When Guns Become Godly: The Winning GOP Candidates, The Christian Right and the NRA.

https://publicfrenemy.wordpress.com/tag/jesus/

Two or three centuries from now it will be recognized that all the competent killers are Christians; then the pagan world will go to school to the Christian - not to acquire his religion, but his guns. 


- Young Satan, from Mark Twain's The Mysterious Stranger


From Joe.My.God:

The St. Gabriel Possenti Society has named GOP Sen. Mike Johanns (NE) as its "gun saint" of self-defense for his work to thwart gun control laws. In other news, there is a Patron Saint of Handgunners. Or will be, rather, if the Vatican approves the request of the Society.

A quick rundown of the GOP and Libertarian candidates running for President shows that all of the frontrunners except Romney have opposed gun control laws. On the other side, Obama supports the Second Amendment with a caveat about individual ownership:

“I think it’s important for us to recognize that we’ve got a tradition of handgun ownership and gun ownership generally...  We also have a violence on the streets that is the result of illegal handgun usage. And so I think there is nothing wrong with a community saying we are going to take those illegal handguns off the streets. 

OK, we all knew it existed, that strong link  between the NRA and the Christian Right, but has it gotten stronger? Let's put it this way: it's as strong as it ever was.

The Christian Right - NRA Link

Perhaps the most powerful visage of a strong link between the Christian Right and the NRA is that of Pastor ("Rome Is The Whore of Babylon") John Hagee. He is the headliner for Citizens United For Israel and is the most prominent Christian Zionist around. He came to prominence during the 2008 election as one of John McCain's questionable religious mentors (Rod Parsley being the other one of note). His insistence that Israel must the be spark of Armageddon has caused him to be both vilified and glorified - especially in NRA circles. 


So it may not be a surprise that the ties of the Christian Right and the NRA have gotten stronger since 2008. 


Michele Bachmman addressed the NRA's 2011 annual meeting with: 


“In 18 months, we’ll face one of the most important elections of our time. In 2012, we have the opportunity to repeal the current president and elect a Constitutional conservative who will protect our Second Amendment rights.”

Rick Perry drew cheers from a speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University when he was introduced by the chancellor:  “Today’s speaker also has an A+ rating, but it’s from the National Rifle Association.”


Newt Gingrich gave a speech to the NRA equating American exceptionalism, the Second Amendment and the "Creator's" God-given rights (see below at 3:57 mark). 


Recently, Rick Santorum used a 1994 of Mitt Romney's to underscore a certain amount of distance between Romney and the NRA. The quote "I don't stand in line with the NRA" was taken out of context during a different between Romney and Ted Kennedy concerning gun control laws, but was not a blanket denegration of the NRA.


The Problem With Mitt and Obama


Perhaps more than his Mormonism, Mitt Romney's support for gun control (ala the Brady Bill) has caused concern among the Christian Right: it seems that he flip-flops on his association with the NRA more than any other issue. For while he is an actual member of the NRA, he is strongly against private use of assault weapons and has worked with local gun groups in Massachusetts to restrict gun ownership. 


And the Christian Right/NRA crowd won't stand for even a tepid involvement in gun control:

While delivering one of the liveliest and best-received speeches at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said the president's low-key approach to gun rights during his first term was "a "conspiracy to ensure re-election by lulling gun owners to sleep."

Will gun control become a major issue in the election? Probably not, but the Christian Right would like it to be: along with DOMA, the repeal of DADT, contraception and health care reform, gun control is a major "social conservative" issue. And if Romney wins the nomination, his support of the Brady Bill just may be another mark against him. 

Waiting for Armageddon

If the Rethuglican Party loses to any degree in November, the Christofascist Right will implode.


Right.


Rick Santorum will NEVER let that happen! He will go down in righteousness and anger and disgust at the thought of another Obama administration. He will definitely throw up!

On March 6th, Will The Rest Of The GOP Candidates Be Raptured?

The end of the world will not come if a Christian Right advocate does not win the race for President.
But tell that to the Christian Right.

With the religiosity that has covered the GOP presidential primary race, it's a wonder that the candidates have not formed a denomination of their own: the "I'm Christian, Dammit!" denomination. The pandering, the moralizing, the attacks on Obama's Christianity have given America a panoply of righteousness that has never been seen since Pat Robertson's bid for political legitimacy. Some people think it came to its peak with Santorum's "vomit" statement about JFK's speech concerning separation of church and state.

However, some people do not. Nor do they want it to peak. They certainly don't want it to die.

