Tuesday, February 28, 2006
William Donohue Wants A Piece Of My Pie
My profile of the point-man for the right's new campus strategy, Robert "Robby" George, has aroused the ire of professional alarmist (and apologist for Pope Pius IX, who ordered the kidnapping of a Jewish child from his family) William Donohue. Apparently Donohue didn't like my stating of the fact that George's James Madison Program at Princeton is funded by Opus Dei front groups. Check out his letter to the Nation:
I can't figure out what Donohue means by wanting a piece of my pie. This is the same William Donohue who said that "Hollywood likes anal sex." How does he know that? Participant observation?
My profile of the point-man for the right's new campus strategy, Robert "Robby" George, has aroused the ire of professional alarmist (and apologist for Pope Pius IX, who ordered the kidnapping of a Jewish child from his family) William Donohue. Apparently Donohue didn't like my stating of the fact that George's James Madison Program at Princeton is funded by Opus Dei front groups. Check out his letter to the Nation:
From: cl@catholicleague.org
Date: February 28, 2006 2:33:57 PM EST
To: @thenation.com
Subject: [LETT] Max Blumenthal's article on Robb
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Sender: cl@catholicleague.org
Name: William Donohue
Postal: Catholic League 450 7th Avenue
NY NY 10123
Teleph: 212-371-3191
URL: http://www.thenation.com/about/letters.mhtml
Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message:
Max Blumenthal's article on Robby George (March 13) reads like the work of a man possessed: the thought of a lone conservative teaching at Princeton is enough to scare the daylights out of Blumenthal, especially given the alleged "funding from a shadowy, cultlike Catholic group" that is contributing to George's effort.
As it turns out, the Catholic conspiracy amounts to some small
foundations that supposedly get money from Opus Dei, a lay
Catholic group, and they, in turn, give money to the Madison
Program that houses George. Holy smokes. Sounds like the work of
an armed albino monk.
Lighten up, Max, we Catholics just want a piece of the pie. But I
won't lie about it--the piece I want is yours.
William Donohue President Catholic League
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sent by an automailer
I can't figure out what Donohue means by wanting a piece of my pie. This is the same William Donohue who said that "Hollywood likes anal sex." How does he know that? Participant observation?
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The "Pro-Family" Movement and Killing Gays
Leaders of major Christian right interest groups used to read R.J. Rushdoony, but it's not fashionable to do so anymore. That's what I was told last year by a conservative evangelical college professor who attended meetings of the Values Action Team, an off-the-record caucus of Washington-based Christian right groups and right-wing members of congress. I confirmed for myself just how uncomfortable a subject Rushdoony is for the mainstream Christian right when I approached Richard Land last December and asked if he agreed with Rushdoony's ideology. Land cringed, then collected himself enough to utter a boilerplate denunciation of his work.
But while Rushdoony is publicly shunned by the media-friendly face of the Christian right, his Dominionist ideas and those of his acolytes remain influential within the movement. A startling example of the lingering influence of Dominionism came on the February 2 broadcast of American Family Radio's Today's Issues program.
As I documented for Media Matters, the American Family Association opened its airwaves to Gary Demar, a leading advocate of Dominionism, who has repeatedly advocated installing a theocratic government which would mandate the execution of gays, adulterers and abortion doctors, among many others. Demar's think tank, American Vision, is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
During the AFR broadcast, American Family Association President Tim Wildmon (heir apparent of Don) praised Demar as "one of the best writers out there in the Christian community and thinkers." Co-host Jeff Shambley told Demar, "I personally appreciate your work," and said he uses his books to home-school his children.
The American Family Association and its allies like to pose as the guardians of traditional culture from secularist decadence. But there is a seamy underbelly beneath their endless boycotts of "anti-Christian" television programs and insufficiently anti-gay corporations. For a glimpse of AFA's dark vision for America, just crack open Demar's Ruler of the Nations: Biblical Principles for Government (Dominion Press, 1987), in which he writes, "The law that requires the death penalty for homosexual acts effectually drives the perversion of homosexuality back into the closet...The long term goal [is] the execution of abortionists and parents who hire them. If we argue that abortion is murder, then we must call for the death penalty."
