Pat Robertson's Blowback
Reports Bloomberg news service:
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may see an increase in popularity because of the death threat leveled by a U.S. television evangelist, according to Datanalisis, the country's No. 1 polling company.
Television evangelist Pat Robertson's calls for the U.S. to "assassinate" Chavez will lead more Venezuelans to believe his claims that the Bush administration is trying to kill him, said Luis Vicente Leon, director of Caracas-based Datanalisis. The additional support may help Chavez's ruling coalition extend its majority in congress in December elections.
"The evangelist's declarations are terrible for the U.S. in that they totally back up Chavez," Leon said in a telephone interview from Caracas. "It is absolutely going to have the opposite effect on Chavez than the U.S. wants. It's something that resonates with the country's poor."
Which of course leads me to figure Pat R. is in fact a paid, deep-cover operative for the Chavez regime (but then, I believe that Arianna Huffington is still working for the GOP; how else to explain the level of ridicule she has helped bring to "progressive" politics and/or the very existence of The Huffington Post?).
More on Chavez & Robertson here.
Original H&R post on topic here.
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Well, with Chavez gaining power, I guess this means ignoring him is no longer an option. I just hope we take out his operative Robertson with him.
As I noted in the earlier H&R thing, there was a W Post news item the other day (can't find online) that suggested the Christian Coalition is in serious financial trouble (A lawsuit involving unpaid bills to Pitney Bowes). Perhaps this is all a way to get the name in the paper for renewed donor interest.
"Which of course leads me to figure Pat R. is in fact a paid, deep-cover operative for the Chavez regime"
This same idea has been semi-seriously suggested with regard to Michael Leeden in relation to Iran.
I told my wife the "deep cover" thing would be a funny possibility a few hours ago before I left for work.
Atrios raises a good point - it's refreshing to see a right winger state openly that the reason he wants to see someone killed is because the victim might not sell us oil. They usually pussyfoot around it, but not Radical Mullah Robertson.
This whole Robertson story wins the award for funniest non-news news story of the year. That Venezuelans take Pat Robertson seriously enough (at least as seriously as serious news reporters) that pollsters think it would HELP Chavez doesn't speak well of them as a nation (but then, electing Chavez, legitimately or not, didn't either). Whatever the case, it sounds like Chavez ought to be soliciting more C-list TV personalities for poor reviews to lend more credence to his rigged elections.
Right now I suspect there's a lot more Republican sentiment for assassinating Robertson than Chavez. Not that I'd mind the chance to piss on either of their graves.
Is anyone else wondering if Roberts has become senile? I'm serious. That clip of him made him sound SO off-the-wall that my first thought was he's gone batty.
Thanks, rafuzo. Watching Republicans disown the people most responsible for their current power is turning into quite a spectator sport for me.
Pat Who?
Jack Abra-whatzit?
Tom DeWhonow?
And, soon, Karl Whatwasthatagain?
..and since we're recycling stuff from the Roberston part one thread...
emerges that Pitney Bowes is suing the Christian Coalition
matthew- Does Robertson still run the CC? I thought he washed his hands of it after Gary Bauer's one-third-assed Presidential run.
linguist- I've watched Robertson in small, painful doses over the last twenty years and he does seem to gradually be losing it (your jokes here). He's been auditioning his sons to take over the 700 Club, but I haven't watched recently to see where that project is at. I guess the most amusing tip to senility is the "age defying milkshake" he was selling on his website a few years ago.
"Tom DeWhonow?"
LOL! Love it!
Leeden is a mere stooge, but some say Bush himself may be an Iranian agent.
The war in Iraq has evolved perfectly from the strategic standpoint of Iran. Connect the dots people!
PS: I am not a crank.
Ledeen is a mere stooge, but some say Bush himself may be an Iranian agent.
The war in Iraq has evolved perfectly from the strategic standpoint of Iran. Connect the dots people!
PS: I am not a crank.
"Blowhard Blowback"?
Herman--
Don't confuse senility with outright insanity.
Brian is a mere stooge, but some say Bush himself may be a Hitler/chimp cross from an alternate dimension, sent here by Democratic operatives.
The war in Iraq has evolved perfectly from the standpoint of the Democratic Party. Connect the dots people!
I am too a crank.
Of course Robertson is nuts.
Televised faith healing for imaginary viewers?
Believe in an imaginary super-being?
Hellooooo?
Believe in an imaginary super-being?
My favorite description of religious war is "a fight over who has the better imaginary friend".
Bush himself may be an Iranian agent.
Are you nuts? Bush is a Saudi agent.
It's such a shame those dimwits in flyover country breed so much more than their intellectual betters, or maybe Bush wouldn't have been elected.
You know, I get a little sick of this level of dismissive tripe being thrown around here.
Not all smart people are born on the coasts, and not all people who voted for Bush are idiots. Could you please show a little politeness?
Sorry linguist, I was trying to make light of facile thinking like that, but I obviously didn't do a good job of it. I happen to agree with you. It's supremely ironic that there's so many people who take that kind of view ("while the {left|right} wing might have their flaws and a few moonbats, the other side is a bunch of total morons") around these parts.
