Obama's Courage Comes At The Last Minute: A Tale of TWO Speeches

When you're constantly under fire and you have an ounce of courage in you, that courage is bound to sneak out once in a while ... and in the most unlikely of places.

Google a transcript of President Obama's National Day of Prayer Speech and you might be confused: the transcript given out to USA Today is very different than the transcript given out AFTER the Breakfast. Read the PDF given over to USA Today and you'll find these very important words: "As Prepared for Delivery." The one actually given was different in many ways.

It was longer
It didn't mention Jesus
It mentioned God more often
It's key words were "God" "Faith" "Without" and "Civility"
It mentioned Uganda It mentioned other religions
It referenced gay marriage

One critic: [on the pronunciation of the word "corpsman"] Obama doesn't say one unscripted word. There is obviously no one on his staff who knows this word or its correct pronunciation.

To the contrary: depending on the time when they were written, these transcripts show us that more often than not, President Obama does NOT depend upon "teleprompters" (as Fox News would have us believe) and that he might make drastic changes and additions at the last minute, while knowing that those changes may rile some of the audience.

And some of the audience took umbrage with his inclusion of other faiths.

It's ironic, isn't it, that USA Today got the wrong transcript while Pam's House Blend got an accurate one. And who besides USA Today got the "As Prepared For Delivery" outline? Lest we think that someone was being dishonest, I think that it was a mistake. But a very, very lucky mistake: had the sacred cows attending the NDOPB read it, Obama might have had some very uncivil responses hurled at him accompanied by scrambled (if not rotten) eggs.

A "CHRISTIANS ONLY" AFFAIR!:

from Beyond Religion:

Anyone can attend the National Day of Prayer, but only Christians can lead said prayers. So the National Day of Prayer is really the National Day of Christian Led Prayers to the Christian God who, because he is Jewish, is excluded from leading prayers during His Own National Day of Prayer. This is what really pisses me off— if Jesus Himself came down from heaven and asked to lead a prayer at any of today’s National Day of Prayer events he would be denied.

So which words do you think riled the Christians Only crowd? There are some people seething about terms, words, and ideologies. An article for FOXNews.com (don't worry, I won't go there) was titled The President's Prayer Breakfast Catastrophe By S.E. Cupp (who, BTW, has a new book coming out in April with the title: “Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity,” pass it on). In it, Ms. Cupp derides the President for many things, but what gets her most:

The worst misstep of today’s speech? When the president said that “God’s grace” is expressed “by Americans of every faith, and no faith, uniting around a common purpose, a higher purpose.” Uh, no it isn't -- unless my definition of atheism is different than his. Most atheists insist that God’s grace most certainly is not expressed through them, and that there are no “higher” purposes. While we may all come together for “a purpose” – like relief work in Haiti, poverty, AIDS, or world hunger – no atheist I know would consider this God's work.

Ms. Cupp runneth over with equally strident derisions throughout the rest of her piece, but always manages to communicate her main theme: This Is A Christians-Only Event and Don't You Forget It! There were other segments of the speech that riled the attendees:

...we all share a recognition -- one as old as time -- that a willingness to believe, an openness to grace, a commitment to prayer can bring sustenance to our lives.

"Willingness" and "openness" smack of lefty commie-pinko socialism!

God's grace, and the compassion and decency of the American people is expressed through ... evangelicals at World Relief. By the American Jewish World Service. By Hindu temples, and mainline Protestants, Catholic Relief Services, African American churches, the United Sikhs. By Americans of every faith, and no faith, uniting around a common purpose, a higher purpose.

How DARE he be so inclusive! How DARE he mention atheists and pagans and the like! THIS IS A CHRISTIAN EVENT!!

We see that in many conservative pastors who are helping lead the way to fix our broken immigration system. It's not what would be expected from them, and yet they recognize, in those immigrant families, the face of God.

Is he insinuating that our pastors have no compassion for illegals?

Yes, there are crimes of conscience that call us to action. Yes, there are causes that move our hearts and offenses that stir our souls. But progress doesn't come when we demonize opponents. It's not born in righteous spite. Progress comes when we open our hearts, when we extend our hands, when we recognize our common humanity.

