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Watch: Santorum Says Obama’s Faith, Church Merely An “Avenue For Power”

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Rick Santorum in this 2008 video says that Barack Obama’s faith, and his choice of a church, were all merely an “avenue for power.” In other words, Santorum criticizes Obama for being so strategic that he would somehow base his political career on his choice of a church, and suggests that Obama is merely using Christianity to gain power. All this, coming from Santorum, who uses his faith and his interpretation of his faith, as the entire basis of his political positions, and panders to the religious right in everything he does.

Talk about hypocrisy.

This video was taken when Santorum participated in a question and answer forum titled “The Press & People of Faith in Politics,” hosted by the Oxford Center for Religion and Public Life, in 2008. During the forum, Santorum said that the teaching of evolution is used to promote atheism, creationism is “academic freedom,” and called the Democratic Party the party of sex, a party that preyed on lust, and the party of Woodstock, which he called “the great American orgy.”

Here’s the video, followed by the transcript provided by the Oxford Center for Religion and Public Life.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XbRqWPQ5-3k%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

QUESTION: What is your assessment of Barack Obama’s faith?

ANSWER: He joined the most popular church in an area of the city where he was going to make his political stand. It had the most reach. It had the most juice. It gave him a platform to be able to go out and use their reach, their power, to help build a base of support for him in that community so he could go and run for office.

He didn’t really much care, in my opinion, what the belief structure was. It was a vehicle. Now, am I saying that he believes everything that Rev. Wright believes? No. But he was willing to tolerate those beliefs for 20 years to achieve a political objective, which was to get him elected.

Could he through that time have become a person of faith and take that faith seriously? I never judge someone’s faith personally. I have no idea whether that he has a personal faith or what that personal faith is. That’s between him and God. I can’t judge any of you on that.

What I can tell you is, objectively, that faith was an avenue for power. It may have ended up in other manifestations, persona or otherwise, but to suggest that his journey was anything other than that, was primarily focused on something other than that, I think is just wrong.

Questioner: What about his expressions of faith now?

Santorum: I don’t know. How do you know? That’s between him and God.

All I can do is look at his actions. He can say whatever he wants to say. If you look at his actions about what he believes from a public-policy point of view, and how that squares with the faith he says he subscribes to, I see a lot of disconnections. And it’s a conscious disconnection.

It’s a conscious disconnection to go in and say “I’m a believer in the Word of God as expressed in the Old and New Testament” and then hold the public policy position that he does. Because they’re inconsistent.

I think it’s just better to stand up and tell the truth about what role faith plays in your life. What’s happened in America, a lot of people point to John Kennedy’s speech in 1960 and subsequent speeches after that by a number of politicians, is the privatization of religion. That, yes, Barack Obama can say “I believe in all this stuff. I believe in Christianity and the form of Christianity that I have, but it has no application to public policy. It has no application to public life. It is separate. It is my private religion. It is what I do on Sundays. It’s what I do in my own personal life.”

If that is your understanding of the role of faith and what the New Testament is all about, fine. It’s not mine. I don’t think it’s a fair reading of what Christ came to earth to do. I don’t think he came to earth just to say “Well, I want you to privately be really good, and then go out and do publicly horrible things. And that’s okay.” I don’t see it that way.

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Trump Desperate to Keep Any Possible Criminal Evidence From Supreme Court: Legal Expert

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Donald Trump’s decision to allow one of his lawyers to speak before a grand jury on Friday morning, instead of appealing all the way to the Supreme Court, may have been made out of fear of what the justices on the nation’s highest court might see if they reviewed the case.

According to MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, under normal circumstances, the former president would have dragged out a legal fight over attorney-client privilege that would have kept attorney Evan Corcoran from testifying under oath about Trump’s possession of government documents at his Mar-a-Lago resort that led to the FBI showing up with a warrant.

As Rubin notes, the fact that Trump let Corcoran testify over three hours raised eyebrows.

“For one, yes, it is indeed unusual, if not unheard of, for a lawyer to be litigating against a party one day and then testifying under court-ordered examination by that same party the next one,” she wrote before suggesting Trump and his legal team were looking at the long game when he might need the predominantly conservative Supreme Court to lend him a helping hand.

RELATED: Revealed: Emails show how Trump lawyers drove Michael Cohen to turn on the president

Writing, “Trump has made clear he believes this Supreme Court — controlled by conservative justices, three of whom he appointed — owes him one,” she added, “My hunch is that Trump’s team let Corcoran’s testimony happen because of what’s likely involved in any request to pause, much less, review a crime-fraud-related ruling: the evidence.”

“Put another way, if Trump had petitioned the Supreme Court to stay Corcoran’s testimony and document production, the justices would have seen some, if not all, of what Judge Howell and the three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit have already reviewed: proof that Trump misled Corcoran and engaged in criminal conduct,” she elaborated.

Rubin went on to note that Trump would likely appeal any conviction to the Supreme Court, writing, “And for someone whose one last hope, if he is ultimately charged or tried by any of the multiple entities now investigating him, is that same Supreme Court, letting the justices see evidence of his alleged crimes now would be a bridge too far.”

“Trump can’t afford to lose the Supreme Court yet,” she suggested.

You can read more here.

