"TV evangelist Pat Robertson is threatening to mobilise millions..."

[mastershake]

Televangelical tentacles

TV evangelist Pat Robertson is threatening to mobilise millions of his Christian viewers and "de-liberalise" the US judiciary, writes Philip James.
Philip James
Friday November 19, 2004

The Guardian
There is a defining moment in the life of every news organisation that marks a coming of age. In the case of CNN it was the opening bombardment of the first Gulf war. The upstart cable channel went live to Peter Arnett in Baghdad, while the traditional broadcast networks could only watch from their New York studios in shock and awe.

In the case of the Manchester Guardian, it was the day in 1959 when the paper reached beyond its Mancunian roots to become a national newspaper. And in the case of The 700 Club, Pat Robertson's daily evangelical news broadcast, it was November 3 2004. The day it became clear that George Bush had won a second term.

This day formally marked the transformation of The 700 Club. No longer could it be viewed as an outlet of relevance only to the loony Christian right. Not only did it join the ranks of the mainstream media. In many ways it supplanted them. Suddenly, if you seriously wanted to take the pulse of America, you had to tune your TV to the news division of televangelism.

The 700 Club has been operating under the radar of traditional journalistic scrutiny for over two decades. Anchored by Pat Robertson, he initially created it as a vehicle to promote his personal political ambitions. After his failed presidential bid in 1988, Robertson founded the Christian Coalition and embarked on an ambitious plan to influence the mainstream political agenda from the inside out.

He used The 700 Club as the marketing and political advocacy tool of this plan. The broadcast's focus is instructing viewers on how they could best lobby elected officials to enact the Christian right's agenda.

Robertson's show regularly has more viewers than CNN. And while the rest of the world wasn't watching he has been phenomenally successful in realising a three part blueprint to essentially take over all branches of the US Government.

Goal number one was to take over Congress, and Robertson can honestly take credit for the Republican revolution of 1994. Of the 52 freshman Republican congressman, who ended four decades of Democratic rule that year, 44 owed their election to the Christian coalition which endorsed them on The 700 Club. The coalition's scorecards, ranking candidates on issues from abortion to marriage and family were a regular feature of the broadcast, promoting hand-picked candidates and discrediting unfavourable ones.

Goal number two was the presidency. George Bush made it to the White House and is there today, because of the lockstep support of The 700 Club's faithful, who make up the bedrock of the "values voter".

Goal number three is yet to be achieved: taking over the legislature. From his anchor chair, Robertson is coordinating an intricate strategy to de-liberalise every court from the Supreme Court down to federal judges at the district level.

The key to Robertson's success so far has been his obsessive attention to legislative details, the minute, often picayune rules that together constitute the levers of political change. In his attempt to wrestle control of the last branch of government his approach is the same.

Up to now arcane Senate rules have impeded the appointment of jurists friendly to the Robertson agenda. So Robertson is using his television pulpit to change them. Current Senate regulations allow a minority of Democrats to prevent votes on judges they don't like from ever taking place by employing a technical filibuster. The filibuster can only be overturned by a super-majority of sixty senators - a number Republicans cannot reach.

But Robertson has discovered that the Senate filibuster rules can be amended at the opening of the next Senate session in January at the discretion of the Senate majority leader Bill Frist - a detail insiders say the Tennessee Republican was not even aware of himself.

So for weeks Robertson has been flashing the senator's telephone number on the screen and imploring viewers to jam the congressional switchboard with demands that Frist change the filibuster rules so that it can be overturned by a simple majority of 51 votes - a number Republicans can muster. Frist is now considering doing just that. Come January the procedural block on a raft of reactionary judges may be lifted before the first gavel comes down.

While the admittedly liberal mainstream media are still scratching their heads, wondering how they missed the tectonic shift in favour of the Christian right in this country, they may still be looking in the wrong place for hints at what the future holds.

CNN's promotional tagline may be "watch what happens next", but to really know what's about to unfold in today's America you need to switch on The 700 Club.



Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections2004/comment/story/0,14259,1355381,00.html

[prof_science]

1. Thanks, I just vomited. nt.

[okieinpain]

2. I have this funny feeling that a great humbling experience is coming

for the fundie movement.

[Leilani]

5. No, they won...we lost!

The humbling will be on the loser's side.

