Brian Tashman's blog

Michele Bachmann yesterday sat down with David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, two days before delivering the commencement address at Regent University (formerly CBN University), where she reiterated her claim that God called her to run for president. Bachmann, who ended her campaign following a sixth place finish in the Iowa Caucus with just 5% of the vote, told Brody that her purpose in the race was to drive the push to repeal the health care reform law, and also agreed with Brody’s analysis that she ran an “impeccable” and “mistake-free campaign.” “We were extremely careful,” Bachmann said, “and we were almost mistake free, but for those two points, Elvis Presley’s birthday and John Wayne’s birthplace.” Many might beg to differ, as she misplaced the first battle of the Revolutionary War, said the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation, called John Quincy Adams a Founding Father to back up her claim that the Founders actually opposed slavery and linked the Swine Flu to Democratic presidents, among countless others.

During his speech at the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “Week of Prayer” yesterday, Lou Engle asked for support of his upcoming The Call: Virginia prayer rally, saying that Virginia should fight back against Washington D.C., just as Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson did during the Civil War. General Lee “had an anointing or something,” Engle said, “he was able to restrain Washington, he took his stand and held back those force.” Engle also pointed to Stonewall Jackson for “rallying the Virginians” against the Union as a model to fight the “homosexual agenda” and the demonic “principalities and powers” behind homosexuality. Engle said, “Raise up a stonewall to restrain the agenda that is coming out of D.C.”

Engle also tried to link the political ascendency of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to a prophecy that Cindy Jacobs, whom he called a “crazy lady” and the “scariest lady in America,” told him about Hispanics ending abortion rights in California, noting that Rubio appeared to be wearing a LIFE wristband on Election Day:

• Andrew Sullivan @ The Daily Beast: The Muzzling of Ric Grenell.

• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: What Will Romney Do About Bryan Fischer’s Gloating Over Grenell?

• Towleroad: Jon Stewart Takes On Bryan Fischer Over Richard Grenell Resignation.

• Michael Calderone @ HuffPo: Mitt Romney Meets With Conservative Media Off The Record.

• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: The reigning ‘I’m rubber, you’re glue’ champion.

• Joseph L. Conn @ Wall of Separation: Obama Skips Dobsons’ Religious Right Prayer Rally.

• Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion: Hypocrisy from Thomas More Law Center on Kamal Saleem and Free Speech.

• John Fea: “Getting Jefferson Right” is Here.

• After endorsing Mitt Romney today in Virginia, Michele Bachmann will deliver the commencement address at Pat Robertson’s Regent University in Virginia Beach on Saturday.

• Rev. Billy Graham has endorsed North Carolina’s discriminatory Amendment One.

• Jonah Goldberg of National Review today visited Bryan Fischer, who said that after watching Goldberg’s interview with Piers Morgan he wanted to “reach through the screen” and “yank” Morgan’s “face down into the table.”

• Bill Donohue of the Catholic League is still enraged by Jon Stewart.

• Family Research Council’s punny president Tony Perkins says liberals don’t “pray” but “prey,” and also appears to be a fan of Right Wing Watch:

Yesterday, Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI) stopped by Crosstalk, the flagship radio program of the far-right group VCY America (Voice of Christian Youth). While speaking with host Vic Eliason, Walker, who had pledged to create 250,000 jobs in his first term, tried to spin his disastrous record on job creation by deriding the protests by supports of collective bargaining rights in Madison last Spring as “one of the biggest challenges” to job growth:

Walker: Well it’s interesting, look at the March to march numbers, March of last year to March of this year, there’s a reason why we had some challenges there, particularly early on. In March, April and May, people can remember what was happening, thank goodness its passed now, you can remember what was happening last Spring in our state’s Capitol. There was a lot of uncertainty, particularly for small businesses, I know having held listening sessions all around this state, small business owners more than anything want certainty, they didn’t see that around the Capitol last year so that was one of the biggest challenges out there.

But the Christian Science Monitor reports that under Walker’s leadership the “state’s lead in job losses is significantly greater than the rest of the 50 states,” including 4,300 lost jobs just this March, long-after the protests took place:

Wisconsin lost 23,900 jobs between March 2011 and March 2012, according to data released Tuesday by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s lead in job losses is significantly greater than the rest of the 50 states: No other state lost more than 3,500 jobs.

The majority of the losses in Wisconsin, 17,800, were in the public sector. However, the state lost more private-sector jobs, 6,100, than any other state. The only other states to report private-sector job losses in the same time period (instead of private-sector gains) were Mississippi and Rhode Island.

