The contrast between the gentle media treatment of Rick Perry’s deliberate choice to forge a political alliance with a notorious hate group and the treatment of Barack Obama’s attendance at a church with a loose-lipped preacher could hardly be more stark.
The “Director of Issues Analysis” for the American Family Association - the sponsor of Perry’s pray-in - has called for Muslims to be deported from the United States. He believes that freedom of religion is a “privilege not a right” and that the First Amendment does not protect Muslims. He attacked the “feminization” of the Medal of Honor after it was awarded to a soldier who had saved his comrades rather than killing the enemy. But the New York Times decided not to mention any of that.
The links are interesting.
The author Bryan Fischer states that Muslims have no constitutonal right to fredom of worship in America and proves it by saying it over and over and even sites “historians” who say it. You can’t argue with that.
The author of the stuff about deporting Muslims was even bolder but forgot to sign his/her name. Did you know that the Nederlands spends 300,000 euros a year on problems caused by Muslims. Gosh, if they add another 100,000 to that they could buy them all a house in Amsterdam.
But keep in mind that this prayer breakfast (without the break) has nothing to do with Perry running for president. He said so. Can’t argue with that either.
I see a couple issues. The first is just that the Wright thing was pushed by the right wing media, which is zealous in its hatred, and your link is to the NYT, which pulls its punches.
The second is the ugly one. This guy’s crime is being too fanatically Christian. Well it’s also that he’s a bigot, but he’s a pastor so he gets to pull his Christian cred. You can’t actually be too fanatically Christian, because the New York Times is not allowed to say that being Christian is anything other than good. So this just shows how super Christian they all are, good for them. On the other hand, Wright’s crime was being too black. Being black is bad. Being a militant black is really bad. It scares white people. It does not get you Christian cred.
So, your defense of Obama is that his attending that church was nothing more than, (Less than, actually.) a political alliance of convenience? While I’m perfectly willing to believe that, is that really a line you want to push? A mere act of political convenience that lasted a mere 20 years?
Wright’s crime wasn’t being too black, and it wasn’t being “loose lipped”, it was preaching things most Americans find offensive. But not, apparently, Obama.
And now arguing that the laws ought to be faithfully enforced, (as opposed to making up reasons to ignore them) and it would be better not to change them, makes you a hate group?
Brett, nothing that Jeremiah Wright said came within miles of being as noxious and evil as what the AFA spews routinely. Mark is completely correct to call them a hate group, and shame on the mainstream media for not having the guts to call those people out for what they are.
As noxious and evil in the eyes of Democrats aware that Obama is already irrevocably joined at the hip to Wright. Which is not exactly an objective viewpoint…
I’m just kind of amused at contrasting the depth of Perry’s link to these clowns with the utterly ephemeral nature of Obama’s association with Wright. Hilarious.
Well, it’s fair to challenge Perry to indicate where he comes down on these matters. Will he defend the constitution or not?
You’re right, Brett: For it to be a 1:1 comparison, Perry would have to renounce association with Fischer, as Obama did Wright.
The NYT’s piece is certainly weak, in keeping with Times style. However:
1. Rick Perry, unlike Obama, is not a presidential candidate. He’ll get closer scrutiny once he declares.
2. If he becomes a candidate, he’ll run as a Republican, a party in which these views aren’t controversial. If he were running for Imperial Wizard of the Klan, there would likewise be no need to report anti-Muslim bigotry. Try to imagine Mitt jumping on this the way Hillary did Rev. Wright.
The Times deserves some credit for giving voice to gay people and people who support separation of church and state. The omission of Muslims is more likely the result of laziness. Organized Muslim groups probably didn’t ring the Times’ phone. It’s not part of the Times’ mandate to defend human rights if the affected humans aren’t aggressively defending their own rights.
If the Times did actually did pick up the phone and call a Muslim, that individual probably understood that it would be best not to comment. Ask the sponsors of the “Ground Zero Mosque” if they were better off or worse off because of publicity.
What’s funny to me is that while I’ll accept that the majority of media outlets are run by liberals, their actual output isn’t all that liberal, especially considering the right’s uncanny ability to drive hyper-partisan crap stories (Lewinsky, swift boats, Wright, Acorn, birthers, etc.). What’s more, the media’s valiant attempt to answer the right’s persecution complex by going the extra mile to be “fair and balanced”, has created an environment where factual relativism prevails. Importance has been sacrificed at the alter of cheap objectivity.
Brett,
To follow up Dan’s comment, let us know when Perry announces his break with Fischer over Fischer’s bigotry and stupidity. In fact, I’m curious what the other GOP hopefuls will say about Fischer. I’m guessing none of them will criticize him. What do you think?
