Fox News Declares WBC...

[Duelist925]

...a Liberal organization.


...this is so stupid, I'm positive I lost IQ points.

[Greenday]

I'm not sure Democrat means what Fox News thinks it means.

[Tanasi]

Are Fred Phelps and/or family democrats???

[Hyena Dandy]

Phelps was a civil rights lawyer until he had a breakdown and started his cult. He may very well still be a democrat, but he's not representative of the party.

Perhaps they should also add that he's white, and male, and a father, and married...

[TheHuckster]

Fred Phelps actually ran for public office as a Democrat back in the day. I don't think he has changed his affiliation since so Fox News was accurate.

However, whether he's liberal or conservative has no difference that he's a complete wackjob that both parties don't affiliate themselves with.

[smileyeagle1021]

"conservative bikers"
I'm not familiar with the biker groups back east, but at least out west, biker groups don't have political policies and are made up with diverse groups of people who all happen to enjoy motorcycling. Calling Phelps a Democrat may be a true statement... but conservative bikers... that is a bit of a stretch to say only conservative bikers were there.

[HYHYBT]

They *did* say Democrat, not liberal, unless it's been altered... a more blatant example of lying by creative presentation of the truth would be hard to come by.

[Jaden]

They *did* say Democrat, not liberal, unless it's been altered... a more blatant example of lying by creative presentation of the truth would be hard to come by.

Well, the top caption says "Bikers Turn Out to Protect Newtown Mourners from Left-Wing Westboro Cult." The left-wing label is, I believe, what was being referred with this topic.

The later part does say simply "Democrat." It's hard to tell what part of this is the words of Fox News and what are the words of places like Free Republic and The Cochrane Times, due to the confusing labeling.

[lordlundar]

It's hard to tell what part of this is the words of Fox News and what are the words of places like Free Republic and The Cochrane Times, due to the confusing labeling.

What's the difference? each of those want to stick anyone who thinks they're insane with the "evul liberul" tag.

[Duelist925]

Well, the top caption says "Bikers Turn Out to Protect Newtown Mourners from Left-Wing Westboro Cult." The left-wing label is, I believe, what was being referred with this topic.

Pretty much this. Labelling WBC as "left wing" is like labelling Rush Limbaugh "left wing".

[violiav]

Wow. Yeah. There was so much spin in the blurb I got dizzy.

[Anthony K. S.]

Party affiliation and ideology are not the same thing.

As a rule, being liberal and being a Democrat tend to go hand-in-hand, but not always. There are conservative Democrats.

And, for that matter, there are also liberal Republicans. Some conservatives refer to them disparagingly as "RINOs" (Republican In Name Only).

Now, in my view, if Fred Phelps is a Democrat, then he would be a "Democrat In Name Only" if ever there was one.

None of the views that Fred Phelps has espoused are in line with the Democratic Party's positions.

Phelps ran for the Democratic nomination five times for various public offices, but he never won. As far as I can tell, he never actually got anywhere in the Democratic Party.

He has sharply criticized Al Gore (although Phelps had earlier supported him) as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton. Phelps has also claimed that Barack Obama is the "Anti-Christ."

Ultimately, if Fred Phelps is still a Democrat, then that party affiliation is not even remotely relevant to the WBC's activities.

Ideology, however, is relevant, because that's what drives everything that the WBC ever does.

Now, after reading some of the comments on those articles, I am getting the sense that this is probably what happened :

Some conservatives got pissed off when they saw the WBC being referred to as a "right-wing Christian" organization. So they decided to bring up the fact that Phelps ran for public office as a Democrat to label him "left wing."

The underlying message that these conservatives wanted to get across seems to be, "You feel outraged and infuriated because we called Phelps left wing? Well, now you know how we felt when you called him right wing."

...

But ... Fred Phelps is right wing.

Okay, maybe it would be better to refer to the WBC as "extremist right-wingers," or just "extremists," to distinguish them from mainstream conservatives.

But you can't actually say that he's not right-wing. That's ... what he is.

Now, I expect conservatives would say here, "Well, then, you can't say he's not a Democrat, either. That's what he is."

Well, that's true, but as I said earlier, that party affiliation doesn't really have anything to do with the WBC's activities. Ideology does. It's not the same thing.

I will say that if people are going to refer to Phelps as "Christian," then it's probably even more important to emphasize the extremist nature of his views. Having grown up in a Catholic family (although I'm presently what you'd call a "lapsed Catholic" myself), my feeling is that, in general, they're even less willing to associate themselves with Fred Phelps than the two political parties are.

[Zod]

I wonmder if Phelps'll sue Fox for libel?

[Rapscallion]

I think this is because of the current MPD of the republican party. He's socially conservative, but when it comes to political positions, nobody really gives a fuck. He's batshit enough before he gets there.

Rapscallion

[crashhelmet]

It's hard to really figure out where he lies his affiliations. It would appear he's a Democrat, but also raging homophobe.

He was a civil rights lawyer in the 60s and 70s, and given an award by the NAACP in the 80s. He fully supported Al Gore in his presidential run in 1988 but broke ties with him after Gore went from opposing gay rights to supporting them. I believe the term he used to describe him was "Famous Fag Pimp." He refused to support the Clinton runs because of their support for gay rights, but continued to run as a Democrat for governor and mayor throughout the 90s.

As far as what constitutes being a "liberal," I don't know where he falls into that political specturm/matrix.

Does being religious or homophobic automatically make you conservative?