From: "Gary Bauer"
Subject: End of Day 8-29-07
Date: 29 Aug 2007 16:12:39 -0400
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary Bauer
Scandal City!
Do you ever have one of those days at work where you are so frustrated about the challenges and problems that you wonder whether it is all worth it? I had one of those days yesterday, as I spent hours talking to hostile reporters about the latest scandal to engulf a Republican member of Congress.
I am sure you have heard the details by now. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested in June in a Minneapolis airport men’s room by an undercover police officer who alleges that the senator was soliciting him for sex. Craig denied the charge, but nevertheless pled guilty to disorderly conduct.
The story hit the news Monday night, resulting in a press conference by the senator and his wife, during which he vehemently denied he was a homosexual, denied he had done anything inappropriate in the Minneapolis airport and vowed to fight. However, adding to the senator’s credibility problem is the fact that rumors about his sexuality have circulated for years, and a homosexual activist claimed to have “outed” him last year.
Republican leaders, unlike in the Foley scandal, were quick to react. Mitt Romney promptly removed Craig as a co-chairman of his campaign. Senator John McCain called the case “disgraceful.” Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell informed Craig yesterday that there would be an Ethics Committee investigation. In interviews, I expressed the hope that Craig would see the “handwriting on the wall” and step down from his Senate seat.
Big Media, of course, is having a field day. The same pundits who argued that Bill Clinton having sex in the Oval Office with an intern was a private, personal matter are not only condemning Craig, but they are also speculating that people like you will “cut and run” from public policy battles and sit out the 2008 elections.
They may be right, but I hope they are wrong. We should be outraged by what the senator appears to have done. But it would be foolish indeed to walk away from the great debates of our time and turn the country over to the ACLU, MoveOn.org and the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual rights crowd. I hope Craig resigns, but I am not going to resign from the battle to defend our values just because we may have discovered another hypocrite in Washington.
Media Notice
Be certain to tune in to Hardball this afternoon at 5:00 pm ET on MSNBC. I will be discussing Washington’s latest scandal with host Chris Matthews, and following up on my comments in today’s New York Times. If you miss the 5:00 show, it will re-air at 7:00 pm.
Pastors Blast “Hate-Crimes” Bill
Rep. Steve Cohen got an earful this week at the Memphis Baptist Ministerial Association. Rep. Cohen, a freshman Democrat, had been invited to speak to 100 pastors about his support for the so-called “hate crimes” bill. Cohen left the meeting complaining, “I was not treated the way a congressman or an elected official or an invited guest should have been treated. …I never expected anything like this.” What so upset Cohen? Simply this: The 100 pastors were African Americans, and they did not want “hate crimes” legislation.
The pastors are concerned, as they should be, that the legislation will stifle their ability to preach the biblical worldview of human sexuality. Dr. LaSimba Gray, pastor of New Sardis Baptist Church, strongly rejected any connection between homosexual rights and civil rights, saying, “In all my 40 years of civil rights work, I’ve never seen a gay water fountain and I’ve never seen a gay entrance to a building. We have a right to be apprehensive about this bill and say it’s not necessary.”
My friends, we cannot allow the individual failings of a few to drive us from the public square. During our efforts to pass a federal marriage protection amendment, my proudest moments were when conservative pro-family leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder with black pastors in defense of faith and family. I said then that there is no special interest group or political party more powerful than men and women of faith united in a common purpose. I still believe that today. Yes, there will be setbacks, defeats and disappointments, but working together I believe we can make America a shining city upon a hill.
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