Thanks rafuzo...I guess I'm just grouchy today, missed the joke.
linguist,
That's not hard to agree on. I was also somewhat surprised by how easily some dismiss the power Robertson still has. Perhaps we too easily dismiss what we can not comprehend?
This little item from last week, Conversations at the Gas Pump reveals one tiny glimpse of that influence (while tying in weakly to the H&R issue of the week):
That view could have been found anywhere. I know more than a few people here in SoCal who get their ideas from the same places (the net geeks supplement that with WorldNetDaily).
I spent a few years living in the Tidewater area while his ministry was still in it's youth phase and they were just starting the university. Twenty five years later, I remain fascinated but have failed to find the attraction.
The big difference between Robertson and others (of any political perspective) is that Pat does his schtick 24/7/365 on a station he runs. For reasons beyond me, the faith of his supporters has not wavered despite his largely unsuccessful foray's into influencing national opinion on major topics that often seem to fly in the face of Christian teaching.
As far as I can tell, there is no blowback and there never will be.
"It's such a shame those dimwits in flyover country breed so much more than their intellectual betters, or maybe Bush wouldn't have been elected."
Now, now, rafuzo, if we've learned anything from Bush's 51% victory, and the enormous man-date he gave him, it's that we need to respectful of the deep, sincere, moral, Christian values of the noble savages David Brooks writes about so compellingly.
Pat Who? Never heard of him. Is he some guy with a ham radio, maybe? Is he even a Republican? Because Republicans would never have anything to do with someone who thinks Jesus talks to him, and who thinks political violence is the first, best solution to foreign policy challenges.
but some say Bush himself may be a Hitler/chimp cross from an alternate dimension, sent here by Democratic operatives.
You may be onto something there cosidering that irregularities in Democrat counties in FL made it possible for Rove and Cheney to steal the 2000 election for Dubya.
It's hard to imagine that a political organization wouldn't pay a mere $13,643 for POSTAGE to Pitney Bowes -- unless they CAN'T. Postage is the lifeblood of any political organization that depends on direct mail fund-raising and donor contacts. In any event, one can't do much lobbying if one cannot even pay for postage.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/22/AR2005082201205.html?nav=rss_politics
[2nd of 3 stories; middle of the page]
WASHINGTON POST:
The Christian Coalition is having a spat with a vendor over unpaid bills. That could be a bad sign for an advocacy group that was once one of the most potent and well-funded forces in conservative politics.
Mailing giant Pitney Bowes is suing the Christian Coalition to recover unpaid postage fees. The firm, which provides postage meters and other services, says that from September 1999 to June 2003, the organization ran up $13,643.44 in charges that it now refuses to pay. When political organizations stop or miss payments for utilitarian necessities such as rent and mail vendors, it sometimes is an indication of deeper trouble with their finances.
A lawyer for the Christian Coalition, Brad Weiss, dismissed such speculation. "It is not unusual for many organizations, both profit and nonprofit, to have disputes with suppliers," he said, adding: "I have no idea what would make this noteworthy."
A lawyer for Pitney Bowes declined to comment on the matter, saying it is being litigated. The coalition, which made a name for itself in the
1980s with its successful direct-mail olicitation program, disputed the company's complaints in documents filed last month in a South Carolina
court.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
----> Routine disputes with vendors? How do you dispute POSTAGE? And by $13,643?????? Yeah, right! Who runs up a $13,643 bill for postage without staying current? And who disputes $13,643 of postage? Maybe a dollar or two here and there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
But that's not all. Bob McDonnell is the Republican candidate
for Attorney General of Virginia, normally a Christian Coalition.
Yet Bob McDonnell's law firm, Huff, Poole & Mahoney, from
Virginia Beach, still hasn't been paid $75,000 with interest
more than 2 years after a Chesapeake Circuit Court judge
ordered the Christian Coalition to pay Huff Poole & Mahoney
the Christian Coalition's legal bills totaling $67,000 (then). The
Christian Coalition still has not paid its legal bills. Huff, Poole &
Mahoney has filed the Virginia judgment in South Carolina to
pursue collection. Huff Poole & Mahoney filed a 'garnishment'
against the Christian Coalition's bank account, but the bank
answered that the bank account had no funds.
http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=67786&ran=147201
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In addition, Global Direct also has a lawsuit for $87,000 against
The Christian Coalition of America, Inc. in Tarrant County,
Texas, according to the Dallas/Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in
an article written by Max Baker (817) 390-7714.
See:
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/9173887.htm?1c
(Requires registration to access the Star-Telegram website.).
Global Direct is now enamed Creative Print & Mail and is
located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. See: http://www.cpmtulsa.com/
Creative Print & Mailing, 7041 E 15th Street, Tulsa, Oklahoma
74112. Phone: (918) 834-9933 Fax: (918) 834-9937
As indicated by their website, Creative Print & Mail was
doing "direct mail" fund-raising for the Christian Coalition
by printing the fund-raising letters with personalized
information in the letters and mailing fundraising letters.
Tarrant County Court Clerk confirms this lawsuit. The
Court is at (817) 884-1594, in District 342. You have to
idetnify whcih District (342) or they won't help you.
The case is Cause # 342-206298-04.