The American Spectator

Keith Kennedy| 10.20.09 @ 6:42AM

Thanks for doing the necessary research on this intriguing, woeful web, which hopefully will now get wiser dissemination as a "heads up."

Alan Brooks| 10.20.09 @ 8:41AM

Rush is great because he is artistic within a wide-reaching mainstream format.
The public needs to be reminded that there are talented artists such as Rush and, most of all, Tom Wolfe, to act as heavy hitters for the conservative big league.

Alan Brooks| 10.20.09 @ 8:44AM

... yes, of courseI know Wolfe has no radio show;
but he OUGHT to.

Alan Brooks| 10.20.09 @ 8:49AM

just one more point; naturally it is partly illiberal caroing to blame. But much of the the public doesn't know, say for instance how the Becks, Savages, and Limbaugh (most of all) are not merely about politics, but also entertainment; and, at least in the case of Rush, also artistic expression relatable to the conventions of the mainstream.

victor| 10.20.09 @ 1:43PM

Speaking of "heads up", this just came up:
http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/R.....penElement
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?f.....eId=112886

Obama and Egypt sponsored this gahrbage and he is going to sign it on the grounds that:
"Does violence in the media, particularly hate speech against immigrants, impact levels of actual violence?"
This will bring real penalties to those who preach against real hate by those who want to kill us and are persecuting Christians, not just here, but all over the world.
The UN resolution will take precedent over the First Amendment.
Just remember how muslims took over the known world in their time: With the Sword and the Flame.
The time to be "nice" is over.

Rev. Chuck Currie| 10.21.09 @ 9:54PM

A different take on your post:

Hate Speech Hurts: Take Action For A More Civil Society

http://community.ucc.org/post/.....ciety.html

victor| 10.22.09 @ 11:40PM

Okay, Chuck, we'll hold a short moratorium on any National Socialist references and concentrate on Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Fidel Castro. Hitler was a piker compared to these Communists.
Here are two places you can go if you really want to see what real hate looks like:
http://www.persecution.com/
http://www.opendoorsusa.org/
What book of the Bible will you be preaching from and will you be speaking about the Persecution of Christians?
John 15:18
"If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you"

Robbins Mitchell| 10.20.09 @ 7:18AM

Where do I go to sign a petition asking for an inquiry into the activities of hate queers like "Reverend" Guess?

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 7:33AM

Mr. Lord, pray hell. We need to come out fighting. Standing on a chair with the hangman's noose around our necks is a little late to start to think, "Hey these guys are serious about choking us!"
Damn, by all appearance of Mr. Lord's article we can't even trust the clergy anymore. Ya, might say God has even turned on us, if your a Conservative that is.
People!, the Left is out to exterminate us,! Earth to America!!!!!
George Soros is is a God dam* card carrying Communist and he needs to be in prison for all his financial schemes instead of funding Conservative destruction.
Like I have spouted off before its us or them and "them" is winning the war for this Country. We are in a war without bullets, (yet) and Americans are still wrapped around the axle on how Paula Abdul is doing since she quit American Idol.

Donna| 10.22.09 @ 10:23AM

When the church takes the 501c3 status, they become a government church. They can be told who, what , where, and when to speak. Jesus speaking in the bibles said to give unto Ceaser what is his and to God what is his. He was saying to pay the tax, not become exempt!

EasTexan| 10.20.09 @ 7:41AM

This is scary, scary stuff. May God protect our great country from this odious bunch now in control of our government, and their willing dupes in the churches and the press.

Jane| 10.20.09 @ 10:41AM

There are no dupes in the press. They know exactly what's going on and fully support the shutdown of Fox New and Talk Radio.

SoCon| 10.21.09 @ 11:45PM

Spot on, Jane!

Martin j smith| 10.20.09 @ 7:59AM

Who would ever have thought ( looking back from the 60's ) the the real Free Speech Movement comes from the Right. Wow. Yet, scary as well. Scary because while Left Democrats often complained about say "Bush Fascism " while protesting endlessly
without the kind of political bullying that Obama is using, these same Leftists are planning to erradicate any sign of opposition. SoIt is time to be thankfull--as I am--that someone is one the
the case--yet there is a need to organize both for the 2010 elections and against the real fascists tendency in the current White House.

George True| 10.20.09 @ 8:00AM

I would urge anyone reading this article who is a member of UCC to spread this to anyone you know in the congregation. Then begin putting serious heat and pressure on the church heirarchy from within the congregation. Ask them straight out why they are conspiring to subvert the constitution of the United States. Tell them in no no uncertain that thay are getting in bed with Satan if they continue to be co-conspirators in subverting the First Amendment, and that you as members of the congregation, will NOT tolerate it.

24AheadDotCom| 10.20.09 @ 5:04PM

"Ask them straight out why they are conspiring to subvert the constitution of the United States."

If you actually think about it, that wouldn't be too effective, now would it? No one - even if they're doing it - would admit to "conspiring to subvert". So, you'd just be wasting everyone's time and taking time away from someone who might be able to ask something that would throw them for a loop.

If any UCC members want to actually do something smart and that could be highly effective, I can come up with some questions that would throw them for a loop. If you want to actually do something - and can get their response on video - keep leaving comments on the entries on my front page until I notice you, or send me an email. Finding the address is left as an exercise.

Here's my post on the "Fast":

http://24ahead.com/media-viole.....r-support-

Paul Bunker| 10.20.09 @ 8:02AM

And the churches wonder why their attendance keeps shrinking. Could it be they've forgotten to follow the teachings of Jesus?

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 8:14AM

Paul, this is exactly why Church attendance is shrinking. The old saying of, "Just follow the money," rings true in this case.
When you have George Soros waving millions of dollars under the nose of the clergy hierarchy, they will take the free trip to the Caribbean every time.

victor| 10.22.09 @ 11:43PM

Teachings of Jesus?
They have forgotten Jesus completely.

Mattled| 10.20.09 @ 8:41AM

Why isn't this news?

Oh, I forgot, the media is in the (toilet) tank for Obama and his minions.

The media fails, Obama fails. Period. I just read (WSJ) that the NYT is shedding another 100 jobs from its' 1300 person newsroom.

1300? 1300?

What the heck do they do all day? They only report 1/3 of the news. They could shed 800 jobs and the result would be the same----DNC Central reporting.

They cold just give the job to Anita Dunn and be done with it.

Mr. Lord, two things:

What can we do to insure the media's [quicker] downfall? You've told me before that it is happening, just not as quick as we wold like. The latest war on Fox News is a salvo to their demise. How soon before the IRS is dispatched and shuts it down for some unknown "reason"?

Two" How about starting a petition for the UCC to quit doing what they are doing? How about getting some Conservative folks to get their attention?

Commie Blaster | 10.20.09 @ 9:00AM

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Facts organized all in one location. Obama, New Party, Ayers, Dunn, Jennings, Jones, Sunstein, Jarrett, Lloyd, Wright, School Indoctrinations, Soros, Cop-Killers, Cuban Spy Rings, Commie Media, Misinformation, Congress Investigation, plus details on Socialist/Communist Members of Congress like Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank and over 80 others. Listen to Soviet Spy defector explain how communist takeovers are performed and Reagan's guidance on dealing with Communists. Learn what a Socialist, Communist, Progressive is. Examine ACORN, SEIU's and Union Communist leaders. See FBI files and testimonies. Catch up on Takeover News and study a Communist Takeover Plan from the 1960's, along with how to resist. Videos, links, pdfs.

Commies can run, but they can't hide!: http://www.commieblaster.com

Sean Parnell| 10.20.09 @ 9:02AM

Not to rain on anybody's parade, but this tale is only slightly less of an imagined "conspiracy theory" than the notion that a few harsh words by Rush somehow led to the beating of 2 Mexican men.

Yes, there are many who would like nothing more than to shut down Fox, Rush, and the conservative movement in general. But tough rhetoric from the White House along with liberal church leaders getting signatures on a petition are hardly the makings or even noteworthy elements of a scheme to strip First Amendment protections from anyone daring to dissent from "approved" orthodoxy. Even under the guise of curbing "hate speech" I seriously doubt the speech-banners will get very far in getting the FCC to do anything.

The real threat, at least on the talk radio front, is the imposition of so-called "localism" standards, which would give "community activists" a say in whether stations get their licenses renewed, sending a strong signal to license holders that they'd better air programming in line with what these activists want (as opposed to what their listeners want).