Rapturists believe that certain people will be bodily taken to heaven before the end of the world. So it stands to reason that if they think that the end of the world will come with the re-election of Obama or a non-quite-so-overtly-Christian politician, people will be raptured. Yes, I know that's a stretch in reasoning, but look who we're dealing with here:

And as the time line goes the book of Revelations says there will be 3 1/2 years of false peace before the end of the world. obama promised peace in the world. So if Obama is the anti- christ then the time-line would be june 2012. But it is all in God's hands now. - Yahoo Answers 2008
With all that is taking place in the Middle East, the stage is being set for that great day when we see Jesus in the clouds, and I believe it will be in my lifetime. Hallelujah! Are you ready to meet him in the air? If your sins are forgiven, you'll be among those who will be raptured. With all the horrors on this earth, He can't come too soon.
- Exposing Liberal Lies, June 11, 2011

Continuing The Fight For Domination
Perry, Bachmann, Gingrich and Santorum were the Christian Right's biggest pitch yet for political domination, yet even Herman Cain and Ron Paul got into the act.* And although Perry, Bachmann, and Cain are out of the running, their exit statements show no signs of letting up on righteousness (ala the evils of "socialism" and "Obamacare"):

Perry:

“I’m not slipping off in to the sunset. I’m not riding off into the West. We’ve got plenty of work to do right here in the state of Texas,” said Perry at a hotel ballroom just north of Austin, ”and I’ve got plenty of fight left in this 61-year-old body.”

Bachmann:

“Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside,” Bachmann told a crowd of supporters in West Des Moines. But, she added, “I will continue fighting to defeat the president’s agenda of socialism.”

And from the looks of it, neither Santorum nor Gingrich will not go silently into that good night. Santorum's endless moralizing will continue to be an echo which will never fully be silenced. And while Romney is still expected to take all-important Michigan (Motown Showdown), a Romney win will not quell the voice of the zealot: gays, feminists and people on food stamps are evil and only a "Jesus Candidate" can save America.

And if Santorum should win...the moralizing will ramp up to a fever pitch, effectively ending any rational debate on many issues.

When Will It End? The Moralizing, That is.

It is a fete accompli that the Christian Right has tasted blood in the political arena with Bachmann, Gingrich, Perry and Santorum. It's voice has been heard loud and clear through the issues of same-sex marriage, contraception and treatment of the poor and disenfranchised. Throughout the last twenty years, the "death" of the Christian Right has been posited without any regard for its ferocity. What we are seeing now is an animal that has political teeth to match that ferocity: it has hold of politicians and their campaigns. It has hold over caucuses. It has hold over billion$ in donations. But it's power may be its downfall: too much moralizing, too much money spent, too much animosity towards Obama and liberalism may become too much for America.

We hope. Because if the Christian Right and its minions get a true hold on America...

it may be the end of the world as we know it.

*Warren Throckmorton, who first uncovered that Paul was boasting about an endorsement from a pastor who advocates for the death penalty for gays and lesbians, notes that Heath [Mike Heath, Iowa State Director of Paul's presidential campaign] was also the Board Chairman of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, one of the most fringe and virulently anti-gay groups in the country. - Right Wing Watch

Kissing Will Make Babies...But Only In Utah!

The abstinance-only crowd is having a field day in Utah. Good for upright religionists. Bad for normal teenagers.


"You know all about those things, don't you? We don't have to tell you, do we?" My parents assumed that I informed about sex through the usual teenage osmosis. Needless to say, I had all the misconceptions you could think of as well as all of the guilt associated with daring to think about the subject.


In an age of more sexually transmitted diseases than ever before, and questions about sexual orientation up the wazoo, comprehensive sex education is absolutely necessary.


Tell that to Utah.

A bill passed by Republicans in the Utah House of Representatives would effectively ban comprehensive education about human sexuality, forcing schools to teach abstinence or nothing at all...The bill forbids advocating for "the use of contraceptive methods or devices," sex outside marriage or homosexuality. It also restricts teaching about sexual intercourse or erotic behavior.
Public and charter schools would have the option of developing an abstinence-only curriculum or skipping the discussion of sexuality altogether.

Taking a cue from presidential candidate Rick's Santorum's stance on all things sexual, Utah is indeed looking backward to the good ole days of "don't ask, don't tell." Not in the military, but in the classroom: if students doesn't ask about sex, then the teacher certainly won't tell them.


Back To The Playground


It's a known fact that when you tell teenagers not to do something they will do it. They have no fear of the "great unknown." That is what makes them foolhardy and courageous at the same time. They also feel that they are invincible and immune to things like HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, the "virginity pledge" touted by most of the Christian Right resulted in more unprotected sex and greater risk of infection and pregnancy.* 

And abstinence only programs have been the country's biggest (and most expensive) joke on the American tax payer: the ineffective programs cost $208 million in 2008 (up 300% from 2000 - the result of George Bush's faith-based prerogatives. Yet Rick Santorum and his anti-contraception group would have us believe that they do: on Jan. 25th, Santorum knocked the Obama administration for defunding abstinence only programs stating that "He [Obama] wants people to live in poverty." He did not properly relay how he came to this skewed reasoning. 

So now it may be back to the playground for Utah kids in terms of sex education:
"We’ve been culturally watered down to think we have to teach about sex, about having sex and how to get away with it, which is intellectually dishonest," Wright said in defense of the bill. "Why don’t we just be honest with them upfront that sex outside marriage is devastating?" [Utah state representative William Wright]

Devastating? So are STDs and unwanted pregnancies. Someone should tell Rep Bill Wright, the originator of the Bill, that there is a difference between being "intellectually honest" and intellectually deficient: and he is definitely the latter.

