Media Matters has a report on the many lies told by Jerry Falwell in his appearance last weekend on Meet the Press. It's just baffling to me that he continues to lie about his incredible statement on the 700 Club after 9/11, where he said, "The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'." On Meet the Press he claimed that he had also pointed the finger at the "sleeping church". But there is a transcript of the entire interview available online, Jerry, and it shows that you said no such thing. And even if you had, it would only mean that you blame the church for not stopping all those bad people, which would be the same idiotic argument.
It is always astonishing to see someone make a claim that they know is false and that they know can easily be proven false, and Falwell is the master of it. See my earlier post on his outright lie on national television that his ministry had never lost its tax exempt status, a claim proven wrong by a publicly released letter written and signed by Falwell himself. It takes an extraordinary hubris to attempt this sort of thing, a hubris that can only be brought on by the secure knowledge, in Falwell's case, that his followers are so sufficently stupid or deluded that it just doesn't matter how many times he is caught in lies. And you know what? He's right. And that's the punchline to this sad joke.
- Log in to post comments
And yet despite the lies, he gets invited to venues like Meet the Press. Proving, once again, that the news media isn't about news as much as it is about entertainment. Need someone to come on and say stupid, outrageous things? Let's book Falwell!
It's a good thing for Falwell that the FCC morality police are only concerned with obscenity and not liars. Come to think of it, Falwell is pretty obscene. Paging Chairman Powell.
According to the Bible, the 7 things the Lord hates are:
Proverbs 6:16-19
"There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to Him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."
It strikes me that Falwell has committed at least five of the things that his Lord supposedly hates. He definitely has haughty eyes. He has a lying tongue. He has a heart that devises wicked schemes--like his quest for Mammon using his televangelism. He bears false witness who pours out lies. And he stirs up dissension among brothers.
I have long been amazed that NBC continues to put this self-appointed Pharisee on Meet the Press as often as it does. I can only attribute it to the fact that NBC, being a subsidiary of General Electric, a prime beneficiary of US military contracts, wishes to keep the Republican in power so that they will be able to continue on the gov't gravy train.