Brian Tashman's blog

Arizona congressman Matt Salmon appeared on Washington Watch with Tony Perkins last week, where he told the Family Research Council president that the GOP-controlled House is “the last bastion of freedom for this country.” However, Salmon warned that if House Republicans fail to “use every tool” at their disposal to stop Obama “at every turn,” then they will be just like the servant in the Parable of the Talents who was punished for hiding his master’s money in the ground rather than earning more money.

Salmon: We need to change the way things are in Washington DC. We cannot let President Obama keep advancing his agenda; we have got to stop it at every turn. You are the last bastion of freedom for this country and we’re counting on you so use every tool in your toolbox.

Perkins: Yeah what I have seen is that the Republicans tend to be too concerned about keeping the majority then using it.

Salmon: You know if that’s where we’re at then you will lose it.

Perkins: And you do, you’re absolutely right.

Salmon: It’s kind of like the parable of the ten talents in the Bible. The one that buried up his talents, was afraid that he would lose them, lost everything in the end.

Last week, Ohio Sen. Rob Portman announced that, inspired by his son’s coming out, he now supports marriage equality. Religious Right activists are, of course, responding with a characteristic lack of tact and grace.

Liberty Counsel’s Matt Barber, for example, denounced Portman for trying to “accommodate his son’s abhorrent lifestyle.”

“... Perhaps [the senator’s] love for his son has deceived him in not being able to differentiate between loving his son and helping his son to do the right thing, versus changing his entire worldview and his view of the natural institution of legitimate marriage in order to accommodate his son's abhorrent lifestyle,” says Barber.

Portman told reporters his previous views on marriage were rooted in his Methodist faith and his change of heart came because of "the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion." Barber challenges that interpretation.

“This provides us a perfect example of the danger of looking at things through the jaundiced prism of our own feelings rather than on objective truths,” says the Liberty Counsel attorney.

WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah wondered how Portman would respond if his son came out as a serial killer:

I’ve heard some wacky excuses by politicians for changing their minds on some of the most important moral issues facing American, but Ohio Sen. Rob Portman’s rationale for flip-flopping on same-sex marriage takes the proverbial wedding cake.

In case you haven’t heard, his son is a homosexual.

“I have come to believe that if two people are prepared to make a lifetime commitment to love and care for each other in good times and in bad, the government shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to get married,” Portman wrote in a commentary published Friday in the Columbus Dispatch.

I guess we should all be grateful Rob Portman’s son didn’t choose to become a polygamist or a serial killer.

…

People like Todd Akin and Steve King don’t represent a threat to the future of the Republican Party. People like Rob Portman and Karl Rove represent a clear and present danger to its future.

What they are pushing is not liberty, it is licentiousness. What they are pushing is not morality, it is moral relativism. What they are pushing is not the kind of virtue and personal responsibility that makes self-government possible, it is the kind of pop-culture immorality that makes self-government impossible.

Ohio-based activist Linda Harvey, president of Mission America, lamented Portman’s decision to support his “rebellious” son’s “disorder” and “delusion”:

It’s not that I can’t empathize with the position his son has put him in. Every parent hopes never to face a rebellious child. But Portman has decided not to call this rebellion. Whether it was pressure from his wife or some kind of ultimatum by his son, Portman now issues editorial statements that ring with “gay marriage” advocacy. What a slam on Ohio families!

He opines about “civil marriage rights” as if they don’t exist now. These unions will be a stabilizing force bringing “renewed strength” to the institution, he thinks – but Portman is either woefully uninformed or deliberately ignores the mounting evidence against these lifestyles and the political militancy they are unleashing . There is no excuse for a sitting senator to jump on board a movement that viciously targets challengers, forces indoctrination of children in taxpayer- funded schools and bullies the corporate culture as well as the Boy Scouts into bowing before its altar of deviance.

And it’s so unnecessary. Every person out there who claims a “gay” identity has the ability to get married in Ohio or anywhere else now. He or she can marry someone of the opposite sex, because that’s what marriage is and because a “gay” identity is a delusion. Two men, no matter how sincere they feel, or two women, will never be a marriage. The person who believes this disorder is “who he is,” as apparently Portman’s son does, has tragically internalized a lie.

…

The deception of the culture is easy to accommodate if your principles are weak at the core. Homosexual feelings may seem unchosen, but we do have a choice about what fantasies and desires we nurture and feed. And we always have a choice about public identity and behavior.

His son needs to hear the hope of change and the stories of the thousands of former homosexuals in this country. But his father is apparently not going to tell him. How sad!

The History Channel today denied claims that have been making the rounds on Twitter, including Glenn Beck, that the character depicting Satan in “The Bible” docudrama looks like President Obama. But WorldNetDaily thinks that the supposed resemblance is further proof that Obama is demonic, once again alleging that President Obama may be the Satanic deity Beelzebub, or Lord of the Flies, because flies have landed on him. In an article today, WND executive news director Joe Kovacs points to four incidences since 2008 where flies were present at a press conference or interview.

