Thursday, September 02, 2010
The Brody File is at it again as we go around the country interviewing big time politicians and newsmakers.
This morning we sit down with Carly Fiorina. The profile piece below aired nationally on The 700 Club this morning on the ABC Family Channel. It will repeat tonight at 11pm or you can watch it below.
Highlight quotes from Fiorina:
Carly Fiorina: "Barbara Boxer cannot say to me that I do not understand the challenges women face."
Carly Fiorina: "Barbara Boxer has never been held accountable for her record. I will."
Carly Fiorina: "The key voters here in California this time are swing voters, and swing voters know her, they don't much like her, and they're tired of her"
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
When it comes to Glenn Beck and his God-centered patriotic Tea Party message, here’s the question facing conservative Christians: Will they view Glenn Beck as “Patriot-in-Chief” or “Pastor-in-Chief” or both?
Clearly, Beck’s message of, “Turning back to God” resonates with Evangelicals and if you think it was an act think again. God saved Glenn Beck and he knows it. His speech this past weekend was truly from his heart.
There are going to be conservative Evangelicals who get caught up in the fact that Glenn Beck is a Mormon and they’ll be concerned that he’s up their preaching about God. They’ll say that his rhetoric may confuse people because he doesn’t view God the same way Evangelicals do. That’s true and valid but look, here’s the deal: Glenn Beck IS NOT your Senior Pastor. He’s not the Apostle Paul or Billy Graham even though Beck’s message on Saturday may have sounded like all three of them combined. If Glenn Beck went up there talking about the tenets of his Mormon faith, that would be one thing. If he started to whip out the Book of Mormon and started reading from the biography page of Joseph Smith then there would be a problem. But he didn’t. When he talked about God and Moses and the Apostle Paul, we Evangelicals know that he’s talking about the one true God: The God of the Bible. If others interpret it differently there’s nothing that can be done about that.
Glenn Beck did something very important this past weekend. He injected God directly into the equation. It is now part of the national discourse. He used his influential megaphone to give God the glory. And while Glenn Beck’s view of God may be different than that of Evangelicals don’t you think it’s about time someone with true influence stood up and wasn’t ashamed to say that putting God first in your life is the only way to real change? After Beck’s rally on Saturday, you can be sure that more people may start to inquire about who God really is. They really may start to search. Glenn Beck deserves credit for that. God can and will use anybody so that people will be drawn to him and If those folks who are searching for answers approach us, are we as Evangelical Christians ready with an answer? We better be.
Let me play a video clip that President Obama will NOT refer to tonight when he addresses the nation on Iraq. Watch below.
Reality check: Candidate Obama was AGAINST the surge of troops in Iraq. Tonight he will basically take credit for bringing the war in Iraq to a close. Huh? Oy-gevalt. You can easily make the case that the surge is the main reason for America being able to pull our troops out in the first place.
This Oval Office address is serious business tonight. But frankly, it has all the makings of a Saturday Night Live skit where the actor who plays President Obama is sitting at the desk in the Oval Office and in walks George W. Bush to take credit for the surge. I can see the President Bush character trying to put a “Mission Accomplished” banner up behind Obama in the background.
I should be a comedy writer. Actually, maybe I’ll just stick to my day job.
THE VIDEO OF THIS SHOW WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY.
In this edition of The Brody File TV Show, we go on the road to San Francisco. Watch the show below and choose your favorite a la carte viewing item. Or watch all the items below for one low price: FREE!
We were in san Francisco to interview U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina and talk to radio talk show host Michael Savage.
The Brody File TV show is expanding its reach across the country. If you're interested in airing the show in your local market, email us here. Alsom be sure to check out the hot, new in your face show on terrorism called, "Stakelbeck on Terror". It's one of a kind. Watch here.
