Falwell Thanks God for Limbaugh, Hannity, Drudge & FOX

[IJ Reilly]

Let me talk to you about five good things of late ... for which this week I hope you and your family around your Thanksgiving table will praise the Lord. ... No. 5: America has alternative news media and is no longer held hostage by the major print and broadcast media. I remember a day when ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN and the major print media controlled all the news flow to the American people and we found ourselves getting warped and distorted news. I thank God now in the 21st century for talk radio, that three hours a day people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and hundreds of others are telling the truth of what really is going on. I thank God for FOX News Channel. I thank God for the Internet bloggers and the news producers like NewsMax.com, WorldNetDaily.com, even The Drudge Report.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200411240002

At times like this, I get really religious. I'd like to be a witness to Jerry Falwell's judgment by God.

[Thomas Veil]

I wouldn't stand too close to Falwell during a lightning storm, if you know what I mean.

(Isn't he starting to look more than a little like W.C. Fields, BTW?)

http://mediamatters.org/static/video/jerry-falwell.jpg
"Now see here, my little chickadee..."

[IJ Reilly]

Suffering sciatica!

[Xtremehkr]

I'd like to see this guys tax returns.

[shadowfax]

Man, I was watching C-Span the other night and caught a speech by rush limbaugh to the people at the Claremont Institute. While I find myself more in line with his political outlook than the people he's always trashing, it's absolutely disgusting. He kept saying how the liberals would faile because you can't make a movement on hate or complaining... not paying attention to the fact that all he was doing was complaining about how the liberals were hating and whining. What?

As a Christian, I don't understand how you can think that Christianity and godliness splits along the line of political parties. But that's just me.

[Xtremehkr]

I guess we can expect to see an end to the Tellie Tubbies then. Those darn subversive Tellie Tubbies always promoting homosexuality.

[pseudobrit]

As a Christian, I don't understand how you can think that Christianity and godliness splits along the line of political parties. But that's just me.

Easy. You co-opt the religious folk, convince them you're the only party that believes in their God and that you're chosen by that God to be their leaders.

Fortunately, that's not you, though. Unfortunately, it is a whole boatload of everyone else.

[Thomas Veil]

Man, I was watching C-Span the other night and caught a speech by rush limbaugh to the people at the Claremont Institute. While I find myself more in line with his political outlook than the people he's always trashing, it's absolutely disgusting. He kept saying how the liberals would faile because you can't make a movement on hate or complaining... not paying attention to the fact that all he was doing was complaining about how the liberals were hating and whining. What?

As a Christian, I don't understand how you can think that Christianity and godliness splits along the line of political parties. But that's just me.
Well, you've just put your finger on two of the things that gall liberals today. One is that nobody has a "lock" on Christian behavior. We may differ on how to go about it, but Democratic positions frequently revolve around helping the poor and the powerless. Sometimes the people espousing those policies aren't Christians, they're secular humanists, Jews and others...but as long as the goals are the same, who cares?

The other is that the relatively civil discourse we used to have, discussing various ways of addressing this country's problems, has been replaced by simple-minded, screaming hate radio and TV in which all we do is question each others' "evil" motives.

I can't help blaming the neo-cons for that, and if there is one single evil influence that is driving apart America, I think it is that the Republican party has pretty much been taken over by its nutcases. I don't think of George Bush, Rick Santorum, Donald Rumsfeld, Tom DeLay and others as traditional Republicans whose only motivations lay in serving our country. I think of them as fanatical idealogues: powerful men beholden to other powerful men and who want nothing more the accumulation of even more power.

I'm sure some people will say I'm contradicting myself by calling for civil discourse and trashing the neo-cons in the same breath, but I don't think so. I'd have the same problem with far-left liberals. A fanatic is a fanatic, no matter which side he's on...and you gotta call 'em when you see 'em.

[miloblithe]

Interestingly, I think for a long time Democrats were "God's party."

[3rdpath]

hearing/reading the hatefilled ramblings of the religiously misguided always makes me think of the shortest, yet most powerful, sentence in the bible:

And Jesus wept.

[Chip NoVaMac]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200411240002

At times like this, I get really religious. I'd like to be a witness to Jerry Falwell's judgment by God.

I was thinking the same when these "evangelists" are called home to God, and they find out that God is a truly loving God, not a vengeful or hateful God.

For the Bible talks of the parents not forsaking their children. And since are the children of God, would God as our parent forsake us?