Governor Walker has been campaigning on a message that jobs are up in Wisconsin, responding to positive data for January and February that 17,000 jobs were added in his state. The loss of 4,300 jobs in March reversed that trend.

He attacked the state of Illinois during the interview and painted them as a laggard in economic growth:

However, Bloomberg Businessweek noted on April, 20 that Illinois is actually leading Wisconsin in job growth:

Illinois ranked third while Wisconsin placed 42nd in the most recent Bloomberg Economic Evaluation of States index, which includes personal income, tax revenue and employment. Illinois gained 32,000 jobs in the 12 months ending in February, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found. Wisconsin, where Walker promised to create 250,000 jobs with the help of business-tax breaks, lost 16,900.

Towards the end of the interview, Walker boasted of supporting “pro-patient, pro-women” policies. However, Walker made it more difficult for women seeking justice as a result of pay discrimination lawsuits by repealing provisions of the Equal Pay Enforcement Act, made it more difficult for women seeking an abortion and birth control, and defunded Planned Parenthood, which “cuts off 12,000 women who do not have health insurance from getting preventive health care” and hurts a program that saved the state money by focusing on preventative care.

Walker: In our state it is today, and will continue to be as long as I am governor, against the law for any employer to discriminate against a woman for employment or a promotion or anything else to deal with the workplace. It has been and it continues to be and it will be as long as I am the governor. They just love trying to make things out of nothing out there. When it comes to the pro-life legislation we passed, I would argue the things that we did are pro-women.

They’re pro-patient, they’re pro-women, they’re making sure that patients get all the facts at their disposal. And for those who claim to be about giving people a choice, shouldn’t it be an informed choice? Shouldn’t it be a choice without pressure from others out there?

Rep. Allen West (R-FL) today announced that he will be joining the Thomas More Law Center’s Citizens Advisory Board, because the group “knows the true threat to our nation posed by radical Islam and it has initiated and funded more cases challenging the Stealth Jihad being waged against our Nation than any other public interest law firm in America.” West will be joining former Republican presidential candidate and conspiracy theorist Alan Keyes, anti-choice activist Mary Cunningham Agee, and former Alabama Republican Senator Jeremiah Denton.

The anti-gay and anti-Muslim group started by Domino’s Pizza founder Thomas Monaghan is best known for its legal defeats, including its failed challenge to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, unsuccessful lawsuit against Planned Parenthood to “require it to declare a link between abortion and breast cancer,” and failed defense of the Dover, Pennsylvania school district where they argued “that federal law recommended that students learn alternatives to evolution such as the teaching of intelligent design.” After the disastrous Dover decision, Rick Santorum defected from the group’s Citizens Advisory Board, even though he stars in an ad for the Law Center, because of what he called their “huge mistake in taking this case and in pushing this case to the extent they did.”

Seeing that West has his own rabidly anti-Muslim views, he should fit right in, and last month Tom Lynch of the Law Center told Concerned Women for America’s Chelsen Vicari that Islam is a Trojan Horse trying to “destroying America” that is simply “disguised as a religion,” and that nobody should trust Muslims because they are lying because of Taqiyya:

A lot of Americans are ignorant and that’s why I want to talk about this subject today, about this internal subversion or what we call a stealth jihad. If you go back in history, I mean today the Trojan Horse here in America is Islam, it’s entered America disguised as a religion, it’s ultimate objective is political, and that is to destroy America and to establish an Islamic nation under Allah and Sharia law.

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With Taqiyya, if you’re following the Qur’an and your religion, that means that you can lie. So how can you really trust anybody that might be appeasing to our Constitution, our Christianity, or our country?

Yesterday, Pat Robertson delivered a speech as part of the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “Week of Prayer” where he described how God directed him to create CBN during a gathering of people at Cape Henry, where Christopher Newport’s ships made landfall in 1607. Robertson said that God transferred the anointing of the English settlers to him so he could launch CBN and “reaffirm his claim over this land.”

Watch:

Robertson: I don’t care what the liberals have to say about this, America started as a Christian nation, it didn’t start as a heathen nation, it belongs to Jesus Christ, it’s his, it’s his country. What we need to do on a day like this is to reaffirm his claim over this land. We went down and had a celebration some years ago and we had folks dressed in costumes of various countries and areas of the world and they symbolically brought from a ship a seven foot oak cross and we laid our hands on it and prayed, and I have experienced the anointing of the Lord on a number of occasions with miracles and thousands of people coming to the Lord, but I never had anything like what I experienced that day. The power of God came on me so strong I could hardly stand up. God was saying, ‘you asked for it and I’m going to give it to you, we’re going to transfer the holiness that was here to this cross, you’re going to take it down to that new place you’re building and this is going to be a fulfillment of the prayers of those people, you’re going to take the Gospel all around the world.’ God had a plan, he saw CBN here.