Brody File Show Menu:
The Brody File thrown into San Francisco Bay: (55 seconds into the show)
Carly Fiorina interview: (1:32 into the show)
Brody File hairpiece falls off into San Francisco Bay (8:20 into the show)
Gay Marriage debate in San Francisco (8:45 into the show)
The story of Damon Dunn, an African-American Republican Christian running for Secretary of State in California. ( 13:24 into the show)
Obama Muslim story (16:25 into the show)
Letter from Christian Leaders defending Obama (17:20 into the show)
Romney bobblehead (18:45 into the show)
Florida Senate race 20:15 into the show)
"Bless Your Heart" Moment of the Week (Wait until you see this video!)(21:03 into the show)
Commentary on Michelle Obama and her family trip to Spain (22:27 into the show)
A Preview of my one on one interview with Michael Savage (25:55 into the show)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Brody File has learned about a letter from Christian leaders who are calling for "public officials, faith leaders, and the media to offer no further support or airtime to those who misrepresent and call into question the President’s Christian faith."
The letter has been put together by the folks at the faith centered Eleison group.
TD Jakes, Joel Hunter, David Gushee are among the ones who have signed the letter.
The Brody File has the entire letter below.
As Christian leaders— whose primary responsibility is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with our congregations, our communities, and our world— we are deeply troubled by the recent questioning of President Obama’s faith. We understand that these are contentious times, but the personal faith of our leaders should not be up for public debate.
President Obama has been unwavering in confessing Christ as Lord and has spoken often about the importance of his Christian faith. Many of the signees on this letter have prayed and worshipped with this President. We believe that questioning, and especially misrepresenting, the faith of a confessing believer goes too far.
This is not a political issue. The signers of this letter come from different political and ideological backgrounds, but we are unified in our belief in Jesus Christ. As Christian pastors and leaders, we believe that fellow Christians need to be an encouragement to those who call Christ their savior, not question the veracity of their faith.
Therefore, we urge public officials, faith leaders, and the media to offer no further support or airtime to those who misrepresent and call into question the President’s Christian faith. And we join with the President in praying that God will continue to bless the United States of America.
For a complete list of who signed the list, click here.
The Brody File heard back from a couple of other prominent Evangelical leaders on the issue of President Obama's Faith.
Leith Anderson, president of the NAE:
"One of the verses I memorized at church when I was a child was Romans 10:9, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Ever since then I have been asking people if they believe in Jesus.
When someone says they are Atheist, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or Christian, I let them identify their own faith or lack of faith. Only God can see inside a human heart. We listen to human words.
I've never heard President Obama describe himself as anything other than a Christian. He should know better than anyone else.”
And a spokesman for Dr. Rick Warren, Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church:
Dr. Warren has not made any comment, nor has he signed any group letters or statements.
The only identifiable reference would be his question to then-candidate Obama at the Saddleback Civil Forum in August 2008, when he asked "What does faith in Jesus Christ and Christianity mean to you on a daily basis?"
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Some very thoughtful analysis on the Obama Muslim story was just posted by Hillary Clinton’s former faith advisor. His name is Burns Strider and he is highly respected not just in Democratic circles but outside them as well.
Strider founded the Eleison Group which is described as "a communications firm that specializes in strategic planning for politicians and faith communities." His comments should make us pause and think. You may not agree but he has a point.
Just how much do FOX News and MSNBC shape our thinking? After all, there is NO credible evidence that President Obama is a Muslim. You may have your reasons and lists of why you think he's a Muslim, but beyond speculation where are the facts?
I'm talking about ACTUAL evidence, not presenting an example that starts with the phrase, "Well he must be a Muslim because...
Either way, the fact that 20 percent or so of the country now believes the President is a Muslim has definitely got the attention of the media, the White House, and a majority of Americans. People are going to believe whatever they want and they'll have their reasons. The lack of any credible evidence may not matter in this case.
Strider's excerpt is below. The whole analysis is here.
A great deal of electronic ink has been spilled this past week about the recent Pew poll where about 1-in-5 Americans said they thought Obama was a Muslim. Everyone is asking how this happened and what could the White House have done differently to prevent it?
In hindsight most anything can be done better, but anyone who has been following national politics should know Obama is a prayerful Christian. He doesn't wear is faith on his sleeve (or as a chip on his shoulder), but he rose to national prominence with a speech that was perhaps most known for its focus on faith.
And he has not shied away from speaking very publicly about how the resurrected Christ is his Lord and Savior when the situation was appropriate. Some point to the fact that Obama worships at camp David instead of a D.C. church, but neither George W. Bush nor Reagan went to church on Sundays while they were in the White House, so that can't be the explanation.
