Todd Stadler's blog

god and country

In a recent CNN interview with Paula Zahn, Pat Robertson talked about his call for prayers that three Supreme Court justices would retire.

He identified the justices he had in mind as John Paul Stephens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor. For those of you following along at home, two of those are considered to be red-letter liberals, and Robertson would like to make the court safe from their flag-burning ways.

But Robertson also made a startingly strong case for why he he is irrelevant as a spiritual leader. Let's listen in (emphasis mine):

ROBERTSON: I think our people are just so tired of this particular accord. I think they feel it's gotten out of control and we didn't know who else to appeal to, so we're appealing to the judge of all the Earth to see if there might not be some correction.

The "Republican", er, "Reverend" Pat Robertson really just knows how to preach, doesn't he?

"We didn't know who else to appeal to ... I mean, we'd tried going straight to the top, asking Bush if he could just edit the Constitution a bit more to get rid of these guys, but no. We tried pulling some other strings in the administration, but no go there either. Finally, we decided that we might as well try praying because, hey, we call ourselves Christians, and it just might work! Surely God would be interested in making a correction to this gross error he had made in letting liberals on the court."

It's the kind of talk that just makes you want to confess your sins right now. But wait, there's more!

ZAHN: Would it be in your judgment and your definition of prayer, equally appropriate for you to pray for a change in the Constitution that wouldn't allow for a life term on the bench?

ROBERTSON: The possibility of getting a Constitutional amendment of that magnitude through both houses of Congress on a two-thirds vote and then through three quarters of the state legislatures is virtually impossible. I can't understand it.

"Hey, why bother praying to God about something if I can't understand it? I mean, it's not like he's going to know any more. God's omnipotent and all, but he's got nothing on two-thirds of the legislators. Have you heard those guys?"

I guess Robertson has a different translation, but my Bible has Jesus saying, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Of course, Jesus is talking about salvation, not political hegemony. I guess salvation is a lot easier.

Of course, Robertson continues.

ROBERTSON: Paula, the problem is you have five unelected people who are determining what the Constitution is, how it affects all of us, and these people aren't elected. They're accountable to nobody and I'm just saying there needs to be some accountability, that's all.

So by praying for three more unelected people to be appointed to unaccountably determine what the Constitution means, this problem will be solved. Because these three new unaccountable people will be unelected by a God-fearing conservative president, not like those hippies Ford, Clinton, and Reagan who appointed Stephens, Ginsburg, and O'Connor. Of course.

Asking more or less the same question, Zahn continues:

ZAHN: When you're talking about prayer, I mean, have you ever prayed for that Constitutional amendment? ... Have you ever prayed for that change?

ROBERTSON: Listen, we prayed, we worked, we lobbied, we did everything we could possibly do and six Republicans blocked it because they said, if these religious people get their way on this one, they'll keep coming back for more. And it was a heartbreaking thing that took place, and as I say, 1982, so I'm at this a long time.

"Listen, Paula, we did everything — lobbied, pulled all the political strings, sang, danced, er ... scratch that, no dancing — but still God somehow didn't listen, no matter how hard we tried. Because, when you come down to it, what power does God have over six turncoat godless Republicans, who are probably actually communists in disguise?"

What's that, communists? Did someone say communists?

ROBERTSON: But Paula, I prayed for the downfall of the Soviet Union. I thought that communism, the tyranny of communism, was an abomination and I beseeched God to bring that terrible evil down and he did. It was a great triumph, it took awhile, but it happened.

Ah, the tyranny of communism. The absolute horror of sharing all your worldly goods. What sort of godless heathens would "[have] everything in common", "selling their possessions and goods [and giving] to anyone as he had need"? Not Pat Robertson!

What's that? You think Pat's referring merely to the flawed government referred to as communism and implemented with disastrous consequences in the Soviet Union, not the utopian commune envisioned by Marx? You think he is merely opposed to brutal, totalitarian governments?

Not so.

For instance, Robertson just loves Liberian President Charles Taylor, whom he recently defended as a "Christian, Baptist president", in spite of running a regime Amnesty International has accused of imprisoning, torturing, and raping its citizens.

I guess it's a funny kind of Christian who is indicted for war crimes.

Oh, by the way, on an unrelated topic, did you know that Pat Robertson had business dealings with Taylor, who invested in one of his companies and allowed him to mine in Liberia? Coincidence, I suppose.

Like I was saying, Pat Robertson is my number one source of information when it comes to spiritual matters. That guy knows what he's talking about.