Pat Robertson Redux

Pat Robertson actually had the gall to say that he didn't call for the assassination of Hugo Chavez.

"I didn't say 'assassination.' I said our special forces should 'take him out,'" Robertson said on his show. "'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping."

Yeah, right. It could also mean, "Let's get some ice cream and see a moving picture." That isn't how it was used, though. Robertson is just in a mad scramble to save face for exposing his soft inner core of hatred and violence.

The fact is that Robertson has a long history of making such "colorful" - I'd use the word "shameful" - comments. The fact is that he owns a television show that exists for the sole purpose of telling people what to think. The fact is that he is still an important figure in the Republican Party.

Yes, there have been a lot of people saying weak things like, "Pat Robertson's day has passed." What does that mean? He thinks it's still Sunday?

I'll accept Pat Robertson doesn't speak for the Republicans when either George W. Bush or Ken Melman stand up and say, "The Republican Party does not stand for the sort of international strong-arm anarchy that Mr. Robertson is advocating. As long as he insists on talking this way, he will be persona non grata at any Republican gathering - as will his money."

I'm not holding my breath.

Because to do that would undermine an important Republican core group - the militant (non) Religious Right.