:: pulling off full hazmat gear ::
I just checked and as of a bit past 6:00 p.m Eastern, no.
Damn, now I have to visit that prayer center…
… if they allow cameras 
Welcome to the dark side. 
No doubt Haggard did something good, but the bad side of him was too much, specially when one considers guys like him were and are the reason why America is failing behind in science and he or someone in his position forgot to tell Bush that he was not doing God’s will in places like Iraq. Far from it, I would not be surprised to find in the far future that people like him originated “the gut feeling” Bush had for his new crusade.
Such influence also fits with the blockheadness of the Republicans opposing stem cell research.
Indeed, this latest scandal can be tied to several Republican conservative issues that harm many. I would not be surprised that next Tuesday even Republicans who appreciate the power of reason will also vote to deny the current Republican leadership their chance to continue in this foolish path, where they believe they can create their own reality; not only for Iraq, but for all their anti-science efforts.
[sarcasm]Now there’s a major voting bloc[/sarcasm]
Yeah, but we should not forget how close many races are going to be.
Damn. The male escort’s kinda hot. At least he had better taste in prostitutes than Swaggart. 
There was quite an interesting article in the Rocky Mountain News today about how the traditional fiscally conservative Repuplicans are drawing away from those who desire to tell them how they should worship.
Especially when he admits to buying meth and getting a backrub from Jones when he’s in his car with his wife in the passenger seat and three of his kids are in the back seat.
The reporter asked Haggard at the beginning if he’d like to step out of his car to answer the questions, but he declined, and answered the questions right in front of his wife and kids.
Good Lord, what a sleazeball.
The Boston Globe had an article a few days ago recounting interviews with several old-line Yankee Brahmin Republicans who will be voting for Democrats in this election because of their disgust with the current state of the GOP.
What’s the problem? I’m sure she’s been well schooled in how to keep her mouth shut and to not to think for herself. As for the kids, they’ll believe what their dad tells them, or they’ll get the switch, by God! Spare the rod and spoil the child, after all. (Wonder how the wife feels about the other rod Haggart refused to spare? :D)
Actually, the kids have a better than average chance to turn into hellians in rebellion…
Don’t you love how BushCo is trying to shake this guy off like a palmfull of flaming Sterno? “Uh, yeah, we talked on the phone a couple times, but it was just casual chatting.” “I think I might have seen him in the White House lobby maybe twice, but lots of people come through here.” They’re so fucking full of shit . The guy had Bush’s ear whenever he wanted it, and he got it often. He was in conference calls with either Bush or his staffers almost every fucking week! He joked the only thing he and Dubya disagreed on was what brand of pickup truck to drive. He may as well have been a Cabinet Vice-Secretary, for fuck’s sake. This lunatic sleazeball was, maybe still is in some sense, Bush’s trusted bud, 100%. This guy helped shape the policy of our nation. When people shake their heads at folks like me, who worry our nation is being run by a pack of fundie whack-jobs, how can they possibly ignore evidence like this?
Because the most important thing to these folks is that their God is in the White House. Even if the whole of the republican party got caught, red-handed, raping preemies in the Oval Office, Christian fundimentalists and evangelicals would probably find a way to excuse it and somehow shift the blame to the democrats.
My last comment above aside, it’s no wonder I’ve become convinced that Christianity, as it’s currently practiced and applied politically in America today, is pure evil. …Thank goodness I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Well, I wouldn’t call all of it “pure evil”, though I think the faith-based approach to anything is just inviting trouble of this sort eventually. That kind of fear isn’t reserved for any sect, but applies to all of them pretty much equally. I would say quite unreservedly that the movement typically referred to as “American Evangelism” is hands-down the worst our culture has produced in my generation, in terms of its potential to destroy everything that I think makes the U.S. the sort of place worth living in.
I first saw Haggard on a Dateline Special (no, not that one) about three months ago, when they did a show on evangelism and religion in America. I remember thinking to myself that the guy looked creepy. He smiles way too damn much and talks like Mr. Rogers, except worse. In the interview, he ended each sentence with a huge, shit-eating grin that made me want to fling a chair at the TV. Plus, I found his constant eye-contact to be quite unnerving. He seemed robotic to me. A scary, smiley-faced, dick-sucking robot.
I revel in the schadenfraude (sp?) just as much as everyone else here, but I always feel a bit sorry for people caught in scandals like this. I imagine this man carries with him a crazy amount of self-hatred. I can’t imagine how horrible that feels, to know you’re being a giant hypocrite but being too weak to stop. You must hate yourself in all kinds of ways.
It amazes me that sex has such a profound affect on people. The guy knew that what he was doing was wrong (according to his own morals) and that there would be fire and brimstone waiting for him if he didn’t stop. He must have known the consequences of getting caught. And yet the draw of the flesh was so great that even the fear of God wasn’t enough to stop him. I don’t know which is worse: that we’ve villified our sexual desires so staunchly or that sex so frequently wins over common sense.
I think you’re right. From his letter, as reported by the AP:
Oh, the villification, easily. I’ve no idea how the idea got started that sex is bad, but if that concept is taken away, this guy’s problems, and many other’s problems, just go away.
I’m almost certain he’s found a way to rationalize/justify it. Hell, maybe Jesus Himself came down and told him it was alright.
The truth of the matter is, you don’t have to believe what you’re preaching, you just have to talk some good shit. If you stand to make gobs of money from the thousands of weak-minded morons who subscribe to this bullshit, I’ll bet you can be pretty convincing.