(June 17) Yesterday, Right Wing Watch, a group that monitors extremists, released a video entitled, "4 Minutes of Hate: The Naked Bigotry of the AFA's Bryan Fischer" (you can find it in the left column of this page). They describe it as a "best of" compilation of Fischer's bigoted statements against homosexuals, American Muslims, Native Americans, progressives and others. Bryan Fischer, as you may remember from previous columns here, is a director of the American Family Association, a right-wing Christian non-profit and lobbying organization that has been designated a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Fischer is also the host of Focal Point, AFA's signature radio program broadcast over it's nearly 200 stations across the United States.
Right Wing Watch issued the video yesterday along with a comprehensive report entitled, "The GOP's Favorite Hate-Monger: How the Republican Party Came to Embrace Bryan Fischer." Both were released to coincide with an appearance by People for the American Way's Peter Montgomery on MSNBC's The Last Word With Lawrence O'Donnell (you can view it here). The reason for the interview with Montgomery was to explore why so many Republican presidential wannabes appear on Fischer's show (like Mike Huckabee before he decided to bow out of the race) or associate themselves with Fischer and the AFA (like Texas Governor Rick Perry with the AFA's giant Houston prayer-fest). It's something People for the American Way thinks Americans need to know about. As RWW's report on Fischer points out:
Responsible politicians wouldn’t fawn over an unhinged activist who opposes civil rights and religious freedom for minorities, wants to make being gay a crime and decries his personal rivals as enemies of God, right? But that is exactly what is taking place today in the Republican Party, as likely and declared GOP presidential candidates line up to win the approval of Bryan Fischer, a radio talk show host and spokesman for the American Family Association.
Fischer’s unabashed bigotry is on full display throughout his writings and on-air rants. His entire career is based on leveling venomous attacks against gays and lesbians, American Muslims, Native Americans, progressives and other individuals and groups he detests. He wants to redefine the Constitution to protect only Christians, persecute and deport all American Muslims, prohibit gays and non-Christians from holding public office and impose a system of biblical law.
While Fischer’s views are undeniably shocking, what is most disturbing is his growing influence within not only the Religious Right but also the Republican Party.
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