Bachmann Scrubbing Evidence Of Evangelical Uganda “Terrorism” Staffer?
Is Michele Bachmann’s presidential campaign scrubbing the Internet of evidence of the radical religious beliefs and possible terrorism activities of her new campaign top staffer who secured her Iowa straw poll win? As The New Civil Rights Movement reported last week here and here, the Bachmann campaign states they hired Peter E. Waldron, a staffer “responsible for her faith-​based organizing both in Iowa and South Carolina,†who is a Republican Evangelical was arrested for terrorism, and spent 37 days in a Ugandan jail until the George W. Bush administration pulled some strings to get him out. Remember, Waldron is the man who sees Bachmann’s rise to the presidency as fulfilling a Biblical prophesy, and has been tied to the infamous Ugandan religious leader Pastor Martin SSempa, who is devoted to seeing passage of the Kill The Gays bill.
Garance Franke-Ruta at The Atlantic first broke the story last week, and Warren Throckmorton put the pieces together.
Now, all evidence under Waldron’s control is mysteriously disappearing from the Internet. In “Peter Waldron’s Vanishing Act,” Warren Throckmorton says, “Given that Mr. Waldron believes Michele Bachmann is anointed by God to pursue to the Presidency, I hope the media start asking Bachmann some questions about what Waldron is telling evangelicals about her candidacy,” and writes,
“Now almost everything current related to Mr. Waldron has disappeared. His Facebook page is now private, and all that is left of his personal (peterewaldron.com) and movie promo (theultimatepricemovie.com) websites is the phrase, “under construction.†(See screen caps at the end of the post)
“Once three video interviews were available on YouTube. Hosted by Hermann and Sharron Bailey, the interviews focused on his time in the Ugandan prison on weapons charges. These are now marked private (e.g, Part two)
“YouTube hosts two videos promoting the film about Waldron (The Ultimate Price). Now one of them (the 4 minute version) is marked private, while the two-minute version carries the disclaimer that the video is “unlisted.†For now, the embedding feature allows it to be shown, but it does not appear in YouTube search results.”
Last week, surprisingly, Fox News wrote, “political analysts say Waldron, whose ordeal is being made into a movie that will be released in 2012, could become a distraction for Bachmann’s campaign in a race where her discipline and focus so far has been the key to her success.
“No campaign wants a distraction, and you don’t want your distraction to be your community organizer or own staff,†said David Roederer, who held the top Iowa posts in John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and George W. Bush’s 2000 bid. “I think they better try to explain this as fully as they can.â€
“I think the problem is he’s trying to reach out on religious and spiritual values, and to the extent he’s implicated in some international politics, I think it detracts from his ability to perform that role effectively,†said Clyde Wilcox, a political scientist at Georgetown University, who has lectured abroad, including Uganda.
Fox adds,
“But the Bachmann campaign is standing firm behind Waldron.”
Of course.
Really important we keep this story alive, and demand Bachmann answer on it.
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