Why is Pat Robertson Mad?

Because people keep quoting him, making him look bad!

How dare they alert the media to what he says on his show?!

From Tuesday night’s episode of The 700 Club:

ROBERTSON: Well, our next story and our next guest, I know about personally. There’s an organization and they’re called People For the American Way. They have camped on this program for decades. They record every single word that I say. If there’s any possibility that they can catch something or change it, and then feed it to the AP, they do, and so the next thing you know it’s a big story. Then, in — added to them, was one of their ACLU operative who started an organization called Americans United with Separation of Church and State. They have people assigned to monitor every word, and then to take those words, change them often, take connectives out of them, change the sense of it, and then feed it to the — a willing agent in the Associated Press. Then, on top of that, there’s another group that’s — I think has backing from somebody like George Soros, called, what — what is it? Media Matters. So, there are three of them trying to stifle the speech on this program and to embarrass those who make it.

Of course, no one’s taking anything out of context or twisting it. They’re simply repeating what Robertson said.

Maybe he just doesn’t realize how idiotic he actually sounds…

Rob Boston of Americans United responds:

As usual, Robertson is not telling the whole story. It is true that Americans United has a staff member who, among other duties, watches and records the “700 Club” every day. We consider this a hardship post, and to date, no one has been able to do it more than two years.

Sometimes when Robertson says something unusually intolerant or just plain off the wall, we prepare a transcript and alert the media. The Religious Right is extreme, and the American people need to know that. (It’s not always the Associated Press. Sometimes we give the material to The New York Times, The Washington Post or Pat’s hometown newspaper, the Virginian-Pilot.)

What we don’t do is change anything. Our transcripts are word-for-word, straight from Pat’s big mouth. It would be foolish for Americans United to alter the transcripts in any way, since broadcasts of the “700 Club” are online at the Christian Broadcast Network’s Web site. Any reporter can check out what Robertson said right on the CBN site, so tinkering with them would be a sure way for AU to blow its credibility.

Rob also includes a list of Robertson quotations.

They’re not taken out of context. Just complete in-context absurdity.

Rob adds:

It seems Robertson is concerned over how he is being perceived and perhaps even his place in history. As someone who has followed Robertson’s career for more than 20 years, I have some advice: If you don’t want to be seen as an extremist, Pat, then stop going on television and saying extreme things.