What Wisdom Did Haggard Share with Bush Every Monday?
From a 2005 Harpers article on Ted Haggard’s megachurch:
Pastor Ted, who talks to President George W. Bush or his advisers every Monday, is a handsome forty-eight-year-old Indianan, most comfortable in denim. He likes to say that his only disagreement with the President is automotive; Bush drives a Ford pickup, whereas Pastor Ted loves his Chevy.
One wonders what bits of wisdom were being shared on those sacred Monday mornings — the towing capacity of Chevy Silverados versus Ford F-150s? How to funnel government dollars to right-wing extremists? Whether it’s better to be a hairy top or hairy bottom?
Questions, questions, questions.
This scandal should wipe the stupid Kerry “joke” news off the face of the earth, especially if they can link Mr. Haggard to Mr. Bush, as this article certainly does. And, if they do, will it completely sever Bush’s tattered and stained coattails from Republican campaigns?
- Greg
November 3rd, 2006 at 1:32 pm
The Lord works in mysterious ways!
November 3rd, 2006 at 6:15 pm
“What is done in the dark of night, comes to light in the dawn of day”
The GOP ship is sinking faster than the Titanic…
November 3rd, 2006 at 10:41 pm
Gotta love the irony. The only one with any semblence of integrity in the sordid Haggard affair is Mike Jones, the male escort. In an interview with the national gay newsmagazine the Advocate (www.advocate.com) Jones reveals he didn’t know the true identity of Haggard until he saw him on the news championing Colorado’ anti-gay marriage initiative last spring. I can’t understand why he continued to have sexual encounters with Haggard, could be a hooker thing and he needed the cash, or a gay guy thing, I don’t know, but the whole episode serves to focus on the “yuck” factor, the gay sex (a big middle-American eeeew!) and reinforces the stereotype of an entire community as sexually promiscuous and predatory.
For us “regular” queers, those of us who work hard at regular jobs, volunteer in our communities, and just try to live in peace with our families, it’s an embarrassment. Once in a discussion years ago with my best friend, a gay man, about why lesbians chose to be defined by that term and not the generic “gay”, I opined it was because we didn’t want to share the “promiscuity” label. He said then that the difference between men and women, whether gay or straight, is that women usually need a reason for making love, and men just need a place for sex. Personally, I’m glad the hypocrisy was revealed, but it does make it tough for those of us in small towns across the country. Just when it seems like we’re gaining acceptance (especially those like myself and my partner, who don’t go out of our way to advertise it, but you don’t need a road map to figure it out) some maladjusted self-loathing closet case does something stupidly abhorrent and everybody starts looking at you weird for a while and protectively pushing their children behind them if they have to speak to you.
Haggard even insisted to the media he had not been unfaithful to his wife, and in the weird logic of Republican wingnuts, he thinks he’s telling the truth because he didn’t sleep with another woman. I’ve been told that in the Latin community, where homosexuality is an even bigger tabu than in many cultures, men believe that if they’re the top, then that doesn’t make them gay because it’s the dominant position, proving yet again the stretches of logic humans will go to in rationalizing behavior that doesn’t conform to societal dictates, or that which takes place during Skull & Bones initiations.
Maybe that’s why Jeff Gannon was so welcome at the White House. Maybe Bushie and his band of merry men have never felt as manly with a woman as they do when sticking it to another man. It’s about power, not sex. The orgasm is just the bonus.
I don’t give a rat’s ass where Haggard dips his wick. That’s his business. But when he starts preaching to a 14,000 parishioners about the evils in which he privately delights, and cheerleads for legislation cementing our status as second class citizens, then it becomes not only political but intensely personal,
whether or not you’re a resident of Colorado.
Mike Jones says he agonized over his decision to come forward, and that he’s sorry Haggard’s wife and kiddies have to go through this experience. He also said he wishes Haggard no ill will.
That’s exponentially more gracious than I’d have been. But it certainly gives new meaning to turning the other cheek!
November 4th, 2006 at 12:02 am
Not being a “Christian” I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but my impression of mega-church,/T.V. evalengelicals is that they are nothing more than snake-oil salesmen. (& women I guess.) Everytime I hear about them I think of Elmer Gantry.
(Greg/Steve, if you think I’ve stepped over the line, feel free to delete this.)
November 4th, 2006 at 2:20 am
The sin of hypocrisy is mentioned more times than any other sin in the New Testament. Evidently, Haggard wanted to be a personal example of this type of sin. It seems to be a favorite of right-wing Christians. So, perhaps they need to clean their own house, instead of trying to legislate what the rest of us should do according to their interpretation of life. If this isnt a good example of just why we need to keep church and state separate, I dont know what is. Besides, Bush’s only religion is money and power. And that is what he and Haggard are all about. True spirituality remains beyond their comprehension.
November 4th, 2006 at 2:33 am
Chuck, I would definitely agree with you about the fundamentalist/evangelical preachers being snake-oil salesmen.
In particular I remember one radio preacher, Garner Ted Armstrong, who was ubiquitous on the AM radio dial in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. With his voice he reminded me of the character Professor Harold Hill, played by Robert Preston, in the Music Man, which I loved to listen to when I was a kid. (I loved the musical selections from the Music Man when I was a kid; it would be later that I would come to understand the plot and the characters.)
November 4th, 2006 at 1:18 pm
When news broke that Ted Haggard admitted to “some” of the allegations contained in the latest religious right authoritarian scandal, my first thought was, “So he’s copping to a lesser plea, the last refuge of a multiple wrong-doer looking for a quick and easy way out. So what in the world-view of Evangelicals is going to be the lesser of the evils? Gay or meth?”
Well, no surprise, in turns out that in the twisted universe of the Evangelical demonsphere, a tweaker is not so bad as being gay. Haggard admits he bought the meth, but he did not snort. Pastor Ted is in so much trouble, he can’t even think of an original lie.
November 4th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
I remember listening to Armestrong’s father, Herbert W. Armstrong, in the ’60s. My paternal grandmother, good Southern Baptist that she was, listened to him nightly and was outraged whenever I would laugh out loud at some of the nonsense that he preached. She was a great woman and very practical, but when it came to matters of religious doctrine, she drank the Kool-Aid to the last drop. She was not alone then, or now. My fellow Cafe regulars have all made good points, but don’t think for a minute that true belivers like my grandmother will be in the least bothered by the Haggard story. They’ll believe any excuse he makes, pray for him, and blame the liberal media for kicking a poor fellow sinner whn he’s down in order to aadvance the homosexual agenda. I know that sentence doesn’t make any sense, but that’s my point.