September 18, 2001

9:42 PM

Interesting petition to get Bush to condemn the statements of Falwell and Robertson. Too much? Not sure, but I signed it anyway. Over 10,000 sigs so far.
posted by skallas (11 comments total)

Great idea. Specially as he invited Falwell to the memorial service. And ultra-specially because Bush himself has apologized for using the word "crusade".
This would be a great opportunity to put ALL the extremists out of business.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:56 PM on September 18, 2001

I think Bush has already condemned the statements, though maybe not in public. According to this article, "...a White House representative called him Friday while he was driving to the National Cathedral memorial service in Washington, and told him the president disapproved."
posted by pb at 10:29 PM on September 18, 2001

Falwell already retracted the statement. So much for forgiveness eh?
posted by aaronshaf at 6:06 AM on September 19, 2001

Falwell already retracted the statement.

That's a totally false characterization of what he did.
posted by rushmc at 6:12 AM on September 19, 2001

Falwell already retracted the statement.

Um, no. He expressed regret that it was overheard by secular media.
posted by glenwood at 6:44 AM on September 19, 2001

I was under the impression that online petitions aren't particularly useful.
posted by cowboy_sally at 7:21 AM on September 19, 2001

Falwell did not retract his statement, he made a feeble attempt to separate himself from interpretations of his statement which he claims was taken out of context. So he believes that there is a proper context in which it is appropriate to make those hateful statements, and both Falwell and Robertson should be shunned by other religious leaders, politicians and the media in general.
posted by barkingmoose at 7:32 AM on September 19, 2001

Hey, this is a really good idea. Let's waste the president's time with a useless petition!

Get a grip, people. There are a lot bigger things to worry about than a buffoon like Falwell.
posted by cfj at 8:08 AM on September 19, 2001

Yeah, I think I'd prefer to see Dubya spend his time Presidentializing rather than shaking his finger at a moron like Falwell.
posted by spilon at 8:38 AM on September 19, 2001

Instead of people arguing their personal interpretations, could someone post a link to some content to keep this signalacious?

While on Sunday, Falwell released a statement saying his remarks were "taken out of context", as of Monday he had issued a full apology on his website.

"I apologize that, during a week when everyone appropriately dropped all labels and no one was seen as liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican, religious or secular, I singled out for blame certain groups of Americans," Mr. Falwell said in the statement. He said his remarks were "insensitive, uncalled for at the time and unnecessary."
...
f the terrorist attacks did reflect God's judgment, he said, then "that judgment is on all of America -- including me and all fellow sinners."

The full statement is on his home page.

Of course, he's already getting rhetorical cover on various message boards *cough* FreeRepublic, but I think it's remarkable the extent to which he apologized -- he must have been getting some tremendous pushback, and not just from the President.
posted by dhartung at 10:08 AM on September 19, 2001

Get a grip, people. There are a lot bigger things to worry about than a buffoon like Falwell.

Hey, I'll bet you were saying that a couple weeks ago about Osama bin Laden!
posted by rushmc at 5:09 PM on September 19, 2001