Wednesday, April 27, 2005

The Nation | Justice Sunday Preachers | Max Blumenthal

Remember that "Justice Sunday" event, the one where Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist spoke on videotape, the one that accused Democrats of being against "people of faith"? It was organized by a group called the Family Research Council, headed by a man named Tony Perkins. It's hard to believe that these people have been legitimized and are not relegated to the loony fringe where they belong.

The Nation | Justice Sunday Preachers by Max Blumenthal:

"Senate majority leader Bill Frist appeared through a telecast as a speaker at 'Justice Sunday,' at the invitation of the event's main sponsor, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins. 'Justice Sunday' was promoted as a rally to portray Democrats as being 'against people of faith.' Many of the speakers compared the plight of conservative Christians to the civil rights movement. But in sharing the stage with Perkins, who introduced him to the rally, Frist was associating himself with someone who has longstanding ties to racist organizations.

Four years ago, Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America's premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,000 for his mailing list. At the time, Perkins was the campaign manager for a right-wing Republican candidate for the US Senate in Louisiana. The Federal Election Commission fined the campaign Perkins ran $3,000 for attempting to hide the money paid to Duke."

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