Preacher Bradlee Dean expressed disappointment about Pres. Barack Obama’s first term in an open letter to the President posted last week on his You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministry’s website.

Dean said that Obama has moved away from the country’s founding principles.

“Sadly, our posterity, who is the apple of my eye, has been reaping the disastrous consequences of the older generation’s lack of responsibility,” Dean wrote. “They have been the target—there is no doubt about that. It is our duty (and one I take seriously) to protect our posterity from those who have been attacking them incessantly.”

Dean criticized the hiring of former safe schools czar Kevin Jennings—who Dean said is an “admitted radical homosexual activist”—expressed disappointment over Obama’s support of repealing the Defense of Marriage Act and accused the government of ignoring thousands of defense and intelligence employees who Dean says downloaded child pornography.

“Your grave decisions dishonor everything our forefathers gave us when they laid down their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. I, for one, will not and cannot stand down on this issue,” Dean wrote. “You, Sir, are to magnify the laws in which the Son of God (in the spiritual) our our veterans (in the natural) died to give us, not desecrate them. Mr. President, God is watching, and so is America.”

Dean has been connected to a number of controversial issues and statements, including criticisms of President Barack Obama at an opening prayer at the Minnesota Legislature, for which Republican leaders who invited Dean apologized.

Dean recently filed a libel lawsuit against the Minnesota Independent, as well as MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow and her show, contending that he was defamed by news reports of statements made by Dean on his radio show last year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Controversial pastor and rock musician Bradlee Dean filed suit Wednesday in federal court alleging he was defamed by reporting from the Minnesota Independent as well as MSNBC star Rachel Maddow and her show.

Dean, of the ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCR), claims that reporting on his May 15, 2010, radio show “maliciously set out to and did harm not only the Plaintiffs but by extension also the presidential campaign of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.”

In the article, Minnesota Independent ran a video with the audio of Dean’s statements, as well as a transcription.

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America,” Dean said on YCR’s May 15 radio show on AM 1280 The Patriot. “This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”

“If America won’t enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that,” Dean continued. “That is what you are seeing in America.

“The bottom line is this … they [homosexuals] play the victim when they are, in fact, the predator,” Dean said, before going on to make a claim that has no basis in fact: “On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?”

On June 4, 2010, the Minnesota Independent published a follow-up article to the one referenced above, in which Dean said he does not support executing homosexuals. Dean specified that he may not have been clear, then continued:

For example, we have specifically rejected, as all Christians do, the Islamic doctrine, and actual practice, of executing homosexuals. But some have claimed, in effect, that by merely mentioning the execution of homosexuals (as a criminal practice of Islam), on our radio broadcast, we have suggested it for consideration. Obviously this is absurd. The whole point was to contrast the Islamic position with the Christian position. This may not have been as clear as we would have otherwise planned it to be. Live radio is not scripted. But everyone who knows us knows that this is our position because we have stated it consistently for years – long before we ever discussed the topic on the radio. There are board members, and other supporters who can vouch for this. We have never and will never call for the execution of homosexuals. This is a complete misinterpretation by design.

The lawsuit further contends that Rachel Maddow, MSNBC and NBC “disparaged” Dean in Maddow’s segment on the reporting from the Minnesota Independent, alleging that Maddow, too, had an agenda in covering Dean.

The American Independent News Network released the following statement in regards to the Dean press conference in New York City Wednesday morning:

The allegations by Bradlee Dean and You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International (YCR) are completely without merit. The American Independent News Network stands firmly behind our news site, The Minnesota Independent; our reporter, Andy Birkey; as well as their reporting on Dean and his ministry. The complaint describes Birkey as taking “a ‘special interest’ in Plaintiffs Dean and YCR because he is a secularist and/or atheist and gay activist with a politically left ideology who despises people of faith.” However, in giving Birkey and The Minnesota Independent first prize for Best Continuing Coverage of their reporting on YCR, the 2010 judges for the Minnesota Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalist’s Page One Awards stated, “the reporter [Birkey] takes a deep-dive with an even-handed approach into a weighty subject sure to provoke controversy from various standpoints. Leads readers to think about serious public policy and constitutional issues.”

We are confident that the courts will agree that this lawsuit is completely frivolous and is a blatant attempt to chill freedom of the press.

