On CNN, Falwell declared Foley scandal "minuscule in comparison" to having "lived through Bill Clinton"; no follow-up from Zahn
On the November 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, Moral Majority Coalition founder and chairman Rev. Jerry Falwell declared that the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) is "not going to discourage any evangelicals I know from voting" because "[w]e lived through Bill Clinton, and this situation with Foley is minuscule in comparison." Co-host Paula Zahn did not follow up on Falwell's assertion or note a major difference between the two cases, as Media Matters for America has noted: Foley allegedly sent sexually explicit Internet communications to underage former House pages, while former President Bill Clinton had an affair with an adult.
As Media Matters also noted, in an October 9 article, Philadelphia Inquirer senior writer Larry Eichel characterized an admitted affair between Rep. Don Sherwood (R-PA) and a "woman in her 20s" as "Clintonian," even though the affair was reportedly exposed as a result of allegations that Sherwood had "repeatedly chok[ed]" and "attempt[ed] to strangle" his former mistress.
From the November 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:
ZAHN: One final question for you about this administration: A number of evangelicals have also told me they are very angry about how government spending has increased during this administration -- the highest rate since an administration going back to the '60s. Are you troubled by that?
FALWELL: Well, I have to admit that I am not -- I am more of a fiscal conservative than some there -- but I want to say that I -- that is not where my heart is. My heart is in the sanctity of life and marriage and values and defense against terrorism. I support what the president's doing in Iraq, and if they're spending too much money, then I'll let someone else yell about that. But this president -- it's like this Mark Foley thing -- that's not going to discourage any evangelicals I know from voting. We lived through Bill Clinton, and this situation with Foley is minuscule in comparison. So, I really think it's making a mountain out of a molehill.
ZAHN: All right.
FALWELL: My people are all voting pro-life, pro-family. They'll do it next Tuesday.
ZAHN: And very quickly, although you say you're not going to yell about this increased government spending, am I to interpret that you're not too crazy about it either. You wish that weren't the case?
FALWELL: Well, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to say that at all, because I'm not knowledgeable enough. That's not my field, and most of the people who are yelling, it isn't their field either.
I'm surprised he didn't come out with the "Foley didn't cheat on his wife unlike Clinton" line
Rev. Fawell, Mark Foley will be be unemployed when he slinks out of rehab. Maybe you can have him babysit your grandsons but be sure to keep the wife away. After all his crime was minuscule compared to a blow job by consenting adults.
In the age of the internet and this man thinks that Clinton was a sex fiend? Man, talk about sheltered lives.
the scale is different.
I know I "lived through" Clinton's affair. In fact, things were going pretty well during that time, besides, I don't remeber him running on a platform of sending hummer recipients to Hell.
Also heard all the righty radio guys today talking about Haggert (sp?) the Evangelical meth/gay masage guy, stressinng that he isn't running for office.Just ignore him, I guess.
Who would have thought the odious emanations from Lynchburg’s highly-revered, Falwell Sphincter could clamp shut sooo tightly about the Mark Foley scandal and still find it wanting?
It would seem old jowly hankers for another hunk of the beastly Clinton?
And that pitifully mousey Paula Zahn is just a brainless non-entity with her marching orders and will declare she didn’t know what was going on…at any time.
You ignorant slvt! Let's ask your friend Rev Mr. Haggard about Mountains and Molehills. You know, the Horny, Evangelical , male prostitute massage-loving, Meth-Purchasing(but not smoking) Goofball, Pro Marriage, Anti Gay, Family Values and Pro-(Wild)-Life Church Leader. Maybe he too can babysit your grandsons. You, Sir, are a big phoney who hides behind God and you make Jesus cry!
have done quite well having Clinton as his secular leader for eight years. Just look at him. he better be careful how he throws his limited amount of stones around glass houses. Fiscal conservative ? the man who gambled in casino's with faithfull followers money ?
""FALWELL: That's not my field, and most of the people who are yelling, it isn't their field either.""
How is stem cell research in his field? He graduated from Baptist Bible College in 1956(Theology).
and he was outstanding in his field.
Hopefully George Bush will be out standing in his field.
in Crawford.soon.
..bother Falwell because he lives with himself every single day of the year.
Proof once again that high blood pressure and hypoglocemia can cause a person to be quite dillusional. Far be it for any christian to be outraged over immoral contact with young boys as this appears to be a tradition of theirs. Unfortunately they have gotten so used to getting caught with boys under twelve that young men 15-16 appear to be adults to them so it's no big deal. As for Jerry's drug use it appeares that he DIDN'T throw his away like the Horny Homo Haggard did. (It is quite common for drug users to purchase drugs and then throw them away I guess. Just like dead people can fly up to heaven and be with their invisible father and a woman had a baby with no sperm because a subliminal rapist visited her in the night.) One things we do know for a fact,Jerry never threw any food away.
That and a ton of money...
...here is probably one of the most desperately twisted defenses for Ted Haggard's hypocrisy. You'd think it was one of those fake op-ed's from The Onion, but sadly it's real: [link to frum.nationalreview.com]
"Instead of suggesting that his bad acts overwhelm his good ones, could it not be said that the good influence of his preaching at least mitigates the bad effect of his misconduct? Instead of regarding hypocrisy as the ultimate sin, could it not be regarded as a kind of virtue - or at least as a mitigation of his offense?
After all, the first man may well see his family and church life as his "real" life; and regard his other life as an occasional uncontrollable deviation, sin, and error, which he condemns in his judgment and for which he sincerely seeks to atone by his prayer, preaching, and Christian works. "
Just... wow...
That article is insane. But considering it's coming from a former Bush speech writer, I would expect no less sound reasoning.
Bush administration posts nuclear bomb plans on the "internets".
What an egotistical SOB!!!!! I though Christians were the people of Christ, not Falfar and his ilk.
or "Jerry's Kids" are simply intellectual vagabonds riding on Jerry's fascist train. Time for their ilk to de-rail.
Vote the representatives of these clowns back to the bronze age!
Ya, those Clinton years were the worst, a balanced balance and surplus, a competant national security, a healthy military, a competant government exampled by an effective FEMA, a moral standing in the world that oral sex couldn't sway, but torture, an illegal military occupation could completly erode; a super power with it's height of prestige in the world, as well as all our civil liberties in tact.
This with a rapid Republican Congress, and Senate that didn't see an supeona or independant investigator they didn't like. Funny how that curiosity shrivelled up as soon as a Republican President was elected, they haven't investigated anything, and when it becomes to embarassing not to, it's has to be an independant commission with no authority.
Ah yes, the Democratic kaos of debate, heated arguement, and effective, sincere government. The terrible days of 22 million jobs being created with real wages, compared to the 6 million jobs these people made in food service.
Please bring on those Clinton-Bush comparisons, like how Bush/Cheney were the grown-ups, and the moral crowd. I wonder which moral added Jeff Gannon to the White House Press Corps., or which moral created Jack Abramoff, David Safavian, Scooter Libby, and outed a CIA Operative. The grown-ups that ponied up a Shia Gangster/Iranian Spy Anwar Chalabi as the authority on Iraqi WMD's, .......
This posting could get infinitely long, so please make these comparison more often and we can add to the list as we go.
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
"But this president -- it's like this Mark Foley thing -- that's not going to discourage any evangelicals I know from voting."
Not what the polls are saying, Jerry, unless the Christians are lying. But they would not do that, they're Christians. Of course, you have Jerry. So I guess we should not be surprised.
Falwell makes it sound like they barely survived, when in fact Bill Clinton was the best thing that ever happened to these greedy pinheads. Just mention "Clinton" and watch the suckers' dollars roll in.