[shadowfax]

Well, you've just put your finger on two of the things that gall liberals today. One is that nobody has a "lock" on Christian behavior. We may differ on how to go about it, but Democratic positions frequently revolve around helping the poor and the powerless. Sometimes the people espousing those policies aren't Christians, they're secular humanists, Jews and others...but as long as the goals are the same, who cares?The first problem I have with what you're saying is how you refer to this as a problem that galls 'liberals' today. I'm not a liberal. I'm galled.

Furthermore, that's just a silly myth that liberal positions revolve around helping the poor and powerless. In so many ways, welfare, affirmitive action, and their kin are just ploys to get votes from the "powerless" and poor. and it works to that end. actually helping the poor or advancing equality... no. And for a LOT of liberals, that's all that matters. Many, many liberals don't care about the poor any more than many, many republicans. They just get off on the feeling of being "social engineers." They want to just throw some money at a problem, not really getting at the core, so they can sleep better at night. but it doesn't change matters.

On the other side, Of course it's clear that most republicans really don't care about the poor either. They value autonomy and independence, and use the idea that people must learn self reliance and make themselves as an excuse to do absolutely nothing for the poor and powerless. But there are also republicans that believe that the government has no place helping the poor, because they just institutionalize and corrupt it, and furthermore, as a secular institution, don't minister to people in the name of Jesus... that's a big thing for biblical christians (by biblical christians, i mean the "strict constructionists" of the Bible, if you will). And these people give a lot of their money to the church, which is involved in ministry to the poor. The catholic church has done a great job there, using its money to build hospitals and to make schools and provide care and education for those who can't afford it... I go to a presbyterian church in austin that's nearly exclusively republican, but the people in the church are just amazing--they give their money to the church (tithing, giving 10% of your income to the church, the mandate the american church forgot completely), they're involved in ministry to the poor--and I don't mean bible thumping, I mean making them meals, housing them, helping them get jobs locally, and so on. I suppose it gives me a skewed view of republicans--i know most of them aren't like that at all... The other is that the relatively civil discourse we used to have, discussing various ways of addressing this country's problems, has been replaced by simple-minded, screaming hate radio and TV in which all we do is question each others' "evil" motives.I don't see that falling on party lines either. I see mudslinging on BOTH sides at disturbing levels. I'm more inclined to blame poor, poor education and the tendency of politics to cater to the lowest common denominotor in order to "reach out" to all the voters. The presidential debate wasn't a debate, in 2000 or 2004. Nobody won those debates. They didn't make a shred of sense at all. It's like watching two men slap eachother with gloves for 90 minutes and then declaring a winner. Both sides refuse to say anything that could cost them any part of their constituency, so they say nothing. and as for the media, you can't possibly suggest it's just Limbaugh and Fox out there stomping liberals. That's two sided too, and it's distressing to some conservatives just as it is to some liberal I can't help blaming the neo-cons for that, and if there is one single evil influence that is driving apart America, I think it is that the Republican party has pretty much been taken over by its nutcases. I don't think of George Bush, Rick Santorum, Donald Rumsfeld, Tom DeLay and others as traditional Republicans whose only motivations lay in serving our country. I think of them as fanatical idealogues: powerful men beholden to other powerful men and who want nothing more the accumulation of even more power.I still think you're way spun. George Bush is not evil, or fanatical. Not any more than Kerry, or Ted Kennedy, or Tom Daschle. They just use crazy stupid rhetoric to galvanize their voter base, because their campaign coordinators tell them this will work. And it does. It turns america into a country unbelievably sharply divided on a hairline of "rhetoric"--if that's what you could call the dogmatic yelps we shoot at each other. I'm sure some people will say I'm contradicting myself by calling for civil discourse and trashing the neo-cons in the same breath, but I don't think so. I'd have the same problem with far-left liberals. A fanatic is a fanatic, no matter which side he's on...and you gotta call 'em when you see 'em.I Don't think you're contradicting yourself, really. Something terrible has happened to our country in the last 15 years or so, and you've got the blame 1/2 right. It's just, the people who are ruining it come from both parties, and i think you're confusing real fanaticism with the kind where you just say stupid stuff to appease some fanatics to get their votes--which again, democrats do just as much of as Bush.

[skunk]

hearing/reading the hatefilled ramblings of the religiously misguided always makes me think of the shortest, yet most powerful, sentence in the bible:

And Jesus wept.
Too long by a third. You're so verbose! :rolleyes:

[Thomas Veil]

Shadowfax, I think your view of liberals is very unrealistic. While it may be true that some liberal politicians get off on the kind of power plays you suggest, I believe the vast majority of us have altruistic motives. We don't enjoy social engineering for its own sake, and we sure don't do it just so we can "sleep better at night". Isn't it enough motivation for us to see people all around us losing their jobs and health care?