[physioex]

7. I am not sure why you are so optimistic...

Would you care to share?

[Tsiyu]

30. And that makes two of us with that feeling

There are some folks working "behind the scenes" to expose the Moral Elite, as I call them. It's a slow, steady process requiring patience and stealth. It's the same process used to harrass Clinton.

"Everything hidden will be revealed."

HA!

[Malebolgia]

3. I wonder if they'll come after me...

To them I say: "Bring it bitches!"

[high density]

4. These idiots don't know when to shut up

I guess perhaps I'm the only one holding out hope that the Democrats will once again own the senate again someday. I'm curious about what Pat Robertson would say about the filibuster rules under that scenario?

Oh and by the way, Philip James, please direct me to that liberal mainstream media that we have in the USA. I can't seem to find it.

[mastershake]

8. I think it will happen

If not in 2 years then in 4. The white house and congress controlled by democrats is not all a bad thing. Fundies do not make up the majority of the red states as some might believe. With Republicans having total control of congress and the white house... that leaves them to blame for the mistakes. If this country is not doing well in 4 years, the only group to blame is republicans.

[physioex]

10. I think it's hilarious...

That they have presided over such a poor economy...

[RaleighNCDUer]

17. They control the voting, they count the votes, and now they will have

the judiciary to rule in their favor on any challenges, as SCOTUS did for *.

How, pray tell, are we going to get congress back in 4 yrs?

[mastershake]

18. Well if in 4 years..

Everything has gone to hell and people are unhappy and things haven't gotten any better I see it collapsing on itself.

Consider this.. we all probably know people who just talk about moving out of the US or to Canada.. and then we have people who REALLY are going to. Then there are people who also consider moving to another country but do not plan to become citizens of that country. They can vote to change the US and still get some of the benefits they want, while living in a country that may be more liberal... ahh i'm getting off topic here though..

Point is.. if in 4 years shit has not improved, many democrats, liberals, greens, and others may head out in even higher numbers... and it could end up having a negative effect on the economy considering how important the blue states are to it.

Another consideration is the fact that people may stop trying to vote for change....

“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” - Thomas Jefferson

Hey maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part. In all honesty while this last election I think does involve fraud... I think people will keep pressing issues enough that it will become harder and harder... then again that might just be more wishful thinking..

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. Well, I'll vote all right. Just as I've done for 32 years.

But I'm not going to try to fool myself into believing it means anything.

The only thing that will stop this crowd is a complete ground shift. If they aren't facing a minimum 70/30 majority, we aren't going to touch them.

I wish I could indulge in wishful thinking. Maybe if I keep hearing from optimists like yourself.

Welcome to DU.

[SoCalDem]

26. So... hear me out.. The economy is is a shambles in four years,

BUT...the so-called media downplays it as they are doing now...and "all the polls say" the upcoming election is "razor-thin..oh-so-close".(sound familiar??).. and we alll go vote AGAIN:(..

How WILL we know who really won? Just as we did in 2K '02, and most recently in '04...we were cheated and yet we cannot prove it.

The fact that it KEEPS ON WORKING, with no method of redress..with no "mainstream" media even giving it a passing glance, only foretells more of the same..

Sadly, I am convinced that we will never again (in my lifetime, anyway) have an election that ALL can at least trust in.


I have been voting for THIRTY-SEVEN years, and until Bush came along, I have NEVER questioned the outcome of any election..EVER..

[mastershake]

29. I don't know if I ever trusted any election...

I am to critical of our government as a whole. But I do believe our last election showed one thing... they were not able to rig the election everywhere.

Republicans like to say how Bush received the most votes ever in history, but Kerry received the second most.. and let's face it many people did not like Kerry. He wasn't the partys best choice. He was voted for more for wanting to get rid of Bush.

The election each time is being watched closer and closer. If a scandle or fraud was to be proven with out a doubt, it would destroy the party. There moral values go right out the door. The world right now believes there was fraud. The only place skeptical is people in this country who voted for Bush. No one on election day thought he would be re-elected... unless he cheated.

If Democrats want to take back the white house in the next election I don't think they need to worry about voter fraud as much. Possibly... but I think the real concern is who they run against. I hear a lot of talk about Rudy Giuliani running for president. If that was the case I'd be almost certain he would win as he would be able to get many moderates. The party needs to really find someone in the next year to back and build up big time. Also it needs to focus on whats more important then the white house and thats taking back congress.

