Doug at Granite Grok addresses accusations from the Romeny campaign that Pat Hynes is pushing anti-Mormon stories to the Boston Globe aimed at Romney. Doug posts the following quote from Pat regarding the article in question.
Religious intolerance is an ugly thing and few practice it with as much flagrant ugliness (or as expertly) as the Boston Globe. For years, the paper has needled Mitt Romney about his LDS faith, barely disguising their contempt. Have they gone too far with this article? Or have they, as I'm sure they would argue, done us all a public service?It doesn't sound to me like Pat is exactly on board with the Boston Globe's alarmism over Romney's LDS faith.The article contends that Mitt Romney's political operation has quietly worked in congress with leaders of the LDS church to plan a hostile takeover of America, essentially. It's all rubbish, of course, or at least most of it is. And yet it is likely to affect Mitt Romney's outreach efforts to other Americans of faith.
It is possible, according this article, that BYU officials have run afoul of laws prohibiting tax exempt organizations from engaging in the direct efforts to elect a candidate. It is possible. But it would not exactly be the first time something like this happened in politics. And it would be a minor infraction if they did. It is not uncommon for candidates for high public office to prospect their alma mater's alumni list for cash and political support, for example.
There is, however, little question in my mind that this faux-alarmist story will be disquieting to many evangelical Christians and Roman Catholics. The Globe has deliberately presented the Romney campaign and the LDS Church as some kind of fifth column conspiracy. This is disgustingly un-American; but tricks like this have worked in the past. The Globe, or any publication interested in Romney's faith, would do an actual service to voters if they ran a series on the tenants of the LDS Church (about which, I have found, many Americans are ignorant).
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Comments (1)
No, Pat had several posts a... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jim Addison | October 31, 2006 11:25 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
No, Pat had several posts against religious discrimination before this Globe flap. The pro-Romney bloggers were sort of naive and jumped all over him without doing any research. They've made themselves look dumb and diminished their candidate a bit by piling on blindly.
Not sure the Globe would do much of a "service to voters if they ran a series on the tenants of the LDS Church," though. What would that be, an interview with the caretaker? A tour of the parsonage?
Maybe a series on the "tenets" of the LDS Church would help, though.
;-)
1. Posted by Jim Addison | October 31, 2006 11:25 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on October 31, 2006 11:25