MSNBC’s statement regarding the lawsuit:

This suit is baseless and we stand by our reporting.

Controversial preacher Bradlee Dean continues to claim that House Speaker Kurt Zellers asked to be on Dean’s show, Sons of Liberty, immediately preceding Dean’s infamous prayer at the opening of a Minnesota House session, according to an interview Dean did with City Pages reporter Andy Mannix. Zellers has denied that he ever asked to be on the show. Dean also said that Rep. Ernie Leidiger, R-Mayer, who invited Dean to give the prayer but later stated he didn’t know much about Dean, was “behind” Dean’s ministry before he was against it.

“Speaker Zellers did not ask to be on Bradlee Dean’s radio show,” Jodi Boyne, director of public affairs for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus, told the Minnesota Independent last month.

But that’s not the story that Bradlee Dean told Mannix.

CP: The last thing I want to ask you about is this whole debacle with the prayer. I read a week or two ago that you had said you actually had talked to Zellers before.

BDS: Nicole [another ministry member] had ran into Zellers, and he had said to her, “I know you guys.” And he gave his card and said, “Get a hold of so and so, I’d like to be on your radio show.”

I think what happened is he just felt a little heat and he bowed. That’s what he did.

CP: He made it seem like he had no idea who you were.

BDS: He’s a liar, he straight up lied.

Dean has generated controversy in Minnesota politics for his tied to Republicans, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, and his statements about gays and lesbians being criminals and pedophiles.

Dean also said that Leidiger approached Dean at his “My War” documentary, not a school event, as Liediger told the press immediately after the prayer.

CP: Was it [Ernie] Leidiger that invited you?

BDS: He came to one of our events, and sat there and watched the whole debunking.

He knows what was done, he sat and watched the whole program. I think what happened was that it was brand new. Listen, when the media first comes down on you, it’s not a secure feeling.

We went through it, but the bottom line is I just don’t think he was really for it. But what was interesting is, when we did the event, he was there and he was the first one to stand up, “We need to get behind these guys. We need to stand up.”

CP: So Leidiger was at an event?

BDS: He’s seen the whole thing.

One of the documentary premieres. Which, by the way, is being attacked from, again, the homosexual communities without even seeing the documentary.

At the RightOnline Conference last month in Minneapolis, Rep. Michele Bachmann became the third Republican presidential candidate to get glitter thrown on her by the “glitterati.” The reason? Her longtime relationship with Bradlee Dean, head of the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International ministries. Dean’s invective towards Muslims, Democrats and especially the LGBT community has earned him notoriety in Minnesota politics, yet candidate Bachmann has yet to weigh in on her relationship with Dean. As Bachmann’s star rises in the GOP presidential field, the controversial pastor is likely to become a campaign issue in the months ahead, much the way President Barack Obama’s Rev. Jeremiah Wright was seized upon by conservative activists in 2008.

Candidate Obama’s pastor came under media scrutiny during the Democratic nominating process for some comments he made in his sermons. The attention forced Obama to speak out against his pastor and for Wright to resign from his position.

A strong friendship

While arguably not as close as Obama’s and Wright’s relationship, Bachmann and Dean’s ties date back several years. In 2005, Bachmann, then a state senator, gave Dean’s ministry a letter of endorsement after Dean sent her a copy of his comic book, “My War.”

“Your work is a testament to the struggle our youth are facing in making the right choices in the face of controversy and peer pressure,” she wrote. “I commend you on writing this book for parents and youth alike.”

She was also a guest on the Dean’s “School of Hard Knocks Roxx,” a radio show on Christian station KKMS.

The following year and just before she won her first campaign for the U.S. House, Bachmann attended a fundraiser for You Can Run (YCR) and offered a lengthy prayer in which she referenced the “last days” and plead with God to increase the ministry’s reach ten-fold. Dean’s ministry had seen criticism for doing assemblies at public schools that some say violated the Constitution for using taxpayer dollars to fund overtly Christian endeavors.

Bradlee Dean, in a press photo for his Christian rock band, Junkyard Prophet

“Lord, I thank you for what you have done at this ministry… how you are going to advance them from 260 schools a year, Lord, to 2,600 schools a year,” she said. “Lord, we ask thy faith that you would expand this ministry beyond anything the originators of this ministry could begin to think or imagine. Lord, the day is at hand! We are in the last days! The day is at hand, Lord, when your return will become nigh. Pour a double blessing, Lord, a triple blessing on this ministry.”

