|
|||||||||||||||||
Cursor.orgMediaTransparency.org sponsor More stories by Bill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs' Media Transparency writersAndrew J. Weaver FundometerEvaluate any page on the World Wide Web against our databases of people, recipients, and funders of the conservative movement. |
ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz High Impact, Low MaintenanceThe GOP is counting on Bishop Harry Jackson and his High Impact Leadership Coalition to bring African Americans to the Party...Jackson bellowed [at Justice Sunday II]: "I believe that what God is doing today is calling the Black church to team with the white evangelical church and the Catholic Church and...begin to tell both [political] parties, 'Listen, it's our way or the highway.' In the group photo publicizing "Justice Sunday II," (above) one man stands out among the group of Christian right luminaries. It is not because he is the only guy not wearing a dark suit or because he is one of the biggest folks in the room. Bishop Harry Jackson stands out because he is the only African American in the picture. Over the past year, Jackson, who was the featured African American speaker at the "Justice Sunday II" rally, has become one of the religious right's go-to-guys. One month before the presidential election, Bishop Jackson envisioned the future, and it had a second term for President George W. Bush writ large all over it. In a commentary posted on The Elijah List (website) -- "Discover what God's Prophets and Prophetic People are Saying Daily" -- Jackson wrote that he "support[ed] George Bush" and he believed "that the Black vote will push him over the top." Bishop Jackson said a "'stealth vote' of Blacks will turn things around for the President." "In my view, God has been preparing the heart of President Bush to take a radical stand for social justice in his next term. This could be the beginning of the development of a 'kingdom agenda' instead of a limited 'conservative' versus 'liberal' approach to the woes of our society. The current political labels have led to bitter divisions that do not serve the nation's best interests." Bishop Jackson traced his support for Bush to a January 2004 meeting with members of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE). According to Jackson, ACPE, led by C. Peter Wagner, includes Lou Engle, Joseph Garlington, James Goll, Bill Hamon, Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, John and Paula Sanford, Dutch Sheets, Tommy Tenney, Barbara Yoder, and several others. "We all felt that the election would be close and very bitter," Jackson wrote. "As a group, we stated that the major issue of this election would be justice. We, corporately, prophetically declared that if President Bush chose justice, he would be re-elected." Jackson also maintained that regarding the upcoming election "there was a general consensus that we need to call for massive intercession...A new move of 'Judicial intercession' will sweep the Body of Christ.'" Jackson defined "judicial intercession" as "prayers that will initiate the manifestation of God's justice in our spheres of influence." In Jackson's piece, he pointed out the role that High Impact African American Churches were playing in the political process: "High impact African-American churches are creating high impact leaders who are developing high impact congregations that are changing their communities. These high impact Black Christians are more likely to read their Bibles and practice the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, or worship than their White, Hispanic, or other ethnic counterparts." In November 2004, Jackson's prognostication proved reasonably accurate. While President Bush received only slightly more African American votes than he did in 2000 (up from nine percent to 11 percent), he did much better among Blacks in Florida, where support among African Americans rose six percentage points to 13 percent, and in Ohio, where the president may have garnered as much as 16 percent of the Black vote. High Impact Leadership CoalitionIn "High Impact African American Churches", Jackson, and co-author, statistical expert George Barna, spell out "the differences that set apart high-impact African-American churches from other churches." According to the book's promotional materials at SonicLeader.com (website), "The book observes the manner in which African-Americans approach their faith; how black pastors often serve as the most important leader in many African-American's lives; the unique and powerful ways in which African-Americans follow Christ through discipleship, worship, evangelism, stewardship and serving the community; and how African-Americans build lasting and vital relationships, both with family and in the church." SonicLeader.com aims "To help today's Christian Leaders grow in their understanding of ministry leadership through concentrated knowledge of the latest, best, most important books; and to create an easy access point into the leadership conversation for tomorrow's Christian leaders." Being a Christian leader means "to