The Unusual Suspects

Many of the hateful, sometimes highly political comments some of the people connected to The Response — the Gov. Rick Perry-hosted and supposedly nonpolitical prayer rally in Houston later this summer — are anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, anti-Home Depot, anti-Barney the Dinosaur, anti-you name it.

And also pro-violence?

The event’s info packet lists  Pastor Stephen Broden as one of the endorsers of The Response. Broden, of Dallas, ran for Congress as a Republican in 2010 but was defeated in the general election. A few weeks before the election, a Dallas TV reporter confronted Broden about comments he has made from the pulpit, including that the violent overthrow of the government was “on the table” if elections did not produce the results he wanted. Vote for me, or else?

From Broden:

We have a constitutional remedy. And the Framers say if that don’t work, revolution.

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The Usual Suspects

Gov. Rick Perry and his spokespeople have for a couple of weeks continued to claim that The Response, a Christian prayer and fasting event organized by the hate group the American Family Association and the governor, is not a political rally.

Gov. Perry can continue to make that claim, but the people he’s partnered with have no reservations about mixing religion and politics.

Courting John Hagee

You would think that when the last guy to finish second in a presidential election rejected your endorsement, the next time around candidates for the nation’s highest elected office might be a little less willing to embrace you.

You would think. But you’re not Texas’ own John Hagee.

John Hagee’s ‘Extreme Makeover’ Attempt

Subscribers to TFN Daily News Clips (subscription is free) have been reading more about San Antonio mega-pastor John Hagee in recent months. Hagee has been an increasingly influential leader in the religous-right movement and in building evangelical support for Israel through his Christians United for Israel group. Then shortly after he endorsed Republican presidential candidate John McCain this spring, bloggers and other journalists publicized numerous anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic statements Hagee has made in the past. McCain hesitated, then rejected Hagee’s support. Now, writes TIME magazine, Jewish groups who welcome support for Israel are also sorting through their relationship with Hagee.

Writer Frederck Clarkson takes a look at Hagee’s “scramble to recover the mainsream legitimacy that he and his organization have so stunningly lost in recent months.” The question is whether or not Hagee’s attempt at an “extreme makeover” will work.