Ad Targets Congressman Randy Forbes' Ties to Hate Group

Ken Cuccinelli is not the only Virginia Republican who seems only too willing to prostitute himself to far right anti-gay hate groups that also involve a strong undercurrent of racism and ties to white supremacy.  Another one of such Republicans is Congressman Randy Forbes whose district includes parts of Hampton Roads.  I've known Forbes for going on 39 years since law school days and he wasn't always in bed with the Christofascists and de facto racists.   But that was then and increasingly he has aligned himself with some of the nastiest groups in the anti-gay pantheon, including the American Family Association ("AFA").  But it isn't just gays that AFA seeks to denigrate and relegate to an inferior level of citizenship.  AFA spokesman Bryan Fischer has made heinous comments about Native Americans, non-whites, and of course immigrants.  Now, the non-profit group Faithful America, is conducting an online petition drive asking Forbes to cancel his speech at an AFA gathering later this week.  Here's are highlights from a statement from Faithful America:

Faithful America, a national Christian organization, is airing a new TV ad that calls on Virginia Congressman Randy Forbes to cancel his upcoming appearance at a Washington, D.C. luncheon sponsored by the American Family Association, a fringe hate group whose spokesman has blamed America for 9/11, claimed gays caused the Holocaust, said black people “rut like rabbits” and argued that women have no place in politics. Watch the new ad, “There’s nothing Christian about hate,” which is running this week in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District. 

 

“As founder and chair of the so-called Congressional Prayer Caucus, Rep. Randy Forbes holds up himself up as a Christian leader in Washington, D.C. But there's nothing Christian about the hateful rhetoric of the American Family Association. Thousands of Christians across America are calling on Rep. Forbes to cancel this appearance.” said Faithful America executive director Michael Sherrard.

The American Family Association and its spokesman, Bryan Fischer, have a long track record of extremism. During the last election, Mitt Romney confronted the group, calling out its “poisonous language” and lack of “decency.” The AFA has officially been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its outrageous and bigoted statements about gays, which include: “Homosexuality gave us Adolf Hitler, and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and 6 million dead Jews.” 

Faithful America’s new TV ad comes on the heels of a national petition to Congressman Forbes, which was launched last week and so far has over 12,000 signatures.

Both the Virginian Pilot and the Richmond Times Dispatch have coverage of the effort.  Here are highlights from thre Pilot:

Progressive Christian activists are running TV ads urging U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes to cancel a Friday speech sponsored by a conservative Christian association that has been labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Chesapeake Republican, a founder of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, is scheduled to speak at a $40-a-plate American Family Association luncheon. It is part of the 2013 Values Voter Summit, an annual three-day event in Washington sponsored by several conservative groups.

Its 30-second spot opens with a close-up of Forbes' face as a narrator says, "Congressman Randy Forbes talks a lot about his Christian faith, so why is he working with a hate group?"
 
It then switches to images of Bryan Fischer, host of an American Family Association radio show, citing comments Fischer has made that are disparaging of homosexuals, women and blacks.

"We're focusing on Rep. Forbes mostly because of his clear leadership on Christian issues in the House," Viles said. "The idea that you have a congressman who is constantly touting his Christian values giving credibility to an organization like this.... It doesn't smell like Christianity."

 Here is a sampling from the Richmond Times Dispatch:

Several human rights groups have called on Rep. J. Randy Forbes, R-4th, and other Republican legislators to cancel their speaking engagements at the Values Voter Summit in Washington this Friday, an event co-sponsored by the American Family Association and the Family Research Council, in Washington this Friday. Both organizations were categorized as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center because of “vilifying the LGBT community and spreading other forms of bigotry.”

“Public officials need to know the real ‘values’ they’re endorsing when they attend the Values Voter Summit,” said Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project. “Offensive and bigoted lies are not magically transformed into the truth just because a group with the word ‘family’ in its name keeps repeating them.”

The coalition letter was signed by the NAACP, the National Council of La Raza, Faithful America, GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, People For the American Way, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Dean Petrone, a spokesman for Forbes, said that the congressman has no intentions of changing his plans to attend the event.

My comment to my former classmate?  Randy, if you are really the sincere Christian that you claim to be - as opposed to a pandering whore groveling for votes from haters - you would cancel your appearance immediately.  If you fail to do so, it speaks volumes and none of it is good.  AFA, Family Research Council and their co-hosts are literally killing Christianity.