MERGED --> Bono Should Be Ashamed + More ranting from Robertson

[LyricalDrug]

Bono should be ashamed...

...of associating with televangelist Pat Robertson, who has now called for the death of Venezuala's president.


=====================
Televangelist Calls for Chavez' Death
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Monday, August 22, 2005

(08-22) 20:06 PDT Virginia Beach, Va. (AP) --

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson called on Monday for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him a "terrific danger" to the United States.

Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, said on "The 700 Club" it was the United States' duty to stop Chavez from making Venezuela a "launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Electronic pages and a message to a Robertson spokeswoman were not immediately returned Monday evening.

Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 percent of Venezuela's total exports.

Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.

Robertson accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said.

"We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

moving this to fym as it would fit a bit better there...

 

[Axver]

OK, so just because he's not doing what the US wants, he should be shot?

Because that makes so much sense.

 

[LyricalDrug]

I know Axver, isn't that disgusting?

It creeps me out to think that Bono and Pat Robertson worked closely together on the "One" campaign.

 

[LyricalDrug]

That's weak to move this into "FYM."

It's big U2 news, but it's not pretty news, so it's "hidden" out of the way by the moderators? Yikes.

For those who aren't aware, Bono and Pat Robertson worked *very* closely on the "One" campaign. They appeared in commercials together as well.

 

[Palace_Hero]

Perhaps Bono shares these views? Probably, he has been very anti-Venezuelan in the past.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Perhaps Bono shares these views? Probably, he has been very anti-Venezuelan in the past.

Touche', but I still think he should at least kick Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign, don't you?

I'm sure Bono would be as horrified by the assassination request as any of us would be.

 

[all_i_want]

OF COURSE he should be shot! Anyone who does THAT deserves to be either gagged or shot. Whichever is handier. How do you know Chavez wont fund Latino-terror cells with all the money he gets from oil? I think Venezuela is a part of the Axis of Evil, too. And how long, I ask you, how long before Venezuela starts building nucular weapons? Its so close too, they could kill you without you noticing it! I think President Bush needs to punch the evil-doers in the mouth and show'em that you cant mess with Texas!

 

[indra]

That's weak to move this into "FYM."

It's big U2 news, but it's not pretty news, so it's "hidden" out of the way by the moderators? Yikes.

This (FYM) is where political stuff belongs. Hidden? Not at all.

If you don't choose to come in here that's your bad. But plenty of brave souls do come in here.


And Pat Robertson's a nutjob.

 

[Palace_Hero]

Touche', but I still think he should at least kick Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign, don't you?

I'm sure Bono would be as horrified by the assassination request as any of us would be.

I'm not horrified. Not pleased either, but I'm not gonna lose any hair over the opinions of some American quack, who isn't Bush.

 

[LyricalDrug]

I'm not horrified. Not pleased either, but I'm not gonna lose any hair over the opinions of some American quack, who isn't Bush.

Oh I don't really care about it either, frankly.

But I want Bono to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

And if he's going to win one someday, he needs to stay politically smart, and being politically smart means kicking Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign.

 

[Palace_Hero]

Oh I don't really care about it either, frankly.

But I want Bono to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

And if he's going to win one someday, he needs to stay politically smart, and being politically smart means kicking Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign.

Good point, I see where you are coming from now.

 

[financeguy]

The One campaign is quite a broad church seemingly.

I would like to see Bono condemn these comments, but I don't know if kicking Robertson off the campaign is necessarily the way to go.

 

[FizzingWhizzbees]

That's weak to move this into "FYM."

It's big U2 news, but it's not pretty news, so it's "hidden" out of the way by the moderators? Yikes.

For those who aren't aware, Bono and Pat Robertson worked *very* closely on the "One" campaign. They appeared in commercials together as well.

LyricalDrug,
Moving this thread to FYM isn't about hiding the thread -- FYM is a forum which anyone who is a member of this board can visit so it's not somewhere to hide threads.

The only reason your thread was moved is that we try to keep threads in the most appropriate forum and FYM is the appropriate forum for political discussions. If every thread about a politician Bono has been associated with was considered U2 news we'd have EYKIW full of threads about Bush, Blair and any other politician Bono has ever met, and you can imagine the kind of chaos that would cause!

Anyway, I hope you'll continue to post in FYM now you're here.

*Fizz.

 

[kobayashi]

Oh I don't really care about it either, frankly.

But I want Bono to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

And if he's going to win one someday, he needs to stay politically smart, and being politically smart means kicking Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign.

which is it? do you condemn all calls for assassination or do you want bono to win a nobel prize? a little of both?

to state that bono should be 'ashamed' because of robertson's comments and their past working relationship is quite a stretch. in gaining support for his campaign, bono reached out to a lot of diverse people, some of them being a little crazy as it would seem. i'd be surprised if you see bono making use of robertson's services in the future, provided he is aware of the comments.

and claiming that this is huge U2 news moreso than anything else is laughable.

 

[BVS]

It's big U2 news, but it's not pretty news, so it's "hidden" out of the way by the moderators? Yikes.

This isn't U2 news. This guy's a quack, he always has been. But he's a quack that has a lot of influence on the Christian conservatives in the US.

Bono has worked with a lot of people I don't care for during his plight for Africa, but it's going to take human effort for this to work and unfortunately humanity is full of many I would never want to associate myself with.

I think it's hard for some to dissaccociate the cause from Bono. This is not about Bono it's about Africa.

If this news gets to Bono, I would hope he would denounce Pat's words, but I don't think kicking him out is going to help. Kicking him out could be a backlash on the cause.

 

[Liesje]

Oh I don't really care about it either, frankly.

But I want Bono to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

And if he's going to win one someday, he needs to stay politically smart, and being politically smart means kicking Pat Robertson out of the "One" campaign.

I agree, but the ONE campaign doesn't exactly belong to Bono. There's dozens of other high profile celebs and dozens of nonprofits besides DATA that are part of it, so I doubt Bono can just kick people out on a moment's notice.

 

[reptile]

ERm...
The one campaign is the one campaign, it doesnt have anything to do with crazy guys other opinions or beliefs.....
Bono has nothing to be ashamed of here.

 

[starsforu2]

I don't think that he has to take any action against Robertson, but this does introduce a new question for FYMers

Is assassination a viable method for removing dictators from power? I don't know a lot about Hugo Chavez, so I'll pose the question with other high-profile dictators, despots and terrorists?

Should we have assassinated Sadaam? Hitler? Kim Jong Il? The Ayatollah Khomeni in Iran? Osama Bin Laden? Yasser Arafat? Fidel Castro? Josef Stalin?

Is that preferable to going to war? Or are both options odious and beyond the pale?

Let the games begin...

 

[LoveTown]

sometimes to get to Heaven you have to dance with the Devil.

Lets face it guys. Bono has basically been using lots of influencial people to get what he wants for Africa. And I do mean USING them.

I don't like the fact that Bono hangs out with Bush or people like this (Robertson) but he has to do what he has to do to get the backing he needs for his causes. I might not like it, but I see why he does it. And...it is called the ONE campaign and that implies that everybody from all over comes together to make the world better.

 

[verte76]

I can't stand Pat Robertson. I'm not surprised by any kooky thing he says or does. But when you work in politics, as Bono does, you have to put up with the Devil himself at times. It takes alot of patience to do that stuff. I'm not trying to whitewash Robertson. He needs a shrink at the very least.

 

[hiphop]

This may come as a surprise, but I definitely agree with Lyrical Drug. Persons who make such outrageous claims as to kill the President of another country - who is not a dictator at all, by the way, but the U.S. watch him with suspect because he wants that Venezuela actually profits from its oil a little more than in the past - have absolutely no place in a campaign that is associated with Bono.

If Bono is good friends with Bush, ok. Bush is influential and can move alot, speaking of Africa. But Bono has absolutely no reason to fear that the ONE campaign has less impact if he kicks out Robertson. Robertson is not that fucking important and Bono should decide to keep his image clean instead of keeping his mouth shut in reply to political nuts.

People like Robertson in that group may even diminish the support of "leftists" which are a base core group for Bono´s campaigns.

Compromising is good, but not too much of it. You don´t have to lick Robertson´s ass, frankly. If Bono doesn´t take distance, I will have to question whether he´d rather support the independence of Latin America or the U.S. oil industry.

 

[Palace_Hero]

LyricalDrug,
Moving this thread to FYM isn't about hiding the thread -- FYM is a forum which anyone who is a member of this board can visit so it's not somewhere to hide threads.

The only reason your thread was moved is that we try to keep threads in the most appropriate forum and FYM is the appropriate forum for political discussions. If every thread about a politician Bono has been associated with was considered U2 news we'd have EYKIW full of threads about Bush, Blair and any other politician Bono has ever met, and you can imagine the kind of chaos that would cause!

Anyway, I hope you'll continue to post in FYM now you're here.

*Fizz.

Very eloquent, I think that cleared up any unecessary confusion.

 

[2Hearts]

This is big U2 news. It's bigger than the R&R HOF induction, bigger than Vertigo Tour. It's BIG U2 news.

 

[martha]

Bono could give a rat's ass about what that nutjob Robertson says or what that bastard Jesse Helms says. His only focus is getting $$ and support for his African Cause. Bono's publically opposed the war (see the Vertigo concerts if you disagree), yet he's still working with that nutjob W. Plenty of people with questionable associations have done their work without being colored by those associations. Robertson will continue to amaze, and Bono will continue to work.

 

[martha]

If Bono doesn´t take distance, I will have to question whether he´d rather support the independence of Latin America or the U.S. oil industry.

