Politics

Authorities Investigate 'Soft Money' Ties to GOP Leader

Authorities Investigate 'Soft Money' Ties to GOP Leader
AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into whether corporate money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol. The probe is focused on several political and fund-raising organizations run by Republican activists, investigators said. One organization, the political-action committee Texans for a Republican Majority, has direct ties to DeLay, a Texas Republican and one of Washington's most powerful politicians.

Ex-Marine Who Nixed Anthrax Shot Seeks Upgrade
TWENTYNINE PALMS - It wasn't too long ago that Kevin Lotz envisioned himself as a lifelong Marine. Today, he'd be happy with a honorable discharge. Lotz, formerly a machine-gunner at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, was booted out in October with a bad-conduct discharge for refusing the anthrax vaccine.

Gutless coward in the White House places women in harm's way
Female Troops Play Bigger Role Than Ever in Iraq
WASHINGTON -- Female U.S. troops in Iraq have killed Iraqis with bombs and bullets. They've won medals for valor and Purple Hearts for combat wounds. They've been captured as prisoners of war, killed by enemy fire and buried as heroes in Arlington National Cemetery. U.S. women have participated more in combat in Iraq than in any war in U.S. history. They've taken roles that were nearly inconceivable just a decade or two ago -- flying fighter jets and attack helicopters, patrolling streets armed with machine guns and commanding units of mostly male soldiers. Seven have been killed in combat. Yet all this has gone without much comment in Washington, despite the attention given to rescued POWs Shoshana Johnson and Jessica Lynch. Six female soldiers have died in Iraq since October: Pfc. Analaura Esparza Gutierrez, Pfc. Rachel Bosveld, Pfc. Karina Lau, Spc. Frances Vega, Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T. Swartworth and Staff Sgt. Kimberly Voelz.

The Church Must Oppose the Sin of Women at War
Vision Forum Ministries presents a forum of scholars, theologians, and journalists in opposition to the idea that a free people can survive while sending mothers and daughters to war.

“Why Christians Should Not Vote for George W. Bush”
George W. Bush professes to be a Christian, goes to church, makes references to Bible verses, and says, “God bless America,” but so did Bill Clinton, so this alone cannot be sufficient to win our vote. Like Clinton, George Bush’s fruit was evident to all with eyes to see during his campaign against Gore. Many Christians were undoubtedly innocently ignorant of George W. Bush’s liberal tendencies and so easily susceptible to his conservative rhetoric, but far too many were willfully blind to his bad fruit.

Jesus is a Democrat, claims Dean as he woos Bush faithful
In a striking shift in strategy on the stump, Democrat presidential candidates are attempting to enlist God on their side to counter President George W Bush's overwhelming popularity among religious voters. Howard Dean, the Democratic frontrunner, is the latest to try the tactic. Despite previously sticking to his pledge to keep "God and guns" out of politics, he all but recruited Jesus Christ as a liberal Democrat in an interview over the Christmas period.

Pat Robertson: God told him it's Bush in a 'Blowout'
NORFOLK, Va. -- Pat Robertson said Friday that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a landslide. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk," the religious broadcaster said on his "700 Club" program on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way," Robertson said. "I predict that Pat Robertson in 2004 will continue to use his multimillion broadcasting empire to promote George Bush and other Republican candidates," Lynn said in a statement. "Maybe Pat got a message from (Bush political adviser) Karl Rove and thought it was from God."

Faking the Voice of the People
WASHINGTON – What happens when the voice of the people gets as fake as a television laugh track? That's what's happening to the "letters to the editor" column in scores of newspapers today, thanks to a tactic known as "AstroTurf." Borrowing a trick from lobbyists, interest groups are using phony grass roots letter writing campaigns to puff up their support. This week, the Republican National Committee (RNC) was caught distributing a form letter praising President Bush that ended up printed, often verbatim, in nearly 75 papers, according to "Fight Back Against Killer Astroturf," one of the many Internet "blogs" tracking this story.

Flashback
Bush Promoting Homosexual Agenda: Do Conservatives Care?
Christian conservatives regard President George W. Bush as a committed Christian and staunch conservative. This is very perplexing as Bush's track record on numerous key conservative issues is less than stellar, to put it mildly. For example, when one looks at Bush's record regarding favored treatment for the homosexual agenda, he discovers that Bush is every bit the pro-homosexual president that Bill Clinton was. Maybe more so.

Politics And Pews
While both parties seek religious voters, the messages and methods are very different. Democrats often speak in churches and usually talk about policy issues. Republicans almost never speak in churches, but often make faith and values central to their campaigns.

Good Intentions
Since the twin towers fell and our troops were sent overseas to do battle with the “enemies of freedom”, a new “Christian conservative patriotism” has emerged into the mainstream. Though it is indeed encouraging to see liberals largely on the sidelines these days, I find many of the emotionally-charged events choreographed into photo ops and crowd-pleasing rhetoric, a lot like the new spirituality behind the purpose driven, seeker-sensitive, church growth movement that is currently sweeping the country – an inch deep and a mile wide – powered by pragmatism, pleasure and pride, with a mesmerized following that will cheer and support, right or wrong, biblical or not, almost anything implemented by its leaders, merely because it has been labeled “Christian”, “conservative” and/or “patriotic”.

Cheney remains a force behind Bush
Dick Cheney has worked behind a veil of secrecy to become one of the most powerful U.S. vice presidents, regarded as a driving force behind the Iraq war and the Bush administration's industry-friendly energy policy.

Covert Catholics?: Group keeps a low
profile but commands high influence
Opus Dei's policy is to not disclose who is or isn't a member. But officials say that if public figures belonged to the group, surely that would be known in a culture where the lives of the famous are open secrets. The movement's critics — and some of the most vocal are Catholics — don't buy that argument. They claim a pledge of secrecy is written into the rules of the group, which some see as an underground conspiracy aimed at capturing power in the church by stealthily boring from within. Allegiances Shift Among Religious Voting Blocs
The increasing influence of religion in American life is widely expected to shake up the 2004 presidential contest, realigning some traditional voting blocs in ways that might surprise both major parties, political pollsters and experts say. Some Jewish and Muslim voters appear to be abandoning their past party affiliations and fewer evangelical Christians may go to the polls, adding to the volatility of the race.

11 Detained Over Christmas Prayer Meetings in Laos
Eleven Christians have been arrested for holding religious services on Christmas day in the southern Laotian province of Attapeu, a Paris-based exile group claims. The Lao Movement for Human Rights (LMHR) say they were arrested on December 27 and 28 according to "reliable informations".

Indonesia Asks US to Deport Escaped Christian
JAKARTA -- Indonesia has asked the United States to find and deport convicted Christian separatist leader Alex Manuputty, the foreign ministry said on Friday. “We have expressed to the US our concern over the whereabouts of Alex Manuputty and our request for him to be deported to Indonesia,” said spokesman Marty Natalegawa.

Posted by Editor at January 5, 2004 09:51 AM