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Jewish World Review August 26, 2005 / 21 Av, 5765 The devil made him say it By Kathleen Parker
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Televangelist Pat Robertson's flip-flop on his fantasy moment as an
international assassin reminds me of a famous, if possibly apocryphal, story
about David Niven as told by Christopher Buckley.
Niven is standing with another gentleman at the base of a staircase as two
ladies in evening gowns descend.
Niven says: "That's the ugliest woman I've ever seen."
Other man replies: "That's my wife."
Niven: "I meant the other one."
Other man: "That's my daughter."
Niven: "I didn't say it."
Like Niven, Robertson backed off his now famous — would that it were
apocryphal — remark that the U.S. should assassinate Venezuelan President
Hugo Chavez. His exact quote from his Christian Broadcasting Network program
was:
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he
(Chavez) thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really
ought to go ahead and do it."
Seems clear enough. That is one ugly woman. But, no, on Wednesday Robertson
said he didn't say it. He said he was "misinterpreted":
"I said our special forces should, quote, 'take him out,' and 'take him out'
can be a number of things, including kidnapping," said Robertson.
But then Robertson apparently reconsidered — or re-remembered — and
apologized for what he didn't say: "Is it right to call for assassination?
No, and I apologize for that statement. I spoke in frustration that we
should accommodate the man who thinks the U.S. is out to kill him."
Well, we've all had days like that. You think it might be a good idea to
"take someone out" when they're giving your country a hard time ... and then
you recall that it's illegal, against U.S. policy and, well, a tad
un-Christian.
Robertson, of course, is well known for his spontaneous foot tastings. This
is the same Pat Robertson who has urged his flock to pray for a U.S. Supreme
Court vacancy "one way or the other."
The same Pat Robertson who in 2003 responded to a book criticizing the State
Department by saying, "If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy
Bottom, I think that's the answer. I mean, you get through this (book), and
you say, 'We've got to blow that thing up.'"
And the same Pat Robertson who agreed (by nodding his head) with fellow
televangelist Jerry Falwell when the latter said that the Sept. 11 attacks
were the consequence of "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the
feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make
that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all
of them who have tried to secularize America."
The White House quickly distanced itself from Robertson's latest, pointing
out that private citizens have a right to speak their minds, but that their
remarks shouldn't be construed as representing U.S. policy. Noted. Americans
know this without being told and, besides, are used to televangelists saying
ridiculous things. It is factually true that televangelism is the reason G-d
invented the mute button.
But Robertson is a problem on the world's stage where some audiences may be
less sophisticated and where politicians (or dictators) are happy to embrace
useful idiots.
"See?" they say, pausing between beheadings and
stonings. "President George W. Bush and his imperialistic,
oil-grubbing Christian constituency want to assassinate foreign leaders who
disagree with them. Allahu Akbar!"
When Robertson says something outrageous, we recognize that he speaks for
himself and not for all the Christians. We wouldn't condemn Christianity, in
other words, just because one man said something extreme, irrational and
murderous.
Which should remind us that when Osama bin Laden or other radical extremists
gripping Korans invoke Allah while murdering innocents, they are neither
speaking nor acting for all followers of the Muslim faith. And though
Americans know that Robertson and bin Laden are clearly not of the same
school, the rest of the world — and especially our enemies — either does not
know or is cunning enough to exploit Robertson's words to further fuel the
machinery of jihadist hatred.
In Robertson's case, unlike Niven's, "I didn't say it," or even "I didn't
mean it," is of little help when so much is at stake.
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© 2005, Tribune Media Services |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
