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August 30, 2005
Better for Believers: Robertson or Osama?
The Right Reverend Pat Robertson (RRR) has done more to harm the cause of evangelical Christianity than Osama bin-Laden.
At least bin-Laden, in an unintended, perverse way, has caused people to reexamine their lives and seek answers from a high power. The Right Reverend Robertson repulses them with statements like the one last week, in which he said that the United States should go ahead and assassinate Venezuelan Preisent Hugo Chavez.
RRR's comments would be just fine if he only tried to pass himself off as a right-wing politician. As the great 21st-century philosopher, Sting, one wrote about politicians, "They all seem like game-show hosts to me."
If RRR were merely a politician (remember, he ran for president in 1988) or a game-show host (That's close, he's a televangelist), it would be less damaging.
But Robertson's unholy mix of right-wing politics and faith-healing on display in his TV show can be a cruel trick on people whose lives need the tender touch of God's grace.
If only they could find it on the 700 Club. Robertson's current obsession is the Supreme Court, where he trusts God to install John Roberts and overturn U.S. abortion laws.
If nonbelievers look at the Right Reverend Robertson and see him as the picture of what Christianity is all about, then no wonder if they conclude that nonbelief is better.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 05:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2005
Is Pat Robertson really pro-life?
As a news junkie, I can tell you that the Christian Broadcasting web site is certainly full of news. Much of the news on Pat Robertson's www.cbn.com is obsessed with the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts.
The Right Reverend Robertson (RRR) and his news crew are salivating at the notion of another justice who might vote to overturn Roe vs. Wade. That's because RRR believes so strongly in the right to life. Except, of course, if you're president of a South American country and have the temerity to challenge the good old US of A.
As most everyone who follows the news now knows, RRR on Monday issued a fundamenalist fatwa for Venezuelan Presiedent Hugo Chavez to be assassinated.
Even Donald Rumsfeld implied that Robertson was crazy. Whew! So after two days of furious criticism, Robertson apologized. Sort of.
You've seen it from RRR before. It was one of those, "Yeah-I-was-probably-out-of-line-a-little-but-you-know-everything-the-I-said-about-the-commie-bastard-was-true" kind of apologies.
Here's my question: Is Pat Robertson really pro-life? He believes in the right to life for every child in every womb. Okay.
But what about South American dictators who happen to sit on the largest oil reserve outside the Middle East?
What about miserable examples of God's creatures who murder?
How about people in Orlando, where RRR said God would direct a hurricane to wipe Disney World off the map. The offense? Disney offered "gay days" to attract homosexuals to visit the theme park.
Don't get me started. What a hypocrite.
Let's just remember one thing. the Right Reverend Robertson is a big cog in the right-wing nut machine. He owns a big TV operation, which broadcasts this kind of hate smut over the public airwaves. It is part of the right-wing gin-out-the-vote apparatus. It is agitating for the confirmation of John Roberts AND praying feverisly for the replacement of other justices that stand in the way of the RRR's political agenda. Pat Robertson is a cardinal in the American Taliban. And he once again confirmed that he is for the right to life...for almost everyone.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 05:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2005
Sarbanes-Oxley for the Government?
I was having dinner last week with a client of mine, a CEO of whose stock is publicly traded. We were talking about Sarbanes-Oxley, the law designed to restore public confidence in the the stock markets after a succession of corporate accounting scandals.
He said, "My CFO and I have to stand by the integrity of our financial statements. How about if the CEOs of the government -- federal and state -- had to stand by the integrity of their financial statements?"
Good point. And I would add the chairmen of the congressional Appropriations Committees to that list. There's a good chance that many of our elected officials would be targets for Elliot Spitzer if they had to stand by the federal budget, with off-the-books budget items and raiding various government trust funds to bring the budget in balance.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 11:31 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 15, 2005
Iraq: Bush's Monica
In my last post, some readers took exception to my notion that all it takes for Democrats to win is a candidate.
The notion I was trying to offer was that skeptics and marginal supporters could allay their doubts if the candidate has the ability to connect with voters at the retail level. My example: Bill Clinton, who can empathize with the best of them, and in the process overcome doubts about his ideology...and fidelity.