Progress also comes when we open our wallets due to taxing us to death! "Demonize" our opponents? But they ARE demons!

we've turned the faith-based initiative around to find common ground among people of all beliefs, allowing them to make an impact in a way that's civil and respectful of difference and focused on what matters most.

There he goes again! Putting us on the par with every other religion! A subtle dig against us!

We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are -- whether it's here in the United States or, as Hillary mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.

It's disgusting the way he throws bones to our religious community, then turns around and panders to the homosexual agenda!

Let's end with the kind words of Ms Cupp:

But rest assured, his friends in the liberal press – indeed, the ultimate Tower of Babel – will hail this speech as they do all the rest, and insist it proves he is indeed, as unnamed officials say, “a prayerful man.”

Known Diseases Attacking the Republican Brain: Prognosis Negative

The guy whose brain was scanned for the above picture doesn't have a chance of survival - at least not as an American human being. He has been diagnosed as one of those unfortunate beings who places in the lowest twenty percent of self-identified Republicans and as such suffers chronic attacks of bigotry, intolerance, self-righteousness, secessionist tendencies, overbearing (fake) patriotism, hard-boiled homophobia, and totally rank hypocrisy. His I.Q. has been reduced to a level below that of an amoeba. This reduction is brought on by irrational hatred of just about everything he is told to hate.

None of these terrible conditions have ever been treated simply because he was unaware of them. If caught in time (before the age of reason since these viruses attack rudimentary reasoning first) they might have been treated.

The most obvious sign that his mental capacities were impaired was when he stated on a Research 2000 survey that he thought Sarah Palin was better qualified for the position as President of the United States than Barack Obama. Examining researchers were horrified that this man's deterioration had been so long and advanced.

He also AGREED to all of the statements below. To be fair, they were put in question form, and some ideas were delineated by proper grammar, so they might have been put in a way that may have been difficult for him to understand.

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND IDEOLOGIES OF REPUBLICANS

Abortion is murder	76%
ACORN stole the election	21%
Congress shouldn't make it easier to join unions	68%
Contraceptives should be outlawed	31%
Creationism should be taught in public schools	77%
Gay couples should not have state or federal benefits	68%
Gays should not be allowed to serve in the military	55%
Gays should not teach in schools	73%
Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to work here	59%
Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and heaven	67%
Marriages are equal partnerships	76%
Obama is a racist	31%
Obama is a Socialist	63%
Obama should be impeached	21%
Obama wants the terrorists to win	24%
Obama was not born in the United States	42%
Sarah Palin is more qualified that Barack Obama	53%
Sex education should not be taught in schools	51%
The birth control pill is abortion	34%
There should be no same-sex marriages	77%
Women should be able to work outside the home	86%
You support the death penalty	91%
Your state should secede from the U.S.	23%

Put together in a different graph, the poll shows us that there is the possibility that a substantial amount of people could have agreed with ALL of these statements. Let's look at it in another way:

Now let's see to possible variables: some Republicans did NOT agree with every statement. Some statements may not be considered too radical. Also, some statements do no necessarily mean that a person negates the opposite. E.G., it's possible that some Republicans believe that Creationism should be taught along WITH evolution.

Variables aside, however, the results of the poll (2,000 self-identified Republicans across the country and across demographics) show a very, very sczisophrenic group of people, the majority of whom agree with the statements that: a. abortion is murder, but they would voted for the death penalty, b. gay cannot teach in public schools, but some of them could serve in the military, c. purport to be patriots but some of them want to secede from the Union, and d. folks who think abortion is murder would also outlaw contraceptives - at a time when more "misbegotten" children are born than at any other time in history.

Indeed, the reasoning power of self-proclaimed conservatives has been on a downward spiral for the last generation. That may be why the number of self-proclaimed Republicans has decreased steadily since the 1960s. 55 million people in the U.S. were registered Republicans in 2004. It's doubtful that today's number is in the high 40's. Look at the bottom part of the graph and make some assumptions of our own: counting a wide range of variables, that bottom 20% can be honed down to 10%, don't you think? Is that fair?

