<\/a>
\n…but is allowed way<\/em> too much TV time…<\/p>\n

Pat Robertson is yet another of way too many religious zealots working desperately to further distort the U.S. political spectrum and give religion in this country a bad name. It would appear that now this senior spokesman for a host of Bad Ideas has really and truly gone off the deep end.<\/p>\n

For quite some time he’s been publicly (i.e., on television<\/em>!) praying for openings on the Supreme Court so that Our Fearless Leader™ can appoint some God Fearing Good Guys™ to further the cause of saving us from ourselves. While it is hardly uncommon to wish to replace our political foes with allies, it’s a bit tricky in the case of the Supreme Court since the only two ways out are retirement or death. (Well, you can also be declared unfit, but that seems unlikely in a universe where Robertson still has his<\/em> job.) So it seems just a wee bit ghoulish for Robertson to be praying for vacancies, and a less generous soul might draw comparisons to things like Khomeini’s call for the death of Salman Rushdie<\/a>. But I wouldn’t do that. Really. Not even think about it. (We were living in in the U.K. when all that went down, and it was uber<\/em> creepy.)<\/p>\n

\nNot content with a little anti-democratic religious fundmentalism on his home turf (just<\/em> what the founding fathers were hoping for), Robertson has now gone international, and in the process gone completely gone ’round the twist. Yesterday, on his depressingly popular TV show “The 700 Club”, he publicly called for the assassination<\/em> of Hugo Chavez, the elected leader of Venezuela (but not so terribly popular in Shrub Oil circles back here):<\/p>\n

\nIf he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don’t think any oil shipments will stop.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(as quoted by the New York Times<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Simply amazing, ain’t it? You know he’s really gone too far when even the Bush White House and other “Conservative Christians” felt the need to distance themselves from the remark. This is, of course, the very least<\/em> that we should expect from our leaders in such a situation. As Bernardo ??lvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United States, put it quite succinctly:<\/p>\n

\nMr. Robertson has been one of the president’s staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a sad sign that the poor saps at CBN don’t pull Robertson from the airwaves, or provide any<\/em> sorts of disclaimers on their web site (as of this evening). Robertson’s remarks are so<\/em> clearly inappropriate and unacceptable that CBN’s continued tolerance them speaks volumes to how little the ideals of open and informed discussion and debate must count for in that organization.<\/p>\n

Sigh…<\/p>\n

Props to WeatherGirl<\/a> (and The Daily Show<\/cite>) for tapping me into this story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…but is allowed way too much TV time… Pat Robertson is yet another of way too many religious zealots working desperately to further distort the U.S. political spectrum and give religion in this country a bad name. It would appear that now this senior spokesman for a host of Bad Ideas has really and truly … Continue reading “One wacko that didn’t become President…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[865],"class_list":["post-219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-3x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":205,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/07\/20\/its-a-shame-more-people-cant-write-so-well-about-tech\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":0},"title":"It’s a shame more people can’t write so well about tech","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"20 Jul 05","format":false,"excerpt":"WeatherGirl just handed me a recent copy of The Observer, an excellent British weekly that she subscribes to as part of her campaign (along with listening to BBC radio on-line) to both keep track of what's happening \"back home\" and to get her news from organizations that regularly provide intelligent,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Computing"","block_context":{"text":"Computing","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/computing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"John Naugton","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/molly.open.ac.uk\/Personal-pages\/images\/John1-grey-128x128.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":700,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/17\/could-lincoln-ever-been-elected-under-these-conditions\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":1},"title":"Could Lincoln have been elected under these conditions?","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"17 Nov 07","format":false,"excerpt":"Great - it looks like the networks are parceling out speaking time in the debates according to candidate's poll standings, adding yet another layer of \"The rich get richer\" to American politics. 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I took way too many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fat lot of good it's doing you _there_ !!!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.flickr.com\/52\/192084377_f2b66cf00e_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":705,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/21\/is-this-what-political-will-looks-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":3},"title":"Is this what political will looks like?","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"21 Nov 07","format":false,"excerpt":"To quote the photographer: This is the Perris, Ca, 215 northbound south of perris blvd during the morning commute. This would normally be a bright time of the day, but this morning, traffic was a little stop and go due to the smoke from the local fires here in southern\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Environment"","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/science\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":690,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/12\/some-must-see-tv-tomorrow-night-for-those-in-the-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":4},"title":"Some must see TV tomorrow night (for those in the U.S.)","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"12 Nov 07","format":false,"excerpt":"As has been noted elsewhere by many (e.g., PeeZed), tomorrow night (Tuesday, 13 Nov) PBS is airing Judgement Day. This is a Nova program covering in considerable detail the ins and outs of the trial two years ago in Dover, Pennsylvania, that was, at its heart, about whether \"intelligent design\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":812,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/03\/08\/theres-goes-his-career-as-a-gallery-director\/","url_meta":{"origin":219,"position":5},"title":"There’s goes his career as a gallery director","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"8 Mar 08","format":false,"excerpt":"You all know I stay up late at night worrying about possible career opportunities for Our Fearless Leader upon his impending retirement from the Oval Office next year. 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