On December 6th the Obama administration issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies re: International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons.
In it the President asks, “all agencies engaged abroad to ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of LGBT person.” And why? Because he is "deeply concerned by the violence and discrimination targeting LGBT persons around the world -- whether it is passing laws that criminalize LGBT status, beating citizens simply for joining peaceful LGBT pride celebrations, or killing men, women, and children for their perceived sexual orientation."
See, this is about protecting refugee and asylum seekers who seek refuge from violence and persecution. It’s about keeping people from getting beat up for attending peaceful demonstrations. It’s about people getting killed because of who others think they are. And are.
Somehow, this all escapes Republican-2012-Presidential-nominee-wannabee Rick Perry. His response was this:
Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Obama Administration’s Use of Gay Rights to Make Foreign Aid Decisions
Posted on December 6th, 2011
AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement:
“Just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch with America’s values, AP reports his administration wants to make foreign aid decisions based on gay rights.
“This administration’s war on traditional American values must stop.
“I have proposed a foreign aid budget that starts at zero. From that zero baseline, we will consider aid requests based solely on America’s national security interests. Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money.
“But there is a troubling trend here beyond the national security nonsense inherent in this silly idea. This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country. Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong.
“President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles. I will not make that mistake.”
Note to the good Governor of Texas: This has NOTHING to do with gay rights. This has NOTHING to do with special rights. This has NOTHING to do with lifestyle. It has EVERYTHING to do with American traditional values.
You know, the traditional American values we have always based our foreign policy on. And the last time I looked harassment, violence, suppression of free speech and murder were NOT among them.
WASHINGTON — A Texas pastor introduced Rick Perry at a major conference of Christian conservatives here on Friday as “a genuine follower of Jesus Christ” and then walked outside and attacked Mitt Romney’s religion, calling the Mormon Church a cult and stating that Mr. Romney “is not a Christian.”
The comments by the pastor, Robert Jeffress of Dallas, injected a potentially explosive issue into the presidential campaign: the belief held by many evangelicals that Mormons are not Christians.
And it should get even better, later today.
Now, all eyes turn to Mr. Romney, who is scheduled to speak Saturday at the conference, just before Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for government and public policy at the American Family Association. Mr. Fischer is known for his strident remarks on homosexuality, gay rights, Muslims and Mormons.
How refreshing! A politician who actually writes down exactly what he believes.
Maybe Rick Perry's not so "Fed Up!" after all.
Just nine months ago, the Texas governor released a rhetorical bomb-throwing book under that title. He dismissed Social Security as a New Deal relic that smacked of socialism. He said states' rights trump all else. He suggested that the Supreme Court's nine unelected "oligarchs in robes" could have their rulings overturned by two-thirds votes in both houses of Congress.
Now that the Republican is running for president, his campaign has begun distancing itself from some of the candidate's own words on issues such as Social Security and states' rights.
Of course, his campaign folks are saying that the book was simply an attempt to put some ideas on the table, to make sure they don’t fall through the cracks. Like a debate around Social Security is likely to get swept under the table…
I for one am very happy to know exactly what we are up against, in Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Thank you sir, for respecting the intelligence of the American public and making it so clear! You won’t regret it.
As gay marriage was about to become legal in New York last month, Texas Gov. Rick Perry channeled his inner libertarian and offered this comment: “You know what? That’s New York, and that’s their business, and that’s fine with me,” Mr. Perry said. “If you believe in the 10th Amendment, stay out of their business if you live in some other state or particularly if you’re the federal government.”
The remarks came at a meeting of GOP donors and governors in Aspen, Colo., on July 23, a day before the first same-sex marriages were performed in New York. A week later, as it became increasingly clear Mr. Perry would run for president, he told the Associated Press he would support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
“Yes, sir, I would. I am for the federal marriage amendment,” he told the AP. “And that’s about as sharp a point as I could put on it.”
On Friday, Mr. Perry completed the 180-degree turn: He signed the National Organization of Marriage’s anti-gay-marriage pledge.
And if I may say so myself, the same goes for Mitt Romney, who is running neck-and-neck with Perry for winner of the flip-flopper-of-the-campaign-season, award:
I have long been thinking that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is starting to come off as someone not particularly interested in his fellow Americans – unless of course, they are EXACTLY like he is. Unless they have lived the same exact life experience he has. I also believe strongly that unless he changes that perception, he will start to be looked upon as not-a-particularly-likable-guy. And that’s not going to fly.
