Palin and the Apocalypse

Lots of experts on the Christian Right have been unraveling the possible beliefs of the Republican vice presidential candidate. But the mainstream press is ignoring the issue. The American News Project took it on,interviewing PRA's Senior Analyst Chip Berlet:

According to Chip Berlet, a leading expert on the Christian right, mainstream reporters tend to view apocalyptic fundamentalists as a "silly little side show" in American political life, when, in fact, one such participant in that show, Sarah Palin, may soon be a heartbeat away from the most powerful office in the world.

Watch the video report here.

Generational Shift Among Evangelicals

So young evangelicals are breaking with their parents around gay marriage, according to new survey. They also are more likely to vote for Obama. E.J.Dionne reports,

58 percent of young white evangelicals support some form of legal recognition for same-sex couples, including 26 who support allowing same-sex couples to marry. By contrast, only 46 percent of older white evangelicals favored some legal recognition of same sex couples – and only 9 percent of them favored granting same sex couples full marriage rights.

Read it here.

Abortion Reduction Plank for Dems Fails

Jim Wallis’ proposal of an “abortion reduction” plank in the Democratic Party Platform, an unsettling plan for catering to evangelical and Catholic voters at the expense of support for reproductive rights, failed to find a significant place in the recently published draft platform. The draft did include reduction language in a less obvious formulation: “We also recognize that such health care and education help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and thereby also reduce the need for abortions.”

Frederick Clarkson reports for Talk To Action

Holy Postage Batman!

Now Americans can buy postage stamps with religious themes through The Apostolate, Inc. Stamps oriented towards Christians and Jews are available for a surcharge over U.S. Postal Service costs, but can be used for U.S. mail under its "customized postage" program. This "outsourcing" allows the company to ignore the separation of church and state, and issue stamps with Isaiah, the Torah, star of David, an angel emblazoned with In His Name or a beacon with the banner IGWT (In God We Trust) are among the stamps available in English, Arabic, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew, and Gaelic.

Visit www.holypostage.com

Waxman’s Strategy for Undoing Blackwater

Blackwater Worldwide may have misrepresented its size to obtain small business contracts, the House oversight committee announced on Monday. The finding is the result of an investigation by the Small Business Administration (SBA), and it's just the first of three reviews of the controversial security contractor requested by Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA). Unlike a number of investigations by the FBI and the committee itself that have focused on the conduct of Blackwater's guards in Iraq and Afghanistan -- for instance, the allegedly unprovoked shooting of Iraqi civilians -- Rep. Henry Waxman appears to be taking a new tack: scrutinizing the contractor's employment practices to make it ineligible for future federal contracts."

Waxman’s Strategy for Undoing Blackwater - ProPublica

Big Argus Is Watching You

The rightwing National Association of Scholars launched the Argus Project — named for the figure of Greek mythology whose body was covered with eyes — to recruit volunteers to monitor college campuses nationwide. The volunteers, a mix of faculty members and private citizens, “have begun to look into whether that college conducts politicized teaching, requires ideological adherence, or sustains slights to conservative students,” said the association’s announcement.

Inside Higher Ed reports

Is the US Ready for Out Gays in the Military?

Democrats are preparing next year to lift the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” ban on open gays in the military, an uneasy culture-war compromise instituted under the last Democratic administration, should Sen. Barack Obama win the presidency. An ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 75 percent favor lifting the ban which has been in effect for 15 years. Still, many Dems are worried, harking back to the first months of President Bill Clinton's presidency when the issue consumed Capitol Hill. "A lot of lawmakers seem scarred by Clinton's war wounds in early 1990's," said Nathaniel Frank, senior researcher at the Palm Center. The ban is based on the idea that gays in the military damage discipline, morale, and trust. The two presumptive presidential candidates hold opposing positions on the ban; Sen. Obama supports the repeal, and Sen. McCain opposes the repeal.

Common Dreams reports

"COINTELPRO" Comes to My Town

Maryland anti-death penalty activist David Zirin had a surprising encounter with U.S. counterterrrorism efforts, discovering that "near 300 hours and thousands of taxpayer dollars from 2005 and 2006 [had gone] to harassing people whose only crime was dissenting on the question of the war in Iraq and Maryland's use of death row." Zirin, a sports journalist, describes the collaboration between the Maryland State Police Department and the Department of Homeland Security as reminiscent of local police collaboration with the FBI to spy on domestic activists under the government's notorious COINTELPRO program.

Dave Zirin reports for the Huffington Post

Conservative Evangelical Confab Endorses McCain, Eschews Environment

More than ninety evangelical leaders recently answered a call from Mathew Staver, dean of the law school at Liberty University, to discuss the upcoming presidential election. The Denver gathering featured such heavy hitters as Phyllis Schafly, Donald Hodel, Rick Scarborough, and David Barton. Despite appeals from younger evangelicals that the leaders of the Religious Right should pay attention to such matters as the environment and various social issues, the gathering brushed aside the advice, choosing to retain a focus on same-sex unions and abortion. To no one’s surprise, the group decided to shelve their reservations about John McCain and endorse him in the fall campaign.

Randall Balmer and Charisma report

Sherrif Joe Arpaio Sued for Racial Profiling

A class action lawsuit chages Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, his Sheriff's Office, and county government with unlawfully stopping and mistreating Latinos on the basis of their ethnicity. Arpaio is known nationally for his harsh treatment of prisoners. According to an American Civil Liberties Union press release on the case, "Sheriff Arpaio has made no secret that he believes physical appearance alone is sufficient reason to stop and question individuals regarding their immigration status. Arpaio has also... directed his deputies to target people they perceive as immigrants in so-called 'crime suppression sweeps' in Latino neighborhoods and areas where Latinos work as day laborers."

Read ACLU press release