al Gore’s ticket.
April 23, 2003:
Republican fund-raiser gets probation for child porn
Excerpt: A political conservative and fund-raiser who collected for prominent leaders like Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms was given probation before judgment and was put on two years probation Wednesday.
Richard A. Delgaudio, of Burke, Va., who is a nationally-known Republican party fund-raiser, faced a Baltimore judge Wednesday afternoon on child porn charges. Delgaudio — who pleaded guilty in February — faced charges for producing child pornography after paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos in a Baltimore hotel. Prosecutors explained why Delgaudio received probation.
“Some could say he got off easy but Delgaudio got probation before a judgment because … he owned up to what he did wrong,” prosecutor Adam Rosenberg said.
According to charging documents, the alleged crimes occurred at the Deluxe Plaza Motel located on Pulaski Highway, 11 NEWS reported. The documents also state that Delgaudio allegedly brought into the room assorted photography equipment, women’s clothing, lingerie and school girl’s clothing.
Delgaudio has served as president of the Virginia-based Legal Affairs Council, which raised money for Oliver North’s legal defense bills during his Iran-Contra trial. Delgaudio’s resume includes fund-raising for legal defense money for North and Casper Weinberger, raising campaign funds for Ronald Reagan and Jesse Helms and obtaining money for the defense of a police officer accused in the Rodney King beating.
He also was a co-author of the book China Doll: Clinton-Gore and the Selling of a Presidency.
Prosecutors said the probation before judgment will likely affect his career. “It effectively dismantles whatever business he was in,” Rosenberg said.
In 1996, the Legal Affairs Council also held a fund-raising dinner for Laurence Powell, the ex-policeman from Los Angeles who was convicted of civil rights violations against Rodney King.
Delgaudio might have faced more charges, but the three pornography photo albums that were in his car when he was pulled over were thrown out as evidence because the search of the car was ruled illegal, 11 NEWS reported.
April 22, 2003:
The dangers of sodomy
by Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania)
Excerpt: “Again, it goes back to this moral relativism, which is very accepting of a variety of different lifestyles. And if you make the case that if you can do whatever you want to do, as long as it’s in the privacy of your own home, this “right to privacy,” then why be surprised that people are doing things that are deviant within their own home? If you say, there is no deviant as long as it’s private, as long as it’s consensual, then don’t be surprised what you get. You’re going to get a lot of things that you’re sending signals that as long as you do it privately and consensually, we don’t really care what you do. And that leads to a culture that is not one that is nurturing and necessarily healthy. I would make the argument in areas where you have that as an accepted lifestyle, don’t be surprised that you get more of it.
“… We have laws in states, like the one at the Supreme Court right now, that has sodomy laws and they were there for a purpose. because, again, I would argue, they undermine the basic tenets of our society and the family. And if the Supreme Court says that you have the right to consensual sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right to adultery. You have the right to anything. Does that undermine the fabric of our society? I would argue yes, it does. It all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn’t exist in my opinion in the United States Constitution, this right that was created, it was created in Griswold — Griswold was the contraceptive case — and abortion. And now we’re just extending it out. And the further you extend it out, the more you — this freedom actually intervenes and affects the family. You say, well, it’s my individual freedom. Yes, but it destroys the basic unit of our society because it condones behavior that’s antithetical to strong healthy families. Whether it’s polygamy, whether it’s adultery, where it’s sodomy, all of those things, are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family.”
June 2002:
How to prevent your son from becoming homosexual
by Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family
Excerpt: … Meanwhile, the boy’s father has to do his part. He needs to mirror and affirm his son’s maleness. He can play rough-and-tumble games with his son, in ways that are decidedly different from the games he would play with a little girl. He can help his son learn to throw and catch a ball. He can teach him to pound a square wooden peg into a square hole in a pegboard. He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger. …
March 14, 2002:
Republican activist in touch with today’s youth
Excerpt: Also, last month, the National Republican Congressional Committee withdrew the “Republican of the Year” award that had been scheduled to be presented to Virginia party activist Mark A. Grethen, 44; the committee had just learned of his conviction on six counts of sex crimes involving children.
Dec. 18, 2001:
Republican activist accused of assaulting another girl
Excerpt: A Republican activist already accused of sexually assaulting a girl he met on the Internet is now charged with assaulting another girl.
Randal David Ankeney, 30, was charged Monday with sexually assaulting a female whose age was not listed in court documents. A preliminary hearing on the new charge was scheduled for Jan. 14.
A trial for Ankeney, who once worked for the state Office of Economic Development, was originally scheduled for this week. Prosecutor Amy Mullaney said the alleged victim is not the 13-year-old Fountain, Colo., girl.
Prosecutors said Ankeney met that girl in an Internet chat room. Ankeney told her he wa