People For the American Way's Right Wing Watch Online, #1.13 November 7, 1997. Following is the latest from the Right Wing's mail, television, radio and web activity courtesy of People For the American Way's research and monitoring operation. Subscription and unsubscription information for Right Wing Watch Online is at the end of the document; subscriptions are free. Please forward to anyone you think might be interested. A. In the mail 1. American Family Association and the Disney boycott 2. Traditional Values Coalition and gay rights 3. Alliance Defense Fund and the "homosexual agenda" 4. Freedom Alliance and Coalition of Politically Active Christians bash Clinton 5. Washington Times mailing B. On the airwaves 1. Pat Robertson and anti-Christian discrimination 2. Pat Robertson criticizes Islam 3. Chuck Colson on Focus on the Family 4. Christian Coalition TV C. On the internet 1. Free Congress Foundation 2. American Family Association 3. Eagle Forum D. Other 1. Conservative Leadership Conference '97 2. Rep. J.C. Watts speaks to the Iowa GOP ============ A. In the mail... As the 1997 direct mail season draws to a close, various Religious Right groups are turning to a tried and true tactic to make budget: gay-bashing. Read on. 1.) The American Family Association (AFA) continues to promote the boycott against the Walt Disney company. In both its October "Action" letter and its monthly journal, AFA happily reports that the Southern Baptist Convention, Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, the Catholic League, and King for America (the right-wing group founded by Alveda King, the politically wayward niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) have all joined in the boycott. According to AFA, it has distributed more than 750,000 reports entitled "Why American Families Should Boycott Disney," sent a "Boycott Disney Packet" to almost 170,000 churches, and produced the video "The Disney Boycott: A Just Cause." Upcoming boycott activities include holding "Boycott Disney--Pro-America" rallies across the country. 2.) The Traditional Value Coalition's (TVC) most recent fundraising letter and newsletter focused on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. TVC has already held three congressional briefings on the Hill. Somehow TVC manages to argue that a bill that would bar anti-gay employment discrimination would "forc[e] schools to promote and advocate the acceptance of homosexuality" and "forc[e] the gay agenda on businesses, churches, and schools." TVC also claims that "school and public libraries would be more aggressive in ordering homosexual books and magazines" as a result of ENDA. 3.) Allan Sears, president of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), wrote in a September 1997 direct mail letter of his family's summer cross-country road trip. Sears' great discovery on his trek through 16 states was that an "extremely dangerous force" could turn many of America's communities "upside-down." The "force" Sears refers to in his letter is what he calls "the aggressive efforts by homosexual activists to force every person, every institution, and every community in our society to accept and, through the law, affirm their 'lifestyle.'" The letter goes on to malign gays and lesbians as the "enemy" of the family and decries the threats "posed by militant homosexuals to the traditional family." 4.) Similar to the anti-Clinton direct mail from Citizens United and The Conservative Caucus described in the 9/12/97 issue of RWWO, this month the Freedom Alliance and the Coalition of Politically Active Christians (COPAC) continue the trend in Clinton-bashing. In the Alliance letter signed by Gary Aldrich, author of the wildly controversial hatchet job on the Clinton White House, Unlimited Access, and now director of special projects at Freedom Alliance, President Clinton and Vice President Gore are both asked "to do the right thing" and resign. Aldrich claims that "[i]llegal drug use...open gay/lesbian sex...and widespread access to classified materials by unauthorized personnel was commonplace." Stating that President Clinton's fundraising activities "stink to high heaven," COPAC's letter urges members to sign a "Resolution for Impeachment." The group is hoping members will volunteer to distribute petitions calling for Clinton's impeachment. Volunteers who do so have the privilege of automatically being part of COPAC's "Citizens' Impeachment Committee" and will receive a certificate to prove it. 5.) As readers of RWWO might have guessed, we gather our information in a variety of ways. One is to plant names on the mailing lists of various Religious Right organizations. Our person on the Christian Coalition's list reports receiving a number of "prospecting" mailings in recent months -- that's when one organization buys the mailing list of another for a one-shot come-on. Evidently, the Christian Coalition list is a hot property in right-wing circles, at least judging from the quantity of prospecting mail. Perhaps the most interesting recent piece came from the Washington Times, which apparently bought the Christian Coalition's list to hawk its national weekly edition. The striking thing about the mailing was that when speaking to a partisan audience, the Times abandons all pretense of journalistic balance. The cover of the foldover mailing has a picture of a grimacing Bill Clinton with the headline: "If your local paper refuses to report the truth about this man, then come try 4 free issues of the hot new national newspaper that does." Later: "This is the Washington paper that's driving liberals crazy...." Accompanying pictures display copies of the newspaper with a series of anti-Clinton headlines. Just imagine what the Washington Times would have editorialized if a mainstream newspaper had produced a comparably left-wing promotion! B. On the airwaves... Pat Robertson has been busy comparing persecution of Christians in foreign lands with what he calls "persecution of Christians" here at home. Also, Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries has been advertising a manifesto on judicial activism, and the Christian Coalition has launched a new TV program. 