Well, if it is, than 10% of people who identify as Republicans are: pro-Sarah Palin, anti-Obama people who will refuse to let their children have any sex education let alone purchase condoms. They will allow their women to work outside the home and think that their marriages are equal partnerships, although domestic violence cases continue to rise. They will certainly support the death penalty but at the same time chant that they are "pro life," without any qualms of hypocrisy. Some of them want gays to serve in the military more than they want them to teach in schools, but giving them any rights concerning marriage or spousal claims is beyond their comprehension. Finally, why any of them would think that Obama WANTS the terrorists to win is incomprehnsible. That statement alone defines the bottom 20% as irrational and, dare I say it, not qualified to vote.

And according to the least amount of calculation, there are approximately 4 MILLION people out there who have agreed to ALL OR MOST OF THE STATEMENTS. Four million. Who are voting irrationally. Who are amongst us. Who want their state to secede from the Union. Who do not like the rest of the people in the U.S. simply because they are not made of 100% whatever they label themselves as.

I'm sorry, but it looks to be true. Movements start with just a few people, but when movements begin to mass and affect the nation's psyche, then we all have to deal with them. Sorry, but at this time, to go on would make me seem like a fearmonger. Please, just think about it.

Drama Queens: New Research 2000 Poll Shows 30% of Republicans To Be Reactionary And Irrational

You've got to hand it to Christofascists and Right Wingnuts - they scream and rant and explode and stomp and faint and cry, well, they're just the greatest emoting animals on the planet! Their rhetoric makes every day Halloween with images of political demons and hellish moral catastrophes. They defend us all (yes, the sinners too!) with buzzwords that sting their enemies, like "God" "Bible" "Hell" "Satan" "Taxes" and "Tinky Winky!" They expand hyperboles, sometimes going on into infinity: "Throughout the history of mankind!" "They'll burn in hell - FOREVER!" "Your children and your children's children and their children's children will never, ever see the end of paying for this disastrous bill!"

They have deep-seated persecution complexes and are the biggest source of conspiracy theories. Meeting Democrats at a party makes them spout doom and gloom: they will never again see the return of Eisenhower's 50's or Reagan's 80's! Things were so much, much better!

Now a new poll conducted by Research 2000 released today shows us that:



39% of Republicans want President Obama to be impeached.

63% think Obama is a socialist.

52% do not believe Obama was born in the United States.

21% think ACORN stole the 2008 election --

AND EVEN SCARIER:

53% think Sarah Palin is more qualified than Obama to be president.

23% want to secede from the United States.

73% think gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools.

31% want contraception to be outlawed

The poll

The last several weeks were particularly active and agitating weeks for Christofascists: the Prop 8 trial and, well, just about everything else.

The first one may not be classified as a "rant" because it's more like severe contempt, but it gets the party started:

On Haiti:

Right Wing Watch

Mark Krikorian, director of the predictably anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)

My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.

Then, of course, there was Maggie Gallagher of NOM:

When this trial [Prop 8] began I told you: gay marriage activists were putting 7 million Californians on trial. But this week it got worse: They are clearly putting Christianity itself on trial. Why else have an expert read statements of Catholic and Southern Baptist doctrines into the record?

Bill Donahue, borrowing a trite and erroneous statement from Rick Warren:

Society cannot exist without families; families cannot exist without reproduction; reproduction cannot exist without a sexual union between a man and a woman; and every society in the history of the world has created an institution called marriage to provide for this end.

And Tony Perkins of Family Research Council showed us that when you're feeling frustrated and desperate, it's time to call the other side DESPERATE!

The desperation of the Left
January 22, 2010 | Share with Friends

Dear Daniel,

The Left is preparing a desperate 120-day ASSAULT on your values to appease its CULTURE OF DEATH, ANTI-MARRIAGE political base before the 2010 election campaigns begin.

And Family Research Council (FRC) is preparing to meet that BLITZ head-on.

Perkins' wild pronouncements included: (the good guys)

Reclaiming marriage
Defending innocent human life
Protecting children

(the bad guys)

radical agenda
Silencing faith
Silencing Christian and conservative radio

And ending with:

2010 is a turning-point year for faith, family, and freedom!!!.

And from another part of the globe, we have a drama queen's rant coming from the new archbishop of Belgium, Andre-Joseph Leonard:

"Homosexuality is not the same as normal sex in the same way that anorexia is not a normal appetite."

