"I spoiled Pat Robertson’s birthday"

The Virginia Quarterly Review has a good (and long) write-up about Pat Robertson here.

Can We Agree That This Guy Is Nuts?

Pat Robertson and the Election

Every year, Pat Robertson pretends to speak with God and then makes some crazy, ambitious, and often very wrong, predictions. This is what Robertson sees for 2008:

"He told me some things about the election, but I'm not going to say, because some old man on "60 Minutes" would make fun of me, so I'm not going to tell you who the winner's going to be," Robertson said, in apparent reference to CBS humorist Andy Rooney, who turns 89 on Jan. 14.

That hardly inspires confidence. Perhaps Robertson has learned from his past failed election predictions. He had previously pronounced that God gave him some inside information that President Bush would win the 2004 elections in a "blowout." Bush ended up getting just 51% of the vote, though. In 2006, Robertson told his television audience that “the outcome of the war and the success of the economy will leave the Republicans in charge.” That obviously didn't pan out, either.

Given this man's obvious delusions, and his failed attempts at magic, why do Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney pander to him so much? Can't we all just acknowledge that this man is crazy and move on from there?

UPDATE:



UPDATE II: Oh, so he's not really even sure he heard from God this time:

700 Club: I-35 Can Stop Homosexuality

Rupert Murdoch on Pat Robertson

Back in 1988, when Pat Robertson was running for President, Rupert Murdoch had this to say about the crazy man:

"He's right on all the issues"

Seriously.

Let's take a look back at some of Robertson's stances on the issues.

• If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality."
• "[Homosexuals] want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers."
  -The 700 Club 1/18/1995
• "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."
• "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
  -Interview with Molly Ivins
• "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."
  -Recounting how God talked to him about an upcoming disaster
• "Presbyterians are the spirit of the Antichrist."
  -The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, p. 239
• "When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals – the two things seem to go together."

He also said that he totally concurred when Falwell blamed the 9/11 attacks on homosexuals, etc.

Robertson Supports Giuliani

In the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, televangelist Pat Robertson and the pre-dead Jerry Falwell gathered together on the 700 club to tell the world that God was upset about the fact that our country allows consenting adults to view pornography, and doesn't use its public schools as a vehicle to promote the Christian religion. As a result, God has powered down America's overshield and allowed the terrorist attacks to happen as some sort of divine punishment. According to these two contemptible ghouls, we got "probably what we deserved" for "secularizing" America.

Pat Robertson still makes these claims on his website, blaming the attacks on "rampant pornography" and "rampant secularism." According to Robertson:

We have insulted God at the highest level of our government. Then, we say, "Why does this happen?" It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His protection from us. Once that protection is gone, we are vulnerable because we are a free society.

We lie naked before these terrorists who have infiltrated our country. There are probably tens of thousands of them in America right now.

Now, the crazy Pat Robertson has given Rudy Giuliani his official seal of approval.

Let's take a step back here for a moment. At a recent Republican debate, Ron Paul made the argument that the September 11 attacks occurred in part due to our foreign policies. Rudy Giuliani claimed that he had never heard that argument before (even though it's what Osama Bin Laden said immediately after the attack: "Terrorism against America deserves to be praised because it was a response to … the continuous injustice inflicted upon our sons in Palestine, Iraq, Somalia, southern Sudan, and … Kashmir"), and demanded that Ron Paul take the statement back. Rudy Giuliani was simply outraged that someone would make such an argument on live television.

Given this past history, you would think that Giuliani would condemn Robertson's crazy remarks. Instead, Giuliani has chosen to lie about them, and pretend it was just a simple case of misunderstanding. According to Giuliani, "I think the comments he explained a long time ago. I’ve had to explain lots of comments of mine."

A simple misunderstanding, right guys? Nope. He even says the exact same things today. How can you watch that video, and read what he has to say about the subject (without retraction), and then conclude that he means anything other than what he is so obviously saying? Robertson has even made similar statements in different contexts, once claiming that a privately sponsored "Gay Day" event at Disney could result in hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorist bombings and "possibly a meteor."

In addition, Robertson is a liar (he claims to be able to leg-press the world-class weigh of 2,000 lbs. - a transparently false claim and an absolutely shameless attempt to sell his common-formula "Age-Defying energy drink"), and a fear monger (he claims that God told him there will be "mass killing" in the year 2007 from terrorist attacks in the United States; according to Robertson, "The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."). I wonder if people will press Giuliani on this, or if they'll keep on pushing non-issues involving Hillary Clinton.

UPDATE: Josh Marshall says it better. With video.


UPDATE II: Here are some more crazy-ass Pat Robertson quotes.

• "If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality."
• "[Homosexuals] want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers."
  -The 700 Club 1/18/1995
• "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."
• "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
  -Interview with Molly Ivins
• "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."
  -Recounting how God talked to him about an upcoming disaster
• "Presbyterians are the spirit of the Antichrist."
  -The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, p. 239
• "When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals – the two things seem to go together."

Pat Robertson Launches Research Program

In 1978, televangelist Pat Robertson founded an unaccredited University and named it after his television station: Christian Broadcasting Network University. In recent years, the name was changed to Regent University. Despite having achieved accreditation, the school continues to have a poor academic reputation, with Robertson's fourth-tier law school tied for the dubious honor of "lowest ranked law school in the country."