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No TX Congressional Republican Will Say If They’re Attending Trump’s Rally in Waco – Will He Have Trouble Filling Seats?

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Donald Trump‘s Saturday campaign rally in Waco, Texas, falls during the 30th anniversary of the 51-day siege that community is known for, when 86 people died after a failed ATF raid on an anti-government religious cult suspected of illegally stockpiling firearms amid allegations of sexual abuse, statutory rape, and polygamy.

Experts have been warning for a week that Trump’s choice of Waco, synonymous with violent anti-government extremism, was no accident. His rhetoric this week, including most recently Friday when he warned of “potential death & destruction” should he be indicted, has been seen as encouraging violence.

NCRM was among the first news outlets to report experts’ concerns over Trump’s choice to hold a rally in Waco during the 30th anniversary of the deadly siege.

Not a single congressional Republican from Texas will say they are attending, nor has the town’s GOP mayor, according to a report from Insider, which contacted over two dozen Republican lawmakers and other elected officials.

“None of the 30 Texas Republicans Insider contacted about the event said they were going,” Insider reveals.

“Most of the 30 GOP members contacted about Donald Trump’s inaugural visit to the site of a 30-year-old standoff between cult leader David Koresh and federal authorities did not respond to requests for comment about whether they intended to rally with the scandal-plagued candidate and perhaps say a few kind words,” Insider reports.

“Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco native who now represents the surrounding 17th congressional district, praised Trump for shining a light on his hometown but said he’d have to miss the spectacle,” Insider adds. “Aides to Rep. Troy Nehls, one of the four House Republicans from Texas who have formally backed Trump’s 2024 run, told Insider he wouldn’t be heading to Waco because of a prior commitment in Washington, DC, this weekend.”

READ MORE: ‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

Meanwhile, in addition to guest list challenges – the campaign refused to tell Insider who the guest speakers will be – Trump may have trouble filling seats.

Mary Trump, the ex-president’s niece who opposes him, has been running a campaign to get anti-Trump Americans to “sign up” for tickets to the Saturday rally, in the hopes of being able to turn away supporters.

“Donald has a rally in Waco this Saturday,” she also said via Twitter. “It’s a ploy to remind his cult of the infamous Waco siege of 1993, where an anti-government cult battled the FBI. Scores of people died. He wants the same violent chaos to rescue him from justice.”

“But we can stop him. If we book the 50,000+ venue, we can make sure most of the seats are empty when the traitor takes the stage,” she said. “We can no longer fail to hold powerful men accountable for their crimes against our country.”

Image via Shutterstock

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‘Utter Cowardice’: Jim Jordan Blasted for Telling Reporter He Can’t Read Trump’s Violence-Threatening Post Without Glasses

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Countless GOP lawmakers over the years have professed ignorance over Donald Trump’s tweets as reporters ask them to respond, often claiming they hadn’t read them, but House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan took that performance to a whole new level Friday afternoon.

NBC News senior national political reporter Sahil Kapur asked the Ohio Republican congressman to weigh in on Trump’s social media post threatening “potential death & destruction” if he gets indicted.

“Jordan said he hasn’t seen Trump’s post,” Kapur said via Twitter. “When I showed [it] to him on my phone, he said he can’t read well without his glasses.”

“He added he’s reviewing DA Bragg’s letter,” Kapur added.

READ MORE: ‘Big Shoe Drops’: Bad Day for Trump on Multiple Fronts in Special Counsel’s Grand Jury Probes

Jordan, who didn’t need glasses to appear on Fox Business just two days ago (photo) is getting blowback.

VICE News Deputy DC Bureau Chief Todd Zwillich explained the progression.

“The stages of ignoring incitement,” he tweeted. “2016: I don’t respond to tweets —> 2018: I havent seen the tweet —-> 2023: I literally can’t see the tweet.”

“Utter cowardice,” declared former GOP Congressman Joe Walsh. “Not at all the @Jim_Jordan I knew & served with in Congress 10 yrs ago. Or…maybe it is.”

“The sheer dishonesty and cowardice of these people,” lamented MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan, echoing Walsh’s remarks.

Government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics said the “extent to which Trump’s backers in Congress are going to not condemn [his] calls for violence are ludicrous.”

RELATED: Ninth Wrestler Comes Forward to Say Jordan ‘Snickered’ When He Complained of Sexual Abuse: Report

Some tied Jordan’s inability to see the post to his apparent inability to see or remember all the Ohio State wrestlers who say they complained to Jordan when he was their assistant coach, about being sexually harassed or assaulted by the team doctor. To this day despite numerous reports and people publicly coming forward, Jordan denied it ever happened.

“Apparently, Jim Jordan is unable to see wrestlers being sexually abused or Donald Trump social media posts,” attorney and Republican turned Democrat Ron Filipkowski tweeted.

“Well, @Jim_Jordan has shown before that he has trouble seeing threats right in front of his nose, so this checks out,” tweeted historian Kevin M. Kruse.

But Jordan’s Democratic colleagues on the Judiciary Committee may have served up the best response: “Why do you need your glasses to condemn violence @Jim_Jordan?”

READ MORE: ‘Pits Parents Against Parents’: House Republicans Pass Anti-LGBTQ Florida-Style K-12 ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’

 

 

 

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