That Was It?

I almost feel duped.



And I'm not the only one:

Did you see the Tim Tebow ad that actually aired during the Super Bowl yesterday? The only one I saw was much different than what CBS told us was going to air during the game and which drew a ton of controversy all across the blogosphere and throughout the pro-choice movement. What I saw was not controversial and didn't even talk about the abortion issues that were supposed to be aired.

I didn't see any rough cuts of any other ads that were slated to appear, but this is apparently not the last one to feature Tebow, and conservatives are crowing at the fact that Focus On The Family likely pulled a fast one on the entire country with this ad campaign.

The innocuous nature of the Tebow ad aside, as well as the reactionary statements of both the Left and Right, I'd just like to make this statement: I thought that the Super Bowl was intended to be a "family friendly" event. By that, I mean this - a nipple slip from Janet Jackson is something so shocking that it sends the entire planet into a tailspin, but an advocacy ad from the extremist group Focus On The Family is acceptable?

Certainly the presentation is all fluff and sentimentality, but one has but to look at the legacy of James Dobson and you realize that this is not a message that is conducive of "compassion" and "love"

Focusing On Firings

From HeadzUp




Dobson will fight against Teh Gay even at the expense of the jobs of people that work for him:

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

More here.

While some bring up the very valid point that donors to FOTF should be concerned how their money is used, I'm wondering if this is a violation of the "ministry's" non-profit-tax-exempt status.

More at C&L

You Know That The Opposition Is In Trouble When.....

......they start "praying" for the Democrats to have bad luck.

Seriously, if God exists, do you really think that he would listen to one particular political party over another? Do you really think he/she cares about James Dobson's Focus On The Family?

Apparently they think God does.


Stewart Shepard, FOTF's video-production-guy, posted a video on the site that asked fanatical right-wing zealots to pray for rain of "biblical proportions" that would, in turn, "wash out" Barack Obama's speech at Mile High Stadium in Denver on August 28th.

But, it appears that FOTF and Shepard had a change of heart and tried to remove the video.

And now, the spin begins:

Focus on the Family Action pulled a video from its Web site today that asked people to pray for “rain of biblical proportions” during Barack Obama’s Aug. 28 appearance at Invesco Field in Denver to accept the Democratic nomination for president.

Stuart Shepard, director of digital media at Focus Action, the political arm of Focus on the Family, said the video he wrote and starred in was meant to be “mildly humorous.”

But complaints from about a dozen Focus members convinced the organization to pull the video, said Tom Minnery, Focus Action vice president of public policy.

“If people took it seriously, we regret it,” Minnery said Monday.

More here

This brings up two thoughts:

First, the religious conservatives in this country are so afraid of Obama, that they are willing to wish a damaging flood upon an etire city. I know from personal experience that flooding is no joke.

Secondly, this is a major signal from the conservative movement that they don't think that McCain is going to be able to beat Obama. I mean, they're praying for a miracle.

Biblical Interpretation : Dobson vs. Obama

If I actually take the time to read the bible - or any book for that matter - I'm not going to NOT think about the meaning of it while I'm reading it. You gather your own interpretations from your previous experience, your knowledge of the world, your education. You don't just regurgitate what someone else tells you and claim that you 'know' unequivically that THAT is the truth - a verifiable fact.

If that is the case, how can you prove anything. If you rely on what another person(s) says about the 'meaning' of something, that doesn't make you an individual, it makes you a sheep.

Enter James Dobson. Self-styled consevative-icon, religious zealot and 'leader' of Focus On The Family.






From Rocky Mountain News:

Dobson reserved some of his harshest criticism for Obama's argument that the religiously motivated must frame debates over issues like abortion not just in their own religion's terms but in arguments accessible to all people.

He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the "lowest common denominator of morality," labeling it "a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution."

"Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?" Dobson said. "What he's trying to say here is unless everybody agrees, we have no right to fight for what we believe."

Of course, Karl Rove ( wasn't he supposed to be leaving politics to go "spend time with his family"? ) has let people know what he thinks of Obama:

"Even if you never met him, you know this guy," Rove said, per Christianne Klein. "He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

You know, there was a time where people like Rove - and even Dobson - would have gotten away with really speaking their minds, not glossing over them to make them appear 'untarnished' and 'virtuous'. It's not like they can come out and call him an "uppity nigger", but you can almost tell that they want to. And I'm not the only person that can see that.

So let Dobson pretend to be righteous, pius, or whatever it is he claims he represents. No one can tell you what the Bible ( or any book ) truly means. That's for you to find out.

Obama has surely won this round:

[That speech that Dobson criticized urged that] people of faith, like himself, “try to translate some of our concerns in a universal language so that we can have an open and vigorous debate rather than having religion divide us.”