An American fatwa

You know, I'm pretty good at warding off depression which, I figure, is no small thing. Every thinking person has plenty to be depressed about given the way the country is going. But I must admit - the news about Pat Robertson really got me down. In case you've been asleep or something and don't know what's happened, it seems Robertson has publicly called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. I want to share with you a Newsday article by Ellis Henican entitled, "Pat Robertson: The words of a false prophet" because it not only reports on the story of the moment but also reminds us of outrageous statements Robertson has made in the past. Here's what he said about Chavez:

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson told his viewers.
...
"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war. ... We don't need another $200-billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Then Henican tells us why we need to pay attention:

It's tempting to dismiss Pat Robertson as some minor figure on evangelism's fringe, writhing in the dirt of some snake-charming revival tent. Tempting but impossible. Despite a vivid history of vicious exhortations, he's still one of America's most influential clergymen, sitting atop a powerful media empire and a lucrative fundraising machine, the Christian Broadcasting Network.

He made a credible run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. His "700 Club" reaches 1 million viewers a night, he says. The show is even carried by the ABC Family Channel.

Now let's take a look at some of what Robertson has said in the past:

Pat Robertson once declared that feminism "encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." He contended that liberal judges appointed by Democrats are a bigger threat to America than al-Qaida, beseeching God to create a few more openings on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, he agreed with fellow evangelist Jerry Falwell that feminists, gays, abortionists and civil libertarians were to blame for the attacks. Robertson has long maintained a nutty obsession with gays - "self-absorbed narcissists who are willing to destroy any institution so long as they can have affirmation of their lifestyle."

Over the years, he's blamed gays for divorce, abortion and Sept. 11. He asserted that Gay Day at Disney World would bring "terrorist bombs ... earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor."

One commenter on Smirking Chimp said the following:

It's called "solicitation to murder," and in situations like this, with a U.S. citizen calling openly for the murder of a foreign head of state, I strongly suspect there's a federal felony involved.

A few months back, this same psychopath twice said that "Foggy Bottom" (DC area loc of State Department) should be bombed.

Nothing was done about that previous terrorist activity and nothing will be done about this latest, either.

It's the commenter's final statement that I find so depressing. We are fast growing our own version of the Taliban headed by the likes of Pat Robertson, James Dobson and Jerry Falwell. It is so important for those of us who are appalled to rally ourselves to fight back.