*In recent studies, the "virginity pledge" was found to have no effect whatsoever on teens and their sexual habits. Most teens have taken the "pledge" to appease their parents, and have had sex at the approximately same age and with the same number of sex partners. However, these studies also point out that teens taking the pledge were less likely to use any protection or contraception.   

Retaliating Through Satire And Blasphemy: All Dead Mormons Are Now Gay

Rick Santorum thought he had it bad when the neologism of his name* wound up on Google - and stayed #1 for years. Now a website called All Dead Mormons Are Now Gay offers to "convert" deceased Mormons and make them "gay." 


The site is a take-off on the practice of Mormons "baptizing" deceased relatives who may not have been Mormon. 


Most of the LGBT community have had a long standing contempt for the Mormon Church, especially since the Church's involvement in California's Proposition 8: $40 million and a bevy of out-of-state volunteers against one community could fuel just a tad of animosity. Stories of Mormon "gulags" for teens and drives for "reparative therapy" don't help much either.  


Blasphemous Retaliation


The days-old site which has garnered 17,000 "likes" on facebook has drawn the ire of Mormons and even some from the Christian Right for its blasphemy: ironic, since the same tactic for salvation drew the ire of Jewish communities after it was discovered that Mormons were declaring baptisms on certain members of the Holocaust ... namely Anne Frank. 


The site brings into question: what is satire and what is just plain blasphemy? Mockery of religious practices is nothing new: early Christians mocked each other's sects and which gospels they adhered to: the Carpocracians' gatherings were thought to be orgies and the later Cathars were considered pacifist weirdos - the first hippies. "Bishop" Eddie Long was said to mock Judaism when he was wrapped in the Torah and paraded around his congregation as "king." Mormons themselves have had to endure taunts about "magic underwear."  


It could be argued, however, that presidential hopeful Mitt Romny's Mormonism - during an election year - put the spotlight on the Church and nothing is sacred. 


But is outright blasphemy and mockery the way to go during an election year? You might ask Dan Savage, the man who created Santorum's neologism. 

"It's still out there and it is an insanely dirty joke," Savage told the Star-Telegram. "It is crude. It is vile, as are Santorum's comments about gay people."

And crude comments stick. That's the point. They stick more than the niceties and civilities do. That's the way of the world, folks. In other words, Santorum the righteous "Jesus" candidate may come and go, while Santorum the neologism is here to stay.

Laughing At Sacred Cows

In 1870, Joshua Abraham "Emperor" Norton I of San Francisco told the City that he would dress up as the pope and walk 7 miles to neighboring Colma to inter his beloved dog Lazarus. 10,000 people showed up for the funeral out of respect for the City's "Emperor" and to have a good laugh at the expense of sacred cows. 

Some might argue that America's religion often laughs at its own sacred cows too much for any other blasphemy to be taken seriously. When the Catholic Church came out with an I-phone application to confess your sins, people couldn't believe that the Church was denigrating a holy sacrament. The app was removed.

So will mockery of the self righteous and their churches continue during this election year?  Only insofar as the laughter continues. 

*"Santorum - that frothy mix of lube and fecal matter as a by-product of anal sex."

Gilligan Wasn't THAT Stupid: How The GOP's Castaways Have Never Looked Sillier

Santorum missed the boat. 


It was bound to happen: someone portraying today's GOP politicos as the cast of Gilligan's Island. They have, after all, been considered clowns, even by Dukes of Hazzard fans. And the parallels are so rich! Come on, you know you can't stop laughing!


The above photo-shopped portrait has hit the ether with a scream and people all over the net are doubling over, reaching for Kleenex, and gasping for breath. It almost makes you sorry for the REAL cast - they never got laughs THIS big!


One of the best ones is Palin as Maryann. Maryann was corn-fed and clueless... and she had "perky pills" for breakfast. If the characters had longer lives, Maryann's daughter would have wound up on Dancing With The Stars. 


Ron Paul as Lovey Howell isn't bad either. Paul may consider himself an outsider, but he's demured to people like Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich more than some people realize. And of all the characters, Lovey's was the most useless: Paul's stances have never swayed the other candidates and since everyone knows he won't win the GOP nomination, there's a fruitlessness about his campaign. He's making a statement, but so what?


Newt as the Skipper demonstrates the burly politics that win over people who bludgeon cats.


Romney's Thurston Howell is apropos because most of Howell's money came with him on the boat. Romney can never shake the image of a rich man who's never really known poverty.

Michele Bachmann's Ginger exudes a contrived beauty. (probably with help from her make-up man, Marcus Bachmann). She floated through her campaign as if in a Hollywood cloud, too enamored of herself to think that anyone would touch her negatively - or her husband. 


Huntsman is intelligent - and pretty to look at, but his character - the professor - was the weakest of all and barely got any laughs. He was too smart for his own good.


