http://iowaindependent.com/23403/grassley-unfamiliar-with-plan-to-execute-gay-ugandansResponding to calls from gay-rights activists to denounce an anti-homosexuality law being considered in the African nation of Uganda, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said he is not a member of that country’s parliament and is unfamiliar with the particulars of the law, an aide to the Republican lawmaker told The Iowa Independent on Wednesday.
“Subsequent to inquiries like yours this week, {Sen. Grassley’s} office contacted the U.S. State Department to get more information,” said spokeswoman Beth Levine. “The office was told that the administration hasn’t made an official statement, but an assistant secretary has privately relayed concerns to the Ugandan president.”
Des Moines-based One Iowa is conducting a petition drive demanding Grassley denounce the bill
http://eqfed.org/campaign/GrassleyPetition , which originally called for people convicted of being a homosexual to be sentenced to life in prison
http://iowaindependent.com/23169/grassley-asked-to-denounce-anti-homosexuality-bill . People who test positive for HIV would have been executed along with anyone who has homosexual sex more than once.
snip
Activists felt Grassley could have an impact on the situation due to his reported affiliation with a group of lawmakers known as “The Family.” Investigative journalist Jeff Sharlet, who has written a book about the group, said Grassley has been involved with the secret fellowship of Christian politicians since the 1980s and has been active in African affairs on the group’s behalf.
Levin said Grassley has not been in contact with “The Family” on this or any other issue and has never lived at or attended a prayer meeting at the group’s townhouse on C Street near the U.S. Capitol.
“He worships at Prairie Lakes Church in Cedar Falls, and on the rare occasion he’s in Washington on a weekend, he worships at Woodlawn Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia,” Levin said.
His denials are amazingly precise such as saying he has not attended prayer meetings at the C Street house but does not deny going there at all or going to other Family properties or prayer meetings.
Jeff Sharlet on “The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power”august 12, 2009
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/8/12/sharletJEFF SHARLET: Indeed. And Grassley has been involved with the organization for quite some time, since the ’80s, when he traveled to Somalia to join Barre, Siad Barre, in prayer to Jesus. And he brought with him a defense contractor named Bill Brehm.
And Barre was a kind of a cynical character, as you might expect for a dictator. He was very clear. He says, “I’m willing to pray to Jesus, and here’s what I want in return.” He says, “I want my defense budget doubled.” He says, “I want meetings for my officials with the Reagan White House. And I want a sort of a hands-off policy while I crack down on some rebels.” Doug Coe, the leader of the group, wrote back, in essence, “Done, done and done.”
And when we look at history, so it was. And Barre used those weapons, supplied to him in part by the US, to wage a war of almost biblical proportion on his own people, from which Somalia has not recovered to this day. The Family doesn’t consider that a failure; they consider that God’s will for Somalia.
snip
EFF SHARLET: I think that’s one of the most important aspects of this. I think, too often, progressives tend to see the Christian right as simply an auxiliary of the Republican Party, whereas the movement, especially through the Family, has recognized that you stay in power not by aligning yourself too closely with one faction, but by having lots of friends. So, Hillary Clinton, Senator Mark Pryor of Arkansas, who was, of course, instrumental in fighting against the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have made unionization much, much easier. He explained to me the Family’s approach to Democratic bipartisanship. He said, “Jesus didn’t come to take sides; He came to take over.” That’s a Democrat speaking. So, Republicans and Democrats working together.
Chuck Grassley, a guy who’s been involved for such a long time. Grassley was involved with the Somalia project throughout the 1980s. They recognize that Somalia, of course, is a nation of great strategic importance, right there on the Horn of Africa. So, even as they are pursuing what they say is a religious agenda, it’s also meshing very neatly with a certain kind of agenda of American expansionist power and oil, frankly.
Some Grassley mentions in Sharlet's book:
http://books.google.com/books?id=NVmcx-8zdGEC&q=grassley#v=snippet&q=grassley&f=false
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