Like his fellow Proposition 8 supporters Che Ahn and Jim Garlow, Lou Engle maintains that their prayers led to the reversal of marriage equality in California in 2008 and a “sovereign appointment” with former San Francisco mayor (and current Lt. Gov.) Gavin Newsom “to call him to accountability to what he was going to do in that city concerning the homosexual agenda.” While speaking today with Pat Robertson on the 700 Club to publicize the upcoming The Call: Virginia, which Robertson has endorsed, Engle said his September, 2010 prayer rally in Sacramento “removed” the state’s governor from office. However, then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had already made the decision not to run for re-election in November, 2009, and Democrat Jerry Brown won the gubernatorial race later that year.

Watch:

Robertson: Tell me one example where prayer that you know of—I know many—changed things in a nation?

Engle: I look at my own story and my prayer history in California, on a forty day season of fasting and prayer, God spoke to me that I needed to contend with those heavenly powers through humility and fasting. We believe, two stadium gatherings, a forty day fast across California, the governor of California, right after The Call in Sacramento, was removed from office, also put me in front of Gavin Newsom in a sovereign appointment to call him to accountability to what he was going to do in that city concerning the homosexual agenda. It’s actually changed so much, in my life and with the journey that I’m in, let alone many, many, stories of prayer changing history.

Robertson: One more time, Fredericksburg, Virginia, a linchpin state, there’s people coming all around the nation to join The Call.

Following the resignation of openly gay Romney campaign foreign policy spokesman Richard Grenell, who was roundly criticized by conservative activists for his sexual orientation, the Romney campaign has tried to spin the issue by saying that his resignation had nothing to do with him being gay. However, the campaign told him to keep quiet on a major foreign policy call with reporters and never defended him from the attacks. When Grenell announced his resignation he noted, “My ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign.”

As one Republican adviser told the New York Times that while campaign staffers didn’t see Grenell’s sexual orientation as an issue, “they didn’t want to confront the religious right.”

After Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association called Grenell’s resignation a “huge win” for the Religious Right, he later wrote that since Romney is partial to “political convenience” over “political conviction,” conservatives must keep up the pressure on him “since the governor has demonstrated in the Grenell affair that he is maneuverable”:

So Romney went the full Etch-A-Sketch on us twice. He campaigned in the primary as a champion of natural marriage. Then as soon as he locked up the nomination, he shook the tablet clean and hired a same-sex marriage zealot as his spokesman. Then when the windsock shifted directions again, he shook the tablet once more and all traces of Richard Grenell disappeared. If the governor is not careful, he's going to sprain his wrist one of these days shaking that thing.

Gov. Romney is a politician rather than a statesman. While he will not do the right thing out of political conviction, he will do the right thing out of political convenience. This represents both a great challenge and a great opportunity for the pro-family community, since the governor has demonstrated in the Grenell affair that he is maneuverable.

The Grenell resignation represents a huge win for the forces defending the family in America, since it will be a long time before the governor appoints another homosexual activist to a prominent position in his campaign.

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Since Gov. Romney will do the right thing when it is politically expedient, it's our job to make it politically expedient for him to do the right thing on as many issues as possible. Let's get cracking.

Yesterday, conservative talk show host Janet Mefferd also welcomed the news of Grenell’s resignation, saying that Republicans shouldn’t hire God-hating gays because they intend to trample over the rights and freedoms of Christians.

Like Fischer, Mefferd also went after Romney, saying that since “he evolves all the time, he flips all the time, he comes to new understandings all the time” and “doesn’t seem to have much of a core,” he may be willing to side with either “gay activists” or opponents of gay rights depending on who carries the most political weight.

Mefferd said, “I don’t what to be misunderstood on this, but if you continue to push the Republican Party to the left on the gay rights issue, we’re all dead—I mean, not dead literally—but Christians will pay the price for this”:

I think it was appropriate that he resigned, I think it was inappropriate to put him in that position in the first place as the presumptive presidential nominee for the GOP, the reason I say this and I’m going to reiterate it because I want to be clear what my objection is, my objection is the whole issue we’re seeing in our culture with gay rights trumping freedom of religion and freedom of speech, and it’s on the march, and we’ve seen it in a lot of different instances across the country. I think it’s foolish for the party that has stood up in defense of marriage so strongly, oh by the way the Democrats stood up for marriage once upon a time in DOMA although it’s fallen out of favor now, but you can’t be the party of freedom and the Constitution if you’re not going to understand that the Constitution enshrines the First Amendment and not gay rights.