The best, of course, is Perry as Gilligan, the blundering goof who didn't know that when the Texas GOP applauded his execution rate, the rest of the world was appalled. "N*ggerhead" and his debate gaffs shot him to the top of  laugh meters. His campaign video "Strong" and his Brokeback Mountain jacket blunder have now become the stuff of  comedy legend. His campaign manager, Joe Allbaugh, let him roll without a laugh track: Perry didn't need one.


You're still laughing, aren't you? Come on! You ARE!


Against The Assault Of Laughter, Nothing Can Stand 


Yes, Mark Twain said it best: laughter can certainly be a wonderful weapon when it comes to any war against politicians and their hypocrisy, for who wants to be on the side of fools? And it's the best medicine for a country that's ill with Koch Brother shenanigans, shady banking maneuvers, 1% mentality, and Citizens United possibilities. 


Of course, since most comedy is actually built upon tragedy, the field of Christian-Right pandering politicians has its dark side. Perhaps that's why Santorum isn't in the picture: laughter could be swept away in an instant WTF? Ginrich's moral mea culpas are funny, Paul's past views are ridiculously inconsistent, Romney's strident attempts to appear common are whimsical, but Santorum's overt moralizing is truly scary. His latest statement to a woman about her son's healthcare* is horrific and strains comedy writers across the country to see anything funny in it. 


But we must keep laughing at the Right's list of leaders, if only to knock them down for their hilarious hubris. 
We must keep laughing because the only thing more nightmare-inducing than the crew and antics of the SS GOP:


RERUNS.


*Santorum recently told a mother to stop whining about her son's million-dollar prescription medicine bill.

Serenity Amidst Chaos: Keeping It Alive.

That's what we all strive for, I guess.


I took a stroll around Lake Merced - for the first time since I've moved here. I set aside the thoughts of the day: Rick Santorum's win in Iowa, Cindy Jacobs' fake miracles, the unabashed righteous arrogance of the Christian Right, the political circus yet to come. 


The good and the bad of living in SF's Park Merced: it's remoteness. Cabs won't come here. MUNI's M line is the pits and really the only thing out here transit-wise. Some long time residents of SF don't even know where it is. They think it's in Oakland. But the serenity of Lake Merced is awesome and exactly a twenty-two minute walk from my apartment. 


Even though I fought too hard to keep my apartment here, there are times that I wonder: why? 


Thank God for my stroll. 

Driving The Clown Car: A (Serious) Look At GOP Campaign Managers With Nonetheless HILARIOUS UDATES!es

BREAKING: Herman Cain's defection didn't quell the laugh riot.

When the clown car opens and spills its laugh-laden contents, the last one out is usually the driver, and with the GOP circus in full swing, it's time to stop and think about who the hell is actually running the show. Of course, so many aides and managers bailed out in the last 6 months, that the resulting confusion only adds to the hilarity: these guys are willing to throw their candidates under the clown car by continuing with the blunders. What do they have to gain, you may ask? Possibly a future position as ringmaster for another circus: the next GOP campaign pandering to Tea Partyers and the Christian Right.

Then again, all the buffoonery may be the fault of the candidates, hurling themselves through their campaigns without giving a second thought to what their managers think giving rise to the question: why did they hire these guys at all? As nannies, perhaps? And who, exactly, is running the show? 

Experience, dealings with the Christian Right, odd endorsements procured, campaign issues tackled and the latest events: all might shed some light on these politicos and the clown campaigns they manage.

Joe Allbaugh (Rick Perry)

Joe Allbaugh's wikipedia biography stops mysteriously at 2008, not mentioning any connection to Perry. Perhaps it was removed out of embarrassment, because Allbaugh's political and lobbying career shows a marked intelligence peppered with ruthlessness. He was, after all, George Bush's campaign manager for the 2000 election and head of FEMA until the ill-fated "Brownie" took over. And before that, presided over then-Governor Bush's "Fomalde-gate" scandal (involving the funeral industry).It also shows no significant connection with the Christian Right. So, does Allbaugh have any say in Perry's campaign, or is he just window dressing?

It's odd to think that Allbaugh had anything to do with "The Response" (Perry's call-to-prayer for the state of Texas), his ineptitude during the debates, or his fatal campaign ad, "Strong." But remember that Perry is of the same mold as George Bush - and Bush seldom listened to advisers. Then again, Joe Allbaugh may be jettisoning Perry out of the clown car while secretly feathering his own nest: his firm, Allbaugh Company, has operated with, Halliburton, Ecosphere Systems and  Dilligence, Iraq (a security/mercenary company).

Rick Perry doesn't seem to know (or care) what his campaign manager is all about. Figures.

Endorsements: 

Dean Cain, actor, of Lois and Clark (Superman) fame. Couldn't Allbaugh get Chuck Norris? 

Steve Forbes - of course, a "corporate personhood" donor.

The Latest: Rick Perry's taxpayer-paid security detail costs continue to skyrocket. Perry insists that his campaign travels are beneficial to the state of Texas. Right.

