Wednesday, August 24, 2005

The Redemption of Pat Robertson

The Redemption of Pat Robertson

PEJ News - C. L. Cook - Frothing at the mouth Christian scion and past Republican presidential hopeful, Pat Robertson did due penance, naturally afore the cameras, for his decidedly un-Christian attitude expressed towards Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez. During one of Pat's regular 700 Club "political" segments, the Lamb of God's representative on Earth prayed the "government" would assassinate President Chavez. To his credit, the good Pastor was only thinking of the money saved. An assassin's strike would negate the need for another war, thus saving the righteous tax-payers "200 million dollars." Now that's somethin' to Halleluja over!

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"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop." - Reverend Pat Robertson on the merits of assassination


The Redemption of
Pat Robertson

C. L. Cook

PEJ News
August 24, 2005


For those of you who surf straight past the weekend and wee hour theological programs, Reverend Pat Robertson is a major player in the Christian political movement. He's not just another southern buffanted preacher. No, Robertson is intimately connected to some of Washington's biggest power players, and has been for years. He's also a very rich man. Were he to die today, God forbid! Pat's estimated worth lies somewhere between 200 million dollars and a billion. The precision of this accounting itself attests to the laxity of lay lawmakers when it comes to regulating Church finances.

Pat's latest pickle stems from some irreverent remarks made during Monday's broadcast of the 700 Club, one of the Christian Broadcasting Network's flagship money-makers. Wearing worldly garb, politician Pat opined for the murder of Hugo Chavez. Much cheaper than mounting another 200 billiion dollar war, says he.


Makes sense to me, Pat.

In the Lewis Carroll universe Pat and his clone armies inhabit, it makes perfect sense. It is, in fact a no-brainer. Why spend a whole lot of loot stealing the resources and usurping a democratically elected president, something alien to Pat and his flag-draped followers, when a fifty-cent slug will do the trick? It's not a question of morality. But, then morality has never been the pastor's strong suit.

When not pounding the boards, and the airwaves, for Jesus and His republican proctectors, Pat enjoys jetting around the world to hob-nob with princes and potentates for the greater glory of his bank account. Greg Palast exposed the holy fraudster in his 2003 best-seller 'The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.' In a chapter titled, 'Pat Robertson, General Pinochet, Pepsi-Cola and the Anti Christ' Palast therein refers to Robertson's ascension to Chair the Board of the Bank of Scotland, and his nefarious dealing with blood diamonds and the bloody African dictators who love them.

It all leaves the head of the Christian Coalition, a million-plus strong (reputedly) organization, all willing to take up the sword for a man the Wall Street Journal once described, in reviewing one of the reverend's books, as a "paranoid pinhead with a deep distrust of democracy" in a corner.

Fellow Jesus fan, Jesse Jackson and his allies are already questioning the legality of allowing the Christian Broadcast Network and its affiliates to continue airing hate-speech, seemingly designed to incite to murder a head of state.

This pinhead, Pat's remarks have of course elicited an urgent and uncomprising demand from the government of Venezuela for the Bush administration to denounce these statements, broadcast across the public airwaves. The Venezuelan's are a little worried about the safety of Chavez; likely a case of jitters following the clearly U.S.- backed kidnapping and coup attempt against Chavez in 2002.

They feel it might be unsafe for their president to travel to the United States for meetings at the United Nations, located in New York City. They worry one, or some of Pat's million Christian army might take it into their heads that THEY may yet serve as the hand of the almight Pat and slay the dirty commie, al Qaeda loving, oil-hogging commie red injun guy, whaatsizname?!


The Redemption

Today, Pat Robertson answered the surge of outrage surrounding his call for the head of Hugo with denials. That his comments were made on-air and broadcast verbatim, his refutations seemed ridiculous. So, before the cock had crowed, Pat was back before the camera clarifying the issue. Now, he says he's sorry.

"Is it right to call for assassination?" the reverend rhetorically asked, "No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."

I'll accept Pat's redemption on face value, but as the Good Lord said: "Ye shall know them by their deeds."

Annotations


Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050823/
ap_on_re_us/robertson_assassination_1


Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
www.GregPalast.com


Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/article.
pl?sid=05/08/24/1343225



Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, a weekly public affairs program, broad/webcast from the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a contributing editor to PEJ News. You can check out the GorillaRadioBlog.blogspot.com for more.



Pat from the Mountain

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out,'"

"'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

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