mwo aug 20 2002.

[Matthew X]

"Don't worry, Governor.  None
of the children in MY agency's custody're gonna be lodging any complaints..."


JEB APPOINTS CHILDBEATING ADVOCATE TO HEAD
CHILD WELFARE AGENCY!

SPOKESWOMAN:  PRO-CHILDBEATERS
ARE "MEN AND WOMEN OF FAITH"

BEAT THEM OUT OF THE LORD'S LOVE?

HUSBANDS HAVE FINAL SAY IN ALL DISPUTES!
WOMEN WHO WORK OUTSIDE HOME "IN BONDAGE"!

"CONFORM ALL FAMILY LEGISLATION TO
BIBLICAL REALITY AND MORALITY"!

TALLAHASSEE - The man named Thursday by Gov. Jeb Bush to head Florida's 
notoriously inept child welfare agency is an evangelical Christian who 
views spanking that causes ''bruises or welts'' as acceptable punishment.

The revelation did not come to Bush's attention until hours after the 
governor introduced Jerry Regier, a former Oklahoma Cabinet secretary and 
aide to Bush's father, as the new chief of the state's Department of 
Children and Families.

Regier, 57, was named less than 48 hours after the resignation of DCF 
Secretary Kathleen A. Kearney. He takes over an agency that has been 
embroiled in scandal since 5-year-old Rilya Wilson disappeared.

In a 1989 essay entitled The Christian World View of the Family, Regier and 
co-author George Rekers railed against abortion and gay couples forming 
families, and emphasized that husbands have "final say in any family dispute.''

And the essay declares that ''biblical spanking'' that leads to "temporary 
and superficial bruises or welts do not constitute child abuse.'' ...

But Regier's essay raises questions about the suggestion that he would keep 
beliefs and government duties separate.

He and Rekers at one point urge Christians to take "whatever actions we 
can, within our biblical and constitutional limits, to realign county, 
state, and federal legislation regarding family issues in order to make it 
conform to the Bible's view of reality and morality.''

Full Story

Jeb Bush has been under intense fire in recent months for his negligence in 
overseeing Florida's Department of Children and Families, ridden with 
controversy recently for losing track of foster children, leaving children 
in abusive situations and falsifying reports.

So how does this sorry excuse for a public servant respond?  Why in 
typical, negligent, patronage-for-Poppy-pals Bush Crime Family fashion: He 
appoints Jerry Regier, fundie fanatic and former Poppy aide with a paper 
trail revealing he is pro-child abuse as the agency's new chief!

Shockingly, Bush says he didn't even know enough about Regier's background 
to realize he held fanatical, godless, anti-family views.

Say what?  Bush is faced with the responsibility of cleaning up a disgraced 
and scandal-ridden agency charged with protecting children and he doesn't 
even bother to find out the candidate's view on beating children?

But wait, it gets worse... Now that Bush does know, what is his response?

Bush spokeswoman Katie Muniz:

"Mr. Regier has been an outstanding public servant for over a decade 
serving two presidents and a sitting governor. His record speaks for 
itself. Many of our nation's finest public servants past and present have 
been men and women of faith.''

That's right.  Basically it comes down to: "We didn't know.  But now that 
we do, we don't care."

And, apparently, those formerly known as childbeaters are now to be known 
as "men and women of faith" in the Jeb Bush administration.

Furthermore, aside from his extremism, Regier's record does indeed "speak 
for itself."  But it doesn't say what Jebbie wants us to believe it says:

When Gov. Jeb Bush appointed a Broward judge with a passion for reform to 
overhaul his badly damaged child welfare agency, he promised to repair a 
system he said other politicians had left in shambles.

''It's not how I want my state to be viewed,'' he said.

The year was 1999, and Florida ranked 36th among the 50 states for key 
indicators of children's well-being.

Oklahoma ranked 40th. Its secretary of Health & Human Services at the time 
was Jerry Regier, the man Bush tapped last week to head Florida's 
Department of Children & Families.

Full story

But wait... It gets worse still.

How have Jeb's prospective Democratic opponents responded?

Bush "should be focusing on what needs to be done to protect children, not 
on a controversy about who his nominee is," said Tampa lawyer Bill McBride.

Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said, "With all of the challenges 
facing DCF, one would think that the governor would pick someone who would 
not be a lightning rod for controversy."

Full Story

What is wrong with Florida Democrats?  Why haven't they seized on an issue 
like this one that so clearly illustrates why any member of the Bush Crime 
Family should be permanently deprived of power?

Why have these Democratic candidates made general, vague "controversy" the 
issue instead of the reason for the controversy:  Jeb Bush's persistent and 
now more undeniable than ever unbelievable negligence and 
incompetence!  (Flashback:  In its early days, MWO exposed Jeb for the same 
kind of neglect and malfeasance when he refused to take action against 
another official/crony whose agency was embroiled in scandal after scandal 
-- but once the media determined they could not prove Jeb had an affair 
with the woman, they lost interest in the story.)

UPDATE

Jeb Bush's office has released a statement denying that Regier co-wrote the 
fundie extremist essay:

Regier tried to disassociate himself with the paper, which lists him on the 
cover page as co-chairman of the group that authored it.

"I was not a co-author of this paper and did not exercise editorial control 
over its content," Regier said in a statement released by the governor's 
office. "Rather, as a family advocate, I was asked to serve as a 
co-chairman of the group that released the paper."

He said he broke his relationship with The Coalition on Revival Inc. a year 
after the paper was published because of the group's extreme 
interpretations of the Bible.

But he looks to us to be extremely "associated" with the paper and the 
group.  Determine for yourself whether Regier's claim that he did not 
endorse the contents of the essay is believable:

http://www.reformation.net/COR/cordocs/family.pdf

The Christian World View of The Family
Dr. George Rekers, Ph.D., Chairman
Mr. Jerry Regier, M.A.B.S., Co-Chairman

With contributions by members of:

The Family Committee of The Coalition on Revival
Dr. Jay Grimstead, D.Min., General Editor
Mr. E. Calvin Beisner, M.A., Assistant to the General Editor

Bush:  Regier "thoroughly checked"

Bush, who is seeking a second term this fall, defended his choice and said 
Regier's background was thoroughly checked. He said he did not know about 
the essay before he appointed Regier, but accepted that Regier disavowed 
himself from it.

Jebbie claims Regier's background was "thoroughly checked," yet he didn't 
know about the essay??

Readers: Perform a Google search on "Jerry Regier and The Coalition on 
Revival Inc."

That's right -- at the time Bush claims he "thoroughly checked" out Regier, 
the FIRST ITEM that appeared when one entered the appointee's name and the 
organization he co-chaired: the essay Bush claims he did not know 
about.  (Stories about the Bush controversy now appear above the listing.)

"He doesn't share those extreme views," Bush said. "The focus ought to be 
on protecting children and I believe he will do a good job."

Is that so?  He doesn't share the extremist views of a group he 
co-chaired?  What about this "Manifesto For a Christian Church" document 
that lists "Jerry Regier" among those endorsing it?

THE MANIFESTO FOR THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Declaration and Covenant
July 4, 1986
An Act of Contrition and Humble Repentance
A Solemn Covenant
A Statement of Essential Truths and a Call to Action

National Christian Leaders Who Signed the COR Manifesto in 1986: Mr. Jerry 
Regier, President, Family Research Council

We affirm that all Bible-believing Christians must take a non-neutral 
stance in opposing, praying against, and speaking against social moral 
evils such as the following:

B. Adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bestiality and other forms of 
sexual perversion

Regier equates homosexuality with bestiality and considers it "sexual 
perversion," yet is not an extremist?

J. Statist-collectivist theft from citizens through devaluation of their 
money and redistribution of their wealth

Regier regards taxation as "theft," yet is not an extremist?

Regier signs a document affirming that he will actively oppose "moral 
evils" like homosexuality and taxes  - and Little Brother claims he doesn't 
share the views of extremists?

UPDATE II

 From Counterspin Central:

It appears that Mr. Regier's split with Christian fundamentalist group 
Coalition on Revival, was far more amicable then he claimed. According to 
the Miami Herald:

"A fundamentalist Christian theologian who headed the group that issued a 
radical Christian essay now linked to Jerry Regier, the new chief of 
Florida's child-welfare agency, said Saturday that