Drama. Irrational, baseless drama. Unfortunately their drama will create REAL drama.

Solar-Powered Bibles: Misguided Donations To Haiti or Spiritual Shysters?

Stop The Disaster Relief!
Haiti Is Saved!
With Solar-Powered Bibles!?!

I'm not making this stuff up! Our thanks to Dr. Valerie Tarico for letting us know about this latest humanitarian miracle!

From Huffington Post:

Solar Powered Bibles for Haiti:
Why Some Christians Feel Compelled to Exploit Disaster

Physicist Steven Weinberg once said, "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

For solar powered Bibles or church-building to win out over food and medicine requires a religion that values conversion over compassion. But when we see this phenomenon at its worst, it is because someone in the thrall of a viral ideology has figured out some reverse alchemy that turns the precious gold of empathy into the lead of opportunism.

Dr. Tarico must have read my article about Pat Robertson and "God's Ambulance Chasers." Now I have a bona fide reference to turn to when arguing about some Christians' compassion. Even mainstream Christians are having a rough time over the "donations".

From Gizmodo

They claim that “the Proclaimer is self-powered and can play the Bible in the jungle, desert or… even on the moon!” I’m sure that it would be more helpful there than in Haiti. Because, in Haiti, a solar-powered Bible will be as helpful as the Genesis according to Eddie Izzard.

With the exception of some brave local affiliates and The Young Turks this situation has not gotten much coverage. I wonder why. Does the media think it's too lightweight? Or that any coverage would be insulting to Christians overall?

Perhaps it hasn't been covered because it would be an insult to Haitians. When the tsunami devastated southeast Asia years ago, Jerry Falwell dared to send 600,000 scriptural tracts and the response was a cold "thanks, but no thanks" by populations that were mostly Hindus and Muslims.

The maker and marketer of "The Proclaimer," Faith Comes By Hearing insists that relief groups are clamoring for it. The website shows a mass of people reaching for something being given out, but you can rest assured that it isn't an audio bible or that they're even near one.

Faith Comes By Hearing, an international Audio Bible group, is working with Convoy of Hope to provide spiritual relief in Haiti.

Unfortunately, Convoy of Hope would rather have the cash:

MSNBC:

Many agencies try to motivate donors with the mathematics of the situation. Jeff Nene, a spokesman for Convoy of Hope, a Springfield, Mo., agency that feeds 11,000 children a day in Haiti, urges cash donations that allow his group to buy in bulk from large suppliers and retailers.

“When people give $1, it translates into $7 in the field,” he said. “If they spend $5 for bottled water, that’s nice and it makes them feel good, but probably it costs us more than $5 to send it. If they give us $5, we can get $35 worth of water.”

Sending 600 "Proclaimers" to Haiti costs $92,000. I guess Faith Comes By Hearing wasn't motivated enough by the mathematics to just send cash.

Linked to the story of audio Bibles is another possible insult to the people of Haiti: Mars Hill Church ("The Cussing Pastor" Mark Driscoll). The goal of this Seattle megachurch and its crew is not to provide direct aid to the people of Haiti, but to help rebuild the churches as fast as possible. To some, this may be admirable, but to the people who are suffering for lack of food, water and medical treatment, rebuilding ministries and churches may be the furthest things from their minds. Just a guess.

Shysters?

I remember one week ago when George Bush told us to watch out for "shysters" when making donations to Haitian relief.While he certainly didn't mean people to steer clear of faith-based donations to Haiti, his comment could include "misguided" donations. We all have ideas as to what human beings need in situations like Haiti's, but I think that 99% of Americans will say that there's an order to the list: #1. Medical treatment and supplies. #2. Food. #3. Adequate shelter. Substituting any of these with Bibles, places of worship or ministers is not humane. AFTER these first three have been taken care of, yes, BUT NOT BEFORE.

Transporting, feeding, sheltering volunteers from ministries also takes money.

Update: The reaction to the donation (and the request for money to supply 3000 more - rough estimate: $460,000 or enough to feed 3200 people for one month) has been rather violent in tone, with some people sounding off on both sides:

- Maybe they can turn them into hotplates...