So where is the confusion coming from? The misunderstanding many Americans have about Obama's faith is not an accident or something that just happened naturally. It is the result of a widespread and constant misinformation campaign by FOX News and right wing bloggers and radio hosts.
These pundits are bearing false witness and sowing seeds of doubt about a fellow Christian who also happens to be their President, and they should be ashamed. Of course, FOX and others will argue they are just asking questions and they can't be held responsible for the statements made by their guests or people they are interviewing.
Keep reading here.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Watch my analysis on President Obama and the Ground Zero mosque controversy below:
During the 2008 presidential campaign, The Brody File spoke with Barack Obama and he addressed the Muslim rumors swirling around him at the time. It all started with an email chain that began to spread virally. Watch his answer below and read the transcription below: (Brody File analysis is at the end of this blog)
Barack Obama in 2008: “I just want to be very clear and this obviously in no way an insult to the Muslim community who I respect deeply but I want people to know who I am. I am a Christian. I am a member of Trinity United Church of Christ. I have been for 15 years. I have never practiced Islam and I think it’s important for people not to buy into these sorts of fear tactics that people also often use during political games. People need to know the facts. These are the facts as I have presented them and I hope that that at least does not become a reason for people not to want to vote for me.”
Why won’t people just believe Barack Obama? He spoke about his conversion to Christianity in June of 2006. Go 2:23 in and watch it below:
The whole speech is here.
The key part of the transcription below:
Barack Obama in June 2006: It wasn't until after college, when I went to Chicago to work as a community organizer that I confronted my own spiritual dilemma. I was working with churches, and the Christians who I was working with recognized themselves in me. They saw that I knew their Book, that I shared their values, that I sang their songs. But they sensed that a part of me remained detached and removed, that I was an observer in their midst. And in time, I came to realize that something was missing for me as well -- that without a vessel for my beliefs, without a commitment to a particular community of faith, at some level I would always remain apart, and alone.
And if it weren't for the particular attributes of the historically black church, I might have accepted this fate. But as the months passed in Chicago, I found myself drawn -- not just to work with the church, but to be in the church.
For one thing, I believed and still believe in the power of the African-American religious tradition to spur social change, a power made real by some of the leaders who are here today. Because of its past, the black church understands in an intimate way the Biblical call to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked, to challenge powers and principalities. And in its historical struggles for freedom and the rights of man, I was able to see faith as more than just a comfort to the weary or a hedge against death, but rather as an active, palpable agent in the world. As a source of hope.
Perhaps it was out of this intimate knowledge of hardship -- grounding faith in struggle -- that the church offered me a second insight, one that I think is important to emphasize today: faith doesn't mean that you don't have doubts.
You come to church precisely because you are of this world, not apart from it. You need to embrace Christ precisely because you have sins to wash away -- because you are human and need an ally in this difficult journey.
It was because of these newfound understandings that I was finally able to walk down the aisle of Trinity United Church of Christ on 95th Street in the Southside of Chicago one day and affirm my faith. It came about as a choice, and not as an epiphany. I didn't fall out in church. Questions I had didn't magically disappear. But kneeling beneath that cross on the South Side, I felt that I heard God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth.
That's a path that has been shared by millions of Americans -- evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Muslims alike; some since birth, others at certain turning points in their lives. It's not something they set apart from the rest of their beliefs or their values. In fact, it is often what drives their beliefs and their values.
In that same speech, Obama also said the following:
Barack Obama in June 2006: “Whatever we once were we are no longer a Christian nation at least not just. We are also a Jewish nation, and a Muslim nation and a Buddhist nation and Hindu nation and a nation of non-believers.”
Watch below:
Folks, here’s the deal. Do you want to know why these Muslim rumors continue to not only persist but grow as well? It’s a combination of many different things.