The threat to the First Amendment is real, but this report doesn't do much to illuminate it, I fear.

Sean Parnell
President
Center for Competitive Politics

Jeffrey Lord| 10.20.09 @ 9:25AM

Sean...

I agree about localism. But the point is to discredit..and thus undercut...talk radio and Fox both. A constant refrain...through churches, FCC petitions, WH aides blasting away, getting as many respectable folks out there as possible to drive the argument that talk radio is hate speech, Fox is not a real news network etc. When a consensus develops that talk radio is all about hate speech, then localism wins the respectability prize..and then there is a "legit" reason for getting these people off the air.

Make no mistake. These people know exactly what they are doing.

Tim| 10.20.09 @ 9:52AM

I was going to say something, but I wouldn't want to upset the government monitors.

SoCon| 10.21.09 @ 11:48PM

Too late, Tim: "Government monitors" already know where you live.

Timothy L. Pennell| 10.20.09 @ 9:05AM

Every time somebody compares this bunch to HITLER, and his National Socialist Party, they're labeled a 'KOOK', or a 'NUTJOB', or a 'NAZI', themselves. Can anyone show me how these people DIFFER from the Nazis? How they DIFFER from FASCISTS? How they DIFFER from your run of the mill Banana Republic DICTATORSHIP?
Ladies and Gentlemen. As an esteemed poster, on another 'Comment Forum' put it: "This is 'The Enemy From WITHIN', that the CONSTITUTION speaks of in every OATH OF OFFICE." It just might be time to patronize your local Gun Shop. It's what was EXPECTED OF US, when the FOUNDING FATHERS drew up the 2nd Amendment.
What did Ghandolf read in the Dwarfs' Diary, as they sat in that room, surrounded by the DEAD? "They are coming." Indeed, they are.

Jimbo| 10.20.09 @ 3:08PM

If you want to see how closely our current regime mirrors the National Socialist movement in 1930's Germany, read Rep. Samuel Pettengill's 'Smoke Screen' (1940)

KyMouse| 10.20.09 @ 9:44AM

Good article, Mr. Lord.

I know that you have a lot on your plate with the UCC already, but I hope that you and your conservative allies within its ranks can do something about the denomination's position on abortion. Last September, for example, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life stated that the UCC "is a firm advocate of reproductive rights, including the right to a safe abortion."

One need not be a genius to know that abortion is lethal, not safe, for babies--more than 51 million have been killed by abortion since 1973. In many cases, it isn't safe for their mothers, either (please Google "Synthia Dennard" and "Lou Ann Herron," two of the many mothers who have died at the hands of licensed, legal abortionists). Denominations that support the right to kill babies are far removed from the God who loves even "the least of these."

Jobe| 10.20.09 @ 9:45AM

This guy has a lot in common with Goebbels. He is a strong believer in propaganda's power, and he wants to be the one to wield it.

Anthony| 10.20.09 @ 9:47AM

These Fascist totalitarians spend a great deal of time and energy creating phony front groups with massive coordination among them and other entities, such as the UCC. What a waste of energy.
If only these thugs would spend their time and energy more productively and wisely, such as building businesses and creating jobs, rather than spending all their waking moments tearing down the fabric of America. But then again, if they did, they wouldn't be Fascists. How did people, like Bill Ayers, acquire such hatred ?
No matter, Obama and his Leftist henchmen will not succeed in turning America into a socialistic banana republic. Not while we still have breath left in us, he won't.

DanH| 10.20.09 @ 10:05AM

Where oh where are our liberal brothers and sisters demanding 'seperation of church & state' in this affair?
I can't seem to find them.
/chirp chirp

Steve| 10.20.09 @ 10:25AM

Thank you, Mr. Lord. Fine work as always. I will confess perpexity, however, as to the UCC (or the UMC or other assorted "mainline" Protestant churches) containing in their pews people of conervative bent. The denominational actions have been obvious for years; how can it be supported by conservatives with both offerings and physical presence?

The door is open; walk on out, taking your wallet with you. There's another church around the corner; trust me.

Jeffrey Lord| 10.20.09 @ 11:02AM

Steve...

Our church is descended in part from the original Congregationalists - the Pilgrims. Which is to say, official church polity is that every local church runs itself and the national church has zero authority to speak for us. We decide where our money goes quite specifically, in the case of my church largely to our church to run the building, pay salaries, local good works etc. The contributions to the larger UCC have dropped like a stone both locally and nationally for reasons like this. There are conservatives aplenty in our denomination, but because they understandably spend their time...as I do..tending to their local churches, over time the national hierarchy has liberalized. My own church, a great pastor, more or less just stays away from politics...that's not why we are there.

The people at the top of the hierarchy are good people...but they lean hard left and cannot resist the temptation to imply to the media that they represent all of us. They do not. And lots of us refuse to leave our own church ...but stay and work for change from within.

They need to be called out when they do things like this...and in this case they have been.

Thanks.

Quartermaster| 10.20.09 @ 6:24PM

If they have been called out, why are they still in office to perpetuate this kind of nonsense. They obviously have no idea what Christ established the church for, and perpetuating Sin is not what it is about.

Why are they still in office?

Angel| 10.21.09 @ 11:56PM

Jeff, like many conservatives, you are too nice for your own good. "The people at the top of the hierarchy" are NOT good people.

At the very least we must speak the truth or surely we are doomed. There's so much at stake; the loss of our beloved country first and foremost.

Joyce | 10.22.09 @ 10:43AM

How can We Protest this? Where do we Write?
How can we the CONSERVATIVE MEMBERS of UCC's start a Petition of Prostest to this Liberal policy. This is not what our Tiny little church was built on... It was a start by a Group of Germans in 1830's in MO who were Very conservative Membership... Most all the Old Members are gone.. but to Know their Tiny Church has National Leaders that are a GROUP OF LIBERAL SOCIALIST. This scares me they want to take away freedom of Speach to promote their agenda.. They now have new members who are Liberal, but a vew of the old conservative members remain all are in their 70's and 80's. Thank you for listening

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.20.09 @ 10:35AM

Mr. Lord
Thank you. Solid research there.

I have been commenting for months that Rush is the "canary in the coalmine", or at least one of them.
I also know that one of Alinski's tricks is "goading" us into something half-baked and foolish.
Our country now seems to be a trainwreck in slow motion. Beyond that, every single one of us who writes or comments here on the Spectator has painted a target on our individual backs.

Thank you, Sir, for your courage.
Also,I feel I must repeat...in caps....

EMPTY HANDS, PEOPLE! EMPTY HANDS!

We constitutionalists must begin moving beyond mere demonstrations, but do what...right the hell now?
www.myteamusa.org has some answers. We have taken the up-front join up fee off our site entrance. Please feel free to see if our ideas have merit.

Dixie Pixie| 10.20.09 @ 10:39AM

Is it not oblivious the so called “wall between church and state” is just a ruse to keep the conservatives out of political power. Needless to say the ACLU will not be coming to the rescue.

russel| 10.20.09 @ 10:42AM

You folk are smart , so help me with the Constitution . I too ask about the separation of church and state . Our Founders understood an organized relgious group could find fault with any number of Constitutional subjects ; they looked at Europe for a dose of reality . A church can scream hate all it wants , the Bill of Rights gives any hater equal air time .

victor| 10.20.09 @ 2:01PM

And which "church" are you referring to?

Anthony| 10.20.09 @ 4:11PM

Article l or the First Amendment plainly states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. This was in response to England's state sponsored Church of England. There would be no Church of America.There is nothing in the Constitution that speaks of seperation of chuch and state. This concept got legs, sort of speak, when some used a letter Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Hatter's of Connecticut, in which Jefferson makes reference to a wall of seperation. Jefferson's language was distorted by those who wished to create this barrier and sadly, it has taken hold in numerous Supreme Court decisions. Hope this helps.

bullwhacker| 10.20.09 @ 11:05AM

First article of impeachment: Grand conspiracy by the chief executive to violate the first amendment rights of americans.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 12:50PM

The question is: Is there the will to do it?

Bob| 10.20.09 @ 11:33AM

I just posted this to my Facebook, if anyone else here has one, please post it too.

Bullwhacker, I agree...impeach!

