The Rev Sounds Off

One of the cranky old guy’s favorite Virginians is back to sticking his foot in his mouth. Pat Robertson, the Rev, wants to assassinate the guy running Venezuela. Admittedly, the guy running Venezuela is a jerk. But isn’t assassinating foreign leaders not an activity the United States habitually practices?

The Rev periodically emerges from his Virginia Beach citadel with a preposterous statement of some sort. Some of them seem to suggest the solution of problems by the committing of mayhem, such as a call not too long ago to straighten out the Department of State by nuking Foggy Bottom. His prayer for vacancies on the Supreme Court is only a tad less provocative.

Apparently, the Rev’s brand of Christianity is not overly concerned with all that love your neighbor stuff. The cranky old guy is betting that the Rev finds the smiting parts of the bible and Christian history much more appealing than the turning the other cheek parts. You remember the smiting parts, don’t you? Where the Hittites, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Persians, and the Romans, among others, smote each other from Jerusalem to Jericho and back?

The funny thing is, when in his youth the Rev, before he was the Rev, had an opportunity to smite the forces of evil, in this case communism, he discover better things do to. Back during the Korean War, pre-Rev Robertson found himself a United States Marine and on the way to Korea. The pre-Rev’s father, A. Willis Robertson, was at the time a United States Senator. The story is a little murky, but instead of fighting the commie hordes directly, the pre-Rev apparently served his country by being the liquor officer of his unit. More details can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Robertson or www.schlatter.org/liquor_officer.htm.

Still, the Rev, in the Presidential campaign of 1988, described himself as a former “combat” Marine. Those flights to Tokyo over the Sea of Japan to get the liquor probably did entail some risk. After all, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake was killed over the Sea of Japan.

Southeastern Virginia, the Rev’s stomping grounds, has its share of oddballs. Maybe it’s something in the water, or the effect of that nuclear power plant in Surry County. The cranky old guy himself was raised in the area, and has both relatives and in-laws through out the vicinity. So he feels qualified to opine that in terms of loons per capita, southeastern Virginia is well above the national average.

Occasionally, the cranky old guy’s spouse will suggest the possibility of retiring to the area.

Yeah, right.