Conservatives angered over FRC President's being uninvited

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | March 1, 2010 at 06:06 am

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Quote

Kingston said he thought the Air Force was "using" the incident to send a message to its own chaplains about what thhey could and could not say from the pulpit. “(W)hat they were doing is using him to drive a message--that your brand of sermon is no longer welcome in the U.S. military,” he said.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) to CNSNews.com / March 1 , 2010

Family Research Council president dis-invited to prayer luncheon due to being against repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy re gays in military

CNSNews.com reports that outraged conservatives and conservative Congressional leaders are voicing their dismay that President Barack Obama had disinvited Family Research Council President Tony Perkins from the Andrews Air Force Base prayer luncheon on Feb. 25 due to his position on gays in the military.

Speaking to CNCNews.com, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee said he’s “disappointed” the Air Force would “un-invite” Perkins due to his stance on the issue.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, was outraged.

“I think many members (of Congress) are outraged,” Kingston told CNSNews.com. “The mainstream media hasn’t given this as much coverage as they would if they agreed with Perkins. This is something that I think that people will be asking a lot of questions--a harbinger of what may be out there to come, you know, if on a high-profile captain like Tony Perkins, they reject him. They may (start) doing it to everybody else."
Kingston said he thought the Air Force was "using" the incident to send a message to its own chaplains about what thhey could and could not say from the pulpit.

[. . . ]

He added: “I think it probably does go beyond the Air Force. They knew there would be a backlash to this, and I think they had a design about that: ‘OK, you know, we want other (chaplains) to understand and pipe down on your personal views on this biblical view, and you believe it, just keep it mellow; we want watered-down messages.’”

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Rory Cripps

at 06:39 on March 1st, 2010

Say two hail Marys, take a couple of aspirins, and drink plenty of fluids . . . .

Karen Hatter

at 09:57 on March 1st, 2010

In my article, Religious Extremism and U.S. Politics: Often an Ominous Pairing, it is highlighted that Tony Perkins, hailed by many in politics as the most influential conservative Christian in Washington, D.C., has some interesting connections to those labeled conservative, Right Wing extremists and the White nationalists/supremacist movement.

His group, the Family Research Center, is the lobbying arm of the national as well as internationally known umbrella religious, conservative organization, Focus on the Family, formerly headed by Dr. James Dobson.

Tony Perkins has been linked to former Louisiana Republican Representative and Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke as well as the White nationalist organization, the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC).

All of the groups I've mentioned here are discussed in my linked article. Each has its own anti gay positions.

It would seem there are a few additional reasons why he should have been disinvited.

Hugh Askew

at 10:39 on March 1st, 2010

Big stinkin' deal. He has been "linked". So what, who linked him, and what is their agenda?

Our current President has been linked to a bunch of sleazeball outfits and individuals - ACORN, and Jeremiah Wright amongst them. Should we un-elect him because someone "links" him to scam artists?

Fair is fair - you want to slam Perkins because of his "links", then i will listen when you start slamming Barack over his. Maybe Obama should be dis-invited as well, no??????

Karen Hatter

at 11:04 on March 1st, 2010

Well, Hugh, it IS a " ....big stinkin' deal" , whether you think so or not.

To my knowledge, President Obama never hung around with member(s) of an organization, like the Ku Klux Klan, that murdered hundreds of people for nearly 100 years or affiliated with an organization like the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) that states as one of its principles that only White people should serve in the United States government.

It was determined that ACORN broke no laws in a Congressional investigation released in December 2009, with the Justice Department concluding payments to the organization could be resumed.

The voter fraud thing is a red herring always used by the Republican Party against ACORN to attempt to disenfranchise inner city, translate that to mean minority, voters.

But, keep hope alive on that un-elect President Obama thing.

Hugh Askew

at 12:29 on March 1st, 2010

Well, if you buy into the ACORN whitewash, go for it. I'm sure they are as innocent as lambs.

That explains why they got defunded - by a DEMOCRAT super majority, no less?????

O, by the bye, could you provide some background to the allegations against Perkins? You know, like some non-biased news sources?

You never answered the question about equality in applying judgement here either, why is that? What is good for Perkins isn't good for BO, is that what i am reading?

Karen Hatter

at 14:49 on March 1st, 2010

Hugh, the background information on Tony Perkins can be found at the embedded links within my article I have linked at this thread.

Regarding comparing President Obama with Tony Perkins, I have already stated:

" .... President Obama never hung around with member(s) of an organization, like the Ku Klux Klan, that murdered hundreds of people for nearly 100 years or affiliated with an organization like the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC) that states as one of its principles that only White people should serve in the United States government.

It was determined that ACORN broke no laws in a Congressional investigation released in December 2009, with the Justice Department concluding payments to the organization could be resumed.

The voter fraud thing is a red herring always used by the Republican Party against ACORN to attempt to disenfranchise inner city, translate that to mean minority, voters."

Rory Cripps

at 12:48 on March 1st, 2010

Hugh: I agree! Big stinkin' deal! HA! Is it surprising that Perkins would be dis-invited? Of course not! He doesn't march in lock-step--and he just hasn't gotten with the program.