ExpressoBold| 10.20.09 @ 11:35AM

Isn't this petition for political activity a violation of IRS rules designating organizations qualified under Sec. 501(c)(3) or Sec. 501(c)(4) as tax exempt?

Uh Oh.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 12:00PM

Mr Lord,

I can't accuse you of hurling unsubstantiated accusations here; there's a great deal of information in your piece to consider.

I am a little concerned, as usual, by the ease with which you dismiss even the possibility that Limbaugh or Beck engage in "hate speech." (To be fair, it seems like your defenses are more often written on behalf of Limbaugh than any of these other figures.)

I can't imagine that anyone is really accusing Limbaugh of himself beating up Mexican men. There has been a rash of ethnic violence directed at Mexicans in recent years -- many of whom are legal citizens. (See several stories of cases on Long Island especially.)

The question is NOT are Limbaugh, Dobbs, Savage responsible for this violence. People who commit these crimes are responsible for it, and they should be incarcerated.

The question is really this, and I'm going to leave it as a question:

Are people who use the air-waves in any way obliged to IMPROVE the civility and rationality of public discourse?

Can they be held accountable -- NOT by the government, but by us -- for intoxicating public debate, for making it coarser, more volatile and -- in the case of Beck -- more unbelievably stupid than we could have imagined even 10 years ago?

None of this is meant to knock down the story you are developing here, really. In the larger scheme of things, I strongly doubt Obama's administration would try to shut down Rush Limbaugh. I think they want to RUN against Rush and Beck rather than the governor of Minnesota or some other decent, well-prepared, articulate candidate that may be getting ready to challenge Obama in '12.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 12:09PM

.. I shouldn't have said "the question is," as if there weren't other questions. It's the question that I think isn't asked enough.

Now I don't think Jon Stewart or SNL have the responsibility to police national discourse.

But people don't view Rush as the conservative Jon Stewart.

Rather, they view Rush as a moral and intellectual LEADER, much the same way they once viewed -- say -- William F. Buckley.

Buckley was -- of course -- very entertaining; but he was also a great thinker and writer, and he really, really cared about the overall health of conservative thought. He wasn't just out to score daily points for ratings. What a loss!

Jules| 10.22.09 @ 12:02AM

LibReader is our resident Storm Trooper in Obama's THOUGHT POLICE FORCE.

Buzz off, commie--and take Keith Dobermann and Rachel Madcow with you.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 12:43PM

"Are people who use the air-waves in any way obliged to IMPROVE the civility and rationality of public discourse?"
Rush Limbaugh naturally improves the civility and rationality of public discourse. He is one of the ONLY voices in the media who does so. But not according to you of course, because you despise the truth and are against anyone such as Rush who speaks it. In fact all you do is insult and demean those who dare to speak the truth.
"Can they be held accountable -- NOT by the government, but by us --"
~They ARE held accountable by us, it's called RATINGS. That's why you see your beloved Left Wing Extremist News media going down the toilet, or haven't you noticed?

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 2:00PM

Margie --

Of course ultimately your second point is absolutely true. If enough people disapproved of Limbaugh, Limbaugh would not have a show.

However, my question gets at how people come to approve of what they approve of. Standards, decorum, and taste are LEARNED, and my fear is that conservatives don't have intellectual leaders who are teaching these things.

Now, the idea that Libmaugh "naturally improves the civility and rationality of public discourse" and that he is one of the only ones who does is just silly, Margie.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 2:14PM

"The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse." Prov. 10:32.

tonypal| 10.20.09 @ 5:43PM

Nothing silly about it all Liberal Reader. Look, when you boil it all down, the left has two specific problems with Rush: One, he's incredibly successful and has become extremely wealthy in a medium where liberals have been miserable failures. Two, he exposes leftists by simply repeating what they say and making fun of them.

Both points are critical if you are to understand the left's desire to shut him down. On the former point, leftists are naturally envious people. That is one of the main reasons they seek to punish achievement, mainly due to the fact that most leftists simply cannot abide the fact that some people achieve prosperity in areas where leftists fail.

The latter point is even more important, because when leftists cannot win in the arena in the marketplace of ideas, they suddenly cease being First Amendment cheerleaders. Rush has not only succeed brilliantly where leftists have failed totally, but he has done so by eviscerating the left on a daily basis. He exposes the left, which is lethal to the left because the last thing the American left needs is for greater numbers of people to understand what left wing politics is all about. So Rush must be destroyed.

In my opinion, Obama and his gang of thugs represent the single greatest threat to freedom in this country, from within, since the inception of this great nation. He will accept no challenge to his authority, hence his attacks on Fox News. While I think he has done great damage already to this nation through his Alinskyite tactics, pitting citizens against one another, I believe he is destined to fail spectacularly. I have great faith in our system and trust he will be rebuked on a large scale next November.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:04AM

Good post, tonypal; your smack-down of Astroturf troll, LibReader is complete.

JP| 10.20.09 @ 12:44PM

LR,
It is only because of ignorance that many people believe that the "airways" were always pristine. In radio, there was that Leftist rabble-rouser Fr Coughlan. The early to mid 1970s saw many news outlets gushing vitriol RM Nixon's way. And in the history of the print journalism no one today can top the muckrakers and yellow journalist of yesteryear (although some are getting close). I remember one journalist account of FDR in 1930. He said the then Govenor of New York was usually kept locked up in a room, where he sat and laughed uncontrollably for hours at a time; another reporter said the FDR spent hours on end cutting up doilies as a form of therapy (many rumour that came out of our newspapers back then was that FDR was insane).

Public Safety is the last scourge of the Fascist. Robbespierre, Napolean, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Castro all used "public safety" as a means to curtail rights to free speech (among other things). If I remember correctly, no one ever suggested in the 1970s that Eric Severaid ever curtail his anger directed at Republicans when he gave his weekly on-air editorial. And no one ever demanded that Sam Donaldson show more respect to Reagan when in anger he would bader Reagan about the defecits or Iran Contra (and this was after Reagan was shot).

Our Republic was built around the voices of the angry (angry, not violent). Free Speech serves as a safety valve. What this President wants is the same thing that President Wilson enjoyed from 1917-1920. That should worry people.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 2:06PM

JP --

It's a bit of a stretch to count Fr. Coughlin among the leftists, but you can do as you like.

It's a free country. And you're free to totally disregard the differences among the lists of monsters you've conjured; and you're free to lump Democrats in with Hitler and Mao; and you're free to claim that a "public safety" regulation (like traffic lights, say) is just the beginning of a fascist regime. These are ignorant, silly beliefs, but you're free to have them.

Now the airwaves resound 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with this sort of sordid, kooky nonsense: there is no end of the conspiracy theories, lunatic accusations, and blathering hysteria, and of course, it's the right of people to engage in these things to do it. The government isn't going to stop them or even try.

Basically, however, I can see why reactionaries want to make this argument.

They KNOW at some level that the government is NEVER going to silence them, so at some point they'll be able to claim victory over an enemy that never existed. (Sound at all familiar?)

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 2:31PM

"you're free to lump Democrats in with Hitler and Mao;... These are ignorant, silly beliefs, but you're free to have them."
~Really, LibLiar?
http://newsrealblog.com/2009/1.....-a-maoist/

"They KNOW at some level that the government is NEVER going to silence them, so at some point they'll be able to claim victory over an enemy that never existed. (Sound at all familiar?)"
~Yet another new psychology from the delusional poster, LibReader. An enemy that doesn't exist.

LR| 10.20.09 @ 6:07PM

LR,
Fr Coughlin was for everything FDR was, and more so. He was for the nationalization of industry, progressive taxation, and government control of the public utilities and railroads. As it turned out, FDR wasn't liberal enough for him and he turned on the President.

Using public safety as a reason to curb free-speech is as old as the French Committe on Public Safety set up in 1793 by the Jacobins. It should be worriesome that the Obama is using the same templete to deal with dissent.

qrstuv| 10.25.09 @ 10:20AM

And look... no reply from Liberal Reader, who earlier scoffed that Coughlin wasn't a lefty. Wonder why that is.

John Navratil| 10.20.09 @ 2:38PM

Answer: NO!

Civility is what lubricates society. One chooses it because it makes life more pleasant. Rush cannot give it to you or take it away. If a commentator could do that, what would that say about the listener?

If you find his message disturbing, turn him off. I, myself, do not listen but not because I disagree with him, but because I don't find his show time efficient. I don't hear enough, quickly enough to make it worthwhile. But I am thankful that he, and people with whom I do not agree, are able to speak. And I fear this President.