What I think you have a right to be cynical about is the degree to which the current corporate influence in government compromises our ability to work in favor of the average person. Too often Congress (on both sides of the aisle) is unwilling to control abusive rates or curtail industrial pollution for fear of "hurting business". That is worth being cynical about.

As far as both parties being equally culpable in contributing to the harsh tone in politics: uh-uh. I'm not buying that. The Republicans had hate radio way before we had Air America, they are way more widespread, they distort our arguments way more than we distort theirs. I'm not saying liberals are guiltless, because when we're attacked as viciously as we have been the last few years, we tend to respond in kind. But you can't tell me that there's an army of radio and TV liberals that are out there spinning Orwellian lies about the Republicans the way Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Liddy, Savage and the rest are.

As for Bush and his crew not being fanatical, well...what would you call someone who is stubbornly sticking by policies which have demonstrably been disastrous failures? Who rounds up his protesters in metal holding pens? Who has no apparent respect for the Constitution? Who punishes members of the media who question him? Who governs on beliefs, no matter how wrong, rather than facts?

[pseudobrit]

If "liberals" wanted to go through the motions of charitiable platitudes, we'd simply toss a few bucks at the Salvation Army over Xmas and sleep soundly at night, telling ourselves how good we were and patting ourselves on the back.

I never donate publicly.

And I've seen the Catholic Church's "charity" in action with my family, when they priced my youngest brother out of my Alma Mater after his freshman year, refusing reasonable accomodations for my family's income level.

They wanted to transform the high school into an elite prep-school type facility and poor kids just weren't part of that plan. So the Catholic Church never sees a dime from me again.

[Xtremehkr]

Someone needs to forward these links to Falwell. The man has no credibility left what so ever.

Rush Limbaugh debates reality. (http://search.netscape.com/ns/boomframe.jsp?query=rush+limbaugh&page=1&offset=1&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dc9ce0d5f434b4ade%26clickedItemRank%3D6%26userQuery% 3Drush%2Blimbaugh%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.fair.org%252Fpress-releases%252Flimbaugh-debates-reality.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3Dtontop5%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fair.org%2Fpress-releases%2Flimbaugh-debates-reality.html)

Sean Hannity Distortions (http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=91585)

Drudge Edits Quotes (http://mediamatters.org/items/200410130006)

I think I asked this of the people who support Bush before, is this moral?

[IJ Reilly]

I'm still chucking over here at the idea that "social engineering" is the exclusive domain of liberalism, when we've got Republicans promoting laws to prevent doctors from even discussing family planning with their patients. And that's just this week. Ah well, I suppose so long as they're promoting politically correct conservative values, a little social engineering is excusable.

[IJ Reilly]

I was thinking the same when these "evangelists" are called home to God, and they find out that God is a truly loving God, not a vengeful or hateful God.

For the Bible talks of the parents not forsaking their children. And since are the children of God, would God as our parent forsake us?

Which brings to mind...
God's Song

Cain slew Abel Seth knew not why
For if the children of Israel were to multiply
Why must any of the children die?
So he asked the Lord
And the Lord said:

"Man means nothing he means less to me
than the lowiliest cactus flower
or the humblest yucca tree
he chases round this desert
cause he thinks that's where i'll be
that's why i love mankind

I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee
from the squalor and the filth and the misery
How we laugh up here in heaven at the prayers you offer me
That's why i love mankind"

The Christians and the Jews were having a jamboree
The Buddhists and the Hindus joined on satellite TV
They picked their four greatest priests
And they began to speak
They said "Lord the plague is on the world
Lord no man is free
The temples that we built to you
Have tumbled into the sea
Lord, if you won't take care of us
Won't you please please let us be?"

And the Lord said
And the Lord said

"I burn down your cities--how blind you must be
I take from you your children and you say how blessed are we
You must all be crazy to put your faith in me
That's why i love mankind
You really need me
That's why i love mankind"

-- Randy Newman

[Trowaman]

y'know, I've been reading Media Matters headlines for a few months now and I just want to say that the people in their forums are nuts. There is no civil discourse or rationality. And this is coming from someone who calls himself a far left liberal. I mean c'mon, they're calling Chris Matthews the biggest Republican not on FOX now, how messed up is that? It's nice to see some civilized discourse going on here, guess Mac people really are the most intellegent.