Please explain to me why I'm supposed to care about 'Ted Haggardy'.

[brentspeak]

I never heard of this guy until a couple of days ago. Apparently, he's some well-known figure within the conservative evangelical world, who's also known to join in weekly conference calls between politically-active evangelicals and Bush.

But why would I waste my time over some fallen, hypocritical pastor who much of the United States has never even heard of, and whose travails may or may not (supposedly) affect just a few pockets of conservative evangelical voters in Bible Belt states, when I could better use my time contributing to non-DU forums to point out that veterans organizations overwhelmingly rate Democratic senators higher than their Republican counterparts on veterans issues?

http://capwiz.com/dav/scorecard.xc

(Further expounded upon in a shameless self-plug for my own thread)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2554078&mesg_id=2554078

I'm also trying to squeeze in that information (among other things) when talking with people about the Senate election here in NJ; I point out that Robert Menendez has an 80% rating from the Disabled Veterans of America.

I guess the point of this not-well-organized post of mine is that this is the time to get out there and make that final push to prove to people that voting for the Democratic candidate is in their and the country's best interest. Gloating over some pastor you never even heard of until 48 hours ago achieves nothing.

(Self-righteous rant,over. Time to get back to being busy.)

:rant:

[acmavm]

1. Hell. the guy only talks (via conference call) to bush** once a

week. No reason for concern, right?

Sheesh.

[kestrel91316]

4. I heard it was THREE times a week.

[trumad]

2. He simply adds to the disgust of his base.

it helps.

[jobycom]

3. Well, maybe you shouldn't. Those who feel they should don't need to

be criticized for it, though, do they?

[leesa]

5. Just a highly mobilized voting block of millions that he controls...nothing

to see here.

[XanaDUer]

6. Here's why...

As you probably know by now, Pastor Ted is George W. Bush's personal advisor, and the problem with so many of these politicized preachers is that they've forgotten Jesus' admonition not to confuse God and Caesar.

Not only have they successfully pursued worldly power, but they've made so much money along the way that they've become just another rich Republican constituency. As for sexual repression, it seems to have reached epidemic proportions among the Religious Right. What are the lessons here?

...Ted Haggard may strike some people as naive, but he's nevertheless the leader of a politicized religious movement with 25 million adherents. (That's less than half the number represented by the highly liberal National Council of Churches - a fact often overlooked by the media - but it's still a lot.)

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/2609

[VeggieTart]

7. To paraphrase a popular line: It's the hypocrisy, stupid.

You can bet evangelicals have heard of him and were probably tossing their cookies when they heard -- if they weren't making excuses for him because he pretends to be a christian. And I don't know whether to laugh or be disgusted every time a moral arbiter is caught like this. I suppose since both men are consenting adults in a business transaction, I can laugh.

[neebob]

8. It depends on your definition of "waste my time"

and it can still be an addiction, regardless of which site you're on and what you're talking about. If you have to call it something else and can't not do it for a few days, it's a problem.

[fishwax]

9. nobody had heard of Mark Foley 48 hours before his scandal, either

but a few days after it happened, just about everybody was talking about it. Maybe few had heard of Haggardy a few days ago, but by yesterday people were talking about it, and not just on DU. It reinforces the GOP hypocrisy highlighted in the Foley affair and sucks the holier-than-thou hot air out of the sails of the christian right. The more the rank and file evangelicals are turned off by their leadership, the less effective the gop gotv campaign will be.

Bottom line is, talk up those issues that you feel comfortable with or passionate about. You have an issue that you're passionate about, and that will help you change minds and make a difference. Other people may be struck by different issues, but the fact that they're on here "gloating over some pastor" doesn't mean they aren't every bit as busy as you :)

[UTUSN]

10. Because

1- He's a "...well-known figure within the conservative evangelical world"

2- He's connected to Shrub.

3- Those pockets of Fundies, who DO know him, VOTE (as opposed to MOST of our Dem constituents), and they might decide because of this incident to vote against Rethugs or NOT vote at all.

4- He's another Rethug hypocrite who has been exposed.

5- You (we) can MULTI-TASK, be conscious about the vets' issues you cite IN ADDITION to using this incident in our favor.

6- We need to fight on ALL fronts, high/low, big/little, profound/silly.

[madfloridian]

11. This is why.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=2119

The hypocritical bastard has hurt a lot of people.

[niyad]

12. I care about this lying POS because he is way too influential, not

only for bush, but for local government here in the springs as well. if you don't understand about the large base of evangelicals with which he is associated, then I strongly suggest you read the article in harper's magazine about him.

as has been pointed out, we are capable of multi-tasking, caring about more than one issue at a time. and believe me, having seen the hatred and hypocricy of the fundamentalist right, as represented by him and his merry band of hate-mongers, we are enjoying this spectacle.

[chat_noir]

13. Ted Haggard on Marriage

In this video, preacher Ted Haggard discusses the importance of marriage and finding someone of the opposite sex.

http://www.beliefnet.com/story/203/story_20319_1.html#



Also check out Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish: http://time.blogs.com/daily_dish/

[chat_noir]

14. Ted Haggard and George Bush: Saying Less Than They Know.

Ayelish McGarvey:


I recently asked Haggard, himself the pastor of a large church in Colorado, why the president, as a man of supposedly strong faith, did not publicly apologize for continually misleading Americans in the run-up to the Iraq War. Instead, Bush clung zealously to misinformation and half-truths. I asked Haggard why, as a man of Christian principle, Bush did not fully disavow Karl Rove’s despicable smear tactics and apologize for the ugly lies the Bush campaign spread over the years about Ann Richards, John McCain, and John Kerry, among others. After all, isn’t getting right with God -- whatever the political price --the most important thing for the sort of Christian Bush has proclaimed himself to be?

Haggard laughed as though my questions were the most naive he’d ever heard. “I think if you asked the president these questions once he’s out of office,” Haggard said, “he’d say, ‘You’re right. We shouldn’t have done it.’ But right now if he said something like that, well, the world would spin out of control!

“That’s why when Jimmy Carter ran, he such a terrible president. Because when he , he really tried to maintain and those types of values -- and that is virtually impossible.”

The pastor returned to my charges of Bush’s deceitfulness. “Listen,” he said testily, “I think are responsible not to lie , but I don’t think we’re responsible to say everything we know.”

http://www.isthatlegal.org/archives/2006/11/ted_haggard_and.html

[951-Riverside]

15. You shouldn't

I don't care about him either but its nice watching the hypocrite fall.

[Cameron27]

16. If you want to continue to read

science in science books, you better care about these guys.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. 30 MILLION reasons why....

Ted Haggard resigned as head of the 30 million-member association

The man preached gay hate to 30 MILLION people and was using meth and hiring a MALE prostitute for 2 years and that doesn't bother you? The hypocrisy of these people doesn't bother you? It makes my head explode. These people are the psycho-in-chief's base. The more who see the truth, the better for the Dems.


from your post:
when I could better use my time contributing to non-DU forums to point out that veterans organizations overwhelmingly rate Democratic senators higher than their Republican counterparts on veterans issues?

Did you see the news yesterday? The VFW here in Illinois chose to endorse a fucking repuke candidate who has never served a DAY in the military over TAMMY DUCKWORTH who lost 2 LEGS in Iraq!!!!:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr: Needless to say, the VFW will NEVER, EVER get another penny from me as long as I live. I will give to LIBERAL Veteran's organizations....... Partisan Dumb asses!