- Haitians aren't atheists like one outspoken DR poster. They have lost everything, including their Bibles.

- The inhuman wretches of this "church" should be marooned on an island with nothing but a pint of rum, one of their precious "proclaimers," and a pistol with one shot. The rum and pistol, in case you were curious, demonstrate that I am capable of more compassion than they could ever muster.

A good source to find out exactly what is needed is Good Intentions Are Not Enough.

There were supposed to be three videos accompanying this article, but I pulled on out at the last minute. It's a very sacrilegious take on the donation of solar-powered bibles featuring Hitler. It will probably be pulled from YouTube before long, if Faith Comes By Hearing has anything to say about it.

The first is a clip from The Young Turks which, in my opinion, is a "fair and balanced" attempt to look at the donation. The second is a gruesome look at the devastation citing a verse from the New Testament about the End Times as prophesied by Christ. It may help you decide whether or not the solar-powered Bibles are actually needed.

Just a thought.

St. Ann Coulter: The Alternate Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes

And what more hopeless a cause than
the image of George W. Bush.

"To force poor ex-President Bush -- like he hasn't suffered enough -- to be hanging around with Bill Clinton, who's leaving his essence on Kleenex in the White House..." she said to a chorus of groans from the rest of the panel.

wikipedia:

Saint Jude's attribute is a CLUB. He is also often shown in icons with a flame around his head. This represents his presence at Pentecost, when he received the Holy Spirit with the other apostles. Occasionally he is represented holding an axe or halberd, as he was brought to death by one of these weapons. In some instances he may be shown with a scroll or a book (the Epistle of Jude) or holding a carpenter's rule.

Dear Saint Ann:

Thank you for the way you came to the defense of our dear, dear former maybe-President George Bush. You answered our prayers so swiftly, too! Why, it was only eight years ago that we saw him suffering the indignities of cartoonists and stand-up comedians around the country who seemed fiendishly to enjoy the hateful things they said about him: "Diplomatic dimwit" "Turd Blossom's boy toy" "Dan Quayle in disguise" We prayed to you for him then with such earnestness! Those of us who rallied around him at the start tried to be as courageous as possible, but some drifted away. Now there are just a few of us stalwarts who believed and still believe his story of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Dear St. Ann, please, please give him the courage and strength to last out his days in peace despite the rancor of nations worldwide! Please let his beautiful legacy come forth in his lifetime!

Your ever obedient and humble petitioner,

Ima Filindiblank

The Dollar-Driven Church: How Will De-regulation Of Campaign Money Affect The Christian Right?

Associated Press:

WASHINGTON – A bitterly divided Supreme Court vastly increased the power of big business and unions to influence government decisions Thursday by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress.

In its sweeping 5-4 ruling, the court set the stage for a wave of likely repercussions — from new pressures on lawmakers to heed special interest demands to increasingly boisterous campaigns featuring highly charged ads that drown out candidate voices.

While the full consequences of the decision were hard to measure, politicians made clear whom they believed benefited. Democrats, led by President Barack Obama, condemned the decision while Republicans cheered it.

Strongly dissenting, Justice John Paul Stevens said, "The court's ruling threatens to undermine the integrity of elected institutions around the nation."

The AP article is much like many other articles to come out about the momentous Supreme Court decision to allow big special interests (with big lobbies and big money) to spend how much they want to on campaigns. But none of them mentioned the role organized religion will play in all of this. In the past, the power of The Church (i.e., the Christian Right) lay in using public relations as a sword more than a plowshare: there's not much quid pro quo when it comes to dealing with the local (or national, for that matter) church. Most big businesses shrink at the possibility of a boycott, but beyond that the only thought is staying on the good side of The Church and avoid social issues altogether.

The Supreme Court decision, however, has not shifted the balance of power as much as tossed it in the air and we're now waiting to see who grabs the most of it.

Several scenarios come to mind:

1. The Church will remain neutral, letting capitalism run its "natural" course.

2. A purpose-driven Church will develop a strategy of quid pro quo: giving support to politicians sponsored by corporations in exchange for donations and "in kind" benefits plus an exchange of commercial advertising or, more probable, a melding of agendas given over to the media.