1.) While his Christian Coalition is out working to pass a bill to address religious persecution abroad, Pat Robertson has been busy on his daily TV show decrying alleged persecution of Christians here at home. Mind you, about 60 percent of Americans say they belong to one or another Christian church, but Robertson is not to be deterred. On the 9/18/97 "700 Club," Robertson said that "in America, if somebody's a woman, a female, they're protected. If somebody's Hispanic--protected. If somebody's an Asian--protected. If somebody's an African American--protected. If somebody's Native American--protected. If somebody's disabled, they're protected. If somebody's homosexual--protected. If somebody's a Christian--anathema. I mean no protection whatsoever to this group in America or anyplace else." Additionally, Pat Robertson, on the 10/9/97 edition of the "700 Club," compared "discrimination" against Christians in the United States to the Holocaust. Responding to the suspension of a proselytizing public school vice-principal, Robertson blamed the judiciary, saying, "The problem here is the flawed thinking that came out of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court violated the Constitution...what we are looking at right now is a moral breakdown in our society and when a man comes up off campus, and tries to give spiritual guidance to children, he is fired. This is wrong! It is absolutely wrong. And if we don't do something about it we'll be like the Jews in Nazi Germany. Little by little by little they were squeezed and squeezed until they had those yellow things, the stars they had to wear, and then they were in the ghettos and then the Holocaust came. We're not going to let it happen in America, but it will happen unless you and I fight it." 2.) On the October 27th "700 Club," Robertson continued discussing his views on Christian persecution and also attacked Islam. Robertson: "You and I have never been called upon to have this kind of persecution. I have felt it especially intensely over the last few years, as people on the left of the political spectrum are hurling viscous attacks at me and at other believers because they do not want us to have any voice in our government, they don't want us to have any voice in the public affairs of our nation, they don't want us to have any role in defending ourselves or our families, or bringing about a peaceful society in America. And some of them, like People For the American Way are richly funded by Hollywood -- men like Norman Lear and others, are paying vast sums of money to attack me. That's sort of the way it is. But ladies and gentlemen, this is America -- we haven't suffered and been hung up by our hands and had our kidneys punched and beaten. We haven't had our houses ransacked and our churches burned, but some people have already had their churches burned in America. This virulent anti-Christian bigotry has got to stop! You cannot vote for someone who's an anti-Christian bigot. You cannot allow somebody in public office to be an anti-Christian bigot. These voices that are raised against Christianity, Christians have got to stand together and say no. But beyond that, we must join as a united front against this genocide that's taking place in the Middle East. To see Americans become followers of quote Islam, is nothing short of insanity. Terry, you know, I've been in Africa many, many, many, many times, and you see people over here learning Swahili, for example. Swahili was the language of the slave traders. The Islamic people, the Arabs, were the ones who captured Africans, put them in slavery, and sent them to America as slaves. Why would people in America want to embrace the religion of the slavers, and the language of the slavers -- that's what Swahili is; it's not a native African dialect. You say 'what's going on in America, when we welcome into our society and give rights to people who are persecuting Christians around the world.' It's time we stood up against this and said 'no more!' We must demand the State Department do something in relation to the Sudan, in relation to the Palestinian Authority, in relation to Iran, in relation to Saudi Arabia and these other countries that are persecuting Christians. We can't let it happen. And if we don't let our voices be heard, it's going to happen. Now, I think we ought to pray, we should really pray. And then we should do something as well as pray, and let our voices be heard. Speak out wherever we are -- we can't be silent, look what happened in the Holocaust. A whole race was close to extinction because we were silent. We can't be silent any longer. If it's them now, it'll be us next." 3.) In a Focus on the Family radio broadcast on September 30th, Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship Ministries and Princeton University Professor Robert George pressed the attack on the independent judiciary. Colson is circulating a new manifesto, which he calls, "We Hold These Truths." Colson claims the document, signed by more than 40 religious leaders, "challenges the court, challenges the court's power grab, if you will, of the democratic process." Colson has also begun an advertising campaign on Christian radio stations calling his manifesto, "the most important document [he's] signed since becoming a Christian," and asking listeners to sign with him and to pressure legislators to stand up to the courts. 