Kovacs cites RevelationNow.net, which also believes that Beyonce is possessed by demons and that her Super Bowl performance represented demonic brainwashing, to imply that “Obama is possessed by a demonic entity.” 

In case you aren’t convinced by the fact that Obama is demonic because he has had to swat away flies (which no one else has ever done) and because Beck thinks that a character playing the Devil in a TV show kind of looks like him, Kovacs also notes that on November 5, 2008, the Illinois Pick 3 lottery number was 666.

Case closed.

This is not the first time some in the public have made a connection between evil in the Bible and President Obama.

On Nov. 5, 2008, the very night Obama was first elected president, the Illinois Pick 3 lottery number for the Evening Pick was 666, a number associated with “the beast” mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Obama’s home state at the time was Illinois.

In January of this year, WND reported how prophecy websites were having a field day with the worldwide attention Obama received for sparring with a fly.

News reports recounted Obama’s long history of attracting flies during recorded interviews and speeches.

Religious and other websites used the headlines to point out that a biblical reference for Satan, the Semitic deity Beelzebub, literally translates from Hebrew into “Lord of the Flies.”

As Obama nominated two new members of his second administration on Jan. 24, a swarming fly stole the show.

“This guy is bothering me here,” said Obama, who repeatedly swatted at a large black fly buzzing near his face.

The London Telegraph noted a White House pool report said “the president spoke for about five minutes while being menaced by a house fly.”

This was not the president’s first brush with a fly while the cameras were rolling. In 2010, Obama halted a speech about health-care reform as a fly zipped around him. During a June 2009 CNBC interview, Obama killed a fly on camera.

…

In a 2008 campaign appearance, Obama halted a local interview after a swarm of flies had gathered around him.

Those reaching to connect Obama’s fly troubles with the darkest biblical references won’t have much difficulty.

One name commonly used to refer to Satan is Beelzebub, which translates from Hebrew into “Lord of the Flies.”

A posting at the popular Free Republic Web forum discusses Beelzebub and asks, “Is the White House fly infestation evidence of demonic presence and influence there?”

The End Times blog named Obama the “Lord of the Flies.”

The blog connects Obama to Beelzebub, writing, “This really isn’t an academic question. The Lord of the Flies is real.”

Over at RevalationNow.net [sic], a posting by “editorial staff” muses about whether Obama is possessed by a demonic entity.

“I feel like I am watching a horror movie and the secret evil character is revealed by the evil signs around him,” the post reads.

The American Decency Association is once again calling on advertisers to pull their support from Glee, warning that the show is “poisoning our youth” with its “destructive messages.”

In a radio alert, ADA founder Bill Johnson alleged that Glee is “a gruel of illicit sexuality, secular humanist ideology, and the promotion of homosexuality and deviant behavior.”

Whose values will your children and grandchildren catch? If they’re watching “Glee,” there’s a good chance that they’re reeling in values antithetical to yours.

Each week “Glee” producer Ryan Murphy stirs together a gruel of illicit sexuality, secular humanist ideology, and the promotion of homosexuality and deviant behavior - and then spoon feeds it to millions of youth across the nation.

And, sadly, many parents are just sitting back in their La-Z-boys while this proverbial poison is swallowed by their children.

Even the liberal MSN recently referred to Glee as “overtly politically correct and borderline preachy…the series has turned itself into one giant public service announcement” for sexual promiscuity and deviancy.

Washington Times columnist Jeffrey Kuhner is using Pope Francis’ election to attack President Obama as an “enemy of the church” who is “waging a war on Christians and on Catholics in particular.” After making the false claim that “Obamacare encodes the federal funding of abortions” and charging that “homosexual ‘marriage’ is a Trojan horse aimed at smashing the family — an invention by cultural Marxists to undermine Christianity’s ancient foundations,” Kuhner maintains that Obama’s policies contribute to a “culture of death.”

Pope Francis is the opposite of a modern American liberal. In fact, he probably finds much of the Democrats’ agenda repulsive. President Obama is waging a war on Christians and on Catholics in particular. His administration is compelling Catholic institutions — schools, hospitals and charities — to provide free birth control and abortion-inducing drugs to employees. This directly assaults Catholics’ conscience rights and freedom of religion. Obamacare encodes the federal funding of abortions. The health care overhaul forces devout Catholics to hand over their taxpayer dollars to fund a procedure they find not only a moral abomination, but a religious prohibition.

Mr. Obama supports homosexual “marriage.” He has allowed homosexuals to openly serve in the military. His pro-homosexual, pro-abortion and pro-contraception policies violate basic Catholic doctrine. He is an enemy of the church.

Contrary to liberal spin, Pope Francis is an orthodox Catholic. His election to the papacy consolidates the theological legacy of Blessed John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI. The Holy Father is walking in their spiritual footsteps. He opposes the secular West’s culture of death. He is a moral traditionalist and cultural conservative. He denounces the mass murder of unborn children. He bravely criticizes homosexual behavior, decrying sodomy as unnatural and immoral. He eloquently defends the sanctity of the family from the onslaught of homosexual “marriage” and homosexual adoption.