3. The Church will see a schism based upon the rift between labor and management: locals churches might opt for support of unions to keep their small congregations in the black while megachurches (and some denominations) will side with corporate interests to keep their large congregations (as well as tentacled ministries) afloat.

In any case, churches all over the country will be going where the money is, with social issues coming in second. The political candidate will be wise, therefore, to cut a figure similar to that of a (don't laugh) "compassionate conservative" (I told you not to LAUGH!).

In an effort to counteract a merging of big business and big religion, however, some start-up companies have chosen to be aggressive in their progressive stance. For example, the mobile phone company, Credo (subsidiary of Working Assets) wants potential customers to know that they are committed to progressive candidates:

Does your phone company...	AT&T	VERIZON WIRELESS	CREDO
support politicians opposed to real healthcare reform, like a single-payer system or public option?	YES	YES	NO
fund pro-war politicians?	YES	YES	NO
fund anti-environment politicians?	YES	YES	NO
fund politicians who oppose a woman's right to choose?	YES	YES	NO

So with the deregulation of corporate contributions to politicians, which way will America's religious community go?

The Madman and The Little Flower: Glenn Beck Unwittingly Mimics The FATHER OF HATE RADIO!

"I AM NOT A KOOK!"

It's strange that Glen Beck doesn't know anything about the man he's mimicking. It's expected that almost any Christian you meet will not, when questioned, know anything about the history of his own religion, but when a man comes this close to aping a famous personage, you have to wonder whether he's telling the truth or whether he's too stupid to see the resemblance.

The first time I became aware of the comparison of Glen Beck to Father Charles Coughlin was yesterday. Yes, I'll admit that if I had heard Beck more often, the thought would have come sooner, but listening to strange and faulty reasoning makes my head ache. And seeing it on the TV screen accompanied by strange chalkboard charts (and sometimes even stranger guests) makes my stomach gurgle. The eerie comparison was brought about by an article in Crooks and Liars by David Neiwert.

...One of Glenn Beck's favorite claims about the Tea Party movement -- and the surge of right-wing populism that he's leading -- is that it isn't about parties, it's about being American. And being American, of course, means being conservative.

"...you know, we're really at a one-party system at this point. We needed to identify ourselves as one or the other, even though it didn't really make a difference. And that label was much more important than the real label we all should have been wearing, and that is, American.

Progressives have put their agenda now into hyperdrive, and it is so crystal clear that their final goal is anything but American.

Sometime in his broadcasting career, Glen Beck decided that the best way to get people to listen to him was to hammer at the prime concepts: "us vs them" "good vs evil" "traditional values vs progressive change" "blue collar vs white collar" and, of course, "American vs. foreigner" (i.e. illegal immigrant) Also along the way: he decided that there was no direct link between his polemics and the actions of his listeners. He washed his hands of all their transgressions. It's time to look at what Beck is getting himself into: the throes of "righteous assassination": Bill O'Reilly had a sense of it after the murder of Dr. Tiller:

Huffington Post:

"It's a variation of a Twinkie Defense," said legal expert Jonathan Turley. "They will attempt to connect Mr. Roeder's heavy intake of Bill O'Reilly combined with a talk-radio hate-speak rush to prove that Roeder did not have the capacity to make a rational decision when he shot Dr. Tiller. "The deluge of 'Tiller is a Nazi, mass murderer, baby killer' verbiage by Mr. O'Reilly surely can drive one into a state of what we in the legal profession call 'righteous assassination.'"

Those in the psychology community support the defense.

"Just the fact Mr. O'Reilly has an audience at all gives credence to the point that the so-called Folks™ who watch Bill O'Reilly have a decreasing ability to determine the difference between fact and fiction," said Dr. Hal Densky. "It's a brainwashing of sorts, though with O'Reilly it's more of a complete lobotomy."

The hatred fostered by Father Charles Coughlin of Royal Oak, MI in the 30's may have been incendiary to the point of righteous assassination. We may never know. Because a man with a clerical collar would never be linked to a Jew's death, or a Communist's murder no matter how influential and bigoted his broadcasts.

Ah, that was such an innocent, trusting time, wasn't it?

Father Charles Coughlin was a parish priest for the church The Shrine of the Little Flower, titled after St. Theresa of Liseux, a meek, mild, 19th century Carmelite nun.