John Navratil| 10.20.09 @ 2:39PM

"Him" in the above being Rush Limbaugh

gonzo| 10.20.09 @ 12:05PM

They can never silence Rush because he is a man who speaks the truth about everything and he lives it too, his life is his example and he is an artist like the man above and an extremely talented artist. But he's more than that. If you listen to Rush talking you can close your eyes and you can hear the soul of America there. Americans are not lazy and greedy like liberals want everyone to believe. Americans are good and this country is the greatest, but that's why they want to silence Rush because he says the truth. And anybody can just say something, but he lives it, he embodies the ideals in his living, in his Christian fellowship, through Him he speaks. Don't worry they can't make Rush stop because he is the truth.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:10AM

Gonzo, thanks for your post. I love Rush for his unabashed love and passion for our country: Rush is a true patriot.

Liberals will never understand that kind of patriotic pride but that is their problem.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 12:11PM

Gonzo --

O.K., O.K. Your apologia pro Limbaugh is moving. But:

"Rush ... embodies the ideals...in his Christian fellowship"?

That goes a little far, my friend. Let's keep it together.

victoro| 10.20.09 @ 1:50PM

Rush know Right from Wrong and that knowledge separates him from you right from the start.
God judges the heart and his brother David ahs been working on him for years, I am sure of that.
Rush never tries to convince us that something wrong will turn into something right as the Left are always doing.
Obama is now trying to tell us that Homo sexual "marriage" is somehow right, teaching Kindergartners about homo sexuality is somehow right and you know, there really is nothing wrong about Abortion, now is there, Simple Reader, eh?

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 1:56PM

Victoro --

Maybe some of what you've written is true. However, just for the record: Obama opposes gay marriage, as do most prominent Democrats.

KyMouse| 10.20.09 @ 2:52PM

It's interesting that the gay-rights movement never seems too upset over Obama's opposition to gay marriage. Perhaps they believe that he is really on their side and is only waiting for the right time to act. Do I remember correctly that he voted against a Federal Marriage Amendment and opposed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act?

I copied this from Whitehouse.gov while back: "President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights."

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 12:30PM

This whole Church and State thing is somewhat of a misnomer in regards to its Constitutionality. The phrase Separation of Church and State does not appear anywhere in the Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802, that voiced his concerns to the President about, Separation of Church and State. This was a letter only that voiced his concerns, this letter had absolutely nothing to do with Constitutionality.
The ?high and impregnable? wall central to the past 50 years of church?state jurisprudence is not Jefferson?s wall; rather, it is the wall that Justice Hugo Black? built in 1947 in Everson v. Board of Education.
Bottom line there is no Constitutional standing with the phrase, "Separation of Church and State."

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 12:48PM

Also Melivn,
In that letter he was actually concerned not about the "Church" running things, but for fear of the GOVERNMENT interference into our freedom OF religion!
The Left always perverts the truth and gets away with completely reversing the real meaning.

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 12:55PM

The Left tends to think that all of us are products of government run education.
Many of us even though we did attend government run school systems, we did not fall prey to the collectivist thinking, but rather we excelled in independent thought and individual exceptional-ism.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 1:47PM

Praise God for that! And it is because our minds and our freedom to think for ourselves is given to us by Him, and cannot be taken away.

Louis Jenkins| 10.20.09 @ 2:19PM

Melvin:

Yes, I too am a victim of government run education. It wasn't always so, at least until I was six years old. Then I spent 17 years latched to the breast of government run education, being programed to a more correct view of how our nation should be. The US was bad, communists, socialists, and liberals were good. History was re-written much as a fairy tale. Government was about equality, compassion, thought control, and the giving away of wealth, regardless of who it originally belonged to. Then those days of education addiction came to an end cold turkey, I went to work to wholy support myself. I lost the tether line to government education. It wasn't easy, in fact it was difficult. I began to receive a paycheck, balance my check book, and pay taxes. Suddenly the scales fell from my eyes. I took up my bed and walked and became reasonably successful. Only then did I understand our government's sole purpose, and it doesn't include those who strive, sweat, and sacrifice for a better life. The District of Crimminals wants all people dependent on them, well regulated by law, and demanding their handouts. Woe to anyone who thinks independently, believes that they can handle life's problems better than them, and believes that smaller government is better. I confess that I was once an addict of government education, and every day I must overcome that weakness. But I have you guys to rely on for strength and the will to continue in the cause.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:12AM

Good point, Melvin! All those years in strict Catholic schools made an iconoclast out of me!

Russel| 10.20.09 @ 12:59PM

Ok Melvin , I'll take your word about the church / state , but it gets bantied about so often , it makes sense the Founders would have flashed on its logical use . What about my idea of the Bill of Rights ? . I'm a problem solver , therefore goes my reasoning . The Constitution surely has built -in safegurds against this assault on speech , no matter how vile it may be deemed by some .

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 1:22PM

Another man's right is another man's infringement.
This is a Pandora's box that we lest not open

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 1:10PM

I have acquaintances, no longer friends due to the fact that one of the requirements to be a friend is that I cannot speak ill of Obama. They call themselves Christians. If a person who calls themselves a Christian refuses to speak the truth, they cannot be a true Christian. You cannot lie to yourself and others and be a Christian. There are people who are honest and don't call themselves anything. God looks at the heart. If you refuse to speak the truth you cannot partake in Christ, therefore in God. (If you are interested in doing so).

How also does one sit in the pew of an organization or Church that is working against the truth? Why not form your own Church amongst yourselves? Meet in your houses, study the Bible, fellowship and pray together. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Mt. 18:20.
This is what we may have to be doing anyway, as the spirit of Communism (Satan) takes over our country. This is what the people in Communist countries had to do. Even the the Communists would find them out and imprison them, and torture them.
If you think I speak in an extreme manner, read Matthew 24. This is only the beginning.

Louis Jenkins| 10.20.09 @ 2:32PM

Margie:

Yes, it is far better to speak the truth. A tree is known by the fruit it bears. This earthly Messiah only employs his friends and associates and has so far produced little if anything positive. Would they really tell him the truth or what he wants to hear? Conservative radio tells him what he doesn't want to hear, therefore, he must rub it out! But even the counsel of one's 'honest' enemies has truth in it. I too believe this is only the beginning.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 2:59PM

Obama's "friends" will tell him how he can best "succeed", of course. "Do two walk together, unless they have made an agreement?Amos 3:3.

And what is it that they agree upon? They are in agreement in that power does not belong to God, and that His freedom is given to us, the people, but that power belongs to Obama, and to his government. They're Fascists, and they're doing what Fascists do.
This is not a man who believes in God. Allah perhaps, but not God.

gonzo| 10.20.09 @ 3:55PM

Sometimes when Obama is speaking I can only think of the devil. I see evil thoughts, I hear his evil. Then when I turn on Rush or Glenn Beck, I can think of Jesus again, I can see our Lord and through Him I find my peace.

Rush is like our Lord, Glenn Beck is our new Prophet.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 4:10PM

Gonzo --

O.K. I get it. You're pretending to be a right wing crazy to make fun of people.

Sorry I didn't see it earlier.

The Liberal Reader isn't often one upon whom such irony is lost.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 4:17PM

Unlike The Left Wing Crazies, whose obedience and worship is to Obama, the Right Wing think for themselves, and worship and serve no man. Except Christ (for some of us), and God.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 4:14PM

I'd venture to say you're probably your own lord, gonzo.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:14AM

I'd venture to say that gonzo is a horse's azz like LibReader! Probably smokes dope, too.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 4:14PM

Maybe people don't want to be your friend because you constantly spout biblical quotations out of context with a tremendously sanctimonious air about you. Anyone can google bible quotes using key words, Margie, and ejaculating quotations like this won't encourage anyone to believe you have an understanding of Scripture. It's not how it works; never has been.

Just relax, Margie. You can still make friends if you prevail upon yourself to accept there's more than one way to look at the world. Or don't. I don't care either way.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 4:25PM

"Anyone can google"
~The internet is really wonderful for that, isn't Liberal Reader?

"this won't encourage anyone to believe you have an understanding of Scripture."
~"They are all straight to him who understands and right to those who find knowledge." Prov. 8:9.