Mike Krull (Newt Gingrich)

Trying to look for Newt Gingrich's campaign manager under Google is like looking for a needle in a haystack: most of the coverage of his campaign management has been how his staff deserted him en masse. But a look in an article on his wife Calista reveals that it's HER friend, Mike Krull who has filled the crucial gap. 

Calista Gingrich may, in fact, be the REAL manager of Newt's campaign. Her "column" on his website titled "Calista's Canvass" reveals just how much more involved she is with the campaign. Is it she or Krull who were instrumental in getting endorsements from the American Family Association and homophobic hate monger, pastor Jim Garlow?

But looking at Krull: at first glance, he seems to suffer from the GOP malady of inept vetting. Not vetting your own candidate properly, that is. A campaign manager MUST know absolutely EVERYTHING about the candidate's past. Period. In effect, he must know the candidate better than the candidate knows himself: he has to ward off any criticism and have an answer for any peccadillo or indiscretion. 

Endorsements:

Columbia Tea Party

Tea Party Nation

Des Moines Tea Party

These endorsements may be indicative of Calista's influence, not Krull's.

The Latest: Newt Gingrich has lied about his first divorce: his website says that first wife Jackie Gingrich, requested the divorce, but CNN has uncovered documents stating not only that Gingrich instigated the procedures, but that he was negligent in child support and owed three months in support of Jackie and their two daughters, teenagers at the time. Mike Krull's/Gingrich's campaign's insistence that the opposite was true only makes Krull look inept in the face of legitimacy: Gingrich's mea culpas become more disingenuous as time goes by, weakening his support by the Christian Right.   

The Latest II: When it was discovered that Gingrich did not make the ballot on the Virginia primaries, his response was to compare the event toe Pearl Harbor (?!?): 

“Newt and I agreed that the analogy is December 1941: We have experienced an unexpected setback, but we will regroup and refocus.” 

Did they agree on what to do if the analogy was ridiculed? For Krull's sake, we hope not.

John Tate (Ron Paul)

As with Newt Gingrich's campaign manager, googling for John Tate presents a problem: most of the articles are on the demise of Kent Snyder, his former campaign manager who died uninsured and whose estate owed $400,000 in medical bills as a consequence. The (now) infamous interview with Wolf Blitzer pointed out how many people of Paul's ranks would just "let them die" if people elected not to have health insurance. Although Snyder's case was a bit different (he was denied health care because of a pre-existing condition), it put Paul in  an embarrassing position after he had stated that "our neighbors, our friends, our churches would do it." Paul's lobbing of compassion over to the churches, however, is quite misplaced: they can't handle the volume of people with needs, nor do many of them accept people with needs in a totally compassionate (non-qualifying) way.

So how is his new campaign manager, John Tate, looking at Health Care Reform? Tate's history as a Paul supporter and president of Campaign for Liberty (a libertarian - no government group) can unearth Tate's stance on health care (see video below). Total free enterprise in terms of health care basically reiterates the former physician's stance that the only good uninsured American is a dead uninsured American. 

Endorsements:

John Stossel

Chuck Norris (yes, instead of endorsing Rick Perry - maybe it was the Brokeback Mountain jacket that turned off Norris)

Andrew Sullivan. Not. Sullivan withdrew his support after further investigation into Paul's foreign policies.

Latest: In a FOX News update concerning the racially charge newsletters under Paul's name back in the 80's, total denial is the name of the game.

"These things are really nasty, and he didn't know about it? Wasn't aware of it?" Gingrich said at a stop in South Carolina.


Paul has since denied writing, and in some cases even reading, some of the newsletters that bore his name. But the issue could continue to haunt him as he rides a wave of support in Iowa at just the right time.

Again, this looks like a case of not knowing the candidate's history inside-out.

Keith Nahigian (Michele Bachmann)

It's probably fitting that Keith Nahigian was responsible for Dan Quayle's infamous "potatoe" gaffe: Bachmann is so prone to gaffes that spin comes from the chin. In any case, Nahigian has had over twenty years to learn from the mistake in thinking that politicians are intelligent. 

Then again, Nahigian's own gaffes (or rather, unfortunate quotes) have not given Bachmann's campaign additional dignity:

Michele Bachmann’s campaign manager lashed out at a CBS executive after he was accidentally cc’d on a network email detailing a plan to marginalize the Minnesota Congresswoman at Saturday night's Republican debate.
"John Dickerson should be fired," the Rep.’s political handler Keith Nahigian told reporters after the debate, CNN and Fox reported. "He is a piece of sh---. He is a fraud and should be fired."

The overspill from the Santorum scandal (Vander Plaats asked Bachmann to 'merge" with Santorum) did nothing to deter Nahigian from taking strategies for Iowa from Santorum's campaign:

Earlier in the week, Bachmann’s team announced that they were taking a page from Santorum’s playbook and would make campaign stops in all 99 counties in Iowa before the caucus on Jan. 3. Bachmann will start this campaign swing in Northwest Iowa on Friday and continue throughout the weekend.

Great. Taking it's cue from a tanking campaign so it can pander to the Christian Right is very, very smart thinking. 