Bachmann would return to the ministry in 2009 as the headliner for its fundraising gala. But she appeared by video instead.

In a four-minute video message, Bachmann said, “I’d hoped to be there, but unfortunately the future that’s being forged here in Washington, DC … is one that saddles today’s youth with tremendous debt, a diminished world presence, and diminishes their God-given freedoms.”

She was in Washington preparing for her “House Call” on health care, a tea party event she and other Republican members of Congress paid for with taxpayer funds.

She praised You Can Run’s mission at YCR’s “Appeal to Heaven” gala. “It a tough job that you do, but someone has to do it. I thank God that he has given you the strength and the resolve to fight for our timeless values.”

And she reiterated her support for their work evangelizing in public schools. “We can’t overlook the outright rejection of God in the public school classroom, and the outright scorn of Christianity in our public square,” she said. “Moral relativism is exalted and faith in Christ is derided.”

Anti-gay record

Dean’s fiery preaching on his radio have garnered a lot of interest. In May 2010, he suggested that Muslim nations that execute gays and lesbians are “more moral” than American Christians.

“Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America,” Dean said during YCR’s May 15, 2010, radio show on AM 1280 the Patriot. “This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”

“If America won’t enforce the laws, God will raise up a foreign enemy to do just that,” Dean continued. “That is what you are seeing in America.”

He has called gays and lesbians predators and pedophiles. “The bottom line is this… they [homosexuals] play the victim when they are, in fact, the predator,” Dean said, before going on to make a claim that has no basis in fact: “On average, they molest 117 people before they’re found out. How many kids have been destroyed, how many adults have been destroyed because of crimes against nature?”

Dean has accused Rep. Keith Ellison of trying to overthrow the U.S. Constitution and claimed that Ellison, who is Muslim, is using the homosexual agenda to bring about Sharia law. He’s said that “homosexual activists” are going after children because, he charges, one in twenty homosexuals is a child molester. He said that Obama broke the law when he appointed a lesbian to be a U.S. Marshal.

Dean has repeatedly called for gays and lesbians to be put in prison. On the radio show in 2010, Dean’s co-leader Jake McMillian praised the actions of the African nation of Malawi, which had recently arrested a gay couple for getting engaged.

“They are very conservative,” he said. “They sentence people for crimes against nature.”

Dean added, “They are very moral; they uphold the laws.”

McMillian continued, “We have got countries all over the world that are standing for what’s right and what’s wrong. In Rwanda, there’s legislation right now that repeat offenders of homosexuality will spend their life in prison.”

“Yes!” interjected Dean.

“Because they love and value life and they love and value that which God gave,” said McMillian. “And so they enforce laws against that which destroys life which again is crimes against nature.”

Near universal condemnation

Tom Emmer with YCR's Jake McMillian (right) at the 2010 GOP convention, via Facebook

While Dean has friends in religious right candidates like Bachmann, former Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer and GOP-endorsed 2010 gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, Dean has garnered criticism from a diverse array of interests: LGBT groups, the Muslim community, conservative churches, “ex-gay” advocates, Democrats, Republicans and independents.

It began with Dean’s remarks on his radio show in the summer of 2010 that appeared to condone the morality of Muslim nations that execute gays and lesbians. His statements sparked uproar from may quarters, even those that view homosexuality as evil.

Exodus International, a group that advocates “ex-gay” therapy, a practice that has been discredited by most major medial groups, condemned Dean’s statement.

“Using Old Testament scriptures to condemn a person to death is not ‘loving’ … it is incomplete theology and powerfully irresponsible,” wrote Randy Thomas, the group’s spokesperson, at the time. “To say that murderous actions are more ‘moral’ than tolerating free will is to completely ignore that Jesus did not call for the deaths of sinners. He died and paid the price for all of our sin, including those of us who have or do struggle with homosexuality. I pray that Mr. Dean will correct his focus and reconsider the message he is choosing to proclaim.”

Mac Hammond’s Living Word Christian Center, the church that played host to Bachmann’s famous speech where she said that God told her to run for Congress, was moved to condemn its associations with Dean as well. LWCC hosted YCR for a youth program in 2009.

