Now Mr. Robertson has set off an international firestorm by saying on his television show that the United States should kill the Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, a leftist whose country has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East.
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Mr. Robertson said Monday on his show, "The 700 Club." "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. And I don't think any oil shipments will stop."
The above is from Laurie Goodstein's "Robertson Suggests U.S. Kill Venezuela's Leader" in this morning's New York Times.
In response to Media Matters for America's proposal that ABC Family drop The 700 Club,
Goodstein reports, the line from ABC is that they have "no editorial control" over the show and are "contractually obligated to air" it. We'll note this from Goodstein's article as well:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for the Federal Communications Commission to investigate, just as it did when Janet Jackson's breast was exposed in the Super Bowl broadcast in 2004. "This is even more threatening to hemispheric stability than the flash of a breast on television during a ballgame," Mr. Jackson said.
Will ABC force Robertson to apologize for his "mouth malfunction" before going on the air next? (Magic 8 Ball says, "It is doubtful.")
On the same topic, Oliver e-mails to note Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler's "Why Pat Robertson is Not a Christian" (CounterPunch):
Pat Robertson suggested this past Monday that the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, be assassinated by operatives of the United States government. Though his comments are newsworthy because of his following in the 700 Club and his political stature and role in the political religious right, his comments however are out of synch with everything that has been handed down to us from the teachings of Jesus Christ. What I am suggesting here is that Pat Robertson and individuals of his ilk are not practicing or preaching Christ but have become adherents of a political movement in this nation that attempts to use Christianity towards their own narrow political ends. I believe that there is a role for Christianity in the events of the world, but the teachings of Christ leads us to love one another, strain and stretch to understand each other, and dare to know each other enough that we come to an understanding of one another and from that create a world that is not built on might and winning but on understanding and unity. Clearly the comments of Robertson defy the framework we find in the gospels of Jesus Christ.
[. . .]
What do we find in the Good News of Christ? We find love is expressed continually and unceasingly. The gospels admonish us to do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. We finds words in the gospels that define the mission of Christians as the elevation of the poor, freedom for those who are oppressed, salvation for the lost, and hope for the hopeless. Jesus says come unto me all of you who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest. He does not say come to me those who are looking for political expediency and I will show you who to and how to assassinate!
The issue is one of the scheduled topics for today's Democracy Now!:
A look at rising oil and gas prices, hybrid cars and Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.
And let's again note that the Un-Embed the Media tour continues:
Amy Goodman in Baraboo, WI:
Sat, Sept 10
TIME: 2:45 PM
Fighting Bob Fest
Sauk County Fairgrounds
Baraboo, WI
"Free admission", $10 donation will be requested.
Pre-register at http://www.fightingbobfest.org/register.htm
For more information, visit http://www.fightingbobfest.org/index.htm
(Both items e-mailed by Rod.)
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