“Substantialicious”

by digby

While we’re on the subject of phony sanctimonious gasbags, I have been remiss in failing to write about the fact that none other than Ann Coulter appeared before the “Reclaiming America for Christ” conference in Florida and repeated her faggot slur against Edwards. Apparently, she didn’t get the big laughs she got at the CPAC but then again, she was speaking from the pulpit of the Coral Ridge Baptist Church so perhaps it was simply the venue that prevented the full throated applause for such lines that she’s used to.

But that’s not the real news. Coulter has been getting away with her nasty schtick for less than half the time Don Imus did, so she’s got a way to go before the TV bookers and mainstream fans in the media realize that they are actually alienating an audience instead of gaining one. The real news is what others said at the conference that hasn’t been widely discussed, as far as I know.

Adele Stan, of the American Prospect covered the conference and reported back on some very interesting developments. It featured all the usual suspects but with some new arguments that I haven’t heard before. I thought this one was quite clever:

Despite a bullet-pointed sheet from [Southern Baptist Convention head Richard] Land in the conference literature that called for Christians to become “good stewards of the environment,” in his speech he tarred today’s environmentalists with the brush of communism.

“[A]ll the pinks,” Land said, “have become chartreuse; that’s the environmental crowd.” In an America run by “secularists,” Land’s hand-out reads, “[h]uman life would become more commoditized.” There would be clone farms and polygamy, all part of “a neo-paganist triumph.”

Environmentalism leads to clone farms and polygamy. That’s a good one. I think I finally understand why the conservative Christians refuse to believe in global warming. They think capitulating to the commie-enviro chartreusers will lead to a world of science fiction cloning. (But if I’m not mistaken, isn’t the Bible chock full of polygamy? What’s up with that?)

But then the vaguely humorous turns very dark:

[Family Research Council’s Tony] Perkins complaining that the Muslim call to prayer is “now broadcast over American cities.” (The use of the word “broadcast” is a bit of a stretch; it’s most commonly announced over a mosque’s own public address system, much like the digital loops of chimes played in the bell towers of modern churches.)

Perkins read the call to prayer aloud, implying it to be something to which a Christian should take offense since it declares that there is no god but Allah. (He omitted the fact that Allah translates from Arabic to English as the word “God.”) Then he repeated it in Arabic.

“Allah akbar,” he said, derisively. “That’s what Islamic terrorists say before they cut off your head.”

Noting that the call to prayer is “broadcast” five times a day while “Christians have a hard time getting a manger scene put up one time a year,” Perkins asked, “How is it that in our nation where Muslims account for about 6 million of the 300 million living in this country, and Christians comprise 100 million, that Muslims can control the public policy and we cannot? I suggest to you that it is because Christians have become apathetic to our role in shaping the policy in our nation, and it could have deadly consequences, not only for the unborn, but for the living as well.”

“How is it that in our nation where Muslims account for about 6 million of the 300 million living in this country, and Christians comprise 100 million, that Muslims can control the public policy and we cannot?

Poor, poor pitiful conservatives. They are always so put-upon. Even if it’s all in their heads. (It reminds me of an old Phil Donohue show I saw years ago in which a woman rose to protest the civil rights movement by saying “you’re giving my rights away to those people” as if there are just so many “rights” to go around.)

But this is where it’s time to pay attention:

Lest any of the assembled miss the point, Perkins offered up the story of Phineas, grandson of Moses’ brother Aaron, from Numbers 25. Phineas was rewarded by God with an “everlasting priesthood” for killing an Israelite and his Midian lover because God had forbidden the mixing of the men of Israel with the women of that tribe.

The story is, essentially, the vindication of the criminalization of “miscegenation” — a sentiment consistent with Perkins’ past courting of such racist groups as the Ku Klux Klan and the Council of Conservative Citizens, America’s largest white supremacist organization, according to journalist Max Blumenthal. (Perkins bought, on behalf of political client Senator Woody Jenkins, a phone-bank list from former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.)

Coulter’s rhetoric was no less violent. In describing the murders of doctors and health care personnel who worked at abortion clinics, Coulter said the victims had been shot, “…or, depending on your point of view, had a procedure performed on them with a rifle.”