“LWCC does not support financially or in any other manner, nor is an affiliate ministry of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Ministries,” the church said in a 2010 statement following Dean’s controversial statements. “Our faith community at LWCC believes it is the love of God who draws all men (people) to Him, not condemnation or judgment.”

The Minnesota Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned Dean’s words as well, saying the group “strongly opposes any kind of violence or discrimination against any group,” and called on Minnesota Republicans to speak out against Dean’s statement. Few, if any, did.

“The YCR representative makes at least three outrageous and incorrect claims in the radio interview,” CAIR-MN said in a statement. “That ‘Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America,’ that executing homosexuals is ‘moral,’ and that Muslims are a ‘foreign enemy.’ Statements like this show the level of ignorance and bigotry that exists in our country.”

Bradlee Dean, giving his May 20, 2011, invocation before the Minnesota House

But the peak of Dean’s time in the spotlight came in May 2011 when Republicans invited him to give the invocation before the Minnesota House.

Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis, condemned his appearance. “Bradlee Dean has a long track record of hateful speech, and his intolerance has no place in the ‘people’s house.’ His presence sheds light on the true motivations of the anti gay marriage constitutional amendment groups. This isn’t about voter choice; it’s about systematic discrimination against a group of people.”

Republican Speaker of the House Kurt Zellers echoed those sentiments. “That type of person will never ever be allowed on this House floor again as long as I have the honor of serving as speaker,” he told his colleagues.

The Minnesota Legislature’s two openly gay and lesbian members took great offense to Dean being allowed to lead the House in prayer.

“In my 30 years in the House, I have never seen such a hateful person be allowed to deliver the opening prayer,” Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, said.

“Mr. Dean has a long and well-known record of intolerance, something that should have no place in the legislature, let alone in a prayerful blessing,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis.

Others, including Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Minnesota Catholic Conference, among others, decried his prayer.

Tom Emmer

Even before the House prayer controversy, Dean’s words caused considerable stress for one man’s political campaign. Tom Emmer attended the same 2009 YCR fundraiser that Bachmann headlined, and his campaign gave funds to support the ministry.

So when Target donated $150,000 in support of Emmer’s ultimately unsuccessful gubernatorial bid last year through the Republican political action committee MN Forward, Emmer’s ties to Dean — and Dean’s stance on LGBT people — took center stage.

Groups like the Human Rights Campaign launched campaigns to pressure Target to give money to pro-gay candidates, nationwide scrutiny came to Emmer’s campaign, boycotts were initiated, and Target’s CEO ended up apologizing to company employees for the donation. Throughout the controversy, Dean’s central role was not ignored, as this illustration for SFist’s story on the relationship shows:

Image: SFist

Bachmann and Dean reunited

Still, despite Dean’s ability to stir controversy, candidate Bachmann shows no sign of distancing from him. In fact, the two will be sharing a stage at Freedom Jamboree in September, a GOP nominating event hosted by tea party activists.

Bachmann’s campaign has repeatedly refused requests for comment about her relationship with Dean and You Can Run But You Cannot Hide.

On his blog, controversial minister Bradlee Dean of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministries took credit for the passage of a bill that put a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on the ballot in 2012. Dean said that he’s been “attacked” by the media who are pushing an “illegal agenda” and claims — incorrectly — that sodomy is against the law in the United States. “I believe that I have done my duty,” he wrote. “The people of the great state of Minnesota now have the power to vote. It is now up to you to decide for your posterity what kind of future that you want to have for them. The power is in your hands.”

Dean complained about the treatment he has received by the media. “When doing high schools across the country we noticed that when the media began to push an illegal agenda called the gay agenda (sodomy is illegal in this country) we started getting attacked from the media,” he wrote.

Sodomy laws, which were often used to imprison gays and lesbians as recently as the 1980s, were declared unconstitutional in Minnesota in 2001 and nationwide in 2003.

Dean has frequently spoken of the need to enforce sodomy laws against gays and lesbians who he views as criminals.

“All the way up until 1961 it was illegal in every state to commit the crime of sodomy. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness up until 1973. There has also never been any such thing as gay marriage in the history of mankind. So, for simply inciting the laws of the land in which the radical homosexuals hate so much, I became a target,” he wrote. “The radical homosexuals want to re-educate America by teaching people of all ages to hate the laws that expose their crimes. So the next time you hear ‘hate crimes,’ remember that is the criminal who hates the law.”