"Maybe people don't want to be your friend"
~"There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Prov. 18:24.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:16AM

I like Margie, Lib Reader--you're the one who is odd man out on this blog. Go away, we don't like you, tool.

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 1:39PM

In my opinion, and I don't portend that I know everything, but that lack of civil discourse that this Country is experiencing is without a doubt, cultural.
If one of us has political discord with a black American, we are called racist or a hate monger.
We are not in discord with the persons race, but rather his or her political view, and or opinions in whatever they may be.
Many Americans who do not agree with President Obama are being labeled, "Racist, hate mongers, purveyors of hate speech," unfairly.
If a person is a racist, they feel that they are superior over another race. This is not the case with the majority of Americans who do not agree with President Obama or his policies, they are not racists, but they just disagree with the President.

Ken (Old Texican)| 10.20.09 @ 2:52PM

Liberal Reader is a well paid Soros drone without a "johnson" or "seeds".

Laugh at him as I do and uh..."moveon.orgasm" . heh!

Hey, Liberal Reader! How much food do you have in your mama's freezer? How much food do you have without ANY freezer?

I can make four phonecalls and shut off both food delivery to you and electricity to your mama's electric freezer.
Get serious now...hungry guy.
What in heck do you do if I make those phonecalls?
Dare me.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 3:17PM

I respond to the Axelrod-Astroturfer trolling for dollars types because it's great exercise, but most of all for readers who may never post but come here seeking the truth. LibRead is here to twist it. I'll be here to help defend it. As best I can.

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 3:34PM

The Soviet empire failed because of their Utopian vision of creating equality.
Here is a quote from Danilov the political commissar from the motion picture, "Enemy at the Gates," that sums up the attitude of the Left and their futility of creating a socialist paradise.

"I've been such a fool, Vassili. Man will always be a man. There is no new man. We tried so hard to create a society that was equal, where there'd be nothing to envy your neighbor. But there's always something to envy. A smile, a friendship, something you don't have and want to appropriate. In this world, even a Soviet one, there will always be rich and poor. Rich in gifts, poor in gifts. Rich in love, poor in love. "
So the goal of the multiculturalists and Communists in this Country is completely and utterly futile. There is and can't be true equality.

John M| 10.20.09 @ 4:05PM

There is a quasi-Civil War that is developing in this country between the left and the right, as if any have not yet noticed. Right now it is just a war of words and concerns about votes. Perhaps it will stay that way. We should all hope that it does. But if the left are successful in their attempt to shut down all voices of political opposition whether on talk radio, Fox News, or the internet by whatever trick the left manages to pull, then they will have crossed the proverbial line in the sand that no one has ever dared cross in our history, and the conflict may unhappily move to a more active level.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 4:18PM

John M,

No, there's not a quasi-Civil War in this country, and clearly you take your Glenn Beck straight. Try it with at least a chaser of some legitimate news source.

Projecting one's own experience onto others or assuming the experience of others is like one's own are both mistakes of ill-educated people.

There are ACTUAL civil wars going on; there was one here. The kind of divisiveness we're experiencing is the result -- mostly -- of growing disparity in our society, and such disparity does threaten our democracy because it is eroding the health of public discourse.

However, we are not in a civil war or anything like it or leading to it.

GreyLion| 10.20.09 @ 5:44PM

My my, liberal reader, aren't you going to be surprised.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 6:23PM

Grey Lion --

By what? A few thousand emotionally unstable, fat middle aged men howling and waving signs?

Surprised?

Not a chance.

victor| 10.20.09 @ 9:17PM

there were 2 million people in DC.
Take heed, ignore us at your own peril.
two elections in 2009 and 2010 is coming up.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:19AM

Nasty little liberal ejaculate--you'll see. You liberals have started this civil war, but WE will finish it.

John OB| 10.20.09 @ 4:31PM

Last week Chris Mathews verbally fantasized Rush Limbaugh's head exploding after a CO2 capsule was placed in his mouth. Would Mr. Copps consider that "hate speech" or free speech?
Mr. Lord is correct to point out that the Obama Administration is trying to manufacture consensus against FOX and talk radio for being hate mongers through a top down cabal of church hierarchies and the FCC. They have used the very same tactic with their push to foist government run health care on all of us. To fabricate consensus this media-savvy and power mad gang coralled the support of the executive leadership of the AMA, the AARP, the drug companies and even got the Catholic Bishops to endorse health care as an individual "right".
We here, the informed, must stand vigilant and hold the line against this Marxist onslaught. Their condescenion of all of us as the ignorant masses infuriates me. I fear that if they push this assault on free speech too far it will not end peacefully.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 4:39PM

John OB

"Marxist onslaught"?

Get ahold of yourself. This is unmanly hysteria. You need to look at FACTS and stop listening to Glenn Beck.

Marxist onslaught! Jesus, what a jackass you are.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 4:43PM

Behold the level of discourse, the tolerance, decorum, good taste, humbleness, what standards, what ability to raise the health of public discourse in our country!

John OB| 10.20.09 @ 8:28PM

Knee jerk reader, Jackass!
Unmanly hysterics!
Fat middleaged howling men!
Whiners!
Glen Beck obssessive!
The insults fly when gas-bags like you start hissing
Light your toke, maybe YOUR head will explode--oops--hate speech

Margie| 10.21.09 @ 2:51PM

~Take a look at Ms. Dunn's speech praising Mao as one of her top idols, then decide~

http://newsrealblog.com/2009/1.....-a-maoist/

J.C.Eaton| 10.20.09 @ 5:08PM

Liberal, Just wanted to remind you that you are a shameless fibber. You promise and promise, and promise again to renounce these pages and fade into well-earned obscurity. You rave about the posters, authors, and frequenters here(often degenerating into the four-letter vernacular of the street urchin to do so). But you NEVER keep your word. You come back again and again....with the singlemindedness of a homing-pidgeon(with a like level of intellectual cleanliness). Why do you do this? Why do you continue to inflict your unwanted shuck upon us. C'mon... stop the torment.Take some time off,have a glass of milk. Do some darn thing that doesn't involve this site. Many thanks...

Berl Goetz| 10.20.09 @ 5:21PM

Listening to Rush Limbaugh is fun. He is usually quite aware of what is going on the the federal government. I think he can teach listeners a lot if they have the time for a radio show. I don't like the way he criticizes environmentalism and conservation in general. I do like the way he suggests ways for us to connect the dots of leftist manipulation.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 6:26PM

J.C. Eaton --

Review that paragraph you just posted.

Now tell me. Do you make a single, reasonable claim against anything above that I've written?

Stop whining. Toughen UP, for the love of all that is holy.

victor| 10.20.09 @ 9:14PM

You have said that you were through and that you were going to leave, so why haven't you?
Typical lib, can't keep your word like Streisand and Baldwin and Sean Penn.
C'mon, make like a 747 and take off.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:21AM

Ha ha! LibReader is more like a put-put single engine Cessna than a 747. Only in his dreams.

Quartermaster| 10.20.09 @ 6:42PM

Like all of the moonbat left, Liberal Reader shows how little he knows, then attacks everyone in range when his ignorance laid bare of all the world to see.

It is most unfortunate that he does not recognize what the precursors to civil war are. While we have never had one (the war between the states of 1860-65 was not a civil war. it was a war for independence on the part of the Confederacy, and a war of aggressive conquest for the north), but we are being set up for one now. There is one very disturbing parallel between our time and the period 1830-1859, an increasingly shrill left that drive conservatives to the wall. Once the conservatives backs were against the wall, they seceded. In our case, the left is actively trying to cut off all routes of dissent, and ignoring what they are being forced to hear. Make no mistake, the left will enact what they can force down our throats and tell us to go to hell.

I do not advocate civil war, I am, however, predicting it. Jackasses like Liberal Reader who place their idiocy on display, thinking it wisdom, and doing their best to force it on everyone else, will bring civil war. LR may think we are not close to it, but it merely shows how ignorant he is.

The one that needs to get grip on himself is Liberal Reader. What he is doing is not only unmanly, it is insane.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:24AM

I've always said that liberalism is a mental illness: Lib Reader is the personification of that mental illness.

Radioman 777| 10.20.09 @ 6:50PM

Supposedly, the lunatic rantings of Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, et al, are not hate speech. How strange.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 6:54PM

Quartermaster --

First you say that I reveal my ignorance and am a jackass.