He doesn't give a fuck about either one.

People, including myself, always want their Bono to be way more vocally political than he is.

 

[BVS]

If Bono is good friends with Bush, ok. Bush is influential and can move alot, speaking of Africa. But Bono has absolutely no reason to fear that the ONE campaign has less impact if he kicks out Robertson. Robertson is not that fucking important and Bono should decide to keep his image clean instead of keeping his mouth shut in reply to political nuts.

People like Robertson in that group may even diminish the support of "leftists" which are a base core group for Bono´s campaigns.

I don't think the left would be that easily turned off. The left, at least here in America know Pat Robertson, if they were going to be turned off, they already would have.

This campaign needs the right, Bono realizes that.

Here's the issue. And I'm gonna try and word this as carefully as possible but I'm still probably going to offend some. Conservative Christians a group that has helped the current president keep his chair, a group that has helped him get there, is very influential and is very sensitive. We've seen it in here, any slight on any stance or any leader of theirs and they take it as a slight on Christianity as a whole. Bono "kicking" out Robertson could jeopardize this campaign from a large influential group. And frankly this is a group that historically hasn't supported such campaigns, whereas the left has.

 

[U2democrat]

To both Martha's posts. We're talking about PAT ROBERTSON and HIS views...not BONO...so HOW is this big U2 news?

 

[coemgen]

More ranting from Robertson . . .

As a Christian, this guy really urinates me off.




Robertson: U.S. should 'take out' Venezuela's Chavez

Christian broadcaster says 'cheaper than starting a war'

(CNN) -- Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson has called for the United States to assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, calling him "a terrific danger" bent on exporting Communism and Islamic extremism across the Americas.

"If he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson told viewers on his "The 700 Club" show Monday. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war."

Robertson, a contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 1988, called Chavez "a dangerous enemy to our south, controlling a huge pool of oil, that could hurt us badly."

"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said. "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Robertson accused Chavez, a left-wing populist with close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, of trying to make Venezuela "a launching pad for Communist infiltration and Muslim extremism all over the continent."

"This is in our sphere of influence, so we can't let this happen," he said.

Chavez has said he believes the United States is trying to assassinate him, vowing that Venezuela, which accounts for more than 10 percent of U.S. oil imports, would shut off the flow of oil if that happens.

The Unites States has denied such allegations in the past.

Executive orders issued by Presidents Ford and Reagan banned political assassinations.

Robertson's comments Monday were the latest in a string of controversial remarks in recent years by the religious broadcaster and founder of the Christian Coalition.

Last October, during the heat of the presidential race, Robertson told CNN that during a meeting with President Bush before the invasion of Iraq, the president told him he did not believe there would be casualties. The White House strongly denied the claim.

In May, during an ABC interview, Robertson ignited a firestorm with his response to a question about whether activist judges were more of a threat to America than terrorists.

"If they look over the course of 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings," he said.

Defending his remarks in a letter to Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Robertson insisted he was not being cavalier about the 9/11 attacks. But he also refused to apologize, saying Supreme Court rulings on abortion, religious expression in the public square, pornography and same-sex marriage "are all of themselves graver dangers in the decades to come than the terrorists which our great nation has defeated in Afghanistan and Iraq."

A 'nuke' for Foggy Bottom

In October 2003, Robertson, criticizing the State Department during an interview on "The 700 Club," said "maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up," referring to the nickname for the department's headquarters in Washington.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called the remark "despicable."

In July 2003, Robertson asked his audience to pray for three justices to retire from the Supreme Court so they could be replaced with more conservative jurists. "One justice is 83 years old, another has cancer and another has a heart condition," he said.

Robertson insisted he was only calling for prayers for the justices to retire and was not asking his followers to pray for their demise.

In November 2002, Robertson charged that the Muslim holy book, the Quran, incites followers to kill people of other faiths and disputed Bush's characterization of Islam as a religion of peace.

"It's clear from the teachings of the Quran and also from the history of Islam that it's anything but peaceful," Robertson said in a subsequent interview with CNN. "Of course there are peace-loving Muslims. But at the same time, at the core of this religion ... is jihad, and it is to subject the unbelievers either to forced conversion or death. That's what it teaches."

 

[ImOuttaControl]

I don't think this has anything to do with Bono...Because Bono is loosely associated with Robertson through the One Campaign he should be ashamed?? Hmmm...Pretty soon we should all be ashamed--ya know, 7 degrees of separation we are all associated.

Also, I couldn't care less if some country sent covert ops in to remove this guy from power. He's consistently shown sympathy for terrrorists, talked about his "brotherhood" with dictator Saddam Hussein...yaddayaddayadda. I was reading an article a week or so about how if this nutcase actually quit exporting oil, it could devastate the world economy and put the WORLD, not just the U.S. into a recession.