He added, “It is like a bunch of criminals standing around a good cop trying to threaten him that if he enforces the laws of the land towards crime, he is guilty of ‘hate.’”

Dean wrote that he believes gay marriage is part of a larger conspiracy.

“This is not about homosexuals getting married; this is about a government-backed agenda,” he wrote. “Radical leaders are using the homosexual communities as a political battering ram to overthrow all sense of right and wrong. Not a good place to put yourself.”

Dean also says that despite calling for the criminalization of gays and lesbians, he loves homosexuals.

“Time and time again, I have loved sinners (including homosexuals) so much that I have warned them of their sins before a just and a holy God; I have warned them of the consequences of their lifestyles; and have even warned them of their impending dangers (contracted diseases from their sins). Unfortunately, my love has been misconstrued to mean hate (read John 7:7 and Psalm 109).”

He concluded:

My objective has always been to seek and save that which was lost – homosexual or not. That is my duty. All sinners are my objective. The homosexual agenda got in front of me and I simply dealt with it in a Biblical, historical, and legal perspective. And I will continue to do so if circumstance calls for it.

You Have Won the Vote in Minnesota
I believe that I have done my duty. The people of the great state of Minnesota now have the power to vote. It is now up to you to decide for your posterity what kind of future that you want to have for them. The power is in your hands. I rest my case.

Some DFLers have already seized on Dean’s support of the amendment by naming it after Dean.

When the amendment was about to pass the Minnesota House two weeks ago, Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, tweeted, “Bradlee Dean Amendment placed on the calendar for this evening.”

Senate District 44 DFLers recently tweeted. “MNGOP knows they are on the wrong side of history by passing the Bradlee Dean amendment. It WILL be defeated in 2012.”

Bradlee Dean of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministries lashed out at Rep. Keith Ellison on his Sons of Liberty radio program on Saturday after Ellison called Dean “extreme” in an interview two weeks ago. Dean claimed that sodomy is illegal, that Ellison wants to overthrow the U.S. Constitution, and that the Fifth District Democrat disrespected America when he took the oath of office on Thomas Jefferson’s Koran. Criticism against Dean has mounted in recent weeks after he was invited by Republicans to give the opening prayer in the Minnesota House and took a swipe at Obama.

Dean said, “Keith Ellison has been making comments about Bradlee Dean to the Daily Beast saying that the American people might not quite know how extreme this guy Bradlee Dean really is.”

Ellison was interviewed by the Daily Beast shortly after Dean gave the official opening prayer on the Minnesota House floor in late May. Ellison said that Republicans in state House might not know enough about Dean.

“There’s a slight possibility they may not know quite how extreme this guy is,” he told the Beast. “But they ought to know.”

Ellison said Dean’s prayer was an example of the Republican party tracking toward the extreme right. “The people on the extreme have the momentum on their side, and they punish people in the middle,” he said.

Dean took the “extreme” label personally on his radio show on Saturday.

“The extreme that America is looking for is called leadership,” he said. “To make myself clear the extremities that I have advanced in this ministry according to Keith Ellison are not lawless but lawful. He’s breaking the law, and I’m magnifying the law, so again if you want to define me as being extreme for our country so be it.”

Dean didn’t stop there, however. He accused Ellison of trying to overthrow the U.S. Constitution and said that perhaps Ellison was upset because the U.S. doesn’t follow Sharia law.

“Keith Ellison seems to forget in his folly that I’m not the one trying to overthrow our Constitution or the laws of our land, he is,” Dean told listeners. “I may be extreme but I’m extreme in preserving this country because I love my country and my people.”

“What you have to understand is the problem with the radicals, they don’t know how to deal with those who do not roll over every time they want another law overthrown. Those days are over, radicals! Because people are tired of being rolled over by you and America’s been screaming from the house tops for three years now. Enough is enough!”

He continued, “I would also ask Keith Ellison, what is extreme about our laws? What is it you don’t like about who we are Keith? Our laws say no to Sharee [sic] law in this country. Is this your problem? The people all over the country are rising up against the gay agenda that you Keith are attempting to put forth. Thirty-one states of the 50 states have voted down gay marriage and another one to come. Is this your problem, Keith?”

