People for the American Way have posted videos from the prayercast, including this one of Bachmann and Engle:

Photo: Paul Demko, MnIndy

Salon’s Mike Madden notes that the Values Voters Summit, which features Minnesota’s conservative heavyweights Rep. Michele Bachmann and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, is being held on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and a religiously prescribed day of rest.

“Does the [Family Research Council] think Jews don’t have values? Or was this just the only fall weekend they could get into the Omni Shoreham hotel?” asks Madden.

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown Friday, which gives folks just enough time to watch Pawlenty and Bachmann. Bachmann will be speaking sometime between 8:45 am and noon on Friday, and Pawlenty’s speech could get squeezed in right before sundown between 7 and 9:30 pm.

The entire summit will be webcast at action.afa.net.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar is a lead sponsor, along with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., of a bill in the Senate condemning Tiller’s murder and use of violence for political ends.

The bill says that “acts of violence should never be used to prevent women from receiving reproductive health care.” The presence of those final three words has spurned anti-abortion forces to reject it saying that to vote for the bill is to “glorify” abortion.

And on Thursday, an anonymous Republican senator moved to use the rarely seen “secret hold,” preventing it from coming to a vote.

“What an encouragement to the pro-life community that while some Senators may vote in favor of abortion, they stand strongly against any effort to glorify it,” said Family Research Council president Tony Perkins in a statement. “Like us, they realize that just as violence cannot be tolerated, neither can any effort to exalt those who practice it against the unborn.”

“As a former prosecutor I have seen how acts of violence can tear apart communities,” Klobuchar said of the bill. “No matter how heated the debate or how great our differences, violence is never the answer.”

On the anonymous hold, she said, “Supporting a bipartisan bill that denounces the use of violence is basic common sense and we need to pass this without further delay.”

In a joint statement, Klobuchar, Boxer and Sheehan said they will not compromise on the wording saying, “condemning violence against women’s health care providers and agreeing not to use violence as a means of resolving differences are not objectionable viewpoints.”

The U.S. House unanimously passed a watered-down version on June 9 which condemned the murder of Tiller but also a half-dozen other murders that occurred in places of worship. It did not mention Tiller’s profession, the reason he was murdered or the terms “abortion” or “reproductive rights.”

Including Sens. Klobuchar, Boxer and Sheehan, the Senate version has 43 cosponsors.

The Family Research Council, a religious right organization that opposes equal rights for gays and lesbians, rushed to the aid of Rep. Michele Bachmann in the wake of Anti-AmericaGate. They also rallied around Colorado Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Republican who has made opposition to same-sex marriage her signature issue in Congress.

In a letter to the Republican National Congressional Committee titled “NRCC Abandons Social Conservatives,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins wrote, “You have made a grave error in judgment by pulling your funds from the Michelle Bachmann race in Minnesota and the Marilyn Musgrave race in Colorado,” he said. “The left is attacking both of these outstanding women because they are true conservatives.”

Despite the economy and the Iraq War dominating voters’ concerns this November, Perkins says it’s Bachmann’s and Musgrave’s extreme views on abortion and homosexuality that will sway voters.

“They vote pro-life and pro-family. Both Congresswomen are against taxpayer funding of abortion. Both oppose embryonic stem cell research, and both are for a Marriage Protection Amendment,” he said. “These are issues that motivate voters. These are issues they and other conservative candidates have won and can win with.”

MnIndy: A tool of the Religious Right?

The Family Research Council used reporting by the Minnesota Independent in its newly released voter guide (PDF) touching on abortion, same-sex marriage, “special protections for homosexuals” and stem-cell research. “Erik Paulsen runs away from Republicans and his own record” is used to bash Ashwin Madia on social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage, as are other reports from our coverage of the 3rd Congressional District debates. View their source guide (PDF).

Pro-lifer’s canceled speech riles right-wingers

“In Minnesota, there is another brilliant example of liberals trying to indoctrinate their views on college students,” wrote Crystal Clear Conservative. “The College of St. Catherine is banning Bay Buchanan from speaking on campus, because the college administration believes her speech would be a direct violation of their 501(c) (3) status.”

SCSU Scholars blog cried foul. “Bay Buchanan is neither a candidate nor engaged in a campaign or debate for any candidate,” read a post at the popular St. Cloud blog (its contributors helped arrange the Buchanan visit). The Republican Party-affiliated Young America’s Foundation suggested “a more sinister motive behind the cancellation of Ms. Buchanan’s speech and an utter contempt for intellectual diversity.”

