“There are a lot of things Jesus wouldn’t do because he’s the son of God,” Bauer told the AP. “I can’t imagine Jesus being a Marine or a policeman or a bank president, for that matter. The more appropriate question is, ‘What is a follower of Jesus permitted to do?’”

“I think if we believe the person we have can give us information to stop thousands of Americans from being killed, it would be morally suspect to not use harsh tactics to get that information,” Bauer said.

Hat tip People for the American Way

The Values Voters Summit features a “who’s who” of the religious right, but who wasn’t there? Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, an absence that organizers weren’t very happy about.

After two days of displaying the racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Latino “Obama Waffles,” summit organizers finally got around to condemning it. “When the content of the materials was brought to the attention of FRC Action senior officials today, they were removed and the exhibit was dismantled by the vendor at our insistence,” said conference organizers as the summit headed into the last of its three-dayrun.

A fan of Bachmann, R-Minn., said she told him at the Republican National Convention that she wants an AR15 assault rifle.

Also, Bachmann glowed about the McCain-Palin ticket. “McCain is McBrilliant!” she exclaimed.

Members of the religious right have launched a fasting campaign for California at the summit. “A confrontation between lightness and the dark” will occur in November. It has a lot to do with rainbow flags and men holding hands. “Cry out to God for the deliverance of the homosexual,” the raspy and panic-stricken voice of the announcer shouts.

Saving the institution of marriage isn’t the only thing values voters worry about. Bauer, a prominent abortion foe, says if we don’t vote for McCain, we are all going to die.

Three-hundred-year-old religious right gadfly Phyllis Schlafly organized a “Life of the Party” party on Tuesday for pro-life delegates and politicians. The event was rife with bitter disappointments for the crowd, however. First delegates were met at the door by protesters from Code Pink, who heckled pro-lifers for their support of the war. Then they learned that the gala’s planned headliner, Gov. Sarah Palin, had canceled the night before and was being replaced by right-wing talk radio star Laura Ingraham. Schlafly was not amused.

“I think this is clearly somebody in the McCain campaign who doesn’t understand where the votes are coming from,” Schlafly told ABC News. “They only told me this at 10 o’clock last night and it was a call from somebody down-the-line in the McCain campaign.”

Backed by a Dixieland quartet, Schlafly kicked off the party at 2 pm and was greeted by two protesters who jumped on stage. Undeterred, she carried on with a program that ended with testimonials on behalf of Palin. from Rep. Michele Bachmann (”One thing we know is that with our Founding Father, it has always been cool to be pro-life.”) and religious right leader Gary Bauer, who offered what was perhaps the most ringing Christian endorsement of any out-of-wedlock pregnancy since that of Jesus’ mother: “In the last several days,” he intoned, “Gov. Palin’s family have taught the American people more about what it means to be a faith-based family that believes in the sanctity of life than anything the politicians could do in Washington DC.”

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