Leaders of major Christian right interest groups used to read R.J. Rushdoony, but it's not fashionable to do so anymore. That's what I was told last year by a conservative evangelical college professor who attended meetings of the Values Action Team, an off-the-record caucus of Washington-based Christian right groups and right-wing members of congress. I confirmed for myself just how uncomfortable a subject Rushdoony is for the mainstream Christian right when I approached Richard Land last December and asked if he agreed with Rushdoony's ideology. Land cringed, then collected himself enough to utter a boilerplate denunciation of his work.
But while Rushdoony is publicly shunned by the media-friendly face of the Christian right, his Dominionist ideas and those of his acolytes remain influential within the movement. A startling example of the lingering influence of Dominionism came on the February 2 broadcast of American Family Radio's Today's Issues program.
As I documented for Media Matters, the American Family Association opened its airwaves to Gary Demar, a leading advocate of Dominionism, who has repeatedly advocated installing a theocratic government which would mandate the execution of gays, adulterers and abortion doctors, among many others. Demar's think tank, American Vision, is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
During the AFR broadcast, American Family Association President Tim Wildmon (heir apparent of Don) praised Demar as "one of the best writers out there in the Christian community and thinkers." Co-host Jeff Shambley told Demar, "I personally appreciate your work," and said he uses his books to home-school his children.
The American Family Association and its allies like to pose as the guardians of traditional culture from secularist decadence. But there is a seamy underbelly beneath their endless boycotts of "anti-Christian" television programs and insufficiently anti-gay corporations. For a glimpse of AFA's dark vision for America, just crack open Demar's Ruler of the Nations: Biblical Principles for Government (Dominion Press, 1987), in which he writes, "The law that requires the death penalty for homosexual acts effectually drives the perversion of homosexuality back into the closet...The long term goal [is] the execution of abortionists and parents who hire them. If we argue that abortion is murder, then we must call for the death penalty."
Friday, February 10, 2006
Dobson and Abramoff Sittin' In A TreeFocus on the Family Vice President Tom Minnery wasn't very happy about my piece on James Dobson and the Christian right's ties to Jack Abramoff, "Abramoff's Evangelical Soldiers." Of course, he can't -- and doesn't -- dispute one single fact in the article. The Nation received this today:
February 9, 2006
>>
>>
>> Karen Rothmyer
>> Managing Editor
>> The Nation
>> Via E-Mail:
>>
>> To the Editor,
>>
>> Dr. James C. Dobson is hardly a close ally of disgraced lobbyist
>> Jack Abramoff, despite the insinuations Max Blumenthal lays on
>> Nation readers ["Abramoff’s Evangelical Soldiers," Feb. 22].
>> Abramoff's personal e-mails have led some people to believe that
>> Dobson helped him defeat a tribal casino in Louisiana, but it's an
>> empty boast—like a rooster taking credit for the sunrise. Dobson
>> didn't do anyone's bidding.
>>
>> The fact is that gambling has been mentioned as a destructive
>> force to families roughly 200 times on Focus on the Family radio
>> broadcasts during the organization's 29-year history. So when we
>> took action against Louisiana gambling expansion in 2002, it was a
>> continuation of a long-established pattern. We used our own money,
>> and Dobson had no contact with Abramoff and no knowledge of his
>> activities.
>>
>> Focus on the Family is getting mentioned in the sad Abramoff story
>> only because we quite coincidentally fought the same casino at the
>> same time. Dobson needs no one's pressure to oppose gambling in
>> all its forms, because he's motivated by only one thing: the
>> desire to safeguard families from the crime, bankruptcy,
>> corruption and divorce that proliferates whenever a casino comes
>> to town. We did it because gambling destroys families. Why, or
>> how, Jack Abramoff did it is a story we have no connection to.
>>
>>
>> Tom Minnery
>> Senior Vice President
>> Government and Public Policy Division
>> Focus on the Family
>> 8695 Explorer Dr.