learn ... about what it means to lead a movement, build teams, develop and communicate vision, organize their ministry, communicate cross-culturally, recognize and adjust to social trends, and study the lives of great leaders. In short, they need to learn how to leverage their gifts for maximum kingdom impact." In January, Jackson launched the High-Impact Leadership Coalition (website), described in a press release as a "grassroots nonprofit organization" whose "mission is to help educate and empower church, community and political leaders in urban communities across America regarding moral value issues important to us all, especially among African Americans." At its initial press conference and summit in Los Angeles, in February, The High Impact Leadership Coalition unveiled its "Black Contract with America on Moral Values." The Black Contract -- a throwback to Newt Gingrich's mid-nineties Contract with America -- focuses on: marriage, with a special emphasis on prohibiting same-sex marriage; supports privatizing social security and encourages homeownership; supports school vouchers, charter schools and boosting Black enrollment in higher education; advocates prison reform, including laws restoring the rights of felons; mentions intervention in Sudan and penalties against corporations that explore for oil in the region; and calls for overhauling America's healthcare system, with special emphasis on programs to cover the poor. At Jackson's side was the Rev. Lou Sheldon, the founder of the virulently anti-gay Traditional Values Coalition (website). Jasmyne Cannick, of The Black Commentator, pointed out "the press conference and summit gave new meaning to the phrase 'sleeping with the enemy.'" After an April meeting of conservative Christian leaders in New York City, Jackson pointed out that "We came together ... to send a strong message to elected officials and candidates for public office in New York and across America: vote against gay marriage, abortion and for other moral value issues or evangelical Christians throughout the U.S. will continue to vote you out of office." Teaming Up with the Christian Right for 'Justice Sunday II'Bishop Harry Jackson is just the kind of African American conservative the Republican Party is looking for these days. He is a registered Democrat who has broken ranks with the Party; he is far to the right on social issues such as abortion and gay rights; he believes in the president's faith-based initiative; and, as senior pastor of the 2,000 member Hope Christian Church in College Park, Maryland (website), he has a ready-made constituency. It has been less than a year since he endorsed the president, and Jackson has met with Bush; sat down with Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman; and was the only African American speaker at "Justice Sunday II," on Sunday, August 14, at the Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. At "Justice Sunday II - God Save the United States and This Honorable Court!" -- a live nationwide television simulcast produced by Family Research Council and Focus on the Family Action -- Jackson joined such Christian right luminaries as Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, DC-based Family Research Council (website), Dr. James Dobson, the founder of the Colorado Springs, Colorado-based Focus on the Family (website), rejected Supreme Court nominee Robert H. Bork, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), former senator Zell Miller (D-Ga.), Prison Fellowship Ministries founder Chuck Colson (website, and Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly (website). While the telecast may not have actually "made its way into 79 million households in 50 states" as the website of the Family Research Council recently claimed, there was certainly a goodly number of people tuned in. As the Washington Post reported, viewers from coast to coast heard Jackson tell the 2,200 (mostly white people) in attendance that the "Christian community is experiencing a new unity around the moral values that we share because of common faith." Jackson also pointed out that appointing judges who will strictly interpret the Constitution is advantageous to Blacks: "If justice matters to anybody in America, it matters to minorities and to people who have historically been at the bottom of the barrel" who will not have "to deal with a maverick judge changing the law at the last minute." In an oratorical flourish that charmed the crowd, Jackson bellowed: "I believe that what God is doing today is calling the Black church to team with the white evangelical church and the Catholic Church and people of moral conscience, and in this season we need to begin to tell both [political] parties, 'Listen, it's our way or the highway.' "You and I can bring the rule and reign of the cross to America, and we can change America on our watch together," he roared. "Do you believe it?" Meeting with the president and endorsing his agendaOn Monday July 25, 2005 Jackson was one of more than 20 Black religious leaders "who met with Bush at the White House," the Washington Post reported