The Brody File has observed the following:
It starts with his name. If his name was John Rogers you think this would be an issue? C’mon. Of course it wouldn’t. So his name puts him at a disadvantage to begin with but his critics will also point to the following: (please note this would be the critics list NOT the Brody File’s list. Please make the distinction. The only list I have is the one for the Taco Bell drive-thru) Their list goes as follows: He lived overseas; his father was born Muslim; he attended Jeremiah Wright’s Church; his tough stance on Israel and settlements; no visible Church attendance; bending over backwards to reach out to Muslims (Cairo speech), the viral birth certificate email chain and now…his comments on the Ground Zero Islamic Center.
The conventional wisdom has always been that stories like this will run its media course and soon this will be yesterday’s headlines. Normally that IS the case but beware of the CW: I don’t think it’s correct this time.
A perception about this President has started to grow. Some will say it’s fair. Others will say it’s not but that really isn’t the issue at this point. Typically, people are followers and also stubborn. We don’t usually investigate things for ourselves. Instead we believe what we want to believe and nobody is going to tell us differently. It’s very easy for this Muslim perception to spread even further and President Obama’s critics will say that he’s given them Exhibit A, B, C, etc in their arsenal against him. The White House may have a short term strategy to deal with this but a long term strategy will come in handy too. Can anybody say the words, “pro-active”?
Thursday, August 19, 2010
An interesting press gaggle today between White House Deputy Press Secretary and reporters on board Air Force one.
The Pew Research Center poll came up. The poll shows that a growing number of Americans think President Obama is a Muslim. Burton pretty much blew it off and said it wasn’t an important issue.
Don’t get me wrong: the economy is the number one issue for sure but when you start seeing an increase in people thinking the President is a Muslim then that seems pretty significant. Why? Because it’s showing that more people are not trusting him. The trust issue is important. Plus, news flash: the last time I checked America was founded on Judeo-Christian principles so it's kind of important when you see a poll that says a growing number of Americans think you might be a Muslim. The President continues to tell everyone he's a Christian but yet the number rises. You can make the argument on paper that President Obama has done a checklist of faith based speeches and activities but reality check: it doesn't seem to be resonating much.
Look, President Obama had this Muslim perception problem during the campaign and now you add to it the comments about the mosque, his tough approach towards Israel and the fact that he is not regularly attending Church (no visuals to speak of) then you know what? The perception problem is only going to get worse. The White House may not care but when will they care? When 28% think he’s a Muslim? 33%? 39%. There’s a danger zone here.
Burton’s comments are below.
Q The Pew poll came out today and there’s some numbers on there that are interesting -- one showing that the number of Americans who believe that the President is Muslim has gone up, while the number of Americans who believe the President is Christian has gone down. What do you guys make of that?
MR. BURTON: Well, I think you have to understand that for most Americans, they’re not reading a lot in the news about what religion the President is and anything other -- what they’re focused on is, you know, what you guys are focused on, which is important issues like what’s happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, what’s going on in the economy, what are we doing to create jobs -- all these different issues. And so the President is obviously a -- is Christian. He prays every day. He communicates with his religious advisor every single day. There’s a group of pastors that he takes counsel from on a regular basis. And his faith is very important to him, but it’s not something that is a topic of conversation every single day.
Q So why do you think the American public has got these opinions of him that he’s a Muslim and not a Christian?
MR. BURTON: I just think people are focused on other issues and not paying all that much attention to exactly what the President does with his spirituality. But as you all know and have covered extensively, he is Christian and his faith is very important to him.
Q Could the White House have -- could the President speak more about his religion to counter this perception that he isn’t Christian? He has talked about his faith in the past. Could the White House have him come out and talk about it more?
MR. BURTON: He has spoken about his faith extensively in the past. You can bet that he’ll talk about his faith again. You could always play the “would-of, could-of, should-of,” but the President’s top priority here isn’t making sure that Americans know what a devout Christian he is, it’s making sure that we’re getting the economy on track and we’re creating jobs in this country.
Q Is it frustrating to him though that so many people have this misperception? Did he have a reaction to these poll findings, do you know?
MR. BURTON: I didn’t talk to him about it, so I don’t know what his reaction was. But I can’t imagine that he is all that focused on some poll like this.
Q It suggests that the Americans -- the American people don’t really know him. I mean, is that something that bothers him?
MR. BURTON: I think that’s extrapolating too much from one poll, one day, and one of its questions.