Posted on 03/08/2006 6:48:47 AM PST by ZGuy
A liberal group plans to launch an advertising campaign Wednesday attacking Focus on the Family founder James Dobson for what it says are his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution says Dobson's opposition to an Indian casino in Louisiana helped competing tribal casinos that were represented by Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to fraud and bribery.
Dobson has denied knowingly helping Abramoff, and Focus officials said some facts cited by the group are incorrect.
The campaign will feature radio and TV spots as well as an ad in The New York Times targeting Dobson along with Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, and the Rev. Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition. Details of the ads are to be released today.
"We're trying to get the message out that things are going behind (the) scenes that people have a right to know about," said group spokeswoman Sarah Belanger.
The ads will focus on Dobson's opposition to a casino proposed by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in 2002. Abramoff fought the Jena proposal on behalf of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, which has a casino.
In e-mails made public as part of a Senate investigation, Abramoff and Reed took credit for getting Dobson to produce radio advertisements useful to the campaign against the casino.
"What we're really emphasizing is that it's hypocritical for a moral leader like James Dobson to be producing these ads when the money, whether he knew it or not, came from gambling interests," Belanger said.
But Tom Minnery, Focus' senior vice president of government and public policy, said that while he and Dobson wrote letters on the issue, Dobson never produced any radio ads for the Jena campaign.
"The left is even more desperate than I thought," Minnery said. "We're just amazed they keep trying to re-fashion the same stuff."
The Campaign to Defend the Constitution described itself as "an online grassroots movement combatting the growing power of the religious right." Its advisory board includes academics, activists and political writers.
That never stopped liberals before...the ends justifies the means. One can find that exact sentiment on just about any liberal board on a frequent basis.
Any way to find out who funds this group?
Translation: "We are going to slime these guys and organizations through unsubstantiated allegations in an effort to destroy their credibility and their good names. In the process, which we have just begun, we hope to scare contributors and eventually shut Focus on the Family down. We do not like their message and what they stand for, therefore will attempt to prevent them from exercising their right to speak. We anticipate frivolous lawsuits from the ACLU and others will follow in an attempt to bankrupt these organizations."
"his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff."
Even if true, so what? Dobson is not an elected official. What's the theory? Abramoff was pedaling influence with a minister? Give me a break.
The "usual suspects."
I am starting to DISPISE liberals.
Dobson has a long history of being against all gambling. There is no possible way he would be part of a plan to help some casinos at the cost of others. No possible way.
Go to their website, and it shows that the group is funded by The Tides Foundation, ie. Mrs. John Kerry (Theresa Heinz). It also shows their Board of Directors, a bunch of radical nuts.
Last time I checked, the general population of the US was going to Hell in a handbasket. Can't pray in schools, can't use vouchers to help finance private education, can't hold a Bible study in your dorm room if you're a college employee, can't hang the Ten Commandments in a govt. building, can't display a nativity scene or a cross on public property, can't guarantee the property rights of your church if the local govt claims "eminent domain", etc etc etc.
And they claim the religious right's power is growing?
The sad part about that is, they are right in far too many cases. Americans often seem to have short term memory loss and inability to focus on an issue in a reasonable way.
The sad part about that is, they are right in far too many cases. Americans often seem to suffer from memory loss and inability to focus on an issue for too long.
Oops! Not sure how that happened.
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