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When you have people who are gay activists on the Republican side, what happens? What do you think is going to happen? You’re going to have people, especially somebody like Mitt Romney, he evolves all the time, he flips all the time, he comes to new understandings all the time, this is the problem with having a nominee that doesn’t seem to have much of a core and that ends up being a problem for people who actually want principle to trump votes. Not every Republican feels that way, by the way, and I’m not trying to be mean to individual people, I don’t what to be misunderstood on this, but if you continue to push the Republican Party to the left on the gay rights issue, we’re all dead—I mean, not dead literally—but Christians will pay the price for this.

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They hate the Bible, they hate God, they hate you, but that doesn’t mean we have to roll over and die, it doesn’t mean we have to be quiet on the issue, it’s about freedom, it’s about freedom for Christians to follow the word of God.

It appears that every time Lou Engle leads a The Call prayer rally, the future of America is at stake. Later this month, Engle will be bringing The Call to Fredericksburg, Virginia, this time with the help of televangelist Pat Robertson. Engle said that his rally intends to “intercede on behalf of the blood that has been shed as a result of racism and abortion and ask for God’s mercy on behalf of our nation” by praying at Civil War sites, and Robertson claimed the event is part of a “spiritual battle which can only be won by overwhelming prayer”:

Lou Engle says Virginia has always been instrumental in the great shifts in American history. It has always risen as a lead state in this nation - how Virginia goes affects the whole nation. Virginia is an “in the gap” state (as described by the prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 22 of those who intercede before God on behalf of the needs of His people). The hope is that as the nation gathers in Fredericksburg, Virginia on May 26th, 2012 that God will use Virginia as a revival catalyst, a wall of intercession will be built, and God will show this nation an undeserved mercy. Lou feels that we are being brought into another great crisis in American history. We are in a “hinge of history moment” where we need to cry out to God for the Blood of Jesus to cleanse us for the sins of this nation. The word Lou received from God is, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” God has shown him the “house divided” is the racial tension in this country. Also, he received prophetic revelation that the grace period for abortion is coming to an end and we must atone for the shedding of innocent blood. This bloodshed has its roots in American history. Lou says in Appomattox and Fredericksburg, Virginia is where much blood was spilled in this country during the Civil and Revolutionary Wars. That is a part of the significance of rallying in prayer where much blood was spilled – to intercede on behalf of the blood that has been shed as a result of racism and abortion and ask for God’s mercy on behalf of our nation. Also, Fredericksburg is located 50 miles south of Washington, D.C. and Lou feels that God wants people to intercede “right at the gate” of our nation’s capital. This is our hope: “God save America.” Through fasting and prayer during this critical hour, we dare to believe that God again will show us His mercy.

TheCall has had gatherings and events since its founding twelve years ago that coincide with the racial tension and abortion issues. TheCall Detroit interceded for and has seen reconciliation among the races. TheEstherCall was recently held as 39 women (representing the 39 years since the Roe v Wade decision) who had either had abortions or were survivors of abortions. They prayer walked for 250 miles for 21 days to intercede for life and the consideration of the health care law that would offer insurance coverage for abortions. After the May 26th event in Fredericksburg, TheEstherCall will have a time of prayer and communion at Appomattox, VA and a declarative word over Washington, D.C. Unexpectedly, this will be happening around the time the Supreme Court will be making a decision concerning the health care bill.

Pat Robertson also received a word from God during the New Year 2012:

“Your country will be torn apart by internal stress. A house divided cannot stand…This is a spiritual battle which can only be won by overwhelming prayer. The future of the world is at stake because if America falls, there no longer exists a strong champion of freedom and a champion of the oppressed of the world. There must be an urgent call to prayer.”

Robertson believes the Lord is calling each of us to pray for America and we need a great move of the Holy Spirit to cover our nation…to bring repentance, godliness, and unity to this land that we love. He supports TheCall in Fredericksburg, VA and hopes people will be a part of standing in the gap for America. He believes with all of his heart that praying in unity is exactly what God wants us to do right now. Although as a nation we’re facing a time of maximum stress and peril, Robertson says God Almighty hasn’t given up on this land. Our God is love and His desire is salvation, not judgment. Robertson urges everyone to stand together in this battle as we fast and pray for the future of our country.