During an interview on the Laura Ingraham radio show on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry characterized the nation's capital as a "seedy place."
"Look, I am not an establishment figure, never have been and frankly I don't want to be," said the Texas governor. "I dislike Washington."
Former president Bill Clinton recently jabbed Perry over his posture toward the country's capital city.
“He’s saying ‘Oh, I’m going to Washington to make sure that the federal government stays as far away from you as possible -- while I ride on Air Force One and that Marine One helicopter and go to Camp David and travel around the world and have a good time,'" he said while speaking at a fire fighter’s conference in the Big Apple, according to the New York Observer. "I mean, this is crazy."
If I may take a moment to remind the good governor that should he become President, he will be the President of all the people – including the residents of Washington, DC. Including the residents of lots of places he probably doesn’t much care for. And that while plenty of people don’t like Washington DC, it is still a city full of people who want to serve their fellow citizens. A city populated by young folks who come to live there because they care about service to America. Even if you don’t exactly agree with them.
As the smoke cleared, Perry offered a final parting shot. Asked by Ingraham to pledge that he would never vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Perry replied, "I'm not even sure where it is." Ingraham laughed and concluded, "That's good enough for me."
Not sure what’s worse – the prideful, anti-intellectualism associated with pretending to not care enough to know the geography of the country you want to lead, or the your-are-not-as-American-as-I-am meta-construct that just won’t seem to die.
I have said it before. Unless he is careful: a divider, not a uniter.
Black or white. In or out. One of President George W. Bush’s most quoted, lines. One of his most referred to, thoughts. My Cuban mother still says that much to Pres. Bush’s chagrin, it’s something Fidel Castro would have said in the early 1960’s.
I always assumed President Bush’s inability – or perhaps better said, lack of desire – to see the subtleties of public policy imperatives and foreign policy issues stemmed from a lack of interest in engaging with ideas. Not necessarily a lack of interest in engaging with people, mind you. But lack of interest in engaging with their ideas – especially if those ideas were different from his own. I always rather suspected he had no problem sitting across the table with people who had lived a different life experience than he had. I imagine him being rather interested in hearing other folks’ stories – just not necessarily, their ideas. Over a non-alcoholic beer.
For years I heard that one of President Bush's saving graces was that he was a likable guy. I admit to never quite getting that, but I did always view him as someone who liked being around other people – even if only superficially. Right now, all I can see in Gov. Perry's Texas twang and swagger is not only someone who is not particularly interested in those who have lived a different life experience, but frankly, someone who thinks better of his own experience than that of other Americans. There's nothing wrong with being from small-town America and marrying your high school sweetheart. Quite the contrary, But hey, that's not the only way to be. Not the only life to have led.
If Gov. Perry doesn't make his own life experience more accessible to a greater number of Americans, they ain't gonna like him. They won't be able to relate to him. They won't think he's a likable guy. Which means he ain't going no where. And the only way for him to do that is by appearing to be more interested in, and sympathetic to the lives of others, and attempt to point out commonalities of experience. After all, it's the American way.
Not quite President Bush's version of my-way-or-the-highway. But a version, none-the-less.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry capped off his first full day of campaigning in Iowa on Monday by suggesting that if the Federal Reserve prints more money between now and November 2012 it would be akin to an act of treason.
“If this guy prints more money between now and the election,” Perry said, “I don’t know what y’all would do to him in Iowa, but we -- we would treat him pretty ugly down in Texas. Printing more money to play politics at this particular time in American history is almost treacherous -- or treasonous in my opinion.”
Rachel Maddow did two long segments on Wednesday night, making the argument that The Response, Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fasting event last weekend in Houston was indeed a political event – despite the fact that he and his people, and much of the media branded it for the most part – as not.
So, in short, not necessarily political because of a sense there was an overt mix of religion and politics. Not necessarily political because a sitting, elected official lead an event decidedly religious in nature.