on August 7. After the meeting, Jackson maintained that he was impressed with the president's efforts to "increase Black homeownership, to extend more funding to faith-based social service agencies and to increase funding to slow the spread of AIDS in Africa." "People who are skeptical about the Republicans don't realize the sincerity of their outreach effort," Jackson said. According to the Washington Post, since January, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman has met with and addressed 17 Black groups, including the annual convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (while Bush was addressing a more conservative Black audience in Indiana); Black church leaders; and the National Association of Black Journalists. "Almost always, his message is the same," the newspaper reported: Mehlman generally talks about the Republican Party's historic connection to African Americans; offers up an apology for the Nixon-era, and onward, GOP "Southern Strategy" which basically disregarded Black voters while using racist tactics to solicit the white vote; and then proclaims that GOP leaders are working aggressively to bring Blacks into the Party. In an August 19, op-ed published by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon-owned Washington Times, Bishop Jackson wrote that a "New Black Church" is "emerging in America." He commented on the need for "social justice" and maintained that the president's "brilliant phrase 'compassionate conservatism' ... resonates in the hearts and minds of Black leaders." Then Jackson praised the Bush Agenda and its effect on African Americans. Jackson approved of the president's Medicare drug benefit, but said nothing else about health care for the poor. He supported an upcoming faith-based summit in March 2006 that will "discuss removing barriers which prevent faith-based organizations from receiving corporate and foundations funds," but said nothing about mechanisms to hold faith-based organizations accountable for the government funds it receives. In addition, he praised the president's "compassionate work in Africa," without questioning whether or when the aid promised by the Bush Administration would be delivered. It is no wonder that one of the biggest guys in the room, the only one not wearing a dark suit, has become a valuable go-to-guy for the Bush Administration. sign in, or register to email stories or comment on them.
|
MORE ORIGINAL RESEARCHBill Berkowitz PERC receives Templeton Freedom Award for promoting 'enviropreneurs'Right Wing foundation-funded anti-environmental think tank grabbing a wider audience for 'free market environmentalism' On the 15th anniversary of Terry Anderson and Donald Leal's book "Free Market Environmentalism" -- the seminal book on the subject -- Anderson, the Executive Director of the Bozeman, Montana-based Property and Environment Research Center (PERC - formerly known as the Political Economy Research Center) spoke in late-January at an event sponsored by Squaw Valley Institute at the Resort at Squaw Creek in California. While it may have been just another opportunity to speak on "free market environmentalism" and not the kickoff of a "victory tour," nevertheless it comes at a time when PERC's ideas are taking root.
Bill Berkowitz Neil Bush of Saudi ArabiaDuring recent visit, President’s brother describes the country as a 'kind of tribal democracy' In late February, only a few days after Saudi Arabia beheaded four Sri Lankan robbers and then left their headless bodies on public display in the capital of Riyadh, Neil Bush, for the fourth time in the past six years, showed up for the country's Jeddah Economic Forum. The Guardian reported that Human Rights Watch "said the four men had no lawyers during their trial and sentencing, and were denied other basic legal rights." In an interview with Arab News, the Saudi English language paper, Bush described the country as "a kind of tribal democracy."
Bill Berkowitz Newt Gingrich's back door to the White HouseAmerican Enterprise Institute "Scholar" and former House Speaker blames media for poll showing 64 percent of the American people wouldn't vote for him under any circumstances Whatever it is that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has come to represent in American politics, the guy is nothing less than fascinating. One day he's espousing populist rhetoric about the need to cut the costs of college tuition and the next day he's talking World War III. One day he's claiming that the "war on terror" may force the abridgement of fundamental first amendment rights and the next he's advancing a twenty-first century version of his Contract with America. At the same time he's publicly proclaiming how "stupid" it is that the race for the presidency has already started you know that he's trying to figure out how to out finesse Rudy, McCain and Romney for the nomination. And last week, when Fox News' Chris Wallace cited a poll showing that 64 percent of the public would never vote for him, he was quick to blame those results on how unfairly he was treated by the mainstream media back in the day.