>> Colorado Springs, CO 80920
>> 719-531-3400
>>
>> 217 Words
February 9, 2006
>>
>>
>> Karen Rothmyer
>> Managing Editor
>> The Nation
>> Via E-Mail:
>>
>> To the Editor,
>>
>> Dr. James C. Dobson is hardly a close ally of disgraced lobbyist
>> Jack Abramoff, despite the insinuations Max Blumenthal lays on
>> Nation readers ["Abramoff’s Evangelical Soldiers," Feb. 22].
>> Abramoff's personal e-mails have led some people to believe that
>> Dobson helped him defeat a tribal casino in Louisiana, but it's an
>> empty boast—like a rooster taking credit for the sunrise. Dobson
>> didn't do anyone's bidding.
>>
>> The fact is that gambling has been mentioned as a destructive
>> force to families roughly 200 times on Focus on the Family radio
>> broadcasts during the organization's 29-year history. So when we
>> took action against Louisiana gambling expansion in 2002, it was a
>> continuation of a long-established pattern. We used our own money,
>> and Dobson had no contact with Abramoff and no knowledge of his
>> activities.
>>
>> Focus on the Family is getting mentioned in the sad Abramoff story
>> only because we quite coincidentally fought the same casino at the
>> same time. Dobson needs no one's pressure to oppose gambling in
>> all its forms, because he's motivated by only one thing: the
>> desire to safeguard families from the crime, bankruptcy,
>> corruption and divorce that proliferates whenever a casino comes
>> to town. We did it because gambling destroys families. Why, or
>> how, Jack Abramoff did it is a story we have no connection to.
>>
>>
>> Tom Minnery
>> Senior Vice President
>> Government and Public Policy Division
>> Focus on the Family
>> 8695 Explorer Dr.
>> Colorado Springs, CO 80920
>> 719-531-3400
>>
>> 217 Words
Ann Coulter at CPAC on "Ragheads" and Assassinating Bill ClintonOn Friday, February 10, the rock star of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) was none other than Ann Coulter. Before an overflow crowd of at least 1000 young right-wing activists, Coulter took her brand of performance art to new heights. Afterwards, I caught up with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist to ask him about Coulter's characterization of Muslims as "ragheads." Before I reveal his indignant response, here is a sampling of Coulter's most memorable lines.
Coulter on Muslims:
"I think our motto should be post-9-11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences.'" (This declaration prompted a boisterous ovation.)
Coulter on killing Bill Clinton:
(Responding to a question from a Catholic University student about her biggest moral or ethical dilemma) "There was one time I had a shot at Clinton. I thought 'Ann, that's not going to help your career.'"
Coulter on moderate Republicans:
"There is more dissent on a slave plantation then amongst moderates in the Republican party."
Coulter on the Holocaust:
"Iran is soliciting cartoons on the Holocaust. So far, only Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and the NY Times have made submissions."
Coulter on the Supreme Court:
"If we find out someone [referring to a terrorist] is going to attack the Supreme Court next week, can't we tell Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalito?"
After Coulter's speech, I approached Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the CPAC exhibitor's hall. I asked him what he thought of Coulter's characterization 15 minutes earlier of Muslims as "ragheads." HIs reply? "I wasn't there so I better not comment."
Coulter on Muslims:
"I think our motto should be post-9-11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences.'" (This declaration prompted a boisterous ovation.)
Coulter on killing Bill Clinton:
(Responding to a question from a Catholic University student about her biggest moral or ethical dilemma) "There was one time I had a shot at Clinton. I thought 'Ann, that's not going to help your career.'"
Coulter on moderate Republicans:
"There is more dissent on a slave plantation then amongst moderates in the Republican party."
Coulter on the Holocaust:
"Iran is soliciting cartoons on the Holocaust. So far, only Ted Rall, Garry Trudeau, and the NY Times have made submissions."
Coulter on the Supreme Court:
"If we find out someone [referring to a terrorist] is going to attack the Supreme Court next week, can't we tell Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Scalito?"
After Coulter's speech, I approached Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist in the CPAC exhibitor's hall. I asked him what he thought of Coulter's characterization 15 minutes earlier of Muslims as "ragheads." HIs reply? "I wasn't there so I better not comment."
