Tim Pawlenty
The State of the Union address has come and gone and with it an incoherent response by Tea Party Caucus leader Michele Bachmann. Like Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota’s 39th governor (who did not seek re-election in 2010) is a a potential presidential candidate in 2012 and a Tea Partier – meaning he likes loony, right-wing positions just to the right of the slippery slope.
And he’s not afraid, like other noted Tea Partiers Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, to say some really, egregiously stupid things. Like in his interview with Christianity Today. Given the timing, perhaps we can call that his “State of Delusion” address.
Like this stupid thing, that America was “founded under God.”
Your book encourages Christians to be involved in public issues. At what point might Christians rely too much on political solutions to current problems?
I started with the perspective of someone who says that faith is separate from public law and public service; it really isn’t. We have, as a country, a founding perspective that we’re founded under God; our founding documents reference and acknowledge God, and acknowledge that our rights and privileges come from our Creator.
Um, Tim, when did that happen? Have you read the Declaration of Independence, which refers not to your god but to “Nature’s God” – a Deistic term, or maybe the Constitution? We know Palin and Bachmann are constitutional experts, so maybe you are too? Nah that won’t work either. The Constitution doesn’t mention ANY god, not yours nor anyone else’s.
Jefferson Attacked as an infidel with the Constitution being snatched out of his hands by the American eagle at the behest of God (upper right)
It’s kind of funny, really, that this politically neutral language of the Declaration of Independence, “Nature’s God” and “Creator” (both used by Deists) are the very same language which today would be eschewed as “politically correct” by fundamentalists. Can you imagine them missing an opportunity to say “Jesus” and “Holy Spirit”? Palin, at least, can’t open her mouth without “Holy Spirit” making an appearance, yet, hypocritically, they hail these terms as irrefutable evidence that our founders were fundamentalists like them (never mind that the evangelicals of the day despised Jefferson as an infidel – see image above).
Perhaps, Tim, when you actually read the Declaration of Independence you will turn your thoughts to Thomas Jefferson, who later wrote a version of the New Testament with all the miracles taken out? Yeah, Tim, they call it the Jefferson Bible. No miracles, no divinity for Jesus, no resurrection. Not much Christianity there; it is in fact a denunciation of Christianity dating all the way back to Paul of Tarsus. Not only did Jefferson not put your god into the Constitution, he took him out of the Bible (You can read the entire Jefferson Bible here)
Tim says he’s a Christian but like all fundies he seems to have a strange and unhealthy attachment to the Old Testament. He also tries to sound all moderate by repeating Abraham Lincoln.
“If I make a faith-related comment, I usually quote from the Bible, often from the Old Testament,” he told Christianity Today. “I remind people that our country is founded under God, and the founders thought that was an important perspective. I watch my tone so I don’t get judgmental or angry about issues. I try to express myself in ways that are measured and appropriate and hopefully civil and positive. Lastly, I try not to say that God is on my side, but I strive to be on God’s side.”
Given the Old Testament is all about being judgmental (and wiping out everybody who takes a different position) Pawlenty’s words are interesting. If I were interviewing the former governor, I’d be asking him how he reconciles the two, and why if he is a Christian and not a Jew, he doesn’t quote from the New Testament.
And I might ask why he and other fundamentalist-types hate the New Testament so much that they quote only from the Old.
Like with this Q&A: where is Jesus’ sense of forgiveness and love? All we see is Old Testament style exclusion:
Some conservative groups have decided to opt out of CPAC because of its inclusion of the group GOProud. Where are the fault lines in the Republican Party on social issues—what are issues the party can’t compromise on?
We can’t ask people to compromise core values. On matters of core values, you can’t ask and shouldn’t expect people to compromise. These values are of such a core nature that it’s not realistic or fair to ask people to set them aside. Most conservatives, including me, have strong views on a variety of issues. I’ve been pro-life my whole life. I’ve been in favor of traditional marriage. It’s not just something you can toss to the side or throw out the window.
So though Pawlenty claims that he is both a fiscal and a moral conservative, when asked what issues the party can’t compromise on, he goes right to moral issues as “core” values. You can see where his priorities lay.