Endorsements:

Phyllis Schafley. Even though she didn't send her gay son to Marcus Bachmann's pray-away-the-gay clinic.

Wayne Newton. He didn't go to Bachmann's clinic either. 

Latest:



Nahigian himself sounds as vague and clueless as Bachmann. Witness his response (below) to a question on Isreal (referring to Ron Paul's remark that he wished Israel was not a state)

Mike Biundo (Rick Santorum, 

New Hampshire and Beyond)

The former aide to Pat Buchanan's primary effort in Iowa back in 1996 should know better about reining in a candidate, but Mike Biundo has worked on Santorum's campaigns so long that he can't seem to see the forest from the trees. 

Biundo on key New Hampshire endorsement going to Newt Gingrich. 

“Rick is running a traditional New Hampshire style, door-to-door, town-hall-to-town-hall grassroots campaign,” said Biundo, a New Hampshire native. “We are looking forward to a positive result on January 10th here in New Hampshire.”

Door-to-door at this point, when Santorum is only maintaining the 5% slot is, at best, a weak excuse for a weak campaign. True, Santorum never had the entertainment appeal of Rick Perry, whose calls to Christianism have sparked debate and parody, but Santorum's moralizing overshadows all aspects of his persona. His demonization of Islam, the possibilities of Sharia law and implications that Muslims are terrorists, have become rallying cries to a few right-wing bloggers.

Endorsements:

Bob Vander Plaats. Cost: $1 million. Scandal: Priceless

Brad Thor. The thriller author's book, The Last Patriot, pandered to extreme fears of takeover by Islamic terrorists.

Latest: Biundo has tried to play down the Vander Plaats "pay for play" scandal by saying that Santorum was never really approached byVander Plaats. Santorum says differently, contradicting Biundo.  

Matt Rhoades (Mitt Romney)

Matt Rhoades has been with Mitt Romney since 2008, after being director of "opposition research" for George Bush's campaign in 2004.

His colleagues would later tell National Journal that his opposition research work helped discredit Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) on national security issues in particular, or as The Hotline put it in 2006, "Campaign officials credit him with doing more than just about any other staffer to define John Kerry as weak, wimpy, French and flip-floppy -- an unacceptable Commander in Chief."

So it seems that Rhoades is dealing with the very same type of character he "exposed" which, if he can turn overturn the perception of Romney as "flip-floppy" he is an extremely good manager indeed. He also has an extremely good relationship with Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report). But how has he dealt with the Mormon issue?

He hasn't. Probably because he's allowing the Christian Right to hang itself on the issue. "Mormonism is a cult" is a meme that has worn itself thin and Rhoades, being the opposition analyst that he is, knows that this kind of push-back can actually work in Romney's favor. Be he weak or flip-floppy, Romney needs an underdog persona. Rhoades is already concentrating on the "kill Romney" attack strategy that the Obama Administration flatly denies. Rhoades knows the validity of hanging on to a persecution campaign.

Endorsements:

JP Morgan Chase
Former First Lady Barbara Bush. Pearls notwithstanding.


Latest:


The recent tele-town hall Florida apparance by Romney didn't seem to quell fears of elitism and flip-flopping. Rhoades can't seem to get Romney into that "everyman" mode he so desperately wants - and needs.

Either the clowns are running the circus or the campaign managers are - it's tough to decide: from ruthless right wingers like Allbaugh, to clueless politicos such as Nahigian, campaign managers look to be throwing their candidates under the clown car for purposes only they know. Perhaps, instead of the driving the cars, they decided early on that it would be best if they just sat back and enjoy the ride and its ensuing slapstick chaos along with the "suckers born every minute."


Who will be laughing after the primaries?

Have Yourself A Merry Little Scandal: Pandering To The Christian Right Is VERY Expensive ($1M) For Rick Santorum's Campaign

Bob Vander Platts doesn't come cheap.  In 2010, Newt Gingrich gave Vander Plaats' campaign to unseat Iowa judges $350,000. The Family Leader's leader also demanded a cushy paid position on Mitt Romney's staff back in 2008 in exchange for an endorsement (he didn't get it, and backed Huckabee instead).


Now word is out that Vander Plaats has received $1 million to endorse Rick Santorum and others, after which he told Michele Bachmann to bow out of the race.

Earlier this week, Santorum admitted that Vander Plaats approached the campaign with an indirect solicitation of money to help promote his support, but now other sources familiar with the talks between Vander Plaats and GOP candidates are characterizing the tactics as “corrupt.”

Of course, "pay for play" is not new in the political Christian-Right arena: it was disclosed last week that Newt Gingrich's campaign had donated $125,000 to American Family Association Action (a PAC), after which he resoundingly received an endorsement from the American Family Association itself. And it was rumored back in 2010, that Mike Huckabee sold an endorsement in the Florida gubernatorial campaign for the princely sum of $250,000. 