Bill Berkowitz American Enterprise Institute takes lead in agitating against IranDespite wrongheaded predictions about the war on Iraq, neocons are on the frontlines advocating military conflict with Iran After doing such a bang up job with their advice and predictions about the outcome of the war on Iraq, would it surprise you to learn that America's neoconservatives are still in business? While at this time we are not yet seeing the same intense neocon invasion of our living rooms -- via cable television's news networks -- that we saw during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, nevertheless, a host of policy analysts at conservative think tanks -- most notably the American Enterprise Institute -- are being heeded on Iran by those who count - folks inside the Bush Administration.
Bill Berkowitz After six years, opposition gaining on George W. Bush's Faith Based InitiativeUnmentioned in the president's State of the Union speech, the program nevertheless continues to recruit religious participants and hand out taxpayer money to religious groups With several domestic policy proposals unceremoniously folded into President Bush's recent State of the Union address, two pretty significant items failed to make the cut. Despite the president's egregiously tardy response to the event itself, it was nevertheless surprising that he didn't even mention Hurricane Katrina: He didn't offer up a progress report, words of hope to the victims, or come up with a proposal for moving the sluggish rebuilding effort forward. There were no "armies of compassion" ready to be unleashed, although it should be said that many in the religious community responded to the disaster much quicker than the Bush Administration. In the State of the Union address, however, there was no "compassionate conservatism" for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Bill Berkowitz Frank Luntz calls Republican leadership in Washington 'One giant whining windbag'On the outs with the GOP, legendary degrader of discourse is moving to California He doesn't make great art; nothing he does elevates the human spirit; he doesn't illuminate, he bamboozles. He has become expert in subterfuge, hidden meanings, word play and manipulation. Frank Luntz has been so good at what he does that those paying close attention gave it its own name: "Luntzspeak."
Bill Berkowitz Spooked by MoveOn.org, conservative movement seeks to emulate liberal powerhouseFueled with Silicon Valley money, TheVanguard.org will have Richard Poe, former editor of David Horowitz's FrontPage magazine as its editorial and creative director As Paul Weyrich, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still a prominent actor in it, likes to say, he learned a great deal about movement building by closely observing what liberals were up to in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Bill Berkowitz Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action jihadFounder and Chair of the American Civil Rights Institute scouting five to nine states for new anti-affirmative action initiatives Fresh from his most recent victory -- in Michigan this past November -- Ward Connerly, the Black California-based maven of anti-affirmative action initiatives, appears to be preparing to take his jihad on the road. According to a mid-December report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Connerly said that he was "exploring moves into nine other states."
Bill Berkowitz Tom Tancredo's missionThe Republican congressman from Colorado will try to woo GOP voters with anti-immigration rhetoric and a boatload of Christian right politics These days, probably the most recognizable name in anti-immigration politics is Colorado Republican Congressman Tom Tancredo. Over the past year, Tancredo has gone from a little known congressman to a highly visible anti-immigration spokesperson. "Tancredo has thoroughly enmeshed himself in the anti-immigration movement and with the help of CNN talk show host Lou Dobbs, he has been given a national megaphone," Devin Burghart, the program director of the Building Democracy Initiative at the Center for New Community, a Chicago-based civil rights group, told Media Transparency.
Bill Berkowitz Institute on Religion and Democracy slams 'Leftist' National Council of ChurchesNew report from conservative foundation-funded IRD charges the NCC with being a political surrogate for MoveOn.org, People for the American Way and other liberal organizations If you prefer your religious battles sprinkled with demagoguery, sanctimoniousness, and simplistic attacks, the Institute on Religion and Democracy's (IRD) latest broadside against the National Council of Churches (NCC) certainly fits the bill.
|
|||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
