Edwards: Jesus Would Be 'Appalled'
Pastor Dale Morgan
Edwards: Jesus Would Be 'Appalled'*
Tuesday March 6, 2007 1:01 AM
By MIKE BAKER
Associated Press Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards
says Jesus would be appalled at how the United States has ignored the
plight of the suffering, and that he believes children should have
private time to pray at school.
Edwards, in an interview with the Web site Beliefnet.com, said Jesus
would be most upset with the selfishness of Americans and the country's
willingness to go to war ``when it's not necessary.''
``I think that Jesus would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of
those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish
short-term needs,'' Edwards told the site. ``I think he would be
appalled, actually.''
Edwards also said he was against teacher-led prayers in public schools,
but he added that ``allowing time for children to pray for themselves,
to themselves, I think is not only OK, I think it's a good thing.''
In the interview, the former North Carolina senator discussed how he
lost touch with his day-to-day faith during college, but that it ``came
roaring back'' after the death of his 16-year-old son, Wade, in 1996.
Edwards has often cited religion as a part of his politics, frequently
linking his efforts to fight poverty as a matter of morality.
Edwards was interviewed by David Kuo, a conservative Christian who
served as deputy director of President Bush's Office of Faith-Based and
Community Initiatives until 2003. Kuo wrote a book, ``Tempting Faith, An
Inside Story of Political Seduction,'' that said Bush aides privately
called conservative Christians ``nuts,'' ``ridiculous'' and ``goofy.''
Edwards told Kuo he stood by a decision to keep two bloggers on his
staff despite their provocative writings criticizing the Catholic
Church. Edwards said he also found the writing offensive, but ``decided
to forgive them and stand by them, knowing there would be potential
political consequences for that.''
The bloggers later quit, saying they didn't want to be a liability to
the campaign.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - A video is worth a thousand words. And dollars, too.
Prominently featured on John Edwards' presidential campaign Web site is
a video of conservative commentator Ann Coulter insulting him. And with
just a mouse click you can hear the invective and get a chance to donate
at the same time.
On Friday, Coulter, a writer and columnist known for provocative
remarks, told an audience at the Conservative Political Action
Conference in Washington: ``I was going to have a few comments on the
other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out
you have to go into rehab if you use the word 'faggot,' so I - so kind
of an impasse, can't really talk about Edwards.''
The Edwards camp is now seeking to capitalize on the slur by soliciting
$100,000 in ``Coulter Cash'' to ``show that inflaming prejudice to
attack progressive leaders will only backfire.''
Meanwhile, conservatives were none too pleased with Coulter, either.
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition,
said: ``Frankly, I would have loved to have heard Ann expose and dissect
the radical agenda of Senator Edwards instead of resorting to cheap name
calling.''
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ORANGEBURG, S.C. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on
Monday called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a ``madman'' and
raised the possibility that he could be assassinated by foes within his
country.
``Ahmadinejad, the madman, is in competition with mullahs and ayatollahs
who think he's overstepped his bounds,'' Biden told members of a local
Kiwanis Club in this early voting state.
Ahmadinejad may be ``assassinated, not by the good guys, but by the bad
guys,'' said the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
At a campaign stop Sunday, Biden called Ahmadinejad ``that wacko guy,
the crazy president,'' and said he would only be in office for a little
more than a year before being ``taken out'' because he threatened Shia
interests.
Last week, Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd told a University of
South Carolina audience he endorsed the Bush administration's recent
willingness to hold joint talks on Iraq with Syria and Iran. But Dodd,
also a presidential hopeful, said the United States needs to avoid
talking with Ahmadinejad and called him ``a thug.''
Biden's campaign on Monday also announced he was endorsed by state Sen.
Gerald Malloy and state Rep. Jerry Govan, both members of the
Legislative Black Caucus.
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NEW YORK (AP) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg had a slightly
different answer on Monday for that same old question he's dismissed
over and over: Are you going to run for president?
``I don't think so - and if I was going to do it, I don't think I'd
announce it right here,'' he said during a brief appearance Monday
morning on Fox News.
The host noted that the billionaire businessman had a similar answer
when asked, years ago, if he planned to run for mayor.
``And then fast forward, here you are,'' she said.
``You never know,'' he said.
For the record, just days ago Bloomberg told an audience at Harvard
University that he was not, in fact, a presidential candidate.
Ever since the Democrat-turned-Republican won re-election in 2005, there
has been some talk of a Bloomberg presidential bid. Most of the talk has
been fueled by one of his aides, Kevin Sheekey, who has publicly
acknowledged his efforts to cajole his boss into the race.
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Democratic presidential contender John Edwards
is mailing Iowa caucus voters some 70,000 DVDs that argue he is the only
candidate with a health care plan for all Americans.
The Edwards campaign hoped to reach a significant number of Iowa's
Democratic caucus voters with the DVD. Slightly more than 100,000
participated in the 2004 caucus.
``What America really wants in their next president is to be able to
trust their president,'' Edwards says in the six-minute video. ``In
order for that to be true, they want to feel like ... the president is a
good and decent and honest human being who's trying to do what's right.''
The video and pamphlet specifically address health care problems and
statistics in Iowa, where the state's leadoff caucuses will begin the
nomination process.
Sen. John Kerry won Iowa in 2004 and went on to earn the party's
nomination. Edwards placed second in Iowa and later earned a spot as
Kerry's vice presidential nominee.
Edwards has proposed a tax increase to fund a universal health care plan
that would cover the estimated 47 million Americans who do not have
insurance. The plan would create ``health markets,'' including a
government-run plan like Medicare, to create competitive prices. It
would also subsidize insurance for low-income Americans and require
businesses to help cover the insurance costs of their employees.
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Judicial Watch, a conservative investigative group
that dogged the Clinton presidency, is asking for an investigation of
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton for filing an incomplete financial
disclosure report.
The group filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee and the
Justice Department, noting that Clinton had failed to report that she
was secretary-treasurer of the Clinton Family Foundation in documents
that must be filed annually with the Senate. In the face of an official
complaint, Senate rules require the ethics committee to begin a
preliminary inquiry.
Clinton amended her disclosure report on Feb. 26 to include her
foundation affiliation after The Washington Post reported the omission.
Data about the foundation, and Clinton's role in it, also is available
from other public records. According to Internal Revenue Service
records, the foundation had nearly $1.8 million in income in 2005.
``This was an inadvertent omission that was immediately corrected,''
said Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines.
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Associated Press Writers Jim Davenport in Orangeburg, S.C., Jim Kuhnhenn
in Washington and Sara Kugler in New York contributed to this report.