RADIO TIDBITS

This morning I was listening to Jay Sekulow's ACLJ This Week on KVOI, one of Tucson's wingnut radio stations. I heard his guest, Ben Ferguson, claim that soldiers returning from Iraq have been called "baby killers" and I decided to look a little further into these clowns.

The ACLJ was founded by the Jeebus radical Pat Robertson and Sekulow got his doctorate from Regents University, also founded by Robertson. The radio show is part of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, founded by Paul and Jan Crouch. TBN has the usual "poor us" crap on their site:

Faith in God.
Love of family.
Patriotic pride.

These are the values Americans consider most precious.
Values that have been attacked and ridiculed by our pop culture and news and
entertainment media. (http://www.tbn.org/index.php/3/18.html)

Like many Jeebus hypocrites, Paul Crouch has a lavish lifestyle and a secret he does not share with his flock: He likes gay sex. Here's some more about that:

Televangelist Paul Crouch Attempts to Keep Accuser Quiet; A former worker at TBN threatened to disclose an alleged 1996 homosexual encounter.; [HOME EDITION]
William Lobdell.
Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Sep 12, 2004. pg. A.1

ALLEGATION: Enoch Lonnie Ford went to work for the ministry after meeting Paul Crouch at a TBN-affiliated drug treatment center, where Ford sought treatment in 1991. His manuscript alleges a 1996 sexual encounter with Crouch at a TBN- owned cabin.;

DEFENSE: Lawyers for Paul Crouch, pictured in 1988, said publication of the allegation would violate a secret settlement.;

After Ford threatened to sue TBN in 1998, claiming that he had been unjustly fired, Crouch reached a $425,000 settlement with him. In return, Ford agreed, among other things, not to discuss his claim about a sexual encounter with the TV preacher.

This account of the controversy is drawn from interviews with friends of Ford's, unsealed court records, correspondence among TBN lawyers and a copy of the arbitrator's confidential ruling. The arbitrator's decision contains details about the 1998 settlement and Ford's manuscript -- both of which are under seal.

Arbitrator Robert J. Neill ruled that Ford's right to make his allegations public "was sold to [Crouch] for $425,000." Ford "bargained away his right to speak on certain matters and now suggests that his right to free speech trumps that bargain.... [His] right to discuss these matters was bought and paid for. He relinquished that right."

Ben Ferguson is a radio host for Radio America and writes for TownHall although he has no articles on the site. His bio there includes this fluff: “Ferguson’s book It’s My America, Too was released by HarperCollins in September 2004 and was selected by “USA TODAY as one of it’s critics top choices.”” I couldn't access this edition of USA Today but I did find a couple of other reviews, one from Publisher's Weekly and one from Kirkus Reviews:

PW

A light polemic, Ferguson's book is not closely argued; the writing is unsophisticated and the ideas are simplistic.

KR

Spatter some pimples on Rush Limbaugh, substitute Kit Kats for OxyContin, rev up the sense of entitlement, layer in a high-pitched whine, and you have this thin primer: conservatism for tots.

To sum up, on a whore for Pat Robertson radio show that is part of a closeted gay minister's network, a young Jeebus punk smears the anti-war movement freely. And they wonder why so many people can't stand them.