Apologists say that televangelist Pat Robertson’s recent remarks were an aberration; in reality they were only scratching a darker surface. Mr. Robertson has a long career of what most Americans would call despicable behavior. Consider the following: Robertson's support of former Liberian president Charles Taylor. In various episodes of his 700 Club program during the United States' involvement in the Liberian Civil War in June and July of 2003, Robertson repeatedly supported Liberian President Charles Taylor. Robertson accuses the U.S. State Department of giving President Bush bad advice in supporting Taylor's ouster as president, and of trying "as hard as they can to destabilize Liberia."
Robertson has been criticized for failing to mention in his broadcasts his $8 million investment in a Liberian gold mine. Taylor had been at the time of Robertson's support indicted by the United Nations for war crimes. According to Robertson, Freedom Gold, the Liberian gold mine, was intended to help pay for humanitarian and evangelical efforts in Liberia, when in fact the company was allowed to fail leaving many debts both in Liberia and in the international mining service sector. Regarding this controversy, Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Convention's public policy said, "I would say that Pat Robertson is way out on his own, in a leaking life raft, on this one." [Source]
Here is a case where he supported a ruthless dictator so he could personally profit. He tries to spin and play down the story the other way on his web site:
I regret that my sentiments in support of the suffering Liberian people were misinterpreted by The Washington Post as unqualified support for Charles Taylor, a man whom I have never met, and about whose actions a decade ago I have no firsthand knowledge. [Source]
Perhaps if Liberia was a white Christian country he would have felt differently. Pat has in fact shown a consistent side of racism. Take his comments about China:
Article comments
1 - ukexpat
Why has Robertson not been charged with an offence for this outburst -- clearly he wa s inciting the commission of a crime.
2 - Robert Caughlan
Your story about Pat Robertson was very interesting. But you didn't mention that if you go to the FEMA website and click on the "help the victims page, the listing right under the Red Cross is Robertson's Operation Blessing. Someone should check to see how much of the money dontated really helps people there. Thanks.
3 - Les Slater
“Apologists say that televangelist Pat Robertson’s recent remarks [regarding Hugo Chavez] were an aberration”
Aberration? A better description would be ‘an indiscretion’. His remarks, I am sure, are in line with what top U.S. officials are thinking. Robertson’s sin was making such statements openly.
As far as Taylor, et al, I think none of this is U.S.’s business. The U.S.’s criteria for judging a country or its leaders has nothing to do with corruption, or lack of it, democracy or lack of it. The likes of Robertson will take sides for their own reasons.
War crimes? That whole concept is political. Why point to Taylor, or others, when neither Bush is listed. Sheer hypocrisy!
“It is very curious why he hasn’t been indicted for criminal fraud. You can’t get much lower than to solicit money to feed the starving and spend it on a diamond mine to line your own pockets. Televangelists have a long history of doing this. In the USA, with the exception of the PTL ministry run by Tammy Faye and Jim Baker, virtually none have been taken to task by the government. If somebody like Howard Stern was soliciting money for say Tsunami relief and instead spent it on strippers, how long do you think it would be before he was sitting in jail?”
Well, yes, but this has been going on for quite a while, under both Republican and Democratic regimes.
“There is no valid excuse why Pat Robertson is not being charged with his countless crimes of promoting and inciting terrorism and criminal fraud.”
Maybe no excuse, but plenty of precedent. Much of South Florida is openly host to much terrorist training and activity. Known terrorists like Orlando Bosch walk the streets of Miami and are looked to as heroes by many.
Luis Posada Carriles is in a Texas INS detention center but U.S. government is trying to protect his sorry ass from deportation to Venezuela to stand trial for organizing the bombing of a Cuban civilian airliner which killed all 73 aboard. The U.S. government knows, and its own intelligence documents show, that Posada and Bosch were the masterminds behind that bombing.
The big picture is that the U.S government is riddled with scoundrels and all sorts other vermin. We should not be surprised when one of them, or a fellow lackey, occasionally find themselves in a spotlight when they publicly say something that most them regularly say amongst themselves.
4 - Krissy
ok, that's great, keep getting the word out. it's more important that more people know, b/c in all reality people are very uninformed by this. So what are we going to do about it?
5 - troll
I thought that it had been decided at the highest levels to put Pat and The 700 Assassins in charge of US black ops
troll