4.) The Christian Coalition (CC) has announced the launch of a new weekly national television program on the Free Congress Foundation's National Empowerment Television (NET). A simulcast will also be available on the Coalition's website. The new hour-long show, called CCTV, will feature news and information targeted directly at Coalition members and supporters. Viewers will be able to participate in interactive discussions by calling in or e-mailing questions and comments. Coalition President Donald Hodel and Executive Director Randy Tate will host the show apparently on a rotating basis. In other CC news, D.J. Gribbin, the coalition's national field director, will be going to work for Koch Industries helping them build a grassroots alliance to push conservative causes. (The Koch family, which owns Koch Industries, has given enormous sums of money to conservative and libertarian interest groups through its family foundation.) C. On the internet... Paul Weyrich's Free Congress Foundation is advertising a new telephone hotline, and Eagle Forum has a new legislative scorecard up on its web page. In addition, the American Family Association is denouncing American Airlines in a recent action alert letter. 1.) The Free Congress Foundation web page recently announced the launch of the "Bill Clinton Sexual Harassment Hotline." The special hotline is "to help victims who have experienced sexual harassment by President Bill Clinton [to] come forward without being the target of powerful campaigns launched by powerful men of influence. 1-888-HARASSU, the hotline number, will be advertised both on billboards in the Little Rock, Arkansas area and through a $250,000 radio and television ad campaign. The National Center for Public Policy Research, headed by Amy Moritz Ridenour, will also participate in the campaign. (http://www.fcref.org/pressrelease/paula.htm) 2.) The American Family Association (AFA) has released an alert (10/28/97) in the form of an open letter addressed to the chairman of American Airlines (http://afa.net/alert/aa971027.htm). AFA expressed its "renewed concern that [the airlines] honestly do not know how widespread and offensive [its] campaign to legitimize homosexuality has become." In the letter, AFA specifically criticizes American Airlines for being the official airlines of People For the American Way's "Hostile Climate" project ("Hostile Climate documents anti-gay incidents across the country). The PFAW report takes dead aim at the Religious Right's anti-gay campaign. AFA has also demanded an apology for American's supposed "egregious act of bigotry toward Christian family groups." Signing on to the letter are other leaders of the Religious Right including Gary Bauer (Family Research Council), James Dobson (Focus on the Family), Beverly LaHaye (Concerned Women for America), Richard Land (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) and D. James Kennedy (Coral Ridge Ministries). [Ed. note: PFAW has much more to say about this. Check our web page for updates. You can also order a copy of "Hostile Climate" on the site at http://www.pfaw.org.] 3.) Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum has jumped on the legislative scorecard bandwagon that has been so successful for the Christian Coalition. It is now offering a Congressional scorecard on its website (http://www.eagleforum.org/vote). Both the House and Senate are listed and users can search by state. House bills that made it onto the scorecard include Most Favored Nation status for China, National Endowment for the Arts appropriations, Workforce Training and international family planning. Senate legislation includes National Testing for public school students and an appropriations bill allocating $12 billion in federal funds to be sent to local school districts with no strings attached. D. Other tidbits... 1.) Steve Forbes continues to make the rounds of Religious Right gatherings in an attempt to persuade right-wing activists that he is really one of them. After successful appearances at the Christian Coalition conference in September and the Concerned Women for America Conference in October, he now says that he will attend the 1997 Conservative Leadership Conference to be held November 20-22 in Washington, DC. The conference is sponsored by several Religious Right groups including the Leadership Institute, Free Congress Foundation and Accuracy in Media. He will be joined by another possible presidential candidate, Sen. John Ashcroft. Other confirmed speakers include Gary Bauer, Oliver North, Phyllis Schlafly, Mike Farris and Rep. Helen Chenoweth. 2.) The attention that Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK) has been receiving while speaking to GOP audiences across the country has led to speculation that he may be a possible presidential candidate in 2000. He recently spoke at the Iowa Republican Party's annual Fall event and commented on several issues. On youth smoking and homosexuality: "What are we doing here? I think a wrong is a wrong. If we say selling cigarettes to teenagers is wrong, surely we have to say that a man kissing a man or a woman kissing a woman is wrong." On education: "[W]hat we have done economically, what we are doing educationally, to inner-city poor kids is somewhat baffling to me. There is a lot of work to be done" by conservative Republicans. LIST INFO ================ To subscribe to Right-Wing Watch Online, sign up at http://pfaw.org/rww or send e-mail to MAISER@PFAW.ORG with the following text in the body: SUB RWW A subject heading is not necessary. To unsubscribe, follow the steps above, but use UNSUB RWW in the message body. Archives of Right Wing Watch Online are kept at http://pfaw.org/rww PFAW ==================== People For the American Way | 2000 M Street #400, Washington, DC 20036 | (202) 467-4999 | http://pfaw.org | pfaw@pfaw.org