When asked “Is that any indication that evangelicals are rising to leadership in the party?” Pawlenty answered,
Yes, and I also think it’s an affirmation of these people feeling a sense that they have something to offer because of who they are and what they believe, the values that they have and how they line up with the values of the country.
But perhaps the most damning testimony from Pawlenty comes in reference to Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann:
You seem to get comparisons to Palin and Rep. Michelle Bachmann.
[A comparison to] Sarah Palin, of course, is a compliment. She’s a force of nature, she’s kind of in a league of her own when it comes to attention and the media’s focus on her so far. I don’t know if she’s going to run or not, but I think she’s a remarkable leader. I know Congresswoman Bachmann, I campaigned for her, I consider her a friend and I have a positive and good relationship with her as well. Voters will have to choose the style of who they want representing the party as a nominee.
Really?
With all due respect, it’s difficult not to see such comparisons as a mill-stone around your neck. While sane Republicans are distancing themselves from Palin (and after Bachmann’s incoherent response to President Obama and her general nuttiness they should do the same with her) but Pawlenty is marrying himself to their cause, marching in lockstep.
Maybe they will all go off that slippery slope together and out of our collective misery.
PoliticusUSA
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YellowDog
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 9:03 am
When I was growing up, we were proud to have nationally-recognized leaders like Hubert Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, and even Harold Stassen. Stassen became a punchline because of his perennial candidacy for president, but he was a Republican when it was still the party of Lincoln–he marched with Martin Luther King in 1963. Today, Minnesotans have Pawlenty, Bachmann, and the memory of Jesse “The Body” Ventura.
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Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 9:13 am
I grew up in Minnesota, lived there from age 7 to age 40. I always loved Minnesota’s unique mix of liberalism and conservatism, that the two sides of the coin seemed to co-exist. Now, like you say, Minnesotans have Pawlenty and Bachmann and half the time I don’t know how to categorize Ventura. I think he’s kind of a genre unto himself, as they always said about Christopher Walken.
I hope better days are coming. I’d like to see some political aspirations go into the dustbin in 2012.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 9:33 am
I am not sure where he gets the fact that the good Governor Palin is a great leader. She has never led anything by her own. She couldn’t handle being a mayor, she certainly didn’t handle being a governor, and right now all she does is roll out tea party talking points straight out of the tea party pamphlet.
The old testament is absolutely right for cherry picking quotes. If he had to live by the old testament he never would have made it to office. In my opinion it is really sickening see the Republican Party using the Christian religion(and Jewish) as a method for getting votes. The most important core value of the Republican Party is that they have no core values whatsoever.
Former Gov Pawlenty is just another person out there trying to use religion to get votes. Throwing out the constitution and religion should be a sign that the person is a fraud. We have seen what the republicans are doing with their core values, and we have seen how quickly they threw out their campaign promises.
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Sarah Jones
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 12:15 pm
They stand for nothing. The goal post is always moving depending upon what their goal is and whom they are targeting for votes. They way they live their own lives is supposed to be irrelevant when one after another they get busted for using tax payer dollars to subsidize an extra-marital affair whilst they preach about family values, etc. Gingrich, Sanford, Ensign, Vitter,…..and they never get rid of these folks or sanction them. If the GOP had values, when their leaders failed to live up to them in a very public way, they would at least censor or punish them in some way. Instead they claim they are exempt via God — they are the chosen — it’s just the rest of us who must live according to their moral values.
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Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 1:23 pm
I’ve always found it interesting, Sarah, how little interest any of them have in living according to the rules they want the rest of us to abide by. Fortunately, I don’t think Pawlenty is well enough known outside Minnesota to be much of a contender in ’12 but he can certainly add his to the rabbles’ voice.
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AKinPA
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 5:48 pm
They can’t use the NT because Jesus was a darker-skinned, socialist and community organizer. Someone might ask them questions like: Would Jesus bomb Iraq or even think about bombing Iran? To whom would Jesus deny health care coverage? Didn’t Jesus say something like, “Go sell what you have, give it to the poor and follow me?” Didn’t Jesus tell his followers to turn the other cheek – not retreat and reload? Didn’t he say something positive about paying taxes: all that render to Caesar stuff? Isn’t the NT about promoting social justice? I vaguely remember something about whited sepulchers (sic) which may describe the 3 of them perfectly but I can’t be sure.