POWER CORRUPTS


Ever since the Christian Right re-invented itself as a voting block, its power has been unmistakable: Tony Perkins' Values Voters Summit has now been a lightning rod for Right Wing candidates courting the "social conservative" group (est. up to 25 million - or almost half of Republican votes in a Presidential election). And with pulpits jeopardizing their tax-free status in daring to endorse candidates, their power is flaunted with a righteous arrogance that almost exceeds comprehension. Indeed, it is quite amazing that the same group cries "persecution" whenever a law is passed endangering that power. Their opposition to hate crimes bills, for example only demonstrates just how much they value the control they have over their congregations. Witness the outright lies "historian" David Barton promotes in his polemic about evil "homosexual activists" in the video below.


And Vander Plaats' pronouncements about gays, Muslims and "activist judges" have sparked controversey - the kind that Vander Plaats' shrugs off as "persecution."*


So power in the Christian Right corrupts people into telling lies for the sake of control. But in the case of Vander Plaats, we now see financial gain afoot, with candidates and their campaigns willing to pay the price of endorsements and support. 


With all the "pay to play" shenanigans going on, it begs the question: where are the campaign managers in all of this? Sources referring to the $1 million in contributions to the Family Leader imply that Santorum was one of several candidates who contributed for endorsements. In a forthcoming article, we'll look at the role these pivotal figures have as drivers of the clown car we now call the GOP Presidential campaign. And as it turns out, Mike Biundo, Santorum's campaign manager, may look to be as inept as his candidate: both Vander Plaats and Santorum said that Santorum did not know about the endorsement until well after the announcement by Vander Plaats, even though Biundo was present during the announcement.*


Bachmann's Dickerson


There is no word yet on how John Dickerson, Michele Bachmann's campaign manager reacted to the story that Vander Plaats suggested that she "merge" with another faith-based candidate but it's clear that the "merge" story came after Bachmann shot out that she was asked to "quit" the race by Vander Plaats. Dickerson must have a helluva time reining in his mistress, especially since he has enough on his hands trying to formulate enough effective ads in Iowa to propel Bachmann from fourth place to the position her straw poll win put her in. 


From where we sit, John Allbaugh (Perry), Michael Krull (Gingrich) and the aforementioned Biundo probably have more to say about donations to Vander Plaats.


Whither will they fly?






*Santorum said he heard it from a blind man who, in turn, heard it from someone "in the kitchen" of the convention hall. Real good coordinating, gents.  



* From Think Progress:

The FAMiLY Leader has its own long history of anti-gay and anti-Muslim rhetoric. An early version of the group’s fidelity pledge suggested that children were better off under slaverythan they are under Obama, and the document likens homosexuality to polygamy, adultery, or polyandry, attacks gays as a public health risk, and foments the non-existent “Sharia” threat to America. Vander Plaats himself led a successful campaign to oust three state Supreme Court justicies who overturned Iowa’s anti-gay marriage law and played in instrumental part and leading Mike Huckabee to victory in Iowa in 2008.

Trump And Huckabee: Two More Clowns Of God As Presidential Hopefuls

Can't we dismiss them BOTH "at our own peril."?!!

A recent poll has shown Donald Trump only slightly behind Mike Huckabee in approval for the Republican Nomination in 2012. That's right, "The Donald" has come on surprisingly strong. Huckabee's reaction?


On Laura Ingraham's show:


HUCKABEE: Well, I had a wonderful meeting with Donald Trump. I think he’s a very serious contender. He’s going to get in. I kind of went into the meeting thinking he’s not really going to run. Came out thinking, by gosh, he really is. [...]

INGRAHAM: Could there be a possible Huckabee/Trump ticket in the offing here?

HUCKABEE: Never say never. I don’t know. But, whether Donald Trump would ever want to be seen on the same stage with me, I don’t know. But I found him very engaging, and a very smart guy. And I think people will dismiss him at their own peril."


The Clowns of God

In 1981, Morris West (Shoes of the Fisherman) wrote a book titled The Clowns of God. And while it centered around the politics of the Roman Catholic curia during the height of the Cold War, its premise of religion and politics was prescient: never before have we had religion breathing harder down the necks of politicians (and voters) than now - the height of the Culture War. But while West's portrayal of cardinals as a bunch of madcap, wild clowns was meant to be broadly metaphorical, our current crop of  Republican/Tea Party Presidential hopefuls look more like circus clowns than the red-robed kind. 

The ticket of Trump/Huckabee or Huckabee/Trump (whichever one you believe) certainly makes that point. The very possibility of a campaign duo comprised of a former governor/minister and a real estate mogul/media personality conjures up all sorts of images, the least of which is having them lead the other hopefuls out of a bright yellow mini VW bug. Taking anything seriously from them would take an astounding  feat of composure, like trying not to laugh while being cruelly tickled to death. Looked at as a whole, they are more like "Killer Clowns From Outer Space."

Yes, it's unfortunate that we have to take any of them seriously, but the horror of today's religio-political scene is that we must . Why? Simply because other people WILL. And those people vote. The spectrum of clowns is much greater than it was in 2008, going from a former congressman who holds the record for the most charges of ethics violations (84) to a governor who has a hard time explaining his association with a white supremacist group. But as the video of Donald Trump's interview on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network proves, they all have to have some semblance of religiosity in order to please the Christian Right with its hunger for all ideologies "Christian."