Dean then stated that sodomy is illegal in the United States, a claim that is false. Sodomy laws were declared unconstitutional in Minnesota in 2001 and nationwide in 2003.

“Apparently Keith Ellison doesn’t know that sodomy is illegal in this country. That’s pretty extreme Keith, but then again Keith Ellison is also the first to blatantly disrespect everything about who we are as a Christian nation. Keith Ellison broke tradition in this country by swearing on the Koran rather than the Holy Bible. That’s pretty extreme, Keith, but not righteously.”

Dean has repeatedly lashed out at Ellison in the past.

Dean has posted edited remarks from his Saturday radio show on his blog. Here’s the full audio of Saturday’s program:

Wal-Mart and Salem Communications have severed ties with two entities run by pastor Bradlee Dean, who made headlines last week for a controversial prayer before the Minnesota House of Representatives. David Brauer reports that AM 1280 The Patriot, owned by Christian broadcaster Salem Communications, dropped Dean’s “Sons of Liberty” radio show, and Nick Pinto writes that Wal-Mart has told Dean’s ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, that it can no longer fundraise in the parking lots of its Minnesota locations.

MinnPost’s Brauer notes that Dean was fired from AM 1280 before he gave his controversial speech before the House.

The station pulled Dean after he engaged in a six-minute song mocking African Americans and then likened President Obama to Osama bin Laden.

“For a minister to do that made no sense,” station manager Ron Stone told MinnPost.

Dean is in talks to move to Clear Channel owned KTLK, but that station says that Dean would have to make changes to his show.

City Pages’ Pinto spoke with Wal-Mart about the group’s fundraising activities in front of that retailer’s Minnesota locations, and Wal-Mart said that the ministry falsified information in its application to raise funds at the stores.

“They registered their request to solicit outside the store using a false name,” Walmart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie said. “As soon as we learned the group’s true identity, they were asked to leave.”

Word of Dean’s fundraising at Wal-Mart stores came to a head on Tuesday after Sally Jo Sorenson of Bluestem Prairie noticed them outside the Hutchinson Wal-Mart and attempted to ask ministry employees questions about their fundraising. The ministry refused to answer.

Bradlee Dean, the controversial anti-gay preacher who gave the prayer for the Minnesota House on Friday, sent an email to supporters on Monday asking them for money so that his group, the You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministry, can hire a publicist. Dean’s prayer sent shockwaves through the Legislature over the weekend after he took a dig at President Obama in his invocation and after revelations that he’s advocated for the imprisonment of gays and lesbians. In his fundraising email, Dean said he didn’t “start this fight,” but he’s willing to “respond.”

“WOW! Did you ever think going to the Capitol to give a prayer paying homage to the Founders, the Veterans and Christ could be so offensive to our politicians?” he wrote in the email to supporters. “We certainly didn’t start this fight but we are more than willing to respond! Our small ministry team has been going non-stop the past 72 hours to not only defend the truth but to continue fighting for the foundation that made this nation so great.”

He continued, “However, the liberal-biased media has taken this a step further and initiated a full-scale character assassination, attempting to inflict serious damage to the ministry and my reputation. While we are putting up a good defense with the resources we have readily available, we are in serious need of a publicist on a short-term basis.”

He added, “We would ask that you please consider making a contribution today to help us acquire the various professional services we need to make sure these kind of attacks on our Biblical foundation will not continue. As you know, we solicit funds to create products with profound life-changing messages, like “My War.” However, this plea for support is different as we were not prepared for the expense of fighting for our God-given liberties in this manner :)”

Attached to the email was a video of Dean speaking with Sue Jeffers, the conservative activist who challenged former Gov. Tim Pawlenty in the GOP primary in 2006.

“I know Bradlee Dean and he’s a good man,” Jeffers said, adding that she disagreed with assessments by Rep. Karen Clark and Sen. Scott Dibble that Dean’s preaching was hateful. Jeffers said she disagreed with that. “And that kind of stuff drives me crazy, Bradlee Dean, because it’s a flat out lie!”

Dean talked about his decision not to hold a press conference about his prayer.

