Grayson's 'Taliban Dan' Video Controversy'. Just how accurate is it?

sabrina 1

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Thu Oct-07-10 06:02 PM
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Grayson's 'Taliban Dan' Video Controversy'. Just how accurate is it?

CNN's Anderson Cooper, among others in the MSM, have taken Rep. Alan Grayson to task over an ad aimed at his Republican opponent, Dan Webster, in which he calls Webster 'Taliban Dan'. The ad also appears to be unfairly taking a soundbite from a speech made by Webster, out of context, and playing it over and over again in what has been called a deceptive tactic.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_L2VbCtX0MBc/R5fdiubA4yI/AAAAAAAAAjc/-SrVN2E0o6E/s320/Alan+Grayson.jpg

You can see the Anderson Cooper/Alan Grayson interview on the Political Video page HERE

I, like many others who admire Rep. Grayson, had to admit that the ad did seem to be a bit deceptive, even while defending him against Anderson Cooper's attacks considering how the same media ignore the Rightwing Noise Machine's routine and far more egregious lies and smears against Democrats in general.

Still, it did seem that Grayson might have done himself some harm, especially if the charges in the ad could not be substantiated. I know I personally wondered why he would put something out there that he could not back up? He seems way too smart to do that.

So I did some research on Dan Webster since first viewing the ad, and all I can say is that having done so, the worst I could now say about Grayson's ad is that it relied too much on the assumption that people around the country had any idea of Dan Webster's Christian Fundamentalist background.

I did not know much about him, but now that I do, that ad and the title 'Taliban Dan' appear to be pretty appropriate, if a little hyperbolic. The only thing he should have left out was repeating the soundbite over and over without the context. The full speech appears to be unavailable now so Grayson cannot point to it to show why he claims the soundbite was not out of context.

Anyhow, here is an in-depth article from Alternet that details Dan Webster's history of associations with the very, very far Christian Right. It is well worth reading the full article if you admire Rep. Grayson because it clarifies the logic behind the ad and makes it a lot easier to defend the reasoning for it. I do think it was not effective, as it did not achieve its goal immediately. The message could have been far better presented, however, it is not the deceptive ad that Anderson Cooper tried to make it out to be. Either HE knew nothing of Webster's background, or did and doesn't care.

Alan Grayson’s GOP Opponent Directly Tied to Christian Group That Wants Permanent Subordination of Women

The “Taliban Dan” video flap

Daniel Webster’s association with Bill Gothard’s Institute For Basic Life Training has continued into the present, and a speech Webster made at a Nashville IBLP conference in 2009 has now become a source of controversy due to a new Alan Grayson campaign ad. Grayson is currently taking a media drubbing because of an ad campaign ad that calls Grayson’s political opponent, Republican Daniel Webster, “Taliban Dan.”

An assessment from Factcheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, has charged that a new Grayson campaign ad attacking Grayson’s political opponent, Republican Daniel Webster, takes out of context statements Webster made in a speech at a 2009 conference of a religious organization called the “Institute of Basic Life Principles.”

But die-hard religious right researchers at ReligionDispatches.org are raising questions about Factcheck.org’s charge, and Religion Dispatches editor Sarah Posner calls out Factcheck.org in turn for its benign depiction of Bill Gothard’s IBLP, noting that “Factcheck.org fails… to describe what the IBLP is really about, describing it as a “non-denominational Christian organization that runs programs and training sessions.”

Many across the political spectrum appear appalled by the Grayson campaign’s “Taliban” label but Daniel Webster’s nearly three-decade long, intimate involvement with the Bill Gothard and the Institute For Basic Life Principles suggests that the label may be less than hyperbolic.

All emphasis mine.

Factcheck.org is a reliable source, but in this instance they too apparently, were not aware of Dan Webster's long history of associations with the rabidly rightwing Christian Fundamentalists whose beliefs, in fact, DO compare with those of the Taliban.

More from the Alternet article linked above:

So how close is Republican Congressional candidate Daniel Webster, running against Democratic Representative Alan Grayson for Florida’s 8th Congressional District, to evangelist Bill Gothard? That question is now politically salient because of Gothard’s participation in a radical Christian political movement called Christian Reconstructionism that seeks to impose stoning as a form of capital punishment for crimes including murder, adultery, “heresy,” and “witchcraft.” (for more on Christian Reconstructionism, see story appendix)

The answer to that question would be, very close. The first section of this story documents Daniel Webster’s relationship with Bill Gothard, so close that the religious leader could reasonably be described as a mentor or spiritual guru to the Republican congressional candidate. The second section describes Bill Gothard’s affinity for Christian Reconstructionist ideas.

I would sincerely suggest that anyone who is going to take Rep. Grayson to task for his characterization of Dan Webster in that video ad, first read this entire article, and do some other research on the man and his beliefs. It is truly scary especially since, and I still have to do more research on this, Webster actually does vote according to his beliefs.

Rep. Grayson is one of the best Progressive Democrats in the House. He produced an ad that was not well done in terms of succeeding in getting the message he wanted to get across to the people, leaving himself open to attacks while people like Cooper refused to discuss the actual charges made in the ad. However, now that I have read about this man, Webster, I do not believe the ad was deceptive, as Cooper tried to make out.

I think as more and more people begin to learn the truth about Dan Webster, any harm done by the ad among whose who matter, Grayson's supporters, will be diminished.