Agree with Pat Robertson?

"I really believe we should treat marijuana the way we treat beverage alcohol. I’ve never used marijuana and I don’t intend to, but it’s just one of those things that I think: this war on drugs just hasn’t succeeded."

~ Pat Robertson, March 7, 2012              

There isn't much I've ever agreed with Pat Robertson on, so his recent statement about the failure of the war on drugs and the high social and penal costs on the American people came as a bit of a surprise to me and many others. But, he is right - the war on drugs has never and will never succeed. The costs enforcing the laws and locking up offenders are exorbitant and rising. And the damage to youthful offenders (and their families) far exceeds any benefits of the current "tough on crime" policy.

Perhaps Rev. Robertson's statement will open some Republican eyes and bring out the libertarian in all of us. We can empty some jail cells, improve people's lives, save and maybe even raise some tax dollars. Sounds like a win, win proposition to me.

A governor for all Virginians?

You may recall that Pat Robertson, responding to the shootings at Fort Hood, said Islam is "not a religion" but it is rather a "violent political system" that he compared to fascists and communists. Rev. Robertson is a close confidant and mentor of Governor-elect Bob McDonnell.

Last week a group of religious leaders, of many faiths from across the Commonwealth, sent a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch entitled Words Matter: An Open Letter to Bob McDonnell. They cautioned that words of hate, such as those spewed by Rev. Robertson, will create "new room for bigotry and intolerance." These men and women of faith continued, writing, "despite our theological differences, the fact that we Christians, Muslims, and Jews worship the same God seems to escape people like Pat Robertson."

They concluded by reminding the Governor-elect that words really do matter:

Gov-elect McDonnell, some of us had the pleasure to know you in the past and we firmly believe that you aspire to be the governor of Virginians of all faiths. In this spirit, we are anxious to hear your public remarks opposing the divisive words of the Rev. Pat Robertson and asserting your vision of an inclusive Virginia.

Perhaps I missed it over the Thanksgiving holiday, but I have not yet heard Mr. McDonnell disavow Robertson's detestable comments. Bob McDonnell ran as a governor for all Virginians and I hope he will be true to the voters' estimation - even if it means his friend, Rev. Robertson, never is given the opportunity to say grace or kneel in prayer in Virginia's Executive Mansion.

Taliban Bob's blueprint for taking Virginia backwards

Virginia's Manchurian Candidate

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you know that there have been about half a dozen posts dating back to March detailing two-faced Bob McDonnell. This right wing fanatic is Virginia's political version of a Manchurian Candidate - a brainwashed sleeper agent wanting to take over state government. No, I don't think McDonnell is an assassin in the usual sense of the word. Instead, he's hidden far right agenda was ingrained in soul, heart, and mind by the likes of Pat Roberstson and friends at CNB (now Regent) University. Taliban Bob's mission was to remake our Commonwealth as a theocracy and, in the process, kill the hopes and dreams of of many Virginians.

In recent years Virginia voters have moved well beyond the radical and failed right wing policies of politicians such as Jim Gilmore (although many of those loony birds hold on in the House of Delegates). Today, Virginia is more moderate, bluer, more tolerant, looking forward to a progressive future. This presented a problem for McDonnell who rose through the Christian conservative faction of the Republican Party on the nurturing knee of the television pastor.

To get elected McDonnell would have to change - make that appear to change - to be more in line with those changes in Virginia. His slick message handlers have used the power of TV propaganda to brand McDonnell as a moderate, almost making him appear and sound like a Mark Warner. Don't buy the lie.

Now in '89 Thesis A Different Side of McDonnell, Amy Gardner of the Washington Post has disclosed his political beginnings and core beliefs:

At age 34, two years before his first election and two decades before he would run for governor of Virginia, Robert F. McDonnell submitted a master's thesis to the evangelical school he was attending in Virginia Beach in which he described working women and feminists as "detrimental" to the family. He said government policy should favor married couples over "cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators." He described as "illogical" a 1972 Supreme Court decision legalizing the use of contraception by unmarried couples.