I find it interesting that racism and race have been injected into this comment stream. And that's not surprising either. So I'll just go with the flow here and say this: There will always be those who remind us that racism exists no matter what the topic lest we forget. That's bad enough, but what's worse is that those who remind us apparently believe that racism only exists within the white community and will never admit the fact that all ethnic groups have their share of racists.

Karen Hatter

at 14:03 on March 1st, 2010

Rory, Tony Perkin's racist associations are illustrative of how he navigates within the political world and are as relevant as any other factors that can be examined to comprehend his political agenda.

His associations are more than tangential indicators of who he is politically as he wheels and deals from his position of 'the most influencial religious conservative in Washington, D.C.'

Hugh Askew

at 15:09 on March 1st, 2010

As i said, why the different standards????

Isn't Obama, wheeling and dealing from the position of the most powerful man in the world, as much - or more - responsible for his association with groups like ACORN, and his associations with people like Mr. Wright?

Why do you think it is acceptable to disparage one, but not the other?

O, by the bye, could you provide some background to the allegations against Perkins? You know, like some non-biased news sources? Yes, i know i said that before.................

Rory Cripps

at 19:47 on March 1st, 2010

Karen: What about you and some of the circles that you associate with? Is there a possibility of any tangential racist indicators there? We can all dig stuff up, because no one is pure as the driven snow when it comes to racial views or who they associate with--no matter how meticulous we are about our associations.

I've got bonafide skin-heads and Klansmen and Klanswomen (and there seems to be a lot of Klanswomen nowadays) living up the road from me here in Florida. If I happen to be next to one of them in the meat section at the supermarket, does that make me a racist simply because we're both white and happen to be standing next to each other? Or how about if my 12 year-old daughter is sitting next to some kid in class and the kid uses the "N" word which is not uncommon in these parts? Is she guilty by association?

There are racists in every ethnic group and every political group. Whites and Republicans are by no means the only racists in America. And to spin everything as to make it so doesn't make it so.

"Hope and change" can only come about when everyone is willing to participate in the change. It's a two-way street . . . .

Karen Hatter

at 20:31 on March 1st, 2010

Well, Rory, as I have not in the past nor do I now hang out with any group or organization, that has murdered or lynched people or advocates the subjugation of another race, I think I'm clear of any concerns about that type of scrutiny as to the content of my character.

I think you would have you agree someone that is recognized within the political community as being highly influential, lending his voice and efforts to shaping political action, if that individual, Tony Perkins in this instance, is known to have been appearing as a speaker at several events hosted by the Council of Conservative Citizens, a nativist group that advocates non Whites should not hold political office in the United States, as well as courting Klansman David Duke for his list of contacts to help aid in the election of a candidate being managed by Tony Perkins should, minimally, raise some eyebrows.

This isn't a question of 'Well, he's sort of got caught hanging out with a few of the wrong kinds of people.'

This is about his sphere of influence and the circles in which he travels.

Knowing of some racists up the street who may spout their rants and dislikes are merely indicators of proclivities, not necessarily indicative of any ability to act upon their desired prejudices.

The abilitity to act upon one's racist beliefs or attitudes within a political framework gives political power to racism, a reality that American history teaches us was cultivated and achieved over hundreds of years since the founding of this nation, whose vestiges continue to shape our current existence.

Rory Cripps

at 20:47 on March 1st, 2010

Karen: Like I said in my prior comment:

"We can all dig stuff up, because no one is pure as the driven snow when it comes to racial views or who they associate with--no matter how meticulous we are about our associations."

I'll leave it at that for now.

Hugh Askew

at 10:34 on March 1st, 2010

"........your brand of sermon is no longer welcome in the U.S. military,”

So now, will "liberal/progressive" types defend this kind of behavior by the government?

No brainer, eh?

158

at 10:55 on March 1st, 2010

That was a dumb thing to do.

Karen Hatter

at 12:39 on March 1st, 2010

An excerpt from The Republican Voter Fraud Hoax :

The only actual crime here is that Acorn managed to register some 1.3m low-income (read: Democratic-leaning) voters over the past two years. The rest is, pretty much, just made up.

But in the bloody and desperate trenches of the Republican war on democracy, that's more than enough to kick in a last minute surge of lies that may - with the help of a compliant and lazy corporate US media - wreak enough havoc, scare enough voters, confuse enough people and plant enough seeds to call an Obama victory into doubt on November 4.

If you can't win it, steal it. If you can't steal it, claim the other guy stole it. If you can't claim the other guy stole it (yet), say they're about to and then kick up smoke that maybe someone will believe you. (Heckuva job, CNN.)

Here are the facts. Acorn verifies the legitimacy of every registration its canvassers collect. If they can't authenticate the registration, or it's incomplete or questionable in other ways, they flag that form as problematic ("fraudulent", "incomplete", et cetera). They then hand in all registration forms, even the problematic ones, to elections officials, as they are required to do by law. In almost every case where you've heard about fraud by Acorn, it's because Acorn itself notified officials about the fraud that's been perpetrated on them by rogue canvassers. Most officials who run to the media screaming "Acorn is committing fraud" know all of the above but don't bother to share those facts with the media they've run to. None of this is about voter fraud. None of it. Where any fraud has occurred, it's voter registration fraud and has resulted in exactly zero fraudulent votes.

Attacking ACORN has been an ongoing attempt by Republicans to disenfranchise minority voters since its founding in 1970.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) identifies itself as " the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities."