Michigan's Granholm cites Christian compassion; Religious Right furious

[Faygo Kid]

I have never understood how the Christian message of compassion has been allowed to be hijacked by the "Religious Right" that focuses only on anger, control and vindictiveness. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has waded in (she knows her Bible), and the Right is furious that she would dare to invoke religion to buttress her political views (Heaven knows, the Right never does that - but then, they are the only ones to know the mind of God, correct?) By the way, I am not proselytizing here; only pointing out a refreshing comeback to the Pat Robertsons of the world. Go to the link for the GOP's reaction.
http://www.freep.com/news/mich/gran3_20040103.htm
Citing Scripture, Gov. Jennifer Granholm has questioned the religious convictions of those who want to cut programs that aid Michigan's less fortunate.
Appearing on Michigan Public Television's weekly program "Off the Record," the governor was asked by host Tim Skubick whether she found it "interesting" that some people who call for budget cuts were "so-called Christians."
Granholm said she did.
"Often those who cloak themselves in a cape of religiosity happen to be some who are the biggest cutters," Granholm said. "Now, some of that can balance out. But when you get to cutting the services for the least of these -- in the 25th chapter of Matthew in the 37th verse the Lord says, 'Whatsoever you do to the least of these, so also you do unto me' -- that's when I question whether somebody is really living out the faith that they profess."

[wryter2000]

1. About damned time

I'm not a believer, but I have great respect for the real tennets of Christianity. I love hearing the real teachings of Jesus thrown back into the Xtian's faces.

[madrchsod]

4. it is also a main

tennet of islam.

[La_Serpiente]

2. lol

funny :-)

[BOSSHOG]

3. More power to you Governor Granholm

Isn't it easy to get conservative panties in a wad. Scripture tells conservatives to destroy abortion clinics, blow up federal buildings, consume mass quantities of oxycontin and provide candidate bush with questions that will be asked at a press conference. Mean old democrats find reasons to assist the poor and downtrodden with government assistance. Compassionate conservatives use that money to take over countries and kill civilians. God Bless America.

[Faygo Kid]

5. BTW, Freepers who own God react as you would expect

How dare a Democrat claim to be a Christian! Everybody knows only the far Right can claim to be Christians, right? Apparently so, judging by Freeper reaction to this story. Again, way past time for Christians who get the message of Christ to speak out against His hijacking. Holding my nose, I post the following link:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1050457/posts

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Thanks for reminding me why I don't read FR

I think I just became a Jennifer Granholm fan.

[Webster Green]

14. They're calling for the ACLU.....

Ha Ha Ha Ha..............unbelievable!

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

25. Unbelievable? Feh. THIS is unbelievable:

From the FR article:

"Mixing religion and politics is an explosive endeavor. Maybe the governor never heard that one?"

I am truly without words.

[NWHarkness]

7. Go Jenny!

"It is quite arrogant for the governor to cloak her views on balancing the budget in religious terms in order to demonize her political opponents," said Betsy DeVos, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party."

They left out the rest of Betty's quote, where she said "That's our job!"

[Faygo Kid]

9. My reaction exactly! And the point of the post. Thanks!

For those of you not from Michigan, Betsy DeVos, chair of the Michigan GOP, is a far right heiress of the Amway fortune who does indeed believe in (mis)using religion to demonize her opponents. Boy, are they hot to have it thrown back in their faces!

[AlinPA]

32. DeVos sounds like a typical holier-than-thou republican.

These republicans are ugly people when they start talking about religion.

[Obamarama]

21. Now THAT'S the pot calling the kettle black...

Betsy DeVos is a bitch from HELL. She doesn't hesitate to wrap HER politics in religious clothes.

[La_Serpiente]

8. She would make a great president

too bad she was not born in the US.

[BOSSHOG]

10. Repukes want to change rules so Arnold can run

Would that not be awesome irony? Granholm defeats the groper for POTUS after evil conservatives amend the constitution to allow foreign born citizens to run. Arnold left groping, Jenny sets new christian tone in Washington; right wing christians descend upon Potomac to put out burning hair.

[SheilaT]

11. I'm another fan of

Jennifer Granholm. We flew to Detroit the morning of the big blackout in August, and driving from the airport to our hotel (the power came on exactly as we pulled up, lucky us) listening to her press conference and was just blown away by her competence and intelligence.

If they do change the rules I hope she runs for president. She'd be awesome.

[Broadslidin]

12. A Thank You Note.

Hello Faygo Kid,

I had no choice but respond to the Free Press article,

my one sentence e-mail to the authors,

Dan Shine and Kathleen Gray [e-mail]

"Thank You for your clearly written report,

giving us an excellent example of right wing malignant narcissism!"

I included my Detroit area address for good measure.

And thank you Faygo Kid, I will be watching the

"Off The Record" program on Sunday.

If you have a few moments, please give a listen to the

history making media ignored words of G.W. Bush.

http://www.mikemalloy.com/gallery.html

"The pResident 2003 Audio Collage"

The download takes approximately eight minutes.

[Faygo Kid]

30. And thank you, Broadslidin

Also check Tim Skubick's Jan. 2 column in the Oakland Press. This story has legs. Will check your download later.

[booksenkatz]

13. Rock on, Jenny!

These faux Christians go batshit when you dare to quote the words of Jesus Christ to them... it's like throwing water on the Wicked Witch of the West. Nooooooooooooooooooo!!! They respond to the cross exactly the way that vampires do.

So ole Biddy DeVos thinks that giving to churches is enough. My goodness, Biddy, wouldn't a real Christian be excited over the idea of helping the poor through any possible avenue, whether it be via the church or via the government? Your leader, Jesus Christ (remember him?), told you to give EVERYTHING to the poor, Biddy, he didn't pick and choose. Go back and read your Bible, cupcake. It would probably amaze folks like you to see the things Jesus had to say about the poor, and wait until you read what he had to say about peace on earth...! Get ready to be shocked, Biddy, when you read the words of your Alleged Lord.

As a Texan living in Michigan since 1995, I've gotta say that I'm so proud of Jenny, and my only regret is that she can't run for president someday. So kick their asses here in Michigan, Jenny, throw it back in their faces!!!

[tokenlib]

15. Because in their hearts--they know she's correct...

Granholm basically summed up one of the pillars of why I am a democrat. Although mixing religion and politics makes most of us uncomfortable at times--it is long since time that we point out once again the evil of social darwinism and the blasphemous hypocrisy of the "faithful" republicans who promote it.

KICK ASS!!

[bleedingheart]

16. My in-laws in Michigan are Dems and they have always asked

how christians can be republicans based on exactly what Jennifer said!

I am so proud of her!!!

[Bozita]

17. This Granholm interview is available for online viewing NOW...

...from Lansing's PBS station.

Good stuff!

http://wkar.org/offtherecord/

[ithacan]

18. Right-Wing Pseudo Christians

check out this site:

http://www.right-wing-pseudo-christians.com/

It provides tons of ammunition against the so-called christians who dominate the right and the GOP, verse and line from the Bible...

[DrBB]

20. And check out the Gospel of Supply-Side Jesus

...in Al Franken's book. Skewers the morans.

[DrBB]

19. Funny how SOCIAL Darwinism is Biblical

...according to these blinkered nitwits, but biological Darwinism is anathema.

Hey, did they quote the Parable of the Talents yet? That seems to be the only one they actually agree with.

[dd123]

22. Shown the way by you know who.

C'mon admit it...Dean is a trailblazer.

[Upfront]

23. Governer Granholm Is A Winner

She is the republicans worse night mare in Michigan. She is a class act!

[A HERETIC I AM]

24. They quote Betsy DeVos in that article. Know who Betsy DeVos is?

http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Betsy_DeVos

I did a google search on the name because it struck me as familiar and i found it funny that the first listing was from "Disinfopedia.org".
<snip>
Betsy DeVos is a member of the DeVos family, which owns the massive direct sales company Amway and is noted for it's election largess, contributing over $1 million in 1998 and over $750,000 in 2000, entirely to Republicans.