Then you make what I believe to be the following two claims:

1. There was no Civil War. The war all historians and everyone else refers to as "The Civil War" was actually a war of independence on the part of the South.

2. We are heading towards a Civil War because conditions in the country now are "like" those that prevailed in the 1840s and 50s, when "conservatives" (your word) seceded.

Anyway, you'll be alright Quartermaster.

Here's my advice. Just make posts expressing your thoughts and ideas. You're not one of those people who can easily get away with calling others ignorant without looking a little foolish. Trust me.

Left Coast Conservative| 10.20.09 @ 8:30PM

LR - Quartermaster is right. The left has pushed the dissolution of the locally controlled public school system on us, forced our children into bigger schools, forced our children to learn revisionist history, forced our children to learn about human sexuality at a base level rather than a fully human level, forced us to live inside a man-made construct of an urban growth boundary with neighbors 5 feet away, forced us into public transportation because they won't spend the money on the roads, etc.
People are getting tired of this - we don't like social engineering. We don't want to be told how many children we can have, what kind of car we can drive, what kind of house we should live in, etc. And, we are very close to being done with it.
You, dear LR, are incorrect in your assessment of these fine bloggers. They, however, are correct. You are a troll.

victor| 10.20.09 @ 8:56PM

Actually, the Confederate States of America fought the "War of Northern Agression".
And again, actually it was the Southern Democrats versus the Northern Democrats on the issue of slavery in the territories.
And like today, the moderates of that day in th erepublican party would not take a strong stand on slavery, which is why the Conservatives were called the Radical Republicans who were vigorously opposed by the Democratic Party and by more moderate Republicans as well.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 6:56PM

Radioman --

What has Chris Matthews ever said that you would consider "hate speech"?

victor| 10.20.09 @ 7:54PM

October 13, 2009
CHRIS MATTHEWS: You guys see Live and Let Die, the great Bond film with Yaphet Kotto as the bad guy, Mr. Big? In the end they jam a big CO2 pellet in his face and he blew up. I have to tell you, Rush Limbaugh is looking more and more like Mr. Big, and at some point somebody's going to jam a CO2 pellet into his head and he's going to explode like a giant blimp. That day may come. Not yet. But we'll be there to watch. I think he's Mr. Big, I think Yaphet Kotto. Are you watching, Rush?

victor| 10.20.09 @ 7:55PM

September 17, 2009
Chris Matthews is on Hardball right now making the argument that the assassination of John Kennedy was the result of right wing hate speech which incited people to violence. Even though Lee Harvey Oswald was an avowed communist who lived previously in the Soviet Union. According to Matthews, right wing hate speech emboldens even communists to commit violence.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 8:02PM

Victor --

I heard the James Bond thing; it was weird, but I don't see how you call it "hate speech."

On your second point:

You're right. Oswald WAS a committed communist who killed a sitting DEMOCRATIC president, which is a little hard on the working theory around here that the Kennedy's and the Democratic party are Marxistic.

At any rate, there was enormous right wing antipathy towards JFK. The Secret Service advised against the visit to Dallas because of an enormous number of threats against the president; JFK went anyway, and the rest is history.

Now, Oswald was not a normal person. He was extremely mentally and emotionally unbalanced; he was anything but ideologically pure. There is a fairly well-developed sense that a climate of violent hatred directed at a person or group can tip such persons towards violence. But it needs to be said he was a Marxist AND his first target was a conservative general whose name I have forgotten.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 8:05PM

But still .... I don't get the "hate speech" angle.

It seems like you are desperately seeking examples. You'd probably be better off concentrating on points you don't have to be so acrobatic about making.

victor| 10.20.09 @ 9:07PM

I guess putting a bullet in someone's brain isn't hate speech to you, eh?

victor| 10.20.09 @ 9:06PM

The democrat party didn't become fully marxist until McGovern ran in 1972 and Dead Kennedy and his ilk pulled our troops out of Viet Nam to help his buddies, the Communists take over and massacre 5 million people.
John Kennedy was actually a conservative when it came to fighting Commies, cutting taxes to spur the economy and defense spending.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:26AM

Oswald was just a typical liberal--extremely mentally and emotionally unbalanced--like you, Lib Reader.

Rev. Alexandra| 10.20.09 @ 7:19PM

Thank God for the UCC and Ben Guess and the Commissioner of FCC ! and thank God for the courage of the other 6 denominations to take-on the fear-based media.

Fox spreads a gospel of hate, and is one of the most anti-Christian corporations seeping into our pop-culture. The biggest danger is that they present themselves as news & reality based, when in fact Fox in nothing more that Info-tainment, and is actually a toxic-mimic of truth. They promote the destructive world-view of blame, hypocrisy and downright treason as patriotism. They are corrosively burning the heart out of America....

As I said, Thank God for the courage of the UCC. Perhaps there is Hope for our country. Thank You for the links so I can sign this petition.

With faith in Christ's Way ~ Rev. Alexandra

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 8:36PM

You are filled with lies, and following a gospel not of Christ, but of your own making. Will this be you?
~"Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;" Mt. 10:21.
~"indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God." Jn. 16:2.
~If you are thanking God now for this Fascist behavior, you no doubt will be turning on your brethren in Christ. The "god" you serve is a fantasy in your own mind, because it isn't the true God.

Jeffrey Lord| 10.20.09 @ 8:50PM

Rev. Alexandra...

Have you ever considered the possibility that what you have just written qualifies as a "gospel of hate" and that a "fear-based" philosophy is at the root of what you have just said here?

You are asking Americans to fear their neighbors, their friends, to judge people by race, religion and sexual orientation. Respectfully, this is wrong.

And yes, I have been a UCC member my entire life.

Ordained in the UCC| 10.20.09 @ 9:12PM

I have known Ev Parker for 34 years and I know he stands for the emancipation of those who have no voice in the culture, human liberty, human possibility. So, Rev. Alexandra, cite one quote from Ev that supports censorship, demonizing people with whom you disagree, masquerading hidden ideological agendas with a high-minded veneer of sympathy for presumed victims. Since I was a charter member of Jeffrey's congregation I have known him even longer than Ev. I laud him for his articulate analysis of a denomination that grows less relevant with time and that lives in a theological fog that invites caricature instead of sympathy. You may be horrified to know that the First Amendment also protects hate speech if that's what the UCC wants to call it.

Rev Alexandra| 10.27.09 @ 3:45PM

Senator Arlen Spector says it well :
"All Americans are entitled to hold and express their own beliefs, no matter how provocative. At the same time, no person has the right to engage in violent acts of hate or incite to violence [or hate]." Dear Mr. Lord, there are times to name hate so that it can be identified and called out. This is done in the name of love. I celebrate the UCC for having the courage to NAME and bring LIGHT to darkness and hate which does HARM to people & the freedom of dialogue & REAL political discourse in our country.
Can you see that what happens on Fox is not discourse or dialogue, it is NOT journalism, and it is rarely based on fact or reality. It IS designed specifically to instill additional hate and fear in its viewers. It IS designed to develop a movement that encourages regression back to an era like the 1950's. Going backwards is not an option. We can not put a genie back in a bottle. Fox & Rush's "news" IS based heavily on OPINION, not on facts, or truth. They both fall under the category of entertainment and should be labeled as such.

And, Mr. Lord I agree with your statement: asking Americans to fear their neighbors, their friends, to judge people by race, religion and sexual orientation. Respectfully, this is wrong.

I agree: That IS wrong ! And that is EXACTLY what the UCC is fighting against in its FCC action.
So glad we agree on this very important aspect of the "fast from media violence". It's intention is exactly what you are applauding : to OPPOSE asking Americans to fear their neighbors, their friends, to judge people by race, religion and sexual orientation. Thank You.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 9:11PM

The testimony of two is true. Jn. 8:17.

Richard Berg| 10.20.09 @ 9:31PM

I wont thank God for any of them liberal churches. It is Satan that needs to be thanked. You sir do not believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob. You believe in something, but it is not Him for sure. It is no wonder people in this country are in the shape that there in. It is because of Preachers having itching ears. They like to be liked. Wont say anything that might offend someone, even though it is the truth that will save their soul. How sad. But people don't worry, God has got it all under control and time is running short. Everything is archived and kept for evidence, for us or against us. The deeds done in this flesh will be weighed in the balance and most are going to come up short. However sad & hurtful that is, it is the truth. Read it for yourself. Matthew Chapter 13& 14 for those of you who believe in "I am that I am". Yes the God of all spirits.