Association with the AFA ought to be as politically toxic as association with the CPUSA or the Klan. But that’s not the country US Citizens actually live in.
Brett, the distinction I’m making is between attending church and forming a political alliance. If Obama had invited all the other Senators to an anti-white rally organized by the Rev. Mr. Wright, that would be about comparable to Rick Perry inviting all the other governors to an anti-gay rally organized by a group that also preaches hatred against Muslims.
SamChevre, the First Amendment is part of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. AFA’s issues director argues that it doesn’t apply to Muslims, and that the religious freedom it grants is a privilege, not a right. Now, pray tell me what law it is that AFA wants to see faithfully enforced?
What I found most telling was that Governor Good Hair wants Americans to fast…
That’s hilarious. Can you imagine the whirl of the Wurlitzer if Michelle had suggested we cut some calories to get Jesus’s ear?
Rush would eat a plate of cupcakes on the air out of spite…
And Palin would visit a school carrying “gooey, crappy, sugar-infested cookies”. †
† 3:35 mark of Malloy’s classic rant:
http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2010/11/mike-malloys-hilarious-sarah-palin-rant.html
Wow! The American Family Association having a fairly anodyne name, I always forget to remember that they employ the most offensive man on the planet.
I had no love for Perry before, so it’s not like he’s losing this vote — but it’s a source of ongoing amazement that, yes, in fact he’s very, very popular in the Great State of Texas.
“Brett, the distinction I’m making is between attending church and forming a political alliance. “
Yeah, I know there’s a difference. I theory, the former tells you MORE about a person, not less.
@brett-rotflmao!!!!
this is your funniest routine since i’ve been admiring your comic talents. i can barely type i’m laughing so hard. keep ‘em coming!
regarding the topic of this post, i can tell you as a native texan and longtime follower of all things political that this association is unlikely to cause guv goodhair any problems either in this state or with the repugs. as much as i might regret it, the fact is that he would be in much more trouble here if he supported civil unions for gay texans than he will be for this.
You would think the writer behind the Brett character has gotten some pretty decent work since starting that character. How does one find out the name of the industry publication where you advertise your on-line parody characters so we can send the writer a thank you note?
@dan-great idea.
I’m dying to know, Brett, what did we learn about the policies that Obama would pursue from the Rev. Wright flap?
Of course, the American Family Association alliance doesn’t really teach us anything about Perry, either - but in that case, the reason is different. We all knew even then that Obama was a patriotic pro-American, and we’ve since learned (contra Wright) that Obama intended to ally himself with the white folks who ran our economy and foreign policy during the Bush administration. (I’m thinking of Bernanke and Gates, most obviously.)
So we learned nothing of Obama’s sympathies from knowing about Wright. In Perry’s case, we know he doesn’t support separation of church and state, or equal rights for Muslims and gays. So there’s not really anything to learn there, from his choice to endorse the AFA.
Brett, Obama, at the time a lawyer and community activist, joined the most important middle-class black church in Chicago, famous for its social work and its involvement in the community. Its pastor happened to have some extremist opinions about how American society was structured.
Perry, at the time a twice re-elected governor, has concocted a political event with a political Christian organization whose entire national identity revolves around its viciously bigoted statements calling for the abuse of gay Americans.
There may be some differences between those two circumstances.
arguing that the laws ought to be faithfully enforced … makes you a hate group?
As coincidence would have it, the day Sam left this comment was the anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Loving v. Virginia. That decision was important, because it freed conservatives from the obligation to argue that at least that one vile and offensive statute be faithfully enforced instead of ignored. Why, the White Citizens’ Council must have greeted the decision with sighs of relief.
Sam has correctly identified the problem for conservatives. All they ask is that the laws be faithfully enforced, unless (as Mark noted upthread) they are laws that conservatives dislike, like the 1st amendment when applied to a despised minority — and yet they’re viewed as a hate group. Where is the justice?
Here’s a recent comment from Crooked Timber:
This was a good thread. Let me point out that an importart part of its goodness is that everyone ignored Brett’s trolling until now.
How could the RBC have more good threads? Let us ponder.
I don’t get it. The general tenor of what Wright says is correct, and furthermore, Obama does not and never has shown he agrees with that view. So what does this 20 year relationship show us, Brett? Please be specific.
Perry has merely demonstrated his willingness to work with anybody to further his politics. One can only marvel at what Brett would sputter if a prominent Democratic governor asked for a day of contemplation of Enlightenment Ideals as sponsored by the CPUSA.