“Two or four people came out just saying just leave it alone, leave it alone,” Dean said, referring to Republican Sens. Dan Hall of Burnsville and Paul Gazelka of Brainerd, and Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard.

Here’s audio of Bradlee Dean on Sue Jeffers radio show:

Dean also posted comments he says he has received from around the country, though the comments don’t list full names or the locations the comments were sent from.

They include:

“President Obama is an enemy of Christianity and Judaism, and that took tremendous courage.”

“I loved the prayer and if the speaker of the house in the state of MN Kurt Zellers can’t stand behind this he does not stand behind America! He needs to be VOTED OUT. Thank you for doing this it exposed who the spineless in MN are!”

“You fight the good fight. You are iron sharpening iron. You speak the Word, and humbly take on the sin that surrounds us. For this they call you radical. An on fire man of God in a culture of Godless, cold and lukewarm Christians…maybe you are radical.”

“This country is on its last breath and only a miracle from the Lord can save it. The diversity, political correctness and perversion recruitment programs in the school systems have just about destroyed any Godly morality left. And I am fed up with all the dual citizens who serve another state as their first loyalty not the USA. This should be illegal. These folks should have to make a choice and sign a loyalty oath and not ever be allowed to be in any government post. Anyhow, you did the right thing and I am not ashamed of anything you prayed or said. I for one am proud to have you in Minnesota working hard for all of us. You did a great job representing our Republic and God our Father.”

“I loved your prayer at the state capital, it was great it’s so good to see a man of God stand up and say the truth, and all the congressmen that trashed your prayer should be removed from office, Praise God!”

Republican Sen. Paul Gazelka was a guest on Bradlee Dean‘s Saturday evening radio program to talk about the amendment to put a ban on same-sex marriage into the Minnesota Constitution. Over the course of the program, which is part of Dean’s controversial ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide, Gazelka spoke about activist judges and concerns that Republicans might be labeled “homophobes” or “bigots.” Dean and sidekick Jake McMillian said that homosexuals are criminals and America will be destroyed if homosexuality isn’t criminalized.

“We want you to cover this topic of the marriage amendment,” McMillian said to Gazelka. “The immoral crowd, a lot of folks don’t want to see this happen.”

“I would not call it the gay-marriage bill; it’s a defense of traditional marriage bill,” Gazelka responded, adding that it simply defines marriage as between one man and one woman, and it protects marriage from the judiciary branch.

“It’s been just known that that’s the definition, but over the last series of years activist judges around the country have just arbitrarily thrown out those marriage laws and said they were unconstitutional,” said Gazelka, pointing to the decision in Iowa several years ago.

“We feel like this is going to be a choice, made by a handful of judges, a handful of legislators or the people of Minnesota.”

Gazelka won his seat by defeating fellow Republican Sen. Paul Koering, who was the state’s only openly gay Republican elected official. Anti-gay groups campaigned heavily in the district to help Gazelka win.

McMillian said, “You and your colleagues that are in support of this are not scared of anything. You’re saying, ‘Hey, let’s bring it to the public.’ You notice the other side, and I’m talking about the immoral crowd, what they want to do is legislate away law and create new rights that never existed.”

He said it was happening “because the church laid down, if you will, when they said ‘Well, the judge said sodomy was OK’ and that was the first infringement on the law.”

He continued, “I support what you are doing because I believe it’s right, and I think the people will realize where law comes from: It comes from God.”

Gazelka said that a poll from the Minnesota Family Council and the National Organization for Marriage showed that people want the measure on the ballot.

“We have had done some polling within the last 6 months — first of all, whether or not people want to vote on this amendment — around 75 percent that want the opportunity to vote. It’s a lower number that wants to vote for it, but in the end it’s hard to predict,” he said, adding that Christian groups are more likely to vote for the amendment once it is one the ballot.

“But they are concerned about being labeled a homophobe and a bigot,” he said. “The Christian perspective should be about truth and love. It’s not being a bigot or a homophobe, but saying that marriage has limits.”

To that McMillian added, “I am a redeemed creature. Any homosexual can be a redeemed human being, but when it comes into lawless action it’s our duty as Christians to know what they law is and act on it.”

The Brainerd Republican said that the bill is expected to hit the Senate floor this week.

McMillian said, “We need to support guys like Sen. Paul Gazelka, Sen. Warren Limmer [the bill's author], and all the other senators that are out there supporting this bill.”

