Forboding music and a lot of nuke talk: Just caught neocon Frank Gaffney inveighing that a President Obama would adopt military policies inviting "disastrous" attacks. We're the sole superpower cause we decided to be, he says. "When we see candidates who unmistakably convey a determination neither to use military power nor to have it at their disposal should it be necessary, they are conveying to our enemies weakness, and weakness invites aggression." The ads sponsor is Let Freedom Ring. (Guidestar.org's 990 forms say that the chairman is John Templeton and its causes begin with, a fence on the border. Here's a Slate piece on conservative crank Templeton, who died last summer. Same guy?)
John Templeton a "conservative crank."?
That is a seriously disturbingly wrong assessment of a great humanitarian.
From Wikipedia:
"He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian Church. He was a trustee on the board of Princeton Theological Seminary, the largest Presbyterian seminary, for 42 years and served as its chair for 12 years."
"Templeton attributed much of his success to his ability to maintain an elevated mood, avoid anxiety and stay disciplined. Uninterested in consumerism, he drove his own car, never flew first class and lived year-round in his peaceful ocean-side home in the Bahamas.[15]"
"As a member of the Presbyterian Church, Templeton was dedicated to his faith. However, Templeton remained open to the benefits and values of other faiths. Commenting on his commitment to what he called spiritual progress, “But why shouldn't I try to learn more? Why shouldn't I go to Hindu services? Why shouldn't I go to Muslim services? If you are not egotistical, you will welcome the opportunity to learn more."
I learned quite a little about certain very anti-Christian attitudes from my 2 Jewish roommates at a certain exclusive school 35 years ago.
I'm deeply disappointed to see that Phil ascribes to their hateful views of Christians. If John Templeton is deemed bad amongst humanity – which of us could possibly be held up as better? Did the man ever aspire to be less than best according to some secret Jewish tableau?
It's a different Templeton: "John Templeton is survived by his son John M. Templeton, Jr., known as Jack, who retired as a pediatric surgeon in 1995 to become president of the John Templeton Foundation."
Lots of name calling in Mr. Plotz's trivializing portrait of the original Templeton (crank, bore, greedy, loopy, promoter of conservative values) but the only substantive charge brought against him that he was a devout Christian.
It's safe to assume Plotz is Jewish, but we can't tell whether this attack is an example of Jewish hostility to Christianity, or of a more general liberal/left hostility. The two are hard to untangle, the latter having been assiduously nurtured by the former.