Let's take a look at the Presidential hopefuls in terms of background, policies and religiosity.*

Mike Huckabee:

Big Loser (in weight - 110lbs.) but slowly gaining it back. 

Former Governor of Arkansas (trying to undo what Clinton had done to the state). 

Wanted to quarantine people with AIDS at a time when casual contract as transmission had been medically debunked for years.

Southern Baptist minister from 1980  to  1996  whose sermons for ten of those years  have mysteriously disappeared ("accidentally shredded")

Idolater of Christian "historian" David Barton to the point of saying that everyone should listen to him at gunpoint.

News analyst for FOX News (a rather oxymoronic position)

Famous for having to "re-frame" positions or outright flip-flopping

Religiosity Index: 9

Donald Trump:

Real estate mogul 

Celebrity/personality synonymous with the term "You're Fired!"

Confirmed "Birther"

Condemns discrimination against gays but is definitely not for same-sex marriage

Considers himself a Christian and is Presbyterian, Catholic or something else depending upon the date of the biography.

Religiosity Index: 4

Sarah Palin:

Half-term governor of Alaska

Republican Nominee for Vice President

Darling of the "common man" and Tea Party

"Author"

Founder of the "Pink Elephant" Movement, helping Conservative women to get elected

Baptized Roman Catholic, became a Pentecostal and was prayed over by Thomas Muthee, leading African preacher/witch-hunter

Dropped Assemblies of God for Wasilla Bible Church because it had a "better children's ministries"

A contributor to FOX News

Religiosity Index: 5

Michele Bachmann:

U.S. Representative for the 6th Congressional District in the State of Minnesota

Supporter of the Tea Party

Famous for the quotes "armed and dangerous" and "slit our wrists" 

Profound believer in the existence of "death panels" in the health care reform bill

Supporter of Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage

Supporter of controversial rock band advocating death to homosexuals

Owner of a Christian Counseling Clinic

Mother of five children and foster parent to 23 children over the last several decades

Member of the Wisconsin Lutheran Synod

Religiosity Index: 9

Rick Santorum:

The only politician to have a sexual neologism coined after his last name (google "Santorum")**

Ardent opponent of gay rights, same-sex marriage, and obsessive about priests and pedophilia

Ardent proponent of Intelligent Design

Sponsor of proposed legislation preventing the National Weather Service from issuing warnings where commercial interests could issue alarms.
Firm believer that the Crusades weren't all that bad***

Head of a very Catholic family, and became a Knight of Magistral Grace of the The Knights of Malta

Religiosity Index: 9

Mitt Romney:

Former governor of Massachusetts

Mormon (so, as seen by many in the Christian Right, Romney belongs to a "cult")
Flip-flopper on a number of issues including stem cell research, abortion and some gay rights issues, veering to the Right during his tenure in office as governor.

Religiosity Index: 3

Newt Gingrich:

Record-holder of the most ethics charges against any Congressman (84) and the only Speaker of the House to be disciplined ethhics violations (at a cost to Gingrich of $300,000)

Convert to Catholicism from the Baptist denomination

Dinosaur enthusiast (does not touch the subject of evolution)

Serial adulterer who explained that his "love for his country" made him work too hard and as a result "things happened in my life that were not appropriate."

Supporter of tougher immigration laws and believes Islam has too many radical elements

Religiosity Index: 6

Haley Barbour:

Governor of Mississippi

Influential lobbyist for firms like R.J. Reynolds and Microsoft

Questionable attitudes on racism****

Most notable quote about eliminating the subject of slavery from Confederate History Month: "...it's trying to make a big deal out of something doesn't amount to diddly"

Supports the White Citizens Council (a white supremacist group)

Presbyterian

Religiosity Index: 4

Add more clowns to the rostrum and the Republican Presidential hopeful lineup may rival anything Ringling Bros. has ever produced. 

Seriously, progressives should be praying for more clowns to weaken the Right and its chances of gaining the Executive Branch of government. A recent poll by Polling for Public Policy indicates that 3 months into the "new" Congress people are already dropping away from Republicans at an alarming rate: things like budget cuts at national and state level and open contempt for unions have not endeared voters to the GOP:

Voters may not love Obama as once they did but they're finding him to be more reasonable than the alternative and that means it will be hard for the GOP to knock him off next year without a top notch nominee.

So, send in the Clowns of God. With the way things are going in the country, we need laughter to help us through all the self-righteousness and hypocrisy that last November has enabled. 

* Yes, I realize this is totally arbitrary on my part, but it's rather difficult to rate politicians on their supposed thoughts as opposed to their deeds. 

**Rick Santorum seems to be a magnate for anal sobriquets: after sharing the floor of the Senate with him for three weeks, Senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska said: "Santorum — That's Latin for assh*le."
*** This prompted us to respond with a Christian Crime Line
**** In a recent poll, Mississippi Republicans were asked about interracial marriage. A majority thought that interracial marriage should still be illegal.