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Ear to the Ground

White House: Robertson’s Haiti Comment ‘Utterly Stupid’

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Posted on Jan 14, 2010
Robertson
dailymotion.com

Here we see Robertson, mid-gaffe, on Wednesday’s telecast of “The 700 Club.”

Televangelist Pat Robertson’s post-earthquake commentary about Haiti—more specifically concerning the island nation’s alleged pact with Satan—has drawn fire from multiple directions, and now the White House has weighed in via spokesman Robert Gibbs. Meanwhile, CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), which ran “The 700 Club” clip featuring Robertson’s statement, is in backpedaling mode.

AFP via Google News:

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs rejected those comments at his daily press briefing, hours after Obama told Haitians that they would not be forsaken or forgotten.

“It never ceases to amaze, that in times of amazing human suffering, somebody says something that could be so utterly stupid,” Gibbs said. “But it, like clockwork, happens with some regularity.”

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rico, suave's avatar

By rico, suave, January 15, 2010 at 1:42 pm Link to this comment

Just when you think Robertson is the ultimate moron, along comes Danny Glover, blaming it on the failure of Copenhagen.

Right and left have their share of idiots.

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By gerard, January 15, 2010 at 10:23 am Link to this comment

Ellis, pperhaps you are correct in some thngs you say, but the continuous reference to “stuck up intelligent middle class” makes your readers wonder if you are correct only by accident.

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By Thong-girl, January 15, 2010 at 6:24 am Link to this comment

I don’t know about the rest of this community, but lately is seems like we’re all just preaching to the choir.  Unless you bring in Israel, it’s difficult to get the “Progressive” to disagree about what is going on in the world.  We’re all disappointed in BO, and we’re all hoping things change.  Yet wars continue, banks steal more, children get the shaft.  Unless we can gather around a single theme and try to push that through, we’re left with nothing.  That is what Obama is doing you know, hanging his hat on the health care crumbs.  Is there anything left for us?

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By Thong-girl, January 15, 2010 at 6:16 am Link to this comment

It’s difficult what to think about this POS, but I would not be so quick as to separate him from pretty much every single “religious” leader on the planet.  Are they all so incredibly stupid and hateful, or does this become a motif that plays to the dull-witted 20% that are found just about everywhere.  Regardless of which side you are on that question, what do we do about it?

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By bozh, January 15, 2010 at 6:13 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Well, some good news for all of us: The hell has been around so long, it has by now cooled dwn sufficiently to suit all of us.

Right now genghis khan, senacherib, hitler, stalin, kennedy, mussolini, pope leo, louis the 15th, napoleon, churchill, rabin are laughing at us for being so gentle knowing how nice the hell is.

And they are very happy that their words still inspire many people to do great benevolent acts; such as wars of aggression,pollution, abuse of all kinds, etcetc.tnx

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By idarad, January 15, 2010 at 5:00 am Link to this comment

The man’s not stupid, that would be giving him an excuse, albeit a poor one.  No he is simply a hateful s o b.  If there were a “devil” in “hell” then I am certain Pat will be able to ask him about the deal when he gets there!

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By Inherit The Wind, January 15, 2010 at 4:15 am Link to this comment

rollzone, January 15 at 2:29 am #

hello. utterly stupid would be stating you enjoy seeing the carnage and rubble in Haiti. this is an American religious extremist. does he strap on a bomb? mind screw others into doing it for him? the man speaks an opinion and gets well paid to do it. what he does with the money: is of more concern to his following; than what he says. they question where they can find a grain of truth in it, just to continue their subscription. he is free to speculate on as many issues as the crooks speculating on oil futures. watch the oil speculators spin this earthquake into profits, and nobody will say they are stupid (just getting away with illegal fear mongering). i pray their pact with the devil begins bringing wealth into their impoverished lives.
************************************************

He’s more like the clerics who don’t actually act but call for “jihad” and issue fatwas.  So he’s the guy who gives the religious justifications for murderers who go out and shoot doctors at women’s health centers.  American home-grown terrorists.

Pat Robertson DID call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela.

I see no difference between him and the radical Islamic clerics.

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By ardee, January 15, 2010 at 2:02 am Link to this comment

If a deal with the devil includes grinding poverty and endless misfortune I would guess the devil needs a new P.R. firm. Robertson needs a quiet place to lie down.

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By MadListener, January 14, 2010 at 10:16 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I don’t think he’s a terrorist for God, there is no such thing. God’s will and word is
not what Pat Robertson says or does, so whatever Robertson does has nothing to
do with God. I mean, obviously, someone that’s truly a Christian wouldn’t speak
like that. I think Robertson is just a spoiled brat that has not seen what is like to
have nothing in your life, to look around and see how it’s so easy for some people
to not only get what they need, but also what they want and then you look at
yourself and you find yourself really struggling to only get what you need. He
knows no history, there’s no “pact with the devil”... does that mean that when the
United States wanted its independence from the English we signed a pact with the
devil as well? I just have to say… Robertson shut the fuck up if you can’t say
anything good. It is so true that ignorant people are the first to talk shit. Lift your
filthy rich fucking ass off your chair and give them a hand, because if anyone here
has a pact with the devil is you, not the Haitians.

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By robert puglia, January 14, 2010 at 10:05 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

great material wealth is a reliable indicator of a pact with satan. witness this old fool.

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By tlm, January 14, 2010 at 9:43 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

a man is judged by the company he keeps, and in robertson’s case, his cohorts include charles taylor and mobutu sese seko.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050919/blumenthal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node;=&contentId=A7124-2001Sep21

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By rollzone, January 14, 2010 at 9:29 pm Link to this comment

hello. utterly stupid would be stating you enjoy seeing the carnage and rubble in Haiti. this is an American religious extremist. does he strap on a bomb? mind screw others into doing it for him? the man speaks an opinion and gets well paid to do it. what he does with the money: is of more concern to his following; than what he says. they question where they can find a grain of truth in it, just to continue their subscription. he is free to speculate on as many issues as the crooks speculating on oil futures. watch the oil speculators spin this earthquake into profits, and nobody will say they are stupid (just getting away with illegal fear mongering). i pray their pact with the devil begins bringing wealth into their impoverished lives.

Report this
Ouroborus's avatar

By Ouroborus, January 14, 2010 at 9:16 pm Link to this comment

Pat Robertson: Terrorist for God.

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By Zarathustra, January 14, 2010 at 9:04 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Pat Robertson…...... Like the excrement you need to stop and scrape off your shoe.

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By Inherit The Wind, January 14, 2010 at 8:13 pm Link to this comment

When Godfrey Cambridge played Idi Amin, the monster of Uganda, he was struck by a heart attack and died.  Amin stated it was God’s punishment of Cambridge.

Robertson is no different than Idi Amin.  He would be a clown if he wasn’t so damned terrifying.

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By Logan, January 14, 2010 at 7:50 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

According to Luke 13:1-3, a group of people came to Jesus asking about some people who died in in a horrific tragedy, and implied the victims were great sinners.

Jesus replied, “Unless you repent, you will likewise perish”.

Robertson is condemned by the very scriptures he claims to live by.

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Ouroborus's avatar

By Ouroborus, January 14, 2010 at 7:01 pm Link to this comment

Why does such blatant ignorance get press? That he even
has an audience is more terrifying than the thought of
a terrorist attack; hell, he is a terrorist!

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By radson, January 14, 2010 at 6:50 pm Link to this comment

What an inconsiderate old worn out FOOL ,to even find blame in the Scriptures that he preaches with such misleading ill founded conceptions with regard to the suffering is beyond remorse in this day and age ,but then again the asshole is not of this day and age .This Evangelical promoter of make belief has reached a stage in his Life where nothing matters ,including his own archaic overtures.

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By gerard, January 14, 2010 at 6:26 pm Link to this comment

Why can we not see our criminality in permitting billions to be spent killing people in the Middle East when people under our own geographic protectorate are allowed to remain poverty-stricken for decades?  Not only are the Haitians without adequte help but actually they are exploited by economic policies, dragging more resources out of Haitian pockets into bank accounts of the rich, allowing them to be condemned to further depredations. And according to this article, the United Nations goes along with this outrage. Why don’t conscientious journalists scream about this injustice? Why is it allowed to be covered in evasion and lies?  Time for the entire country to wake up to what dirty business we are doing in the world.

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By NYCartist, January 14, 2010 at 6:21 pm Link to this comment

“Haiti The Struggle Continues” regular radio show by Haiti journalists, activists.  Live Th., Jan. 14, 2010 9PM-10PM (as I type), livestreaming, and archived free on http://www.wbai.org for 90 days. (Note:I support the “undo the coup” movement http://www.takebackwbai.org)

Also see http://www.democracynow.org

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By Hammond Eggs, January 14, 2010 at 5:44 pm Link to this comment

Robertson may be 80 years old but he is neither addled nor senile.  His vigorous stupidity can boil water; it can peel the paint off walls.  He is the heart and soul of the Republican party which pines to destroy the constitution and impose a theocratic and fascist regime upon this country.  Whatever walking garbage pail the Republicans nominate for the presidency in 2012, that individual, upon hearing Robertson’s remark, probably jumped to his/her feet, shouting “You said it!” 

That said, I still will not vote for Obama or the Democrats ever again.

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By rwmenser, January 14, 2010 at 5:29 pm Link to this comment

I am amazed that this talking twit has a flock to preach to, but considering the relative ignorance of this country I’m not surprised.  Simply disgusting.

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By E. Gonzalez, January 14, 2010 at 4:58 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The comment is “Godsent”.  It is a grotesque expression of the twisted legacy that slaveholding has left implanted in the minds of many southern christians, of whom Robertson is a decaying example.

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By Aarky, January 14, 2010 at 4:19 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Was it Robertson or Falwell who said that hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for all those evil sinners in New Orleans. They were seemingly too stupid to realize that the storm wiped out thousands of homes and dozens of churches in a broad swath. I would almost invite these hypocritical despicable Biblethumpers to continue to spew their verbal garbage. It will help show the rest of the nation how they really think. And to think this whacko crackpot was actually running for high national office not that many years ago!

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, January 14, 2010 at 3:51 pm Link to this comment

Pat Robertson has offically reached senility.

Is he suppose to be an ally to Israel and represent millions of like minded parishioners, I think not!

The inordinate amount of alumni from his namesakes university populated George Bush’s administration and look how that turned out.

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By wildflower, January 14, 2010 at 2:44 pm Link to this comment

Is Pat Robertson’s television program rated? From a content perspective, it’s definitely not a suitable television program for children.

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photoshock's avatar

By photoshock, January 14, 2010 at 2:32 pm Link to this comment

Of course, the bandwagon is now in motion! Tonight, you will hear Glenn Beck, Bill O’ et. al, making stupendously stupid comments about how the ‘liberal media are crucifying’ Pat Robertson for a misstatement.
Whether one believes it or not, the Rev. M.G. (Pat) Robertson, has a complete lack of sympathy towards the ‘heathen’ population of the world. Also, his history of making stupendously stupid and otherwise hurtful comments is well known and well documented.
He is of course always right and never wrong, never apologizes for statements like this and can never be told that he is a hypocrite, because as the Christians believe, ‘you cannot touch G-d’s anointed.’
Well, this time it’s one step too far, he should pay for this ‘misstatement’ with his television show. I do not see how in the world people still pay attention to a hypocritical, self-centered and absolutely unsympathetic person, who does not follow the teachings of his G-d, at all?
Are the American people so gullible that they cannot distinguish between the truth and a lie? Can not, the people see the light of truth and show this absolutely inane person the door?
If not, this is why this country is in the shape it’s in. We have people in positions of power, who by dint of heritage or money, or both, become so power hungry that they forget the basic rules of life. Be kind to those you meet on the way up, for they will be the one’s you see on the way down. Love your neighbour as yourself!
Can they, the people who follow him without question, exert any pressure on him to totally recant
this statement, or is ‘Pat’ Robertson, so immune to the truth of G-d, that he will continue in this vein until he dies? Let us hope that this person, however G-dly he thinks he is, is forced off the air and given a sign to stand on the street corner with saying, ‘The end is near.’

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By doublestandards/glasshouses, January 14, 2010 at 2:20 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The devil wasn’t very good at keeping his word.  After
getting out from under the heel of France, Haiti ended
up under the heel of the US where it has been ever
since.  Now would be a good time for the media to
educate the American public about Haitian history.  So
far democracynow seems to be alone in doing that.  The
corporate media wants us to believe that the reason why
Haiti is the poorest nation in the hemisphere is too
complicated to explain.  This is why people like
Robertson can get talk such nonsense on national tv.

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