I was only about ten when, traveling from Chicago to Quebec on vacation, my folks and I stopped at The Shrine of the Little Flower. The only memory I have of it, is that it was a large church that gave me a strange feeling: I'd never seen an altar placed in the middle of an enormous octagon. The church sat over 3,000 and, looking back, was really the country's first megachurch. And had its own radio evangelist, talking not about God, but about politics.

Wikipedia on Father Coughlin:

His office received up to 80,000 letters per week from listeners, and his listening audience was estimated to rise at times to as much as a third of the nation.

On November 20, 1938, two weeks after Kristallnacht, when Jews across Germany were attacked and killed, and Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues burned, Coughlin said "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted."

And:

"There can be no doubt that the Russian Revolution ... was launched and fomented by distinctively Jewish influence."

Coughlin was an isolationist who admired Hitler in his nationalism and hatred of the Jews. His rhetoric prompted Joseph P. Kennedy - as early as 1933 - "to warn Roosevelt that he was an out and out demagogue." His isolationism made him sound a bit like Rush Limbaugh: "Less care for internationalism and more concern for national prosperity." It was even intimated in reports from the FBI that Coughlin received indirect funding from Nazi Germany during the mid 30s. Coughlin published a magazine titled "Social Justice" and started his own political party, the Union Party. What contributed to his downfall, however, was his direct association with a militant hate group called Christian Front:

From Goliath Business News:

In October 1943, the New York newspaper PM declared that bands of Irish Catholic youths, inspired by the Coughlinite Christian Front, had for over a year waged an "organized campaign of terrorism" against Jews in Boston's Dorchester district and in neighboring Roxbury and Mattapan. They had violently assaulted Jews in the streets and parks, often inflicting serious injuries with blackjacks and brass knuckles, and had desecrated synagogues and vandalized Jewish stores and homes.

wikipedia:

Kennedy worked with Roosevelt, Bishop Francis Spellman and Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) in a successful effort to get the Vatican to silence Coughlin in 1936.

His voice continued to be heard through his publication, Social Justice. It was finally on May 1, 1942...

...the Archbishop of Detroit, Most Rev. Edward Mooney, ordered Coughlin to stop his political activities and confine himself to his duties as a parish priest, warning that he would be defrocked if he refused. Coughlin complied and remained the pastor of the Shrine of the Little Flower until retiring in 1966.

In the response Glen Beck gives to being compared to Coughlin, Beck challenges his listeners if they actually know who Coughlin was, states that he is different because Coughlin was a "kook" while he, Beck, is a reasoning person. And that even though he admits to be an off-the-wall entertainer, he's not crazy.

Many people would beg to differ on that point. Also, if Coughlin did indeed have the ear of a full one-third of the populace, don't you think it odd that Beck would not have ever heard of Father Charles Coughlin,"The Father of Hate Radio."

Beck has neither listened to nor read a truly nuanced account of his bloviating, his distortions, his lies and his attacks on just about everyone who's not Glen Beck. His vanity prohibits the possibility that he can be compared to a priest who should have learned to keep his mouth shut. His whole rant against the comparison to Coughlin can be (and should be) listened to because he doesn't see how he could possibly be compared to the Father of Hate Radio, Father Charles Coughlin.

It's interesting to not that even the "kookiest" of the "kooks" looks upon him as anything but a greedy misanthrope who has no idea of the ramifications of his rhetoric.

Just the other day, "Dr." James David Manning, (he of the "Long-legged-MacDaddy-Barak Hussein-Obama" diatribe) said that "housewives fall for Glen Beck the same way they do for Oprah Winfrey" and that Saturday's event in Westbury, NY - a dual book signing with Bill O'Reilly ("all that stinkin' group") - is an attempt to profit "from the ignorance of the American people." He goes on to say that because billionaire Al-Walid Bin Talal is now the largest single shareholder of Rupert Murdoch's corporate Fox News, both Beck and O'Reilly are now "on the Islamic payroll."

When someone who's considered the most outlandish clown of the Christian Right dishes him as an outlandish, but greedy, clown it's about time that Glen Beck should look at himself in the mirror and ask "Where am I going.?"

But he won't.