Despite protestations that Buchanan is not campaigning for any candidate, Buchanan held an impromptu gathering across the street, hailing Sarah Palin’s candidacy. SCSU Scholars wrote, “As Bay stated, Sarah was not exactly the icon these feminists wanted. Sarah is (horrors) a Republican, a Christian and a mom who kept her child even after she knew it would have health problems. And, like it or not, she’s the new face of feminism.”

Despite outcries from the right wing, the college has been bipartisan in its policies. It banned Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton from appearing at the college this week and last month told DFL Senate candidate Al Franken he could not speak on campus.

Anti-Obama abortion mailers hitting Minnesota mailboxes

The Susan B. Anthony List has printed 500,000 of these mailers to send to mailboxes in Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania this week. The two-sided mailer features a lenticular print on the front: when viewed from one angle, a baby is visible; from another, it’s gone.

Click the image for a larger size:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann: a meeting of the, uh, minds.

Michele Bachmann will be a featured guest at the “The Life of the Party Party,” a reception honoring Alaska Governor Sarah Palin during next week’s Republican National Convention. The event is sponsored by anti-feminist and Bachmann financier Phyllis Schlafly and the Republican National Coalition for Life.

Bachmann will be joined by two of her other pals from the religious right— prominent anti-gay crusader Gary Bauer and Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. The Palin soiree is September 2 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel downtown St. Paul. Tickets are $95.
Governor Palin has been considered a rising star in the Republican Party. However, a recently developing political scandal could tarnish her political future. She’s been accused of pressuring the state’s public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who was involved in a messy divorce with Palin’s sister, and then firing the public safety commissioner when he refused to fire the trooper. A legislative investigation has been launched to look into the matter.

Perkins, who was a featured speaker at one of Bachmann’s anti-gay rallies on the state capitol steps in 2005, has been linked= to the white supremacist group Council of Concerned Citizens and former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.

Like Bachmann, Gary Bauer has made a career out of bashing public education and gays and trying to inject religion into every avenue of public life. He ran for president in 2000 but like so many other moralists on the Christian right, was dogged by rumors of infidelity.

Schlafly, the event’s co-sponsor, has been a heavy contributor to Bachmann’s campaigns through her Eagle Forum PAC–$13,500 since 2005.

The Republican National Coalition for Life gave Bachmann $5,000 in her 2006 campaign.

Minnesota Independent has more on Schlafly, Perkins and Bauer here.

Although Bachmann’s name doesn’t appear on the event’s web page, an RNC delegate from Washington enthusiastically noted it in her blog this month.

Bachmann will also address the RNC September 1, the same day Bush and Cheney take to the podium, and plans to visit the Minnesota State Fair during the convention with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. And in keeping with her perfect record of avoiding public meetings in the 6^th congressional district that she represents, Bachmann is hosting a reception for members of Congress at an undisclosed location in the district.

Karl Bremer can be reached at saintcroix@aol.com

“This event is a call to action for voter participation, education and training and a rallying event for patriotic Americans who want to transform the political landscape on issues such as the sanctity of life and marriage, illegal immigration, religious freedom, health care, radical Islam, judicial activism, Hollywood’s influence, the media and much more,” said FRC Action President Tony Perkins.

Also confirmed to speak: the addict-turned-born-again Baldwin brother, Stephen.

Bachmann will also be testifying on behalf of the lord at the State Fair; you can check her out speaking at the booth of KKMS, a hard right Twin Cities Christian talk radio station. She’ll be there Wednesday afternoon at 3 pm.

Meanwhile, a new survey indicates that the growing conflation of religion and politics has the majority of Americans concerned. A Pew Religion and Public Life Survey shows a steady increase in the percentage of Americans worried about churches endorsing politicians (such as Pastor Mac Hammond endorsing Bachmann). Fifty-two percent say politics and religion should remain separate –a figure that includes 36 percent of self-identifying evangelicals. Four years ago, only 16 percent of evangelicals said the two should remain separate.

But that hasn’t stopped the religious right from attacking Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden. The Family Research Council went after Biden only hours after his nomination and several “Catholics Against Biden” groups have sprung up overnight (Biden himself is a Catholic). The opposition has made it clear: on the religious right are the true Christians.

“Barack Obama’s choice of Joe Biden sends a clear message, true Christians need not apply in the Democratic Party,” said Dr. Gary Cass, Chairman and CEO of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. “Instead of picking a true Christian, Obama, a fake evangelical, has selected Biden, a fake Catholic.”