Dr. James Dobson: Another Presidential Campaign, Another Chance to Hate Obama

Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:03 pm

Rarely do I wander into the ‘Land of the Lord’ religious/political commentary. I leave that to my accomplished and learned colleague, Hrafnkell Haraldsson who does a masterful job untangling the state from right-wing zealots. But today I am making one exception. Sort of.

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That exception is Dr. James Dobson. Maybe I’m not intruding after all for Dobson is not and never has been an ordained minister. Dobson is a bright, albeit hateful guy having earned a legitimate Doctorate in Psychology from the University of Southern California.

Dobson is another one of those multi-millionaire ‘Children of God’. He’s used religion to haul in wondrous quantities of bucks through Focus on the Family that he founded in 1977. He’ll sell anything the goobers will buy. As far back as the mid-90’s Dobson’s religious empire was pulling in revenues exceeding $100 million a year. It’s only increased over the years. At least until Dobson stepped down as President and CEO from the organization in May of 2003 and finally cut ties altogether when he resigned his chairmanship of the board, February of 2009. It was said there were factions of Focus on the Family leadership that were not terribly disappointed at either move. Dobson has been described by former employees as cold and arbitrary.

But don’t underestimate this aging (76) hell-raiser who, appears to despise Barack Obama almost as much as Trump hates Rosie. While he had to leave his worldwide money juggernaut radio show, ‘Focus on the Family’ he hosted lo those many years, he moved on post-Focus to other money-making religious endeavors and now presides over another radio show called ‘Family Talk’.  He’s also authored some 26 books, most having to do with parenting and what to do with your spouse. His son must have missed the one on avoiding divorce.

But his religious money tree is but a means to an end. And that end is power through religious domination of government. He spent most of the 2008 presidential campaign season ripping Obama in every way possible. Stretching the truth into unrecognizable political taffy. A single example that combines his evangelical obsession to control all of government with laughable inaccuracies can be found in his lengthy letter to his flock entitled ‘Letter from 2012 in Obama’s America’. The letter, written during the ’08 presidential campaign, was purported to be a fast-forward, October 2012 depiction of four years of an Obama presidency.

Let us wander Dobson Prognostication Avenue. Here is his take on “What the United States will be like if Obama is elected.” I will concentrate on his rampant homophobic paranoia with a link to his other subjects at the conclusion of this piece. It only takes one paragraph for doc to hedge his bets. Supposedly, it’s not only the election of Obama, but control of the house, senate and supreme court as well. He maintains the letter is a legitimate exercise based on abundantly documented legal and political trends. So with those CYA disclaimers, let us proceed.

The ‘let’s pretend’ letter was dated October 22, 2012. Here are some of the dire consequences of 4 years of Obama. He starts off by writing that the 2008 election was closer than anybody expected, but Barack Obama still won. Closer?  Obama captured the White House over John McCain by a 52-46 margin in the popular vote, an electoral stomping of 365-173 and the most votes ever received by a presidential candidate.

The letter goes on to correctly predict the John Paul Stevens leave-taking from the Supreme Court, but incorrectly targets Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justices Kennedy and Scalia for the same action. For Dobson, 1 correct guess (and this is all guesswork) out of 4 is about what I would have anticipated. Besides he still has a few months to get it right.

Dobson then presents the Supreme Court’s “stunning” affirmation, in early 2010 that homosexual marriage was a ‘constitutional’ right. Well, in California, a District Judge did blow a hole in prop 8 and assorted other jurists addressed gay rights and benefits…you know, those pesky 5^th, 10^th and 14^th amendments the right portends to worship, but search as I might I couldn’t find Scalia, Thomas, Robers and company come anywhere near “Affirming the constitutional right of homosexual marriage.” In fact all I found were hateful homophobic right-wingers cementing exactly the opposite into innumerable state constitutions.

In an odd error Dobson’s letter had the president saying he was personally against same-sex marriage, but that there was nothing he could do. In fact, in mid-May in an ABC Robin Roberts interview, the president said, “…it is important to me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

Next?  Flash – the Boy Scouts disbanded when Obama’s new Supreme Court decides to force them to accept homosexual scoutmasters who will sleep with these young lads in their tents. Of course there’s that 2000 decision giving scouts, as a private organization, the right to give a gay scoutmaster the boot. To his credit, Dobson does mention Scouts of America v. Dale. Perhaps the most frightening prediction was that elementary schools have now adopted compulsory training in the goodness of homosexuality as one possible personal choice! Holy Mother of God. That means that Christian teachers would have to “teach something the bible viewed as morally wrong.”

Christian teachers fled public elementary schools by the thousands, many citing Jesus’ words from Matthew 18:6 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Let me get this straight (no pun intended). If a teacher suggested in the classroom that gay kids were somehow pretty much like all other kids, that teacher should be taken out and drowned, as in MURDERED? Is Dobson recommending that those whose sensibilities might run counter to the bible on this question be held under the water until dead? And does the evangelical right agree?

I’ve just scratched the surface of this horrible man’s moral dementia. The letter is 15 ½ pages long and can be found here. http://www.wnd.com/files/Focusletter.pdf

Reasonable people will find it to be the most loathsome piece of tripe they’ve ever encountered and a window into the soul of Dobson and his followers. It’s just one more reason to keep the psychologist and his ilk as separated from state as the constitution says they should be.

Dennis S

Raised rural & small town, then lived in N.Y., Chicago & LA. Widely traveled. Returned from world wandering to pursue media life of anchorman/reporter and major, medium and small market talk radio. Highly active in politics. Once worked as orderly & security in Mens Lock Ward for the Criminally Insane at a state institution. Much more rational population than current Teapublicans. Great concern for country run by and for the extreme wealthy. The inhumane current running through this country has no precedent in modern history.

Follow me on Twitter @demwriter