Perkins use of the Scripture was only slightly less menacing than Coulter’s flippant analogy.

“We read that Phineas arose and he took action…,” Perkins said.

“Not only is prayer required…I warn you that if you begin to pray for our nation that, at some point in time, you’re gonna be prayin’ and you’re gonna feel a tap on your shoulder and hear, ‘Son, daughter, I’ve heard your prayer; now I want you to do something about it.’”

Just in case his message should be misconstrued, however, Perkins offered this caveat: “Now, let me be clear, in case the media’s here,” he said, “I’m not advocating you go home and get a pitchfork out of your storage shed and run into your neighbor’s house.” Phineas, the Bible tells us, used a javelin.

That is some creepy stuff, as was Coulter’s full comment:

“Those few abortionists were shot or, depending on your point of view, had a procedure with a rifle performed on them,” Coulter told her audience, which responded with laughter.

“I’m not justifying it,” she continued, “but I do understand how it happened…. The number of deaths attributed to Roe v. Wade — about 40 million aborted babies and seven abortion clinic workers — 40 million to seven is also a pretty good measure of how the political debate is going.”

This, again, was from the pulpit in a church.

I think it’s pretty clear what these fine folks mean when they say they want to “reclaim” the culture. As they wallow in the epic failure of their movement to successfully govern the nation, they are likely to become more inclined to this kind of talk. That’s usually the way it goes anyway.

The National Rifle Association, citing shifting political winds in Congress after the 2006 elections, urged its members Saturday to unite against “the storm that lies ahead” for gun owners.

“Today, there is not one firearm owner whose freedom is secure,” the group’s executive vice president, Wayne R. LaPierre, told thousands gathered for the annual national convention here.

“You will rise and stand and we, together, we will fight them all.”

And we’re going to need a boatload of money to do it, he added.

The Stans piece is via James Wolcott who also flagged this glorious example of rightwing civility from Pamela Atlas:

The other Queen of the Pig people

Bottom line, I left Pajama so that I could sell advertising. Make a couple of bucks. Hellloooooo. GUILTY OF CAPITALISM. I can’t sell ads under my agreement with PJM but don’t let the facts get in the way of your cheap little obsession. That washer woman just can’t keep out of my drawers. The best was Big Pussy accusing me of snuggling up to the Powerline boys. Huh? They are a blog, they are not competition. They are bloggers not a portal of various blogs. And we were on a panel together addressing the Young America’s Foundation.

I love that about Wolcott, he pretends to be in the thick of things in the blogosphere, jumping on that train as his quasi has been star fades. He doesn’t know jack about the blogs. But he has the temerity to comment so authoritatively.

The pajama story is a non story. But don’t tell the Queen, he/she might have to actually write about something substantial.

Hey Big Pussy, get a clue. Start writing about the beheadings, slavery, misogyny, oppression, hangings in the name of the global jihad. Believe me woman, your fat neck will be one of the first to go.

Keepin it real baby, from your substancialious blogger.

Posted by Pamela Geller Oshry on Friday, April 06, 2007 at 11:21 AM

Yes, I know she’s just another blogger. It’s not like she said that stuff in a church. But you’ll note that she was an invited speaker at the Young America’s Foundation and was privileged to interview the US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, numerous times, even in the middle of his greatest challenge — the Israeli Hezbollah war. The Young Americans. certainly got a lot out of her talk and I have no doubt they will enjoy her blog immensely:

Students raved about this exciting weekend program. “I feel more devoted to advancing freedom on campus and in America after attending this Young America’s Foundation conference. With the tools I learned, I’ll be better able to win the argument and amplify the [conservative] majority,” says Nate Swanson of the University of Minnesota – Morris.

Young America’s Foundation is grateful to Alice Cox for her generous sponsorship of the 2007 Midwest Conference. Through Mrs. Cox’s support and the generous gifts of many other Foundation supporters, young leaders from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and nationwide were able to hear from some of the Conservative Movement’s top leaders and meet other young leaders who share their values and beliefs.

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