Dean said that conservatives shouldn’t care if people call them homophobes. “Conservatives that are afraid they might be called a homophobe. ‘Oh no! Somebody might be calling me names! Or how bout bigots, oh no!” he said. “Read the law and you’ll know who’s doing the hating. It’s them that are doing the hating. They did it to Jesus Christ. Are they not going to do that to you?”

Dean added, “We are exposing them for their lies against the righteous. [Homosexuality] has been illegal since the foundation of our country. It has been illegal. It’s the conceived sin of homosexuality. The end of sin is death and that’s exactly what [homosexuality] does.”

McMillian chimed in, “It’s against the law; sodomy is against the law. Homosexual unions are against the law.”

Dean added, “And until America gets there, they are going to be destroyed.”

The full exchange can be heard at the Sons of Liberty podcast page.

In the wake of a controversial donation to MN Forward that riled LGBT activists and sparked boycotts cross-country, Target has changed its process for making corporate independent expenditures. The retail giant will now run its political donations through a policy committee that would determine if the donations “advance issues that are important to our business.” But will the change be enough for LGBT community members still hurt by Target’s 2010 donations?

In July, Target gave $150,000 to MN Forward, an independent expenditure campaign that produced and distributed ads in support of Republican Tom Emmer, a gubernatorial candidate who opposed marriage for same-sex couples. His campaign had also donated to the anti-gay ministry You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International and he had attended a 2009 fundraiser for the group.

Target, which had been a big supporter of LGBT causes in Minnesota, suddenly found itself facing protests by the LGBT community in Minnesota and became the target of a nationwide boycotts.

On Thursday, Target announced a new set of policies around corporate political contributions.

Now, before general corporate funds can be used for political donations, they’ll have to go through a policy committee comprised of senior Target executives that’s “responsible for balancing our business interests with any other considerations that may be important to our team members, guests or other stakeholders,” according to the new policies posted on the Target website.

The policy committee will be in charge of those decisions regardless of whether the contribution is to an independent group such as MN Forward or to a political action committee:

The use of general corporate funds for political contributions is permitted if the Policy Committee determines that would be an appropriate means of advancing issues that are important to our business. The Policy Committee reviews and approves any use of general corporate funds for electioneering activities or for ballot initiatives. This approval process applies whether the contribution is made directly to a candidate or party, or indirectly through an organization operating under Section 527 or 501(c)(4) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

“These changes are really reflective of that perspective that we gained over the 2010 election cycle,” Jessica Carlson, spokesperson for Target, told the Washington Blade yesterday.

The Blade asked her if the controversy surrounding MN Forward contributed to the policy change. Carlson said, “Well, this has been an evolution, and so based on just generally the 2010 election cycle, we made some changes.”

But the change doesn’t necessarily mend any fences with local LGBT advocates.

“It sure took Target a long to time react to the boycott,” said Randi Reitan, the mother of a gay son who took her Target card to a local store and tore it up in front of management. Her protests, captured on YouTube and at The Uptake, made her the face of the boycott.

“But language like this, establishing a policy committee made up of senior executives, really doesn’t say much to me,” she said.

“I wish they would have addressed the fact that they — as a corporation — gave to a group who wanted to elect a person who would do all he could to take rights away from their gay employees,” she added. “As a company, Target has great benefits and internal support for their gay employees and that is wonderful, but if Target gives large sums of money to elect a person who wants to take rights away from the gay community in the ‘real world,’ they loose my respect and my business.”

For Reitan, the bigger issue is Gregg Steinhafel, Target’s President, CEO and Chairman of the Board. Steinhafel, a devout conservative Christian, has a reputation for supporting conservative candidates.

“I do not respect Gregg Steinhafel,” Reitan said. “I feel — and a number of Target employees expressed to me in the months since Target donated the $150,000 — Steinhafel is personally not supportive of marriage equality, and he gave to Emmer in part because of that viewpoint.”

She added, “I have no plans to return to Target until he is replaced.”

The controversy, she said has made her reconsider shopping at large corporations because of political giving in the wake of the Citizens United Supreme Court case.

“I am against any corporation giving to political campaigns,” she said. “Companies like Target are wealthy enough to have the ability to actually sway an election with their donations.”