Rather, political because of the nature of those who were involved in the event – those who supported it. Political in nature because those religious folks involved are themselves, well – political. Part of The New Apostolic Reformation, who believe that in order to get the world ready for the rapture, they must clear the way for it. To do this, in part, means taking over politics and government. Not just spiritual revival, but political revival.
And here, Rachel Maddow’s interview with Forrest Wilder, who just wrote the cover story for the Texas Observer on all this:
A clip from the story. The emphasis is mine. You can read it in its entirety, here:
If they simply professed unusual beliefs, movement leaders wouldn’t be remarkable. But what makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government. The new prophets and apostles believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take “dominion” over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the “Seven Mountains” of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world. They believe they’re intended to lord over it all. As a first step, they’re leading an “army of God” to commandeer civilian government.
In Rick Perry, they may have found their vessel. And the interest appears to be mutual.
Watch the videos and read the story. You will get a very clear picture of who Texas Gov. Rick Perry is. And if you are the type who likes to look into the future, what his possible Presidential campaign might look like. It will be very, very interesting if he runs.
In honor of the fact that it looks like this week Texas Gov. Rick Perry becomes an official 2012-Repubican-Presidential-nominee-wannabee, I watched his entire presentation at the prayer and fasting event he sponsored this weekend in Houston, The Response.
I think I now know everything I ever needed to know about Rick Perry. In reality, I don’t think his words were as much about dividing people against each other, as they were evidence of an inability – or lack of desire to – or interest in, bringing people of differing backgrounds together.
And you need to be able to the latter well, if you want to succeed on the national stage.
Right Wing Watch reports that the spokesperson for The Response, Texas Governor Rick Perry's August prayerfest, admits that the event is intended to convert people to Christianity.
Eric Bearse, the event's spokesperson, took to American Family Radio to counter critics' charges that it was an exclusively Christian event, but said that "anyone who comes to this solemn assembly regardless of their faith tradition or background, will feel the love, grace, and warmth of Jesus Christ in that assembly hall, in that arena. And that’s what we want to convey, that there’s acceptance and that there’s love and that there’s hope if people will seek out the living Christ."
People for the American Way president Michael Keegan says Bearse's statement disproves Perry's claim that the event will be open to people of all faiths, and that his "behavior is inappropriate for any public official, much less one who is weighing a run for the presidency."
I maintain that if this event is not well attended, it will mark a serious stain on Gov. Perry’s yet unannounced bid for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Even as he tries to distance himself from the hoopla. The emphasis is mine:
Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is widely expected to announce a presidential campaign later this month, plans to attend at a prayer and fasting event called "The Response" on Saturday despite criticism that the event inappropriately mixes religion and politics.
Perry's representatives said the governor will be at the event for the entire, seven-hour duration.
Perry himself has played down his involvement, saying at one point, "I may be ushering, for all I know."
Not to say that ushering is not a very important way to participate in religious worship, mind you.
For anyone wishing to counter Gov. Perry’s prayer and fasting event in Houston this weekend, there are many alternative events to attend. Check here!
So, so, so looking forward to seeing how many people actually show up at Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s prayer and fasting event, The Response, this weekend in Houston.
When Gov. Sam Brownback (R-KS) backs out on you, you know you are in trouble. Maybe because he isn’t that crazy about hearing his chosen religion characterized as a “godless theology of hate. “
And if you are in Houston this weekend, be sure to attend The “Family, Faith and Freedom” celebration which will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. at Mount Ararat Baptist Church (5801 W. Montgomery Rd., Houston, TX) on the evening before “The Response.”
As of today, we still don’t know if Texas Governor Rick Perry is a real, bona fide 2012-Republican-Presidential-nominee-wannabe, or not. Fun to speculate, though.
Rick Perry sure looks like a presidential candidate.
The Texas governor and his top advisers are feeling out early-state Republican activists on the phone. He met for lunch in Austin Tuesday with former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Next week, he’ll join a group of top national Republican donors for dinner in the state capital, POLITICO has learned.
GOP governors and members of Congress, in not-for-attribution comments, and leading strategists like Karl Rove all say the same thing: Perry’s in.
The American Family Association's activism on behalf of conservative Christian values has earned it accolades from fans on the right, including Perry, who tapped the organization to finance and plan the Response, a seven-hour event of fasting and prayer in Houston's Reliant Stadium.