Her husband is Richard DeVos, president of Amway. Richard DeVos is the son of Richard and Helen DeVos, whose foundation is a major funder of Religious Right organizations, such as the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and Coral Ridge Ministries. The foundation also supports parts of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation network, such as the State Policy Network."
<snip>

Thats right folks, AMWAY. The pyramid scheme to beat all pyramid schemes! Richard DeVos is well known in Lansing as being a rabid right wingnut. It is any wonder that this woman is chairman of the Michigan Repug party? She is a perfect fit!


on edit to apologize for being redundant and not reading all the posts before i replied. Fygokid mentioned Ms. DeVos in his post.

[Obamarama]

27. Betsy is an evil woman.....

Evil. Evil. Evil.

[Faygo Kid]

29. Thanks for the info on DeVos/Amway/Coral Ridge connections

It is rare to see anyone but the Bush administration with the kind of gall right-wing Ms. DeVos displays at being shocked, shocked that a politician would cite religion in support of a political stance. Can you spell hypocrisy? And with a capital "H?"

[bleedingheart]

34. My husbands family has some connections to the DeVos and VanAndel

clans...

They are spreading money all over the city of Grand Rapids Michigan trying to buy friends and influence people.
They have funded the building of public buildings and have heavily funded the Christian Reform church up there.

one funny ditty about them... about two years ago there was a woman who bought the internet domain name that was close to the name of a center they built. They wanted the domain name...she told them they would have to buy it... and lo and behold they used the court system to paint the woman like a criminal and they stole it from here....meanwhile they have been robbing people through their pyramid scheme for years...

[Obamarama]

35. They OWN Grand Rapids.....

Grand Valley State University was planning to enact domestic partner benefits a few years ago and Dick & Betsy DeVos threatened to withdrawal a $10 million pledge they had made to the university unless it reversed it's plans.

The university got its $10 million in case you were wondering how it turned out.

[UrbScotty]

26. YES YES YES YES YYYYYYYYYYES!!!!!!!!!

I just wish she were President...

Too bad she can't run. UNLESS they amend the Constitution.

[LeahMira]

28. We can do both, darn it.

"The governor may not know it, but there are quite a few folks in Michigan who give regularly to charities and churches and view this as an excellent and efficient way to help the poor and the less fortunate," DeVos said. "Apparently, she thinks that only government can do that."

Certainly there are many folks out there who do give regularly to charities, Ms. DeVos, but where is it written that folks have to make an either/or choice?

No one is telling any of the church-goers and charitable donors that they can't give there. Matter of fact, if any of them make donations to a church or a charity they are allowed to take those donations as tax deductions.

The amount of tax money that goes towards social programs that benefit the truly needy is so pathetically small that it's actually shameful, especially in comparison with the amount that goes towards programs that benefit the already wealthy or at least already reasonably comfortable folks. That doesn't even begin to address the incomprehensibly huge amounts we're throwing away daily fighting a losing battle in Iraq and Afghanistan or funding the expenses of our military forces stationed in places like Germany, for instance, when they have absolutely no valid reason to be there.

The fact is that we can do both... give to private charities and give to support the government programs. That most of the private groups are terribly short on funds these days is only indicative of the fact that those who have it to give really don't give. If they did give, they would see the difference in their tax bills in the form of all the neat deductions they could claim.

So, Ms. DeVos, you either give your share privately, you give it through taxes, or you give some both ways. Your choice.

I do suspect, though, that your "Christian" choice is to not give anything at all. To that, I say "TOUGH!"

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Even the RW can try to use scripture in a fitting way.

Didn't the ultrs-RW Alabama gov try to pass a new tax system that would aid the state's poor, based upon similar passages of scripture?

Too bad the voters struck it down. :(

[Mari333]

33. Go Jennifer! Let those Pharisees have it

right between the eyes!

[Obamarama]

36. The Holy Rollers are probably doubly upset with Gov. Granholm because....

Last week she just added sexual orientation to the non-discrimination hiring/employment policy language for the State of Michigan government.

In my previous job I had many occasions to speak with her and helped coordinate a couple of her visits to Kalamazoo. She is such an intelligent, capable and insightful human being.

We love you, Gov!

[CreekDog]

37. Amen Governor!