Unlike shallow secularists, Pope Francis grasps that civilization depends upon one seminal institution: the sacred marital union between a man and a woman. The purpose of marriage is not cohabitation or affirming some romantic commitment. Rather, it is procreation — having, raising and socializing children. The family is the basic unit that perpetuates one generation to the next. Destroy it, and social collapse is inevitable. Homosexual “marriage” is a Trojan horse aimed at smashing the family — an invention by cultural Marxists to undermine Christianity’s ancient foundations.

This is why Pope Francis publicly challenged the national socialism of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez. Her leftist policies — legalizing homosexual “marriage,” providing free contraception to the public and enabling homosexuals to adopt — are slowly transforming Catholic Argentina. He courageously stood up to her. For this, he has been demonized by the authoritarian Peronist regime.

Today, James Dobson’s Family Talk radio program aired a sermon that pastor Jim Garlow delivered at a recent Religious Right conference in which he said that President Obama should have publicly repented during his State of the Union address. Garlow, who during the address tweeted that Obama will “destroy” America and has an “obsession with homosexuality,” said that the president should have repented over his views on legal abortion, marriage equality and the national debt.

We gathered and we huddled around TV sets on Tuesday night to hear the State of the Union address and we never heard the speech that should’ve been given. The speech should’ve begun with the words: ‘My fellow Americans, the State of the Union is tragic, it is very bad, we are in deep trouble. I as your President, who profess to be a born again Christian, come before you in repentance this day. Knowing that the scripture teaches that a baby in the womb should be safe and not ripped to shreds; knowing that marriage is the number one institution that preserves a nation; knowing that the current debt is stealing, theft from our future generations; therefore I as your President repent of sin and I ask us to work together to do what is right and try to preserve this wonderful experience called America.’ That’s the speech we should’ve had, but we did not have it.

• Jonathan Chait @ New York Magazine: Rob Portman, Gay Marriage, and Selfishness.

• Jillian Rayfield @ Salon: CPAC panel likens Roe v. Wade to 3/5 compromise. 

• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: Romney sees ‘jihadists’ as possible global superpower.

• Tim Murphy @ Mother Jones: Climate Denier at CPAC: Trust Me, I’m an Astronaut. 

• Benjy Sarlin @ TPM: CPAC Desperately Tries To Square the GOP’s Circle With Latinos.

• Scott Keyes and Zack Beauchamp @ Think Progress: CPAC Participant Defends Slavery At Minority Outreach Panel: It Gave ‘Food And Shelter’ To Blacks. 

• Stephen C. Webster @ Raw Story: Coulter on Sen. Feinstein: ‘Liberal women should not be able to hold office.’

• Ed Kilgore @ Washington Monthly: The Anti-Choice Olympics.

• The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer responds to Rob Portman’s announcement by likening gay people to bank robbers. 

• CBN correspondent David Brody warns “evangelicals all across the country may start walking away from the GOP” if Republicans aren’t “willing to take a stand for traditional marriage.” 

• Liberty Counsel’s Steve Crampton claims that gay marriage will “lead to the disintegration of the family” and that “when the history of this administration is written, it will be recorded that its deception and aggressive advocacy on this issue were among the most destructive actions of any administration in the history of our nation.” 

• Scott Lively urges lawmakers not “to arm militant ‘gay’ social engineers with legal weapons to hunt down and destroy the lives of people of faith.” 

• Jim Garlow predicts that marriage equality will have “horrific” consequences including the abolition of the First Amendment.

• Alan Sears of the Alliance Defending Freedom, while quoting Martin Luther King Jr., calls for prayers against same-sex marriage. 

• Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s eldest son plans to join the Family Research Council. 

• Actual Alan Keyes column: “In Defense of ‘Conspiracy Thinking.’”

• Lastly, this exists:

At a conference which literally banned a gay group from participating, blogger Crystal Wright during CPAC’s panel on women’s issues called on right-wing activists to “come out of the closet” as conservatives and fight the liberal elites.

Following Wright’s bold declaration, author Kate Obenshain said that the entire education system, “pre-school all the way to college to post-graduate work,” is one big “liberal indoctrination camp” that convinces women to reject marriage in order to go about life “determined to find evidence of sexism everywhere they turn.”

Naturally, columnist Katie Kieffer later called Obamacare “sexist” because it expands access to birth control, which she believes lets men get women pregnant or give women STDs without feeling any responsibility. “Obamacare is sexist because it puts guys off the hook,” Kieffer explained, “all he has to do is say, oh that’s not my fault you should have been using Obama’s free birth control.”

Watch:

At CPAC today, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) argued that climate change is a myth and doesn’t need to be addressed, noting that President Obama was cold during the inauguration.

“He talked about global warming at his inauguration, I found it ironic that the President was wearing a trench coat it was so cold but he’s talking about global warming,” Scalise said.

He also noted that a snow storm later cancelled a congressional hearing on climate change, “you can’t make this stuff up.”

Of course, climate change is actually leading to more incidences of blizzards and winter still tends to be cold.