FRC launches attack comparing Daschle to Saddam Hussein

A political action committee affiliated with the Family Research Council (FRC) has placed ads in South Dakota newspapers comparing Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) to Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The ad, sponsored by American Renewal, FRC's PAC, places photos of Daschle and Hussein side by side and asks, "What do Saddam Hussein and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle have in common?" It then goes on to assert that both oppose drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The ad asserts that the United States is forced to buy oil from Hussein because Daschle "won't let America drill for oil at home."

Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Daschle, called the ad "a truly outrageous attack at a time when the nation is unified." He asserted that drilling at the Alaska site would not decrease the nation's dependence on foreign oil and said Daschle is open to discussing energy policy once U.S. security measures are dealt with.

Since becoming majority leader last year, Daschle has increasingly been a target for Religious Right and far-right organizations.

In other news about the Religious Right:

* Americans overwhelmingly reject assertions by TV preachers Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell that the Sept. 11 terrorist attack was punishment from God, a new poll indicates. The survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, found that 73 percent of respondents "totally disagree" with the idea that the attacks were a sign from God (including 63 percent of respondents who said they are evangelicals). Only 8 percent said they agreed with Falwell and Robertson.

* TV preachers Paul and Jan Crouch are living well. The Los Angeles Times reported in November that the couple, who run Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), recently purchased a $5 million home in Newport Beach, Calif.

According to the Times, "The home was described as 'a palatial estate with ocean and city views.'" It has six bedrooms, nine bathrooms, a billiard room, a climate-controlled wine cellar and a crystal chandelier. The three-story mansion sits on an acre of land and has nearly 9,500 square feet, a six-car garage and a pool and fountain.

The Crouches had been living in a house in the same neighborhood but moved, the paper reported, because "Jan Crouch had been wanting a bigger yard for her dogs, sources said."

Copyright Americans United for Separation of Church and State Jan 2002
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