[DELUSIONAL]

21. the time frame for a return to a Liberal agenda is probably 40 yrs

and in the meantime a whole lot of suffering.

Brazil is probably the future of America. Extreme poverty -- people living in shanty towns that are almost unbelievable in their extreme poverty. Children -- lost children -- too many children. (the children of the lowest of the lowest classes are almost considered throwaways -- and there are stories of them being hunted).

And then the very wealthy -- extreme wealth.

The Christian Reconstructionists are real and they do have plans and they are willing to do whatever it takes to bring about their vision of a perfect world.

The time could be shorter IF -- OUR side -- the grass root liberals/progressives can pull together -- like what is happening now with the vote fraud research. AND that focus has to be kept up -- because THEIR side -- the dark side will not give up. They have a vision and their world is pure evil. WE have a vision -- and I find it a lot more positive and uplifting and empowering.

The basis of any future for Liberals/Progressives is making the vote process open and fair and easy to vote. Throw out the fraud prone system now in use in many states -- return to paper ballots -- smaller precincts with hand counted ballots. (I know I'm talking to the choir).

[Swamp Rat]

28. Not stories, it's true. The rich in São Paulo pay the police to kill poor

children while they sleep in their cardboard boxes at night. When the US becomes like Brasil, I think I will return to Brasil. The people there are much warmer and kinder, in general, and the food is cheap but good for you. Oh, and they have FREE health care that is good and natural remedies are embraced as opposed to shunned. A person can live on $4,000 dollars a year as well.

[Blue_Tires]

41. wow...how many poor have been killed??

i've been thinking about going to Brazil myself...remind me to avoid Sao Paulo (i'm far from rich)

[charlie]

11. They don't care

Republicans have always gone for audacious institutional re-jiggering to augment their power, and when the moment comes that it works against them, flip to the other side without missing a beat. They promised term limits, but demurring on grounds of unconstitutionality after achieving majority. They were hot for the line item veto until Clinton used it and let the courts deep-six it without complaint -- now they want it back. They were to a man fiscal hawks in the 90's, cutting and erecting spending caps all over the place. Now they raise the debt ceiling...

[roguevalley]

6. mobilize some but millions? I agree about the humbling moment

coming. PRide goeth before a fall. Fall all ready.

[Turn CO Blue]

9. Dude, where is my country?

How can it be possible that this man is so influencial? Yuck.

Does anyone else feel like we've been on a runaway train since November the 2nd??

[MsConduct]

15. That train has been out of control since 2000. n/t

[Turn CO Blue]

19. True. But you know after the fiasco of 2000

I settled down a little, because I was soooo naive and believed that "truth would prevail" this go-round in 2004. Ha ha ha.

But since the night of the "mandate" (wink, wink), this administration seems to be in some kind of hurry to screw up as many things as possible and to scare the bejesus out of me.

It's no good to be angry, worried, paranoid, and depressed all at once.

And it goads me that half the citizens of this country are sleeping just fine tonight and never even bother to read up on what BushCo are doing (destroying).

[MsConduct]

33. Just proves the old adage that 'ignorance is bliss', huh?...

Like you, I was hopeful and believed that good would defeat evil. I had no clue that the evil was so deeply entrenched and had seeped so far into the 'souls' of so many.

I don't do the worried, paranoid and depressed stuff. ANGER is the emotion that keeps me motivated. I thought nixon and reagan and bush the first were bad. They were pansies compared to dubya.

[AllyCat]

12. The radical cleric Pat Robertson

Lets call him for what he is. :mad:

[Hobo]

31. Thanks Alleycat, I was going ......

to set people straight on the correct title for Robertson.


Hobo

[donheld]

13. Are these Groups still tax exempt

if so they shouldn't be. If they are going to try to run the state, they should pay for it.

BTW Welcome to DU :hi:

[boi1946]

14. That's what I was thinking too.

I wondered when I was watching a pre-election special on the religious right--how are these groups qualifying for tax-exempt status? I wasn't even able to leave Kerry bumper stickers out on the table in the lobby of our little UU fellowship for people to take if they wanted them....
And the IRS is auditing the NAACP over a speech.

