Call me cynical, but doesn't is seem more than a strange coincidence that in the middle of a political campaign where his boy, Bob "Taliban Bob" McDonnell, is beginning to sink in the polls as voters are coming to understand that "Crazy Pat" and McDonnell hold the same views on theocratic government, that suddenly Robertson has unveiled a video that seeks to "soften" his image? I don't think it is a coincidence. Pat Robertson has tried relentlessly to control Virginia through individuals like McDonnell who seek to impose their religious views on all Virginians, abolish abortion rights, recriminalize gays, and obliterate the separation of church and state. With all the attention focused on McDonnell's thesis written at Robertson's wingnut university (admittedly, it's somewhat less crazy than in the days when McDonnell was a student), Robertson is smart enough to realize he has to try to soften his Christianist and batshit crazy image. He can try to say he's doing it for other reasons, but the timing seems very suspect. Here are highlights from the Virginian Pilot:*
Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson doesn't hold grudges, really loves people and is "much more moderate" than most people realize. Who says so? Robertson does, in a CBN International video interview posted online this month at CBN.com.
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"I've had terrible things said about me and many of them unfair, but they don't understand me," Robertson tells his audience. CBN International is part of Robertson's Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network. . . . But Robertson, 79, also seems to be trying to set the record straight, as if he were crafting his legacy and public image, said Laura Olson, a political science scholar at Clemson University. "I think he might also be trying to hedge against the media and historians remembering him as either an extremist or an 'old-school' Christian Right leader," Olson said.
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Had Robertson waited until December or late November to unveil this effort, I might be more inclined to believe his possible motives. This is a man who does nothing without a reason. As for loving? This is the man who has advocated assassinating foreign leaders, wanted to bomb the United Nations, and who blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays and liberals. Robertson remains as disingenuous as ever.
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