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Diane
Jan. 31st, 2011 at 7:53 pm
My husband and I did something tonight that nobody in America should have to do.
We took several bags of food to a couple that had peanut butter and a few other things
to eat.
The checks come tomorrow and we are suppose to have a major storm.
We live in the greatest country in the world. How and why is this happening?
I fear for people like this in the coming republican storm. They will never be able to live without assistance. How will they survive?
And then I wonder how the republicans plan for all these babies and children if they outlaw abortion? Where will that money come from.
How can these republicans say they are Christians? How can they say they follow Christ.
I consider myself a Christian, but what these people stand for sickens me. Talk about self absorbed, me first and me only mentality.
As we were coming back we wondered how many families with kids will be hungry tonight?
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majii
Feb. 1st, 2011 at 3:55 pm
There will be millions of people living in the streets and going without the basic things humans need to survive while the rich and the republican leaders go about their lives unconcerned about them. I am also a Christian, Diane, and their Christianity bears no resemblance to mine. I cannot stand idly by while people suffer, and the fact that these republicans and their supporters can be so selfish is most un-Christlike, but they have no problem abusing their fellow citizens and then denying they had anything to do with it.
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AKRNC
Feb. 1st, 2011 at 8:17 pm
Our local food bank has 3X as many people depending on them for assistance as it did only two years ago. I live in an area where the median income is just shy of a six figure salary. The food bank is so dependent upon donations but rely on word of mouth rather than spending money on ads. I spoke to the director, who also belongs to our local church, who was telling me that $50 dollars allows them to buy $100 worth of food. They have also requested those that who cannot afford to donate give of their time on phone lines and have also been asking people to turn over any coupons they aren’t using for themselves so the food bank can benefit from them. It is heartbreaking to think of so many children going to bed hungry and yet we have members of the GOP who wants to see school lunch and breakfast programs done away with! They either don’t realize or don’t care that this meal is often the only one some children can count on regularly. These very same people who lack concern or caring for these children are always the ones who claim to be Christian and yet their actions are the exact opposite of what any true Christian would do. If we don’t continue to speak up and speak in a voice much louder than the GOP and their RWNJ’s use, we will never get anywhere. We cannot allow them to continue their war on the poor and needy who they are directly responsible for since their actions have caused much of the circumstances these people find themselves in.
I’m so glad you posted this because you’ve motivated me to make another donation to our food bank. I feel so very fortunate and believe that those of us who can are needed to help those without. Thank you!
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Anne
Feb. 1st, 2011 at 3:07 pm
Pawlenty showed signs of delusion back in November 2009 when he joined others, led by Palin, in trashing the GOP candidate for NY 23–DeDe Scozzafava–so badly that she withdrew from the race and endorsed the Democrat, Bill Owens, who went on to defeat ultraconservative Doug Hoffman of the Conservative Party to win that seat.
It was a seat that had been in mostly Republican hands since the Civil War. They did this on the grounds that Scozzafava was a RINO, and they were joined by people like Limbaugh, Dick Armey, and Beck among others. They all indulged in a hatefest against this woman, somehow deluding themselves into thinking afterward that it was a “moral victory” despite their loss.
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K
Feb. 1st, 2011 at 5:21 pm
Are these people real? His last name is Pawlenty! As in we have pawlenty of hypocrisy over here.
There was another woman on Fox News lately who was a real estate agent whose name was Orly. ORLY!
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Kim Costanzo
Feb. 10th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward CENTRIST ????? politics. NOT ! Well, after reading the centrist, derisive and godless leanings above, I would like to thank him for the centrist, derisive and godless observation of Pawlenty. I was looking into Pawlenty to see if he could possibly not have the centrist leanings that I have come to despise and Haraldsson did all the work for me. Thank you Haraldsson. So,,, just for future reference, who else do you hate?
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Shiva (Moderator)
Feb. 10th, 2011 at 11:07 am
you seem to despise many things. Are you seeing anyone for that?
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