But the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the association a hate group for its unrelenting campaign against what the association calls the homosexual agenda, and left-leaning and secular watchdog groups regularly denounce the organization as a force for religious intolerance and censorship.
Aligning with the nonprofit association could solidify Perry's position as the most viable Christian right candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, if he were to run.
However, it also risks pigeonholing him as a one-dimensional candidate in the minds of voters, said Daniel Williams, author of "God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right."
"Christian right activists make up around one-third of Republican voters, and he also has to reach out to the other two-thirds," Williams said.
Perry turned to the Mississippi-based association because it is a "respected organization with a large following, and they have been an effective advocate for pro-family policies," said Eric Bearse, a former Perry speechwriter who is acting as spokesman for the event.
Since the event was first announced in early June, organizers have suggested that it would be a great opportunity to convert non-Christians. Now, they've gone even further: According to an email blasted out by The Response, only Christians will be permitted to speak at the non-denominational event. If representatives of other faiths (particularly Muslims) were to be included, the email noted, such inclusion would promote "idolatry." In a message sent out under The Response's official letterhead, Allan Parker, one of Perry's organizers, described the event in less-than-ecumenical terms:
This is an explicitly Christian event because we are going to be praying to the one true God through His son, Jesus Christ. It would be idolatry of the worst sort for Christians to gather and invite false gods like Allah and Buddha and their false prophets to be with us at that time. Because we have religious liberty in this country, they are free to have events and pray to Buddha and Allah on their own. But this is time of prayer to the One True God through His son, Jesus Christ, who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
Political wisdom, is telling me that Gov. Rick Perry is flying a new trial balloon. Prayer as public policy. Prayer as intervention not only on social issues -- we are after all used to hearing that we can pray away homosexuality and such, but prayer as a genuine public policy imperative. Because, as Gov. Perry says in his video, we need prayer to do, what elected officials can't. We need prayer because of the limitations faced by our elected officials. We need prayer to fix what is spiritual in nature. We need prayer to fix the economy. Wow.
I have long been interested in how the 2012 crop of Republican candidate-wannabees would sell their conservative stripes vise-a-vie social issues, as related to fixing the economy. Because after all, if it's all about the economy, they will have to convince the American public that gay marriage and abortion are well, bad for the economy. Mike Huckabee gave it a try, with his recently published book and now it's left to Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann to take up the mantle. But the entire concept of the economy as a fundamentally spiritual issue that therefore needs an intervention other than one that has been traditionally provided for by our elected officials within a public policy realm, is a whole new ball of wax.
The economy as a spiritual issue that is best handled through prayer. Because government can't do it alone. Wow.
For more background, watch last night's piece from The Rachel Maddow Show.
Now of course, if we think this (to some extent) hasn't been tried before, we're wrong. At least some aspects, anyway. Anyone remember 1980? By Sarah Posner, over at Religion Dispatches:
At Ethics Daily, a site founded by the moderate Baptist Center for Ethics, contributing editor Brian Kaylor last month broke what was probably the most under-noticed religion story of the campaign season. He reported that a group of about 80 pastors and other conservative Christian leaders met in Texas, under the direction of televangelist James Robison, to continue to plot what Kaylor describes as a "behind-the-scenes strategy" to defeat Barack Obama in 2012.
In the second part of his two-part article, Kaylor reported:
A group of pastors and other conservative Christian leaders from across the country continue to plan their behind-the-scenes strategy to defeat President Obama in 2012.
However, the group does not seem likely to support a Republican during the primary race or even reach a consensus as to which candidate should receive the Republican nomination.
The group is connected to Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plan for a large prayer rally in August.
Kaylor emailed me yesterday, after reading my post on how Perry's effort was reminiscent of Robison's role in mobilizing conservative Christians in support of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and George W. Bush in 2000. Kaylor wrote, "You were correct to connect the news about Perry’s phone call with Robison’s effort in 1980. In fact, the connection is much stronger."
It is well worth reading the two-part series at Ethics Daily, here and here. Southern Baptist evangelist James Robison is the same man who in 1979, led a secret meeting in Dallas and began the plot to defeat President Jimmy Carter. The ghost of Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority.
Running for President, or promoting prayer? Guess it's the same thing.
