Posted on 07/10/2003 8:47:18 AM PDT by mhking
You can't be serious. You're actually defending a marxist who escaped from a Massachusetts prison in 1985 after being charged with the theft of $900,000, who is directly responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Africans, whose army consisted of kids on drugs, and whose despotism and bottomless corruption are documented for anyone with the energy to "research" it properly. And to top it all off you are under the delusion that he was popularly elected in a fair election!
Does anybody in this country know how to think anymore?
So.
So is Castro.
So is Mobutu.
So is Kim Jong Il.
So are scores of other tyrants and despots.
Where in the US Constitution does it say that the US has a duty or even jurisdiction to remove every horrible leader in the world?
So is was Mobutu.
Some Liberian friends of mine, some of whom have known Taylor since high school, think that he is the essence of evil. People voted for him because they thought the best way to end the civil war and its associated atrocities was to give Taylor what he wanted. Robertson should certainly should know what has been happening in Liberia. This just shows how totally corrupt Robertson has become.
BTW, when I have seen Robertson recently he didn't look so healthy. Maybe he is losing it.
Huh? Pretty provocative headline. Nothing but a bit of ad hominem attacking on the page it links to. No "evidence" of any connection. What benefit is there in linking to that page?
Am I disqualified to have an informed opinion about the man because I earned two master's degrees at the university he founded, and worked for 2 years at CBN? There's a lot people don't know about the man. Do you know, for example, what his salary is from The 700 Club? Do you know how much money he gave away from the sale of The Family Channel, and who he gave the money away to? I do. The answers: $0. $200 million. And Regent University and WorldReach, an evangelical missions organization. He's done some good in his life, and it's good to balance your opinion of the man with some of the facts about his character.
That said, there are some things he's said and done that I definitely don't like. But I've got a balanced and informed opinion on the man. All indications are that your opinion is one-sided and not well-informed.
I don't mean to come across as totally defending Pat, or saying that he's without sin, but that statement is just not true. An airplane owned by a CBN-affiliated ministry was in Africa doing medical missions work, and Pat contracted to have it transport some of the diamonds. The plane was there already, and he paid to have some diamonds transported on it. Nothing illegal. Nothing unethical. But now you have the facts, not streamed to you by media people who hate Christians, especially influential, sinful ones like Pat.
I'm reading that Taylor is a Marxist. Elsewhere I read that he's a Baptist. Which is he? One truly can't be both. I wonder if the answer to that question might provide insight into why Pat sees him one way and others see him other ways.... Anyone know?
Old people are all senile, right? There's nothing worse than an old person. Ah, the wisdom of youth.
There is no mystery. Taylor is an opportunist. He was a marxist when it suited his ambitions in the 70s and 80s, and he is a Baptist now for the same reason.
This is not rocket science people. This guy's utter corruption and self-glorification is well documented.
It should also be apparent to any half-way intelligent observer that Pat Robertson's defense of Taylor springs from the same brand of opportunism.
Birds of a feather, baby.
Old people are all senile, right? There's nothing worse than an old person. Ah, the wisdom of youth.
You are jumping to a lot of conclusions in accusing me of ageism.
1. I'm pretty close to getting my own letter from the AARP.
2. I'm quite familiar with the fact that not everyone who is old has dementia. I have had friends in their 80's with whom I have had many interesting and deep conversations, but I also have had to become power-of-attorney for a woman in her 70's with rapidly progressing Alzheimer's and I had a close relative with multi-infarct dementia.
3. I had remarked to several people that Pat Robertson looks like he has some health problems. To me it looked like the recent more rapid change in his appearance was due to more than normal aging. If he has some sort of circulatory problem for instance, this could affect his brain. He recently talked about resigning.
4. To support someone like Taylor who has caused so much harm to his country and to neighboring countries points to manifest corruption on Robertson's part. The failure to understand how his defense of Taylor would be perceived makes me think that maybe he isn't thinking too clearly.
The line of reasoning which says despotism is to be accepted as long as it happens to someone else is a betrayal of America's founding priciples. Despotism is never "Okay."
Natural right trumps national sovereignty, and only individuals have natural rights. America has long been the champion of individual, natural rights. If Bush can effect a change of leadership in Liberia by telling Taylor to go--more power to him. An elected tyrant is still a tyrant, and a political process which results in dictatorship is broken. Sweep it away and try again.
I see no contridiction in conservatives cheering the passing of a democratically elected tyrant--if by "conservatives" once means the supporters of ordered liberty.
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