Richard Berg| 10.20.09 @ 9:41PM

Woops- Chapter 7 Vs 13 & 14

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:30AM

I bet ya dollars to donuts that "Rev." Alexandra never met an abortion she didn't love--all 50 million+ of them.

Now, that's a LIBERAL "HOLY" woman for you; someone of whom Jesus Christ would be real proud.

Marc Jeric| 10.20.09 @ 7:31PM

First they were proud communists; then after Stalin's crimes got known they called themselves socialists; after the utter poverty and war mongering and crimes of socialist regimes in Germany and Italy and Spain became known they started calling themselves liberals. And now, when most of us understand their phony transformation, they are known as progressives. But it is the same bunch of criminals trying to direct our lives to their profit and hunger for absolute and perpetual power.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 8:38PM

Marc. They are also calling themselves conservatives and Libertarians as well! Just look around.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 9:21PM

To be clear, I meant LibRead, Toddard & such who are in agreement with them.
There is this new age so called conservatism I had never heard of before coming here. Also Libertarianism. From what I've seen, and the experiences I've had in here, they do not appreciate Reagan or Rush type conservatism.

Wicked Dickie--Virginia| 10.21.09 @ 8:12AM

I would add: They'll likely get that absolute and perpetual power through the continuing abrogation of our Constitution by our Beloved congress and Dear Leader , sometime messiah, President-for-Life Obama-ayers.

DTC OF AZ| 10.20.09 @ 8:09PM

Obama administration is a communist regime. Dunn declares in public that Mao is her favorite communist philosophy. It's so obvious, the Dems don't even bother to hide their agenda. What else the American people need to see in order to believe that we are in the wrong hand?

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 8:44PM

No, it's NOT a communist regime.

A communist regime is a regime run by communists.

There are ACTUAL communists in the world. I recommend you go to a library and take out some BOOKS on this topic. Fool, educate yourself.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 8:49PM

Liberalism=Socialism=Communism=Satanism.

You've chosen your side. We've chosen ours!

victor| 10.20.09 @ 9:24PM

Yes there are, but you won't let us fight them.
From John Reed to Walter Duranty to Henry Wallace to Alger Hiss to Ted Kennedy and now Obama.
We want to fight them and you boys pop up like jack-in-the-boxes and say NO!
The democrat party has the history of aiding and abetting the Communists, wherever they are.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 11:04PM

"You won't let us fight them."

Sir, you simply have not got a very good understanding of American history.

You don't even seem to know what the word "communist" means, which is amazing to me. Again, I urge you to get some good reading material and educate yourself about these topics.

Beck is NOT a historian or even a journalist. You need to seek out some REAL INFORMATION and stop cheating yourself by settling for whacky and shallow blabbering on the television.

DTC OF AZ| 10.21.09 @ 2:32PM

Liberal Reader,
Who's the fool here: YOU are! Go to "the ACTUAL communists in the world" countries and live there for at least 3 months, then come back here to do the comparison. Obama is leading this country to the path of communist. you fool.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:32AM

Lib Reader, you know you're a dirty commie. Admit it, loser. You'd rather be RED than DEAD, right?

Big J| 10.20.09 @ 8:13PM

Wow. I am a little sad that I was unable to participate in the smack-down of Liberal Reader.

Unfortunately, I was busy trying to make things work today. To coin a phrase, "light up someone's life". Absolutely the most rewarding part of what I do for a living is flipping the switch and watching the lights come on.

After reading all of the posts, I noticed three things:

1. Liberal Reader has displayed his one and only talent, as he always does: hijack the thread, take it completely off track (kinda sounds like Alinsky to me), then resort to insults.

2. While I fall for it from time to time, several posters fell for it, thereby giving the troll a victory.

3. Quartermaster wins the Post of the Day Award (far more prestigious than the Nobel Peace Prize these days).

To return to the topic at hand, I would like to thank Mr. Lord for the constant investigative work that he does. Many others deserve our gratitude - way too many to list here. And yes, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are at the top of the list.

Now for the rest of you:

Remember the quote "If they bring a knife, you bring a gun: If they put one of yours in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue. It's the Chicago way."?

Now is the time. We are being attacked by THUGS who know no other way. Not a good time to be weak-kneed. There are many ways to counter this assault on our freedoms. And please, make no mistake: this is an all-out assault.

Join a group of like-minded people (I recommend TEAM America, but at least pick one), and get active. There is safety in numbers. Together we can achieve anything. We can counter this fascist entity that wants to "transform America" into something that no one will recognize.

Contrary to those lacking common sense on this thread, I KNOW a civil war is brewing. I would like to stop it before it gets nasty, and I think most here would agree.

There. I've put my two cents in, probably a couple of hours late.

It's all good. I'll see ya'll tomorrow.

;)

Left Coast Conservative| 10.20.09 @ 8:34PM

Good post.

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 8:48PM

Big J

I see no "smack down," just a lot of name-calling.

Your post is typical of the lot: shallow and boring and factless and -- what's worst of all -- witless.

I didn't highjack anything; I posted a direct response to Lord's piece, and then responded to those posts written in good enough English to be understood.

Others brought in a bunch of ignorant nonsense about civil wars, Nazis, communists, and all the other masturbative foolishness they hear on the Glenn Beck show.

If you want to have a debate, then make your case. If not, fine. It's a free country.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:34AM

A free country for now, you crappy commie.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 8:44PM

Not fair! First you say you missed out on smacking down LibRead.. then you say by doing so is giving it a victory. So which is it?
Easy for others to come in after the battle and make claims on greatness! Where are all of you guys whenever I'm doing battle? :^)

Big J| 10.20.09 @ 8:51PM

It is giving "it" a victory, but I also said that I cannot resist the temptation myself. Sometimes the bait is just too tasty not to take.

Pipe down, Margie. You did great.

And whenever you're doing battle, we're all right there - just go back and read the posts (when I say "we", I mean the Common-Senser's here).

BTW, I didn't claim greatness. I just said I was busy lighting up someone's life (which is literally true).

Have a great night.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 9:03PM

Nobody tells me to pipe down, ya hear!? Whaddaya think this is, anyhow?
(said in the spirit of Ida Lupino). ;^)

Melvin| 10.20.09 @ 9:04PM

Geez, I leave for a few minutes and everyones breaking out their Boy Scout sporks.

Margie| 10.20.09 @ 9:28PM

LOL Melvin. Funny. And yes, you're right. As they say 'my bad.'

Liberal Reader| 10.20.09 @ 11:08PM

Margie --

Socialism = Communism = Nazism = Satanism = Idealism = Cynicism = Protestantism = Islamism = Extremism = Diabolism = Hedonism = Platonism = Epicuriansim = Existentialism = Separatism = Priapism = Orgism = Rheumatism = Protoplasm = Endomorphic Psychogenic Examplastic Pschyodramatic Phillobladderism.

Margie| 10.21.09 @ 2:00PM

LOL! Very good, Mr. Reader. Actually I used to think you were female, but after the filthy language you were using yesterday I realize you are a Mr. I truly pity you.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:36AM

Margie, that's the sad thing about Illiberal Reader--IT doesn't know what IT is.

Margie| 10.21.09 @ 6:29PM

To add to that: Your above is pure what you call gibberish. It makes no sense, as much of what you say doesn't.

In reality, what I say is true, that Liberalism=Socialism=Communism=Satanism. It is a fact. Now, if you like books as much as you say you do, and are always telling everyone here to go and read.. why don't you go and read this book: Marx and Satan by Richard Wurmbrand, It's available at Amazon for about $4.00. Then get back to me.

J.C.Eaton| 10.20.09 @ 11:56PM

Libby, Do you realize you've been whacking away at your keyboard since noon...nearly eleven hours jabbering, yakking, acting petulant and all the rest. Does your life have so few outlets and so little value that you can spend it so profligately making mock of fine people like we generally are? I'm simply reminding you that YOU said you were quit of us;YOU wrote all the scatological invective, you are certainly no gentleman and you sir don't mean what you say. Let's say you just step out of character and admit you NEED this site. You need this venue; you need this outlet for your banal, repetitive, free-association. I can accept that and so should you. Out here...

tonypal| 10.21.09 @ 12:20AM

"Whacking away" is an interesting choice of words. I doubt that he spent those entire 11 hours at TAS exclusively.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:38AM

HA HA!! Tonypal, you're on a roll at Lib Reader's expense. Love it!