Now, in the wake of their failed attempt to keep Terri Schiavo's body perpetually pumping food and air, the people at Regent University are announcing a new undertaking:

University leaders have launched a new effort to research everything from disabilities to cloning and stem cells.

Who better to research such things than a school that doesn't even have a single science department?

Giuliani Supports Regent University

Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani spoke at Pat Robertson's Regent University (formerly "Christian Broadcasting Network University") today.

I am very, very impressed with Regent University, when I consider that it was founded just a short while ago. The number of graduates that you have and the amount of influence that you have is really, really terrific.

And of all the many things that you've done - and there have been many, and many contributions...

Regent University is ranked as a fourth tier law school, where it is tied for the the position of "worst school." It is simply the lowest ranked. Despite this academic ineptitude, one in six Regent grads are employed by the government, and 150 are specifically serving in the Bush administration (Monica Goodling is a Regent U. grad). We've got retards running wild, and Rudy Giuliani is congratulating them for carrying so much influence.

And just for fun, let's take a look at a few choice quotes from their leader, "Dr." Pat Robertson.

• "If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality."
• "[Homosexuals] want to come into churches and disrupt church services and throw blood all around and try to give people AIDS and spit in the face of ministers."
  -The 700 Club 1/18/1995
• "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period."
• "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
  -Interview with Molly Ivins
• "I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."
  -Recounting how god talked to him about an upcoming disaster
• "Presbyterians are the spirit of the Antichrist."
  -The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, p. 239
• "When lawlessness is abroad in the land, the same thing will happen here that happened in Nazi Germany. Many of those people involved with Adolph Hitler were Satanists, many of them were homosexuals – the two things seem to go together."

Pat Robertson Says Some Crap

From "The 700 Club":

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have to recognize that Islam is not a religion. It is a worldwide political movement meant on domination of the world. And it is meant to subjugate all people under Islamic law. In the Quran, it says it very clearly. There are two spheres. One is the Dar al-Harb, which is the realm of war. The other is Dar al-Islam, which is that part that's under submission to Islam. There is no middle ground. You're either at war or you're under submission. Now, that's the way they think.

Now, sure, over here, you've got Islam light and you've got all these various things, but the idea is we don't want just accommodation, we want to take over and we want to impose Sharia on you. And before long, ladies are going to be dressed in burqas and whatever garments they would put on them, and next thing you know, men are going to be allowed to have wife-beating and you'll be beheading adulterers and so on and so forth. That's Saudi Arabia. We don't want that here in America. If they don't like it here in America, then let them go to Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait, to Yemen, to all those wonderful nations around the Middle East. "

Muslim-baiting aside, I have to agree with Pat that Sharia law is 100% undesireable. That being said, I'm glad that a good number of Muslims practice "Islam light" and forego the whole Sharia law thing. Likewise, I'm glad that today most of the Judeo-Christian community practices "Christianity/Judaism light" and sidesteps the whole Mosaic law thing as well. Let's not forget that the god of the Old Testament also instructed his followers to kill adulterers (Lev. 20:10), and subjugate women (Ephesians 5:22-24).

Mitt Romney On Pat Robertson

Mitt Romney recently gave the commencement speech at Pat Robertson's Regent University. Mitt had nothing but adoration for Pat: “This university, its students, its alumni and the faculty serve as an example of Dr. Robertson’s dedication to strengthening and then nurturing the pillars of this community and our country: education, fellowship, and advancement.”

First off, I wasn't aware that Pat Robertson was a doctor. He went to law school, but failed to pass the bar. He later earned a Master of Divinity degree from the New York Theological Seminary, but I wasn't aware that this earned you the title "doctor". Maybe he got an honorary degree from someplace...

Anyway, let's see what Pat Robertson has said in the past to strengthen the pillars of our community.

Pat Robertson on Dover Pennsylvania: "I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city."

Pat Robertson on the September 11 attacks: Two days after the terrorist attacks, Mr. Robertson held a conversation with Jerry Falwell on Mr. Robertson’s TV show “The 700 Club.” Mr. Falwell laid blame for the attack at the feet of “the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians,” not to mention the A.C.L.U. and People for the American Way. “Well, I totally concur,” said Mr. Robertson.

Pat Robertson on Islam: "I believe it’s motivated by demonic power. It is satanic and it’s time we recognize what we’re dealing with. … [T]he goal of Islam, ladies and gentlemen, whether you like it or not, is world domination."

Pat Robertson on Ariel Sharon's stroke: "You read the Bible and He says 'this is my land' and for any Prime Minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says 'no, this is mine.'"
-2006

Pat Robertson on assassinating Hugo Chavez: "I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."
-The 700 Club, August 22, 2005

Pat Robertson on Hinduism: "The origin of it is all demonic. We can't let that stuff come into America. We've got the best defense, if you will -- a good offense."
-1995

Pat Robertson on non-Christians: "When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. `What do you mean?' the media challenged me. `You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?' My simple answer is, `Yes, they are.'"
-Pat Robertson's "The New World Order," page 218

Pat Robertson Invoking Godwin's Law: "Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
-Interview With Molly Ivins