On the August 22 2005 broadcast of his show The 700 Club, Robertson openly called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
In calling for the president to be taken out, Robertson observed: "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. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop. We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability."
After reading that statement, I found myself wondering if many of Mr. Robertson's compadres on the right would be likely to condemn him for this hate speech. After all, we know how they would have reacted if a liberal commentator such as Michael Moore had said in an interview: "We can assassinate Tony Blair and if we get the chance to do so, we really should. After all, that dirty Brit supported Bush and the War in Iraq!"
But is this the first time that Reverend Pat has made such statements?
Roll em!
"I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes. It'll bring about terrorist bombs. It'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes and possibly a meteor."-The Reverend Pat Robertson on the Aug 2 2001 edition of the 700 Club, warning Disney what would happen if it did not stop celebrating Gay Pride Month at its Orlando Theme Park.
"If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom (the area of Washington where the department's office is), I think that's the answer. I mean, you get through this, and you say, 'We've got to blow that thing up.'"-Pat Robertson on Oct 13 2003, talking about the State Department.
"I think they are destroying the fabric that holds our nation together. There is an assault on marriage. There's an assault on human sexuality, as Judge Scalia said, they've taken sides in the culture war. ..."
Interviewer: "How can you say that these judges are a more serious threat than Islamic terrorists who slammed into the World Trade Center?"
Robertson: "It depends on how you look at culture. If you look over the course of a hundred 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."-From a May 1 2005 appearance on ABC's This Week.
Imagine if a Liberal commentator had made any of the above statements. He would get rightfully dismissed as an insane nutcase who didn't have a clue what he was talking about and his comments would rightfully be marginalized.
However, Robertson isn't just another talking head (ALA the recently kicked to the curb Michael Savage). He's directly involved himself in American politics in ways that have aroused suspicion and sometimes even anger.
Remember that during the 2000 Presidential Primary, Robertson sent out a telephone message to coalition supporters warning that George W Bush's Republican opponent John McCain was "against the First Amendment, that he was pro-labor, and that a McCain victory would destroy the Republican Party. Robertson also called McCain's campaign chairman, former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman (who is an observant Jew), "a vicious bigot" because Rudman wrote in his 1996 autobiography that the religious right is intolerant."
This smear campaign succeeded in helping to torpedo McCain's nomination. Although Bush never actually was connected to the despicable campaign, evidence strongly suggests that he did egg Reverend Robertson on.
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