Posted on 08/24/2005 10:35:22 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Conservative U.S. evangelist Pat Robertson, who called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said on Wednesday he was misinterpreted and there were a number of ways to "take him out" including kidnapping.
"I said our special forces could take him out. Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping," Robertson said on his "The 700 Club" television program.
"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted," Robertson added.
Robertson, the founder of the Christian Coalition and a presidential candidate in 1988, said on Monday of Chavez, one of Bush's most vocal critics: "If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it."
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability." He made the comments during his "The 700 Club" television program.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Tuesday dismissed Robertson's remarks, but the White House remained silent despite calls for repudiation from Venezuela and religious leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called "without fact and baseless" any ideas of hostile action against Chavez or Venezuela.
The leftist Chavez has often accused the United States of plotting his overthrow or assassination. Alongside Cuban President Fidel Castro in Havana on Sunday, Chavez scoffed at the idea that he and Castro were destabilizing troublemakers.
Chavez survived a short-lived coup in 2002 that he says was backed by the United States. Washington denies involvement.
Venezuelan officials said Robertson's remarks, while those of a private citizen, took on more significance given his ties to President George W. Bush's Christian-right supporters.
"Mr Robertson has been one of this president's staunchest allies. His statement demands the strongest condemnation by the White House," Venezuela's ambassador to the United States Bernardo Alvarez said.
What would we do with him after we kidnapped him?
Stop digging, Pat.
Idiot.
Either take it back or stand by it.
This fudging fools no one.
*** Take him out could be a number of things including kidnapping,***
Oh, this is really going to make things better.
"he was misinterpreted and there were a number of ways to "take him out" including kidnapping."
Oh for crying out loud Pat! That's spin worthy of a liberal Democrat. We all know what you meant so either apologize or stand by your statement. (I prefer the latter)
This does not entail kidnapping or any other option. He meant kill him. I knew Robertson would back down. The PC police always make certain of that.
Let him keep talking. Maybe this will be his demise.
come on pat, you're disappointing me. stick to your GUNS
Maybe he meant "Take him out" as in "take him to dinner, a movie, and have a good time"??
"Just give Chavez a noogie and call him 'Hector, Hector, cootie inspector' - that's all I'm saying," Robertson added.
The guy's nuts.
OOPS! Try 'Hugo, Hugo, drives a Yugo'!
;^)
/sarc
I haven't seen any conservatives or Christians come out publicly and defend his comments. Rush has backed away, nothing from Coulter or Hannity. With his backing down now I guess they won't need to take a public stance.
"misinterpreted"
Last time I looked in the dictionary, the term "assassinate" meant "kill." I don't think he was misinterpreted.
"Rush has backed away,"
what do you mean rush has backed away? yesterday he said "why didnt you include castro?"
Right, could be that "Taking Him Out" was in reference of a date, but that would be too gay, right?
In the good old day the CIA would have wasted this communist mofo Chavez five years ago. He's a real pest.
I'll be the lone dissenter here and say tha, when I first read the statement, I didn't assume "take him out" meant assasination. And knowing the MSM's proclivity and sheer joy over slandering Christians, it's no surprise things were taken to the extent we've seen.
As an aside: I'm sure some of us have taken a man out on the football field. Did you kill him? Did you plan to?
Gee, Pat... I think you'd be better off explaining that you were high when you made those comments. This is just pathetically bad spin and makes you look all the worse.
Well I'll take back my comments. The previous story I read didnt' include the assasination comment.
Thoughts retracted.
Today Rush said he was called by the MSM to give them a sound bite, he said called him 3 times. That would have been the perfect time to say that he backed Robertson's statement. That is if he did.
I will say, however, why the big uproar?
WHO CARES?
As Rush said, loony lefties call for the death of the President every day.
In fact, even the NYT hoped for such, right after the elections.
When I said "kidnapping", I was taken out of context. Kidnapping could mean a lot of things, including treating him like a child and putting him to sleep.
Oh, uh...
cra-ni-al fart .... n.
1. The act of speaking prior to engagaing in a meaninful thought process
2. Spoken words that emit the foul stench of ignorance.
What exactly would be wrong with killing Chavez? Chavez is a tinpot Marxist thug right now, but I have no doubt that he aspires to much "greater" things, and the longer we wait, the more dangerous he'll become to US interests.
Imagine if someone had the horse sense to shoot a 9M slug in Hitler's brain back in 1935...
Is Robertson related to Kerry?
I smell a waffle here...
Is Robertson related to Kerry?
I smell a waffle here...
Sorry Dane,
Wrong ping.
"...HAVANA - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, popular with the poor at home, offered Tuesday to help needy Americans with cheap supplies of gasoline.
"We want to sell gasoline and heating fuel directly to poor communities in the United States," the populist leader said at the end of a visit to Cuba.
Chavez did not say how Venezuela would go about providing gasoline to poor communities. The Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, owns Citgo, which has 14,000 gas stations in the United States.
The offer may sound attractive to Americans feeling pinched by soaring prices at the pump but not to the U.S. government, which sees Chavez as a left-wing troublemaker in Latin America..."
FWIW, my car ran sluggish on just a couple gallons of Citgo Premium (closest available station).
He meant, "take him out for ice cream".
Good thread. Wonder if Newsweak was quick to hop that one?
I hear that Chavez is such an antisemite that a million Jews have emigrated from Venezuela. The media is expressing mock outrage again.
Waiting now for Jimmy Swaggart and Dr. Dobson to weigh in...
A host (Randi Rhodes?) on ScAIR America said that someone ought to take the President outside and shoot him.
The media ignored it.
The press is outraged that Robertson's statement could cause international incident but they see no harm in Cindy Sheehan calling Bush a terorist or the enemy in Iraq "freedom fighters".
Seems Pat "misrepresents" things alot, eh? Senility is quite sad.
Robert Tilton is keeping mum. He swallowed his tongue again.
STOP DIGGING!
"I haven't seen any conservatives or Christians come out publicly and defend his comments."
And they shouldn't defend him. He's not a leader of the GOP. By not defending him, they will help bury this story quickly.
Pat Robertson is hardly an ally of the President. He supported him over John Kerry, but he has been very critical of the President.
Also, NewsMax reports that in 1997 George Stephanopolis wrote an article which called for the assasination of Saddam Hussein.
For those of us who are religious, we realise the difference is that Pat Robertson should respect life, while George won't. But what excuse does the anti-God MSM have for ignoring George's comments but jumping on Pat?
BTW, I consider Pat Robertson something of a lunatic. A rich, well-known lunatic.
The left LOVES this...while I dont agree with Robertson's comment.. why wasnt the Iranian Cleric's call for the death of 3 prominent american christians headline news? or the requests by Baldwin to stone Henry Hyde? hollywood and even political lefty remarks are all swept under the rug.
OLD article but interesting:
http://www.jesusjournal.com/articles/publish/article_370.html
Stupidity in the defense of liberty is a vice.
Pat's remarks fall into category B.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.