[mastershake]

16. Unfortunatly

How these people can mix so much politics into what they preach and be tax-exempt I don't know..

As the great George Carlin said "If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else."

Thanks! Hopefully I don't end up to hated here... =)

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

25. George Carlin is right as usual

We need to tax the f*** outta these people.

[r3verberate]

22. If the left media were smart

They'd play this up in the Blue States, CO, NV, OH, FL, AZ, and NM. And follow it up with news for proposed regulations that threaten free speech that are 'moral' and 'value' based (and I'm not talking about the TO/Whorish Wives debacle).

[Kill Radicalism Now]

43. What left media? All we have left is CBS and newspapers... nt

[ikojo]

23. And this guy pays no taxes because he is a minister?

I think it's time tax exemption for ALL religious activity is STOPPED. Why should I subsidize VERY well heeled "preachers" and other religious institutions? I've yet to see a poor religious leader. Sure many of them have poor followers but they live in luxury!


TAX RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS!

[Pushed To The Left]

24. This is the enemy

These are the people that "pushed me to the left". These people want to turn America into a theocracy. They want people to be arrested for having certain types of sex. When the Supreme Court overturned sodomy laws, I think it was Robertson who started a movement to "impeach the sodomy six", referring to the SC members who voted to remove the laws. If it wasn't him, then it was some member of the religious right. I hope the Supreme Court justices (except for Renquist, Thomas, or Scalia) can hang on for at least a couple more years. Here is an address where we can reach the GOOD justices (O'Connor, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Stevens, Souter, and Breyer) and let them know we NEED them!

Washington Office:
1 First St., NE
Washington, US 20543
Phone: [phone]

[laylah]

27. May he and his

suffer a plague of a thousand locusts...along with shingles, allergies, hemorrhoids, and halitosis. These people are evil personified :mad: :puke:

Jenn

[JHB]

32. If Pat could "mobilize millions"...

...he'd have won his bid for the GOP candidate in '88.

You have to keep an eye on him, but his bark has always been louder than his bite. He's promised these grand, sweeping crusades before, but he never gets what he wants, except more money.

Fight for the court, and don't let ol' pufferfish Pat scare you.

[physioex]

35. That is one instance...

Where BFEE dirty politics could have played in our favor. Pat was destoryed by the BFEE and he even complained about it in is final speech. Granted I don't like Shrub I, but I would take him over Pat.

[QC]

34. And thus begins the overreaching that will destroy the GOP.

Where's the popcorn?

[lil-petunia]

39. I'll pop a new bag. This will be a two reeler. Butter? Salt?

None of that flavored stuff, please.

[TankLV]

45. You mean just like we were gonna do when Kerry won in a landslide?

Thanks, but I have more important things to do than live in fantasyland and wait for the magical moment when these evil thugs lose bigtime.

Ain't gonna happen in what's left of our lifetimes.

[Slowhand16]

36. Pat Robertson can shove it.

[Octafish]

37. 2nd Lt. Pat Robertson USMC ABANDONED HIS COMMAND

During the Korean War, Pat Robertson bragged to the other Marines onboard a troop transport heading toward the fighting that his pappy would pull strings and get him off the ship when it pulled into Yokohama, its last stop before Korea. The other Marine officers thought he was joking, but no, Pat the Coward got off and left his men. They, and many of the others, went on and got killed and wounded. Pat became known as "The Liquor Officer."

No kidding, the guys who remember the story include ex-GOP US Rep. Pete McCloskey, one of the Marines who went on and got wounded in the fighting.

http://www.schlatter.org/liquor_officer.htm

[n2mark]

38. Pat Robertson

There is a lot of information on Pat Robertson on the internet(s).
Just go to about.com, type in 700 Club, there is so much info there. I didn't try searching at about.com for Pat Robertson since I was overwhelmed with the info available.

This man is a crook and a nut.

[Kill Radicalism Now]

44. Something big will happen...

It will shake the "religious right" so hard, they won't know what hit them. Whether it's another Al-Qaida attack or worse...

I don't WANT it to happen, but hell...this country needs a fucking wake up call...

[against all enemies]

40. Let the millions he mobilizes be us!

Don't sit there and take it, get up and fight.

[Dees]

42. Don't leave out Dobson and Falwell. They are just as

sick and maniacal. These Refundicans are going to do some real damage.