If pink is the new black, then George Bush may be the new Bill Clinton. Think about it. When he first ran for president in 2000, he was not the darling of the purest of the Puritans, whom I call the American Taliban. It's affection belonged to then-Missouri Senator John Ashcoft. But when Ralph Reed and several of the more political astute American Taliban concluded that Ashcroft couldn't win, they dropped him like a bad habit. They migrated to Bush, not because he was as pure as the driven snow (unless...never mind. I won't take that cheap shot.) No. They flocked to him like a gaggle of geese because he could win.
Same with the economic plutocracy. It wasn't Bush's sterling record in business. It was his EVQ -- electoral viability quotient. He could connect.
And now, President Bush finds himself nearly a year into his second term. His ratings are as low as they've ever been. Now, for the first time, a plurality disagree not only with his handling of Iraq, but his overal handling of the war on terror.
But you still see folks on TV, even parents of soldiers killed in Iraq, expressing their love for W. His values, his Christianity. His short sleeves and cowboy boots covered with the dust of Texas. He is a likable cuss.
At this point in his second term, Bill Clinton was beginning to fight off Monicagate. He fought off impeachment, the Democrats held their own in mid-term elections and Clinton finished out his second term with a wave of warmth, if not relief, that was extraordinary for a president against whom the American Taliban had spent upwards of $200 million investigating.
If Iraq is George Bush's Monica, can he do the same?
Posted by Ken Eudy at 07:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2005
Wanted: a good candidate
Since the Democrats blew the presidential election in 2004, there has been a debate within the party about its message. Should the Dems be more religious? What's the narrative? How do they frame the issues as stark, easy-to-understand choices between the future (Dems) and the past (Republicans)?
I'm pretty sick of that debate. It's condescending and irrelevant. In the late 1980s, when I was director of the state Democratic Party in North Carolina, political writers would call and ask what I thought it would take for a Democrat to win the presidency.
That's easy, I would reply. A candidate. That answer is still relevant.
Think about it. That's why Bill Clinton could win again today if the Constitution didn't prohibit it. Quick -- tell me three elements of the Clinton platform. See?
Clinton won because he connected with voters on an emotional level. While Clinton was on par with Ronald Reagan as a great communicator, it's not because of a narrative or frame. It's because of a quality -- perhaps inherent -- empathy. Clinton always polled sky-high when voters were asked to agree or disagree with the statement, "Bill Clinton cares about people like me."
Now, contrast Clinton with other Democratic presidential candidates of the last 30 years.
John Kerry, the Nantucket windsurfer?
Al Gore, the automaton in the navy suit?
Michael Dukakis, the Boston brainiac? Ugh.
Walter Mondale? Now, there's a guy you'd want to have a drink with during a three-hour weather delay in O'Hare, right?
Jimmy Carter. High gas prices and the Iranian hostages created an impossible atmosphere for his reelection in 1980. But in 1976, his fresh honesty made him the right candidate and the right time.
George McGovern? Please. He was right on the war but devoid of persoanlity.
Winning the presidency is pretty simple. Not easy, but simple. Democrats don't need a good frame, or a compelling narrative. They need a candidate.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 05:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 03, 2005
What's really important about Niger
Niger is best known in the United States as the place former ambassador Joseph Wilson visted to find out if the country had sold uranium yellowcake to Iraq to fuel weapons of mass destruction.
That led to the outing of Wilson's wife as a CIA agent, the outing of the Bush Administration as further doctoring evidence as a rationale for the Iraq invasion and as the assault on reporters seeking to protect their confidential sources.
But let's looke again at Niger. In today's Washingotn Post, Desmond Tutu, the archbishop emeritus of Capetown, sorrowfully outlines the case that Americans must help the people of this suffering African country. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/02/AR2005080201937.html
Tutu reminds readers that South Africans overcame apartheid only with the help and support of other countries like the United States. And he impolores us to help avert another disaster of famine and HIV/AIDS in Niger.
I'm composing this entry on a wireless laptop computer, nursing a cup of Starbucks, preparing to have a good breakfast, all in the air-conditioned comfort of a home with electricity and running hot and cold water. I pretty much take it all for granted, as though it's my birth right.
Yet, across the Atlantic Ocean, children who have done nothing more than be born in a less fortunate part of the world, have nothing to eat and nothing to help heal their disease.
As Americans, we are blessed far beyond what we deserve. At a minimum, at a minimum, we should pray for God's mercy and sustenance for the people of Niger today. And for God's mercy on us if we fail to take some small action to help other suffering human beings.
Posted by Ken Eudy at 07:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 01, 2005
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Posted by Ken Eudy at 09:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack