Hillary won't explain her Mormon/Muslim double standard but Lawrence O'Donnell did

One could argue that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has directed more anger at the anti-Muhammad film that the administration has pointed to for rioting and murder in the Middle East, than toward the rioters and murderers of the Middle East. In fact, Clinton called the film "disgusting and reprehensible" but seemed to give the rioters a parental-like scolding.

So the standard is set, right? Criticizing religion is reprehensible and disgusting in the eyes of Hillary Clinton.

Uh, not so much.

The Wall Street Journal reported on her appearance last year at a Broadway musical that essentially shredded a different religion - Mormonism:

'Hasa Diga Eebowai" is the hit number in Broadway's hit musical "The Book of Mormon," which won nine Tony awards last year. What does the phrase mean? I can't tell you, because it's unprintable in a family newspaper.

On the other hand, if you can afford to shell out several hundred bucks for a seat, then you can watch a Mormon missionary get his holy book stuffed—well, I can't tell you about that, either. Let's just say it has New York City audiences roaring with laughter.

The "Book of Mormon"—a performance of which Hillary Clinton attended last year, without registering a complaint—comes to mind as the administration falls over itself denouncing "Innocence of Muslims." This is a film that may or may not exist; whose makers are likely not who they say they are; whose actors claim to have known neither the plot nor purpose of the film; and which has never been seen by any member of the public except as a video clip on the Internet.

Ok, so why the double standard? Don't hold your breath waiting for Hillary to tell you. She has an entire historical slew of things she can't explain - and doesn't attempt to.

However, perhaps MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell can tell us. Actually, he did just that during a radio interview with Hugh Hewitt in 2007. Here is a transcript of the relevant exchange via NewsBusters (audio follows):

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: I don’t think he [Mitt Romney] believes everything in the Book of Mormon. I think he’s lying about that. It’s an insane document produced by a madman who was a criminal and a rapist. [...]

HUGH HEWITT: Would you say the same things about Mohammed as you just said about Joseph Smith?

O’DONNELL: Oh, well, I’m afraid of what the…that’s where I’m really afraid. I would like to criticize Islam much more than I do publicly, but I’m afraid for my life if I do.

HEWITT: Well, that’s candid.

O’DONNELL: Mormons are the nicest people in the world. They’re not going to ever…

HEWITT: So you can be bigoted towards Mormons, because they’ll just send you a strudel.

O’DONNELL: They’ll never take a shot at me. Those other people, I’m not going to say a word about them.

HEWITT: They’ll send you a strudel. The Mormons will bake you a cake and be nice to you.

O’DONNELL: I agree.

HEWITT: Lawrence O’Donnell, I appreciate your candor.

CLICK HERE and fast forward to the 18:00 mark to hear the exchange.

By the way, O'Donnell's admission that he would like to criticize Islam but won't might be perceived by Muslims as 'hate thought'.

On a semi-related note, it would appear that we have another in a long line of opportunities for Mitt Romney to take the gloves off but... we also have a long line of squandered opportunities by Mitt to do so because, well, he's so concerned about those 5%-10% of independents who don't know what they want.

Video: Daughter of Mormon Jon Huntsman slams Romney for his... Mormonism

Well, this isn't going to help Romney when it comes to that war on women narrative the Obama campaign is going to carry into the election. Earlier this month, Jon Huntsman's daughter Abby trashed the Republican Party as being too "non-inclusive" and appeared to switch sides when former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm invited her to join the Democratic Party.

Abby Huntsman now works for the Huffington Post and appears to be a secret weapon for the Obama campaign. In fact, when it comes to the Obama campaign, Huntsman may be to the Mormon debate what Sandra Fluke is to the contraception debate. As the daughter of a Mormon (and former Mormon herself), Abby is qualified to talk about the religion and you can bet your bottom dollar the Obama campaign is going to exploit that to the utmost.

Huntsman goes after Romney over several issues:

• The Mormon church's secrecy
• The Mormon church's behind-the-scenes efforts to help the Romney campaign
• The Mormon church's belief that the leader of the Mormon church is a prophet who gets revelations and whether Romney will follow that leader's direction or the Constitution
• The Mormon church granting him permission to change his position on abortion in order to make a successful run for Governor of Massachusetts
• The Mormon church and polygamy; Huntsman says Mormonism still subscribes to it.

Yes, that's far leftist Marc Lamont Hill sitting next to Huntsman.

Via Breitbart:



On August 23rd, NBC interviewed Abby Huntsman for an anti-Mormon hit piece masquerading as objective journalism; it was narrated by Brian Williams:

For more insight into the Church, Williams turned to Abby Huntsman, daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who left the Mormon faith after meeting her future husband, a non-Mormon. She lamented: "It's very black and white still, there's no gray area. You either are in or you're out. And you live by the Mormon doctrine or you do not."

Picking up on that theme, Williams explained: "In this modern world, some old-school rules still govern the Mormon Church, and that means no non-Mormons allowed inside their temples." He then suspiciously asked Huntsman: "I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that ever change?...What goes on in there?"

Huntsman regretfully replied: "I hope it does. But I don't think that it will....[It] causes a lot of people to feel maybe not good enough, 'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe being more accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much needed in the Church today."

As the Democrats look to step up their attacks on Romney's religion, look for former Mormon Abby Huntsman to become the go-to expert on all things Mormon.

NBC's Brian Williams and the not-so-subtle hit piece on Romney's religion

The common refrain from the Republican establishment - as well as from conservatives who think it's best to get fully behind Mitt Romney despite his lack of appeal to them - has been that this election is too important and the nation cannot afford more of Obama. While that last part is true, the establishment insisted on Romney. One of the reasons I (and others) thought Romney was nowhere near the best choice was what we believed the liberal media and other Democratic apparatchiks would at some point do - go after his religion.

It was never a matter of if, only when.

NBC's Brian Williams, with his typical pseudo-objective, liberal nuance, delivered a one hour hit piece on Mormonism.

Via NewsBusters:

Opening an hour-long special on the Mormon Church for Thursday's NBC Rock Center, anchor Brian Williams proclaimed to viewers: "Most Americans say they know next to nothing about the Mormon Church. Tonight, a rare look inside the lives of modern Mormon families....A church still dealing with the issue of polygamy....And other issues of inequality."

Teasing a report on the history of the Church, Williams promised to answer the question of "why so many Americans still today are suspicious of the religion." Introducing that portion of the broadcast, Williams touted pop culture mocking the faith, starting with a clip of Fox's Family Guy in which lead character Peter Griffin declares: "I'm going to be a Mormon....Come on, nailing a different wife every night. That's a no-brainer."

Williams announced: "Comedy now takes liberties with Mormons, say nothing of the polygamy-based dramas and then there's Broadway." Footage appeared on screen of Comedy Central's South Park and the HBO series Big Love, followed by a clip of The Book of Mormon musical produced by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

After briefly describing the founding of the religion, Williams quickly focused on negative perceptions of Mormonism: "Part of the history of the Church that they can't shake is polygamy....even though polygamy was officially banned a century go, it's something the Church still has to deal with....Critics in other religions have openly called them a cult."

For more insight into the Church, Williams turned to Abby Huntsman, daughter of former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who left the Mormon faith after meeting her future husband, a non-Mormon. She lamented: "It's very black and white still, there's no gray area. You either are in or you're out. And you live by the Mormon doctrine or you do not."

Picking up on that theme, Williams explained: "In this modern world, some old-school rules still govern the Mormon Church, and that means no non-Mormons allowed inside their temples." He then suspiciously asked Huntsman: "I can't get into the Mormon temple. Will that ever change?...What goes on in there?"

Huntsman regretfully replied: "I hope it does. But I don't think that it will....[It] causes a lot of people to feel maybe not good enough, 'Why am I not allowed in there?' So this idea of – maybe being more accepting and moving with the times a little bit is much needed in the Church today."

Williams then turned to those "issues of inequality" that he hyped at the top of the program: "There is another part of Mormonism in the recent past that was late to change, and that's racism. African-Americans were not allowed to become full members until 1978."

Those who think Romney will fight back against these attacks by going after Rev. Jeremiah Wright offer no indication from the Romney campaign that he will do so. Where Obama is perhaps weakest - like Operation Fast and Furious - Romney has avoided.

Read it all.

Buzzfeed: Are Democrat operatives gearing up for anti-Mormon campaign?

An Obama supporter has apparently posted a strategy for winning some southern states in the Bible belt and he's posted it to an Obama campaign website designed to create a nexus between the campaign itself and the voices on the ground. That strategy involves driving Christian voters away from Romney because of... wait for it... his Mormonism.

Via Buzzfeed:

When the Obama campaign released its much-anticipated Dashboard platform last May, it was touted as a potentially revolutionary organizing tool that would connect supporters, and merge online activism with real-life grassroots campaigning.

It can also be used as a platform to launch whispering campaigns, as one user proved this week.

On Monday, a "team member" named Laurence De Palma, who lists his location as East Nashville, presented volunteers with some talking points to convince Southern Christian voters they shouldn't vote for a Mormon. The message was available under "Resources" and tagged "persuasion."

"I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE campaigns to get nasty, we in the south (TN) come to EXPECT it," De Palma began. "What we also know is that we have a very 'rigid' view of Christianity, and apparently, Mormonism isn't anywhere in our views. This could easily win TN/SC/AL/GA, etc."

Though the post has since been taken down, Romney's campaign spokesman - Andrea Saul - has responded:

Romney campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul condemned the posting in an emailed statement: "The news concerning the Obama Campaign's dashboard containing language based on sowing religious division is deeply disturbing. There is no place in politics for this, and it must be addressed and put to an end."

There are several reasons why the liberal media wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee. The establishment wanted him (that usually bodes well for the Democrats); Romney is a moderate; Romneycare would help to neutralize the Obamacare debate; and Romney doesn't inspire the right-wing base, which leads to another reason.

Romney's religion. I've long believed that Mitt's Mormonism would be an issue for the left to exploit; we may just be getting closer to that reality. That's not to say that it hasn't been brought up; it has been.

Last month, James Carville said he thought Romney's religion was his biggest weakness. Last April, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said David Axelrod would attack Mormonism; MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell got quite aggressive against the Mormon religion while NBC's David Gregory did so in a much more subtle / pseudo-objective kinda way.

Also, let's not forget about when Donna Brazile inadvertently let it slip that Romney was the candidate the Democrats wanted to face. Michael A. Walsh, in a New York Post article, wrote about the incident at the time:

Lost in the weekend’s back-to-back debates in New Hampshire was this illuminating remark by Democratic strategist Donna Brazile after Saturday night’s soporific contest in Manchester: “Mitt Romney won tonight because no one touched him. And for Democrats, you know what? It was good news for us . . . because we believe that the weakest candidate is the candidate that the Republicans are not attacking. And that’s Mitt Romney.”

The remark drew guffaws from some of the other assembled party faithful and media commentators, but Brazile spoke the truth. Democrats do believe that Romney is eminently beatable, the perfect foil for President Obama, in fact.

Again, there are several reasons why the Democrats wanted to face Romney. The perceived ability to exploit his religion and drive evangelical voters away is one of them.

Zip over at Weasel Zippers asks:

Do they really want to make this about religion considering Obama’s Jeremiah Wright past?

Considering that Romney has avoided hitting back at Obama with Fast and Furious after several obvious opportunities to do so. Obama campaign / Super PACs accused Romney of being too 'secretive', suggested he was a 'felon', and implied he murdered a woman. David Axelrod even compared him to Richard Nixon.

Fast and Furious was a gun-walking operation run in the shadows; the Justice Department stonewalled Congress for over a year (and continues to do so) - that's secretive. Fast and Furious was more than just a little felonious - putting guns in the hands of bad guys does qualify. As for murder, Fast and Furious is responsible for the murder of at least one U.S. Border Agent - Brian Terry - and hundreds of Mexican nationals. As for the Nixon comparison, Obama is the one who asserted executive privilege to prevent documents about Fast and Furious from being presented to Congress.

With all due respect to Zip, if Romney won't hit back at these blatantly projectionist attacks by the Obama administration with Fast and Furious, why would he respond to attacks on Mormonism by bringing up Jeremiah Wright?

Ah, there's another reason the Democrats wanted to face Romney.

James Carville: Romney's Religion is his Biggest Problem

Former Clinton campaign strategist and prominent Democrat, James Carville, may have just given the green light to the left, to go after Mitt Romney over Mormonism. While appearing on WWL in New Orleans, Carville said the following during a discussion about Romney:

“One of the problems that Romney has honestly is — the thing against him the most is his religion,” Carville said. “And he doesn’t understand the reasons. He doesn’t talk about that. He was a bishop in his church. And he doesn’t talk about the one public office that he held much and that was being the governor of Massachusetts. So, he talks about Bain, but that’s become sort of a big issue in the campaign. He’s got to, you know — if you look at the numbers, Romney should win this campaign.”

Until the Obamacare ruling, Romney was making incremental progress on a weekly basis. He was winning with jabs against Obama, landing more punches by far but nothing with the force of a haymaker. Even after the Obamacare ruling, Romney was poised to capitalize on it because the last of the anti-establishment candidate fence-sitters seemed to be getting on his side.

Then the Romney campaign delivered a haymaker to its own jaw when it couldn't adequately draw a significant contrast between Obamacare and Romneycare.

There is a reason Carville is attacking Romney on Mormonism the same week that Romney muddled his Romneycare message; he smells blood in the water. This attack by Carville was definitely strategic.

Here is the audio of the exchange, via Daily Caller:

Video: Chris Rock says Mormons thought blacks "the Devil" until 1978

During an appearance on Jimmy Fallon's late show, Chris Rock said that Mormons "believed black people were the devil until 1978." While Romney's followers assume their roles as candidate defenders and party loyalists, many don't seem to realize the potential powder keg this stuff can be. The truth is that Mormonism has quite a racist history that didn't end until well after the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.

In fact, if Mormons of today are to believe that Brigham Young was a prophet who spoke the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, they must themselves be racist as well. Otherwise, they have to renounce Young as a prophet. The truth is simple. Brigham Young espoused racist views.

Chris Rock certainly embellished for comedic effect but this is going to be a real problem for the Romney campaign. Having to explain these things away is Romney's achilles heal and the mainstream media knows it. A common refrain from these outlets is that Romney refuses to talk about his faith.

Folks like Rock are simply chipping away at the wall until Romney will have to address these issues.

Via NewsBusters:

MSNBC Host interviews guest on Mormonism's 'White Horse Prophecy'

MSNBC's Tamron Hall interviewed Edward-Isaac Dovere from the POLITICO. The topic of conversation was Mormonism's 'White Horse Prophecy,' allegedly made by Mormonism's founder, Joseph Smith. At its core is a belief that a wealthy Mormon would be elected president at a time when the US Constitution is hanging by a thread.

In this clip, Dovere actually minimizes the importance of the prophecy by explaining that it was first reported by one lone person 50 years after it was allegedly uttered by Smith. Dovere does make a subtle attempt to tie Romney to the prophecy by saying that Mormons believe the Constitution was 'divinely inspired,' which is also a part of the 'White Horse Prophecy.' He then referred to a comment by Romney that the presidential candidate believes the Constitution was... you guessed it, 'divinely inspired.'

Compounding this is the fact that Romney's campaign is not responding to inquiries about these things. Dovere makes this point as well. The media knows full well that when the subject of Mormonism is brought up, Romney would rather not discuss it. Unfortunately for Romney, the green light for the media to continue pressing the issue couldn't be any brighter as a result.

The strategy of the mainstream media will become clear. It is going to continue piling up the bizarre aspects, practices, and beliefs inside the Mormon church to the point of having an overwhelming preponderance of items that Romney will not be able to withstand. The more such things are met with silence from Romney, the more damaging they will be.

Via MediaIte:

Washington Post goes there: Mormonism's Mountain Meadows Massacre

Has anyone noticed that Mormon Harry Reid has been completely silent as the liberal media attacks his religion? We can only infer one thing from his silence. He values his party more than he values his faith. Otherwise, he would be defending Mitt Romney.

There is a Category 5 Hurricane headed for the Mormon church and the Republican establishment has hitched its wagons to a guy who has no shudders up. Folks, this is just the beginning. The left has plenty of ammunition in its arsenal when it comes to Romney's religion and Romney is not prepared for what's coming. Here is a small sampling of what's coming.

Via the Washington Post:

On the wildflower-studded slopes of the Ozarks, where memories run long and family ties run thick, a little-known and long-ago chapter of history still simmers.

On Sept. 11, 1857, a wagon train from this part of Arkansas met with a gruesome fate in Utah, where most of the travelers were slaughtered by a Mormon militia in an episode known as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Hundreds of the victims’ descendants still populate these hills and commemorate the killings, which they have come to call “the first 9/11.”

Many of the locals grew up hearing denunciations of Mormonism from the pulpit on Sundays, and tales of the massacre from older relatives who considered Mormons “evil.” 

“There have been Fancher family reunions for 150 years, and the massacre comes up at every one of them,” said Scott Fancher, 58, who traces his lineage back to 26 members of the wagon train, which was known as the Fancher-Baker party. “The more whiskey we drunk, the more resentful we got.” 

There aren’t many places in America more likely to be suspicious of Mormonism — and potentially more problematic for Mitt Romney, who is seeking to become the country’s first Mormon president. Not only do many here retain a personal antipathy toward the religion and its followers, but they also tend to be Christian evangelicals, many of whom view Mormonism as a cult.

Mormons perpetrated America's "first 9/11"? In fairness, Mormonism's founder - Joseph Smith - did liken himself to Islam's prophet:

“I will be to this generation a second Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was 'the Alcoran [Koran] or the Sword.' So shall it eventually be with us.”

The bigger story here is the mainstream media's steady drip, drip, drip of Mormon stories until something sticks to Romney.

Just wait. The spigot is begging to be turned on.

Read it all.

POLITICO: Mormonism WILL be an issue

Mitt Romney garnered an overwhelming majority of the Mormon vote during the primaries. As a result, the Mormon church may have to batten down the hatches because a political hurricane is about to hit Utah. The establishment had blinders on and didn't pay attention to the consequences of its insistence that Romney get the nomination. Dylan Byers writes that the hurricane is coming.

Via POLITICO:

Mormonism is going to be an issue this election season. It's only a question of when.

Even if Mitt Romney doesn't address it, even if President Obama doesn't address it, even if the DNC and the Super PACs don't address it, the media will. And when they do it is almost certain to drive the news cycle.

I'm not talking about Romney's personal history -- or his family's history -- in the Mormon Church, which is something that has already come up in various stories on cable news and made the front page of a few papers. I’m talking about a national conversation about the Mormon faith, including its past practice of polygamy (which was renounced by the church in the 19th century) and its exclusion of African Americans from the priesthood (until 1978).. That sort of thing.

Back in January, Rush Limbaugh played a clip of Donna Brazile after a debate after which she said that Romney's performance was 'good' for the Democrats because his nomination gives Obama the best chance. Correctly, Limbaugh pointed out that Brazile spoke too soon. Though she told the truth, she wasn't supposed to yet.

What Limbaugh didn't discuss at the time was one of the biggest reasons the Democrats want to face Romney; they see his religion as a huge weakness, something he isn't prepared to discuss or defend.



h/t NewsBusters

Proof Mormonism will be on the table; Socialist Axelrod says it won't be

Leftists are such consistent liars that they actually tell you the truth. All you have to do is believe the exact opposite of what they say. The latest example comes from Obama senior adviser David Axelrod, who says Mormonism will be 'off the table.' Bet the other way and you have a winner.

Via the National Journal:

As religion becomes an ever-more significant issue on the campaign trail, Mitt Romney's Mormonism will be off-limits as a subject for the opposition, Obama campaign advisor David Axelrod said on Sunday.

"We've said that's not fair game," he said on CNN's State of the Union. When asked whether the campaign "repudiate[s] the idea that Mormonism should be on the table" this election season, Axelrod insisted: "absolutely."

He added, however, that Romney should to come out stronger against attacks on Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. A recent GOP ad proposal unearthed by the New York Times that aimed to focus in on Obama's relationship with the pastor brought the racially-charged issue to the forefront of the campaign this week.  While Romney repudiated the ad, Axelrod and he wasn't vehement enough in his disapproval.

Lest we forget that it was Mr. Axelrod who inadvertently tweeted a story about how Mormon churches prevented menstruating women from participating in proxy baptisms to all of his followers. That tweet was quickly deleted.

Actually, you don't even need to wait to see how this one plays out. Axelrod is already lying. As a propaganda arm of the White House, MSNBC has already gone after Mormonism multiple times.

Liberals = Liars
Axelrod = Liberal
Axelrod = Liar

Via Daily Caller:


h/t Hot Air

Campaign 2012: Black Liberation Theology vs. Mormonism

On May 16th, as it was being learned that Romney's Super PAC was preparing to go after Obama using Jeremiah Wright, CNN's Roland Martin said: that if "...the GOP wants to do that, then guess what? You're now putting Mormonism on the table."

Guess what else? It doesn't matter whether Romney repudiates the Super PAC for considering an anti-Jeremiah Wright campaign. The liberal media is already going after Romney over Mormonism despite what he says about any proposed ad campaign. Note the straw man here. MSNBC's Ed Schultz pits Mormonism against Jeremiah Wright and Black Liberation Theology anyway.

This is exactly what the left wants and frankly, Romney isn't the least bit prepared for it. If he thinks taking Jeremiah Wright off the table is going to take Mormonism off the table, he's wrong. The left has already put it on the table in response to the sheer notion that the Romney Super PAC would even consider a Jeremiah Wright campaign.

Here is an exchange moderated by Schultz between conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams and Michael Eric Dyson. Note that Williams says Romney repudiated the Super PAC and this should be a dead issue. Schultz and Dyson don't seem to care about that much.

Again, the liberal media sees Mormonism as Romney's biggest weak spot and they're going to go after him full boar over it. They're using the prospect of a Jeremiah Wright campaign as their green light.

Via MediaIte:

Here we go: Mitt Romney, Jeremiah Wright, and the John McCain Redux

With all of these audio recordings of Jeremiah Wright just hanging out there like a big fat hanging curveball approaching the conservative wheelhouse, Mitt Romney is saying he would rather not swing and hope the umpire says it's out of the strike zone. Just like McCain in 2008, Romney does not want to make Jeremiah Wright an issue. In fact, he is repudiating the efforts of a Super PAC to wage a Jeremiah Wright ad campaign.

Welcome to the reason why the liberal media wanted Mitt Romney to be the nominee. They know that once Mormonism becomes an issue in the campaign, Romney can be bludgeoned with it. Hannity makes the very valid point here that he wants Romney to go after Obama like he went after Gingrich.

However, throughout the Republican primary, Hannity stayed away from endorsing any candidate and did not go after Romney despite all indications that Romney would behave just like this if he got the nomination. Perhaps Sean should have been more vocal in his opposition to Mitt (assuming that wasn't his preference).

Via MediaIte:



Here is Hannity on his television show, later,



Here is McCain in 2008 behaving just like Romney appears to be now:



This is as good a reason as any why Romney doesn't want to go after Jeremiah Wright. One day prior to Romney's repudiation of the idea, CNN's Roland Martin fired a liberal shot across the bow, saying that if Romney wants to bring up Wright, Mormonism will be on the table.

Roland Martin: If Jeremiah Wright fair game, so is Mormonism

Make no mistake. One of the reasons the liberal media wanted Mitt Romney to be the Republican nominee was because of his religion. In this exchange, note CNN's Roland Martin. Aside from saying Republicans need to stay away from the Jeremiah Wright issue because it won't work (if that's true, why wouldn't Martin want Republicans to do it?), Martin says if Obama's religious history is fair game, so is Mitt Romney's.

Via MediaIte:

Video: Jon Stewart addresses Mitt Romney's Mormonism

Now this is an interesting approach. Comedy Central's Jon Stewart does an entire segment on Mitt Romney's religion and comes across as defending it while still keeping it an issue. In fact, Stewart chides conservative evangelical leaders for chiding Mormonism. He also criticizes MSNBC hosts Lawrence O'Donnell and Martin Bashir for attacking Romney over religion.

It's important to remember, though, that it's not about the left coming to Mormonism's defense. It's about keeping the issue in the public eye. Stewart did just that here. Segments like this one will help Barack Obama.

Via The Atlantic:

The Daily Show
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Video: Bill Maher calls Mormonism a "Cult"

Bill Maher seems to be doing all he can to get Obama to return his $1 Million contribution to the president's Super PAC. He also apparently didn't get the message from Ross Douthat at the New York Times, which advises Team Obama to let the media play the Mormon card in a very nuanced way. There is nothing nuanced about Bill Maher's Mormonism-is-a-cult meme coupled with his charge that there are "no poor Mormons."

***LANGUAGE WARNING***



h/t Weekly Standard

Video: If you think Media won't attack Romney's Mormonism, think again

Regardless of what you might think about Mormonism, ask yourselves how effective the media could be in demonizing Mitt Romney over it after watching this video.

NYT's Ross Douthat tells White House how to play the Mormon Card

Isn't it interesting how on the night that Romney all but locks up the Republican nomination, the New York Times' Ross Douthat lays out what he thinks is the best way for the Obama administration to play the Mormon card against Romney? It's clear that Douthat advocates the David Gregory strategy over the Lawrence O'Donnell strategy. He starts the column by noting that when Evangelical leader Robert Jeffress identified Mormonism as a "theological cult" last year, it actually benefited Romney.

On one level, Douthat is amazingly candid here. He all but admits that the Obama administration is able to get the media to do its bidding and that it should let the media play the Mormon card in a strategic way.

Via New York Times:

If it seems like prominent Democrats are playing the religion card, then the Romney camp will have a chance to re-run the Jeffress controversy and paint its opponents as bigots. There’s also the awkward matter of President Obama’s own religious background: The White House probably would rather not do anything that might revive the 2008 debate over the Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

This explains why the White House was so quick to distance itself from Brian Schweitzer, the governor of Montana, when he raised the fact that Romney’s great-grandfather practiced polygamy. And it explains why the dog whistles that some conservatives have detected coming from the White House – an Obama spokesman contrasting Romney’s “faith” with the president’s “Christianity,” the repeated references to Romney’s “weirdness” from unnamed administration officials – have been pitched too faintly to be heard by most voters.

For Romney’s religion to become a significant issue in the general election, the White House probably needs the media to play the Mormon card for them. Not through overt attacks on Mormon theology and practice, which would be out of bounds for most mainstream outlets. Rather, the Obama campaign’s best-case scenario involves a wave of theoretically evenhanded coverage come August and September – newsmagazine cover stories on Mormon theology, 60 Minutes specials on L.D.S. history, pieces about Romney’s own family tree – that end up reminding undecided voters of the things that they find strange and alien about the Republican nominee’s faith.

The media would have good reason to pursue at least some coverage along these lines. If there’s ever a year when the Mormon story is worth telling, it’s a year when a Mormon is on the presidential ballot. And there’s no way to tell the Mormon story comprehensively without bringing up issues (polygamy, race, the Book of Mormon’s alternative pre-history of the Americas) that highlight the distance between the Latter Day Saints and other forms of American Christianity.

After his sweeping primary victories on April 24th, Romney's speeches included references to the Obama administration's attempts to distract voters from the economy with irrelevant issues. Relevant or not, the media will most assuredly follow Douthat's roadmap.

Read it all.

Video: CNN's Jack Cafferty says Romney should be more open about Mormonism

The mainstream media is continuing its subtle attacks on Mitt Romney's religion. In some cases - see Lawrence O'Donnell - the attacks haven't been as subtle. CNN's Jack Cafferty seems to be using the David Gregory approach. The MSM doesn't want to appear bigoted so is clearly trying to set a narrative that says Mormonism is an issue because of Romney's intimate involvement with it. They know why Romney doesn't want to talk about it; the doctrine and history of the religion would be considered quite bizarre to most people. They also know that most people don't know that kind of detail.

Make no mistake, however. These guys know that doing so has more downside for Romney than upside, which is why Romney doesn't appear all that interested in discussing the subject. Cafferty knows this and says that Romney should not avoid talking about his religion, for several reasons.

Via MediaIte:

On Tuesday’s “Cafferty File,” CNN contributor Jack Cafferty said that likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney needs to embrace his Mormon faith and prepare an address, similar to one he gave in 2008, in order to clear up misconceptions about the religion that are still held by many Americans. Oddly, Cafferty gave a similar presentation less than a year ago and came to the opposite conclusion – that a speech Romney gave in 2008 could be blamed for ending his presidential campaign in the last cycle.

Isn't that interesting? CNN's Cafferty thinks it's important for Romney to be more open about Mormonism as the former Massachusetts Governor has all but clinched the Republican nomination. Yet, last year, Cafferty asserted that doing so in 2008 torpedoed his chances then.

Should tell you all you need to know about why Cafferty thinks Romney should do the same thing now.

Folks, the MSM is going to bludgeon Romney with his religion. Why the Republican Party establishment doesn't see this is beyond me.

POLITICO using the David Gregory strategy on Romney's Mormonism

Compare the attack dog techniques of MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell and the outwardly encouraging attempts by NBC's David Gregory to make Mitt Romney's Mormonism an issue. O'Donnell all but called Romney a member of a racist and sexist religion while Gregory smiled on the Late Show and insisted that Romney should talk about his Mormon faith because this is such a monumental moment - the first Mormon presidential nominee.

POLITICO's Lois Romano appears to be projecting O'Donnell's views onto disenchanted Republican voters while adopting the David Gregory mantra:

Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith has hovered over his 20-year political career like a thick layer of incense at Easter Mass. Negative perceptions of the religion so worried his 2008 presidential team that the dilemma had its own acronym in campaign power point presentations: TMT (That Mormon Thing).

Worries persisted this year as skeptical evangelical Christians flocked to other candidates—any other candidate it seemed — causing Romney to avoid all things Mormon in public.

But now that the former Massachusetts governor is the likely GOP nominee, many Republicans think that the standoffish candidate actually needs to embrace his Mormonism publicly to open a window into his life.

Romano, perhaps unknowingly, puts Media Research Center's Brent Bozell in the same camp as Gregory:

Conservative activist L. Brent Bozell hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate but admittedly favored the more conservative players in the race over Romney. Still, he sees no reason for Romney to hide his light under a bushel. “If you’re a Mormon, you don’t need to distance yourself from it,” says Bozell. “We can all get along. I think the hostility seen in the primaries toward him was based more on cultural issues—social issues, not religious.”

But not entirely: Romney experienced pushback this year from evangelicals who view the Mormon faith as at odds with the historic Christian doctrine of the Trinity. They question whether Mormons even believe in Jesus Christ –even though the official name of the religion is the Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints. One prominent Texas cleric who supported Rick Perry called the church a “cult.”

“What I find disturbing,” said one Romney adviser who asked for anonymity, “are the exits polls where people said they could only vote for someone who shared their religious faith.” According to this adviser and others, Christian conservatives feel that electing a Mormon president would further legitimatize the lay religion founded nearly 200 years ago, when many of them see it as a false religion.

The question remains: What will the end result be of Republican voters learning more about Mormonism. Romney's reticence indicates he thinks it will hurt him.

Why? That's a question voters should answer before it's too late.

Read it all.

New York Times subtly plants anti-Mormon seeds

While the current debate rages about Hilary Rosen's comments about Ann Romney never working a day her life, an article in the New York Times by Geoffrey Kabaservice is planting seeds of concern about Mitt's Mormon faith. Kabaservice is walking a fine line between presenting information about Mormonism and doing so while not appearing bigoted.

Many of the problems various people have with Mormonism are found in the religion's early years. Kabaservice, no doubt, understands this and focuses on the Romney family's connection to those early years.

Via NYT:

...“The Real Romney” leaves an unsettling impression. Romney’s peculiar misfortune is that the things that defined him have become liabilities in his presidential pursuit, leading him to minimize or repudiate his own beliefs, legacy and accomplishments. Even as he shifts into the front-runner’s role, he is running on who he is not — namely, Barack Obama — rather than on who he is, and cannot stand openly for the things that matter most to him. If Obama is our first post-racial president, Romney, with his strategy of absences and denials, bids to become our first postmodern president.

Romney’s political problems begin, in a basic sense, with his family history. The authors trace the intertwined histories of Romney’s ancestors and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, beginning with his great-great-grandfather Miles Archibald Romney, who became an early convert to Mormonism in 1837. Mitt’s great-grandfather had undertaken the pioneer journey to the Utah Territory as a boy, and when he refused to abandon what Mormons considered the divinely ordained practice of “plural marriage” — he had three wives at that point — he fled federal agents to establish a colony in Mexico; the family remained there after the Mormon Church agreed to ban po­lygamy in 1890 as a condition of Utah’s gaining statehood.

Why is that relevant? Kabaservice explains just a few paragraphs later:

His upstanding life fails to win Romney the political credit that would normally extend to such a paragon, because many people do not understand or approve of the religion that inspires him. Over the last several years, about a quarter of Americans have told poll takers they would not vote for a Mormon. Liberals are skeptical of a religion that until 1978 refused to grant full membership to anybody with even one drop of African blood and still bars women from the priesthood. Mormon leaders have supported extreme right-wing organizations like the John Birch Society, denounced the theory of evolution, condemned much of American popular culture, and led the fights against the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and the gay marriage movement over the past decade. Christian conservatives might be expected to support Mormonism’s political agenda, but many believe that the religion is not Christian but a heretical and even satanic cult. Because of this opposition from both left and right, Romney is forced to play down his distinctive heritage, resorting instead to generalized expressions of faith and patriotism.

There you go. Kabaservice touches on Mormonism having a racist past that necessarily included Mitt's ancestors. Look for the mainstream media to pick up on that little part about barring women from the priesthood - after Hilary Rosen's comments play out.