Liberal Reader| 10.21.09 @ 12:54AM

Eaton --

I doubt I've spend 20 minutes writing in this thread over the course of those eleven hours. (I spent about that reading the original piece, which is what I began commenting on.) I've several times attempted to engage people about ideas; no one has responded with anything but empty insults, complaints, bullshit like you've written here. Your posts and most of the rest are weak and foolish, but I live in hope of living to find people who want to actually talk politics on the right.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:43AM

You protest too much, Lib Reader. We know what you've REALLY been doing all day. lol

S.FREEBZ| 10.21.09 @ 12:06AM

Any reporting that is done with FACTS, or seeks the TRUTH is considered hateful by the WH
and their minions, and must be stopped.
facts and truth are not in their current agenda---
deceit/lie and misguide are---

Liberal Reader| 10.21.09 @ 12:55AM

Nonsense.

Yosemeti Sam| 10.21.09 @ 1:27AM

This BHO clique soiling the White House -
are playing with matches.

What's that expression - don't thread on me?
Applies to talk radio and FOX!

America is in a continuum of war against
not only kook islamo-fascists but with the
perennial 'domestic' metastasizing of
Marxist, Maoist, whatever 'ist' ideology.
Infiltrating every institution of American
society including the LMSM stooge entities.

Thank GOD for the military and the NRA and
a memorable exhortation from the late Charlton Heston about the 2nd amendment.

This clique in the White House - a strange
metonym for resident Red fifth columnists
-

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:42AM

Thank God for the Oath Keepers!

Micah in Nashville| 10.21.09 @ 11:18AM

Yer kiddin', right? If the UCC is hard-core leftwingers, what are the independents and anarchists? Get some perspective. Turn off the xenophobes and love your country for a change.

SoCon| 10.22.09 @ 12:40AM

You mean the liberal haters like you, Micah? You wouldn't know love of country if it bit you on the butt, clown.

DTC OF AZ| 10.21.09 @ 2:59PM

Liberal Reader,
Who's the fool here: YOU are! Go to "the ACTUAL communists in the world" countries and live there for at least 3 months, then come back here to do the comparison. Obama is leading this country to the path of communist. you fool.
Why BOOKS? Live the life then come back and carry with you a real experience.

Katie| 10.21.09 @ 9:57PM

I'm a member of the Disciples of Christ and I was concerned to see you list Disciples as a sponsor of this imprudent petition. I went to the Disciples website to find out what was going on and there is no mention of the FCC, the hate speech petition, or any of this on the Disciples website. I believe you've listed the Disciples by mistake. Please advise where you got your information, since I certainly want to do something about it if the Disciples are getting involved - and I think you should make a correction to your article if the Disciples are NOT involved! Thanks.

Deek| 10.22.09 @ 11:49AM

Obama, the SEIU, ACORN, the Democrats---they are all following the Alinsky Rules for Radicals line for line.

Learn more about Alinsky, and how to fight back against his "rules" at http://twilightfalling.blogspot.com

This is important--you need to know what they are doing, the rules they are playing with, and how you can recognize the games they are playing to steal you rights, your freedom, and your money.

Siver Surfer| 10.22.09 @ 8:12PM

Hey! No self-respecting totalitarain communist regime can allow a free press! You take these guys for Pikers? No sir, we're gonna get all the gulags and firing squads we are entitled to!

Osamas Pajamas| 10.23.09 @ 1:55AM

Overthrow and destroy the FCC, treat them as the Brits were treated in the First American Revolution, let your Second Amendment rights protect your First Amendment rights.

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Dominik Hoffmann| 10.26.09 @ 5:29PM

Arlington Bishop Sets the Record Straight

The content of this article caused me to write the letter below to my local bishop. I am also including the response, set by the chancellor of the Diocese of Arlington.

-------------------------------

The Rev. Bp. Paul Loverde
Arlington, VA

Your Excellency:

With great disturbance I am reading today in an article on the American Thinker blog . It reveals that the USCCB has allowed itself to be instrumentalized by surrogates of the Obama administration to vilify Rush Limbaugh and other conservative talk radio hosts. Apparently, several mainline denominations will be joined by the USCCB in denouncing them to the FCC as being guilty of hate speech.

This is directed at the current administration's most effective critics. As a listener of Limbaugh's I can tell you that his criticism of the Left may be sometimes irreverent, but is always keenly insightful and never hateful. The bet by the Obama administration seems to be that, while his audience is outnumbered only by those of major televised sports events, more people do not know what he is really like, than do. This current propaganda is aimed at motivating them to build broad popular disapproval of Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio as a whole. Perhaps this is not, in the legal sense, a violation of the First Amendment by the government, but it potentially has the same effect.

My questions to you, Your Excellency, are:

1. What is your stance on this blatant leftist assault on conservative expression?

2. Do you think the USCCB representing all U.S. Catholic bishops and the American faithful should be involved?

3. What are you going to do to prevent the USCCB from going forward with this?

4. Do you acknowledge that the Obama administration's ideology is contrary, if not contradictory, to Catholic teaching?

5. Do you acknowledge that the Obama administration has no regard for the U.S. Constitution other than as a means of obtaining power?

6. Do you acknowledge therefore that Obama administration has no regard for free expression and therefore even religious expression, if it stands in the way of their quest for more power?

7. Does the Catholic Church have a duty to defend the free expression of political conviction as a manifestation of the individual's unalienable dignity of having been created in the image and likeness of God?

I am writing this with great urgency and concern because my own answers to Questions 2 and 4 through 7 are, no, and four emphatic yeses. We are at the beginning of what could become an enormous struggle for the values that are dear to us, both as embodied in what the fathers of the Constitution fought for and in Catholic teaching.

My family daily includes you as our bishop in the intentions for the Fifth Mystery of the Rosary, that the Holy Spirit support you in your mission to teach, govern and sanctify your flock.

Yours sincerely,

Dominik Hoffmann

-------------------------------

Dear Mr. Hoffmann:

Bishop Loverde has received your e-mail inquiry about a Petition to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding hate speech, and has asked me to reply on his behalf. For the time you took to express your concerns to him, Bishop Loverde asked me to convey to you his appreciation.

Here is some background on this situation:

In January 2009, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) filed a Petition asking the FCC to examine the extent and effects of hate speech in the media, and to invite public comment on that subject. Since January, various groups have sent letters to the FCC commenting on NHMC’s Petition, and providing their own viewpoints on the issue of hate speech. Some of these letters, and the NHMC’s initial Petition itself, included critical discussions of certain talk radio programs.

In late July, a comment letter was submitted to the FCC on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB’s comment letter did not discuss talk radio at all. Instead, the USCCB’s letter asked the FCC to seek public comment on constitutional and regulatory issues of particular concern to the Church. These issues included:

– concern over whether “hate speech” might be defined so broadly that Catholic teachings regarding marriage or homosexual acts might be deemed “hate speech” by activist groups. (This is a significant issue, as such cases have arisen in Canada and other countries with hate speech laws.);
– concern over whether one religious group’s opinion that the religious beliefs of others are hateful should ever have legal significance; and
– questions about whether the First Amendment and statutory provisions may limit the FCC’s authority to define “hate speech” or otherwise to act in the area of hate speech.

It was certainly appropriate for the USCCB to seek to protect the rights of Catholics with regard to these issues, which potentially could involve infringements upon our religious liberty.

Recently, publicity has been given to a different comment letter that apparently is being submitted to the FCC by a group called “So We Might See,” which describes itself as “a national interfaith coalition for media justice.” This was the letter discussed in the article you linked to your e-mail message. The USCCB Communications Office has contacted the staff of “So We Might See” seeking more information about this letter.

The USCCB is not supporting a campaign against any talk radio commentator or program. Instead, their goal is to encourage fair and open use of public airwaves and the Internet, especially by religious organizations and people of faith.

I hope the above information is helpful. On behalf of Bishop Loverde I thank you for your continued prayers, and can assure you that Bishop will include you and your family in his own prayers.

With best wishes, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Mark Herrmann

Chancellor
Catholic Diocese of Arlington
200 North Glebe Road, Suite 914
Arlington, Virginia 22203
(703) 841-2500