The 93-page document, which is publicly available at the Regent University library, culminates with a 15-point action plan that McDonnell said the Republican Party should follow to protect American families -- a vision that he started to put into action soon after he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.

During his 14 years in the General Assembly, McDonnell pursued at least 10 of the policy goals he laid out in that research paper, including abortion restrictions, covenant marriage, school vouchers and tax policies to favor his view of the traditional family. In 2001, he voted against a resolution in support of ending wage discrimination between men and women.

You can read the WaPo article here or here and trudge through his entire thesis here.

Even his friends seem to acknowledge the difficult position McDonnell has placed himself in by this unabashed rebranding of his image. Delegate Robert Marshall (R- Pr. William), a right wing political ally, thinks McDonnell has gotten himself between a rock and a hard place - turning off moderates who think he's hiding something and scaring conservatives who fear he has sold them out.

I think most Virginians want a Governor who will talk straight, build bridges with all political persuasions, work hard, and do his best every day in office. We can trust Creigh Deeds to be that kind of leader and Governor. Can we trust Bob McDonnell? Huh - do you really have to ask that question?

Backwards Bob

Some Deeds supporters in the Shenandoah Valley are less than happy that Creigh Deeds has told the truth about Bob McDonnell's crusade to ban all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest:

They want to know why bring this hot button issue up now? Why bring it up at all?

Earlier this summer Bob McDonnell spent several hundred thousand dollars on TV ads designed to reshape his image, to rebrand himself, to mislead Virginia voters. In those slick commercials, McDonnell was portrayed as a moderate consensus builder, open to all ideas, and willing to work across party lines. Using shades of blue, Taliban Bob seemingly attempted to paint himself almost as a Democrat. In June, with the Democrats focused on their primary, McDonnell was able to use the power of TV to fabricate an image of him as a moderate that gave him a midsummer bump in some polls.

The reality is, of course, quite different - Bob McDonnell is a hard right Republican with an agenda sharply in contrast to the majority of Virginians and most folks right here in the Shenandoah Valley. McDonnell has again and again introduced legislation to limit and even ban all abortions, including those in the horrible circumstances of rape and incest. Creigh Deeds, the actual common sense moderate in the gubernatorial race, decided to call the weasel out on his misrepresentations on the issue of a woman's right to choose.

Most Virginians support a fair, balanced, and common sense approach to reproductive rights. One that reduces abortion by making education, factual information, and birth control choices available to all women of child bearing age. An approach that ultimately keeps big government out of personal matters and leaves the decision to the woman, her doctor, and her spiritual advisor.

Creigh Deeds will continue calling Bob McDonnell out for speaking out of both sides of his mouth by talking like a moderate in public while preaching to the right wing firebrands in private. For his lies and misrepresentations on a host of other issues - public education, transportation, public safety, jobs, vouchers, and much more.

That's why this issue. That's why now. Taliban Bob had the stage to himself during the campaign's opening act and he put on a good show pretending to be something he isn't. During Act II, Act III, and all the way to Election Day Creigh Deeds, Democrats, and many Republicans will be letting folks know about Bob McDonnell's filthy lies and the man behind the mask.

Sorry if the issue Creigh raised made you a bit uncomfortable. Sorry if it stirs ups the WASPS in the Valley Family Forum. But, it was time to call out Bob McDonnell for saying different things to different audiences. It it time for all Virginians to know the truth about the real Bob McDonnell. What they'll find in his Pat Robertson, Jeff Frederick, Jim Gilmore tainted past, and in his own record, Virginians won't like one bit.

Extreme Makeover

Actually an extreme political makeover that Bob McDonnell is trying to perform. In announcing a group called "Virginians for McDonnell," Taliban Bob is trying to shed his right wing scales and put forth a more warm and fuzzy moderate feel. He's picked up support from a couple of Mark Warner Republicans and says people who join his group are free to support Democrats for other offices. How do you spell "SELLOUT" Bill Bolling, Ken Cuccinelli, and House candidates?

Virginians will see through Bob McDonnell's caked on makeup dollar store makeup - underneath they'll find Pat Robertson, the Christian Coalition, the 700 Club, and Regent University. Extreme makeover trying to cover up extreme right. It won't fly, Bob.

Flew the Coop

Flew the coop for a few days of camping and kayaking on the Shenandoah River. Nice change of scenery and activities. Visited one night by four screech owls who roosted in a tree less than 20 feet above our campsite. Although I hear them often, I only occasionally see an owl and this was the most up close and personal I've ever been with one, not to mention four. They stayed close well into the night.

One early morning while heading out for ice I was scanning AM radio for a weather forecast. Ah, the "soothing" voice of Pat Robertson coming from the cheap speakers in my truck. My "favorite" minister was introducing a tape of a speaker addressing the intentions of the Founding Fathers in creating a Christian nation. The speaker's credentials were "well-established" as holding a bachelors degree from some Bible college and an honorary masters from some seminary. I'd never heard of either institution but if you weren't listening closely, I suppose it sounded great. I'd never heard of him either, which is why, I guess, that I can't remember his name right now.

He began railing against the "secular humanists" and the ACLU who are taking God out of the public square. Giving selected facts from a couple court cases, he clearly was having no trouble working up the friendly audience in whatever venue (it was supposed to be in our heathen capitol, Washington, D.C.) he was speaking. Establishment Clause, Free Exercise, nowhere is "separation of church and state" found in the Constitution . . . . On and on he went in a carefully moderated voice (don't want to sound unreasonable like some fire and brimstone revival preacher) designed to sooth and reassure the listener.

Blessedly, I rounded a mountain and the radio went to static. Punching seek, I quickly found a station with the sought after weather forecast.

I've been reading Jon Meacham's American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. It is a great refresher course in the role of religion in politics and government as it developed during the colonial period, the Revolutionary War and Declaration of Independence, the drafting of the Constitution and First Amendment, and how religion has been used and abused by presidents and other political and religious leaders. Meacham does a great job with the early history but seems to skim over more recent controversies and extremist uses of religion in the public square.

It is not my intent to rehash American Gospel, but rather to encourage you to give some thought to the proper role of religion in American government and politics as we get deeper in the presidential campaign. Religion will be a factor - both John McCain and Barack Obama spoke to evangelicals over the past weekend. Religious prejudice has entered some blogs commenting on the congressional race in Virginia's 6th District.

It is clear to me that "public religion" has a role in campaigns, political rhetoric, elections, and governing. By public religion I mean the notion of a "Creator" or "Nature's God" as expressed by the deist, Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence. Public religion speaks to our fundamental rights and liberties. The term as coined by Ben Franklin and supported by many presidents beginning with George Washington, that held that "religion and morality" were important aspects of society, but did not control it. Public religion is not the same thing as private belief. Public religion unites. Private belief divides.

The past two elections (actually, this has gone on since at least the election of 1800) have seen the corrosive effects of using religion, especially private belief, to divide us, to foster hate, to win elections at the cost of governing a more united American people. We will be far better off by following the excellent advice of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor:

Reasonable minds can disagree about how to apply the Religion Clauses in a given case, but the goal of the Clauses is clear - to carry out the Founder's plan of preserving religious liberty to the fullest extent in a pluralistic society. By enforcing the Clauses, we have kept religion a matter for the individual conscience, not for the prosecutor or bureaucrat. At a time when we see around the world the violent consequences of the assumption of religious authority by government, Americans may count themselves fortunate - our regard for constitutional boundaries has protected us from similar travails, while allowing private religious exercise to flourish.

In spite of what Pat Robertson and others would have you believe, religion is indeed flourishing in our nation. Extreme voices like Robertson would have their private belief trump our public religion.

There will be other extreme voices screaming for attention on talk radio, in blogs, and in commercials between now and November. Some will be brazen, hateful, and easy to spot and debunk. Other messengers will be more subtle, more polished, and spread their disgusting message with a wink and a smile. Whenever and wherever you confront the politics of religious bigotry and extremism speak out to reject the message. This November we should elect candidates based on character, qualification, issues and their ability to bring us together as a people. The Rovian politics of divide and conquer have no place.

Peck, peck.