the family
GRITtv: Jeff Sharlet: Understanding the "Teavangelicals"
In the wake of the Republican election victories Tuesday night, Christian conservatives like Ralph Reed have been quick to declare victory for the "Teavangelicals," evangelical Christian politicians who embraced the Tea Party movement and claim to speak for it. Jeff Sharlet, author of C Street, notes that Jim DeMint and others are actually Washington insiders, not representatives of an insurgent new movement. Sharlet joins Laura via Skype to discuss the influence of the religious right on the current Republican party and trends within it, as well as its long-term influence on American politics.
Email this pageGRITtv: Frank Schaeffer: Why is Obama Supporting Hate?
Would President Obama speak at a prayer breakfast organized by the KKK? Would Jim Wallis and other "progressive" Christians attend? Then what will they be doing today at the National Prayer Breakfast founded and sponsored by the notorious gay-bashing "The Family" fringe far right group? (I ask this as a practicing progressive Christian and repentant former religious right leader). So says Frank Schaeffer, wondering why Obama can't seem to break with the tradition of the White House National Prayer Breakfast. Schaeffer is the author of Crazy for God and Patience with God, and has helped organize an alternative prayer meeting.
GRITtv: Jeff Sharlet: Inside the Value Voters Summit
Jeff Sharlet, author of "The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power," reports on the Value Voters Summit in Washington D.C. Sharlet says the conservative Christian movement in the U.S. is far more complicated, diverse and powerful than most coverage of events like the 9/12 Tea Party protests suggests. The left ignores the power and reach of the movement at its own peril.
GRITtv: September 29 2009
Today's stories include a film about shill Dick Morris, Jeff Shalet wonders why the left doesn't take the right more seriously, an update on the Stella D'Oro/Goldman Sachs debacle; and on the F-Word, the real reason big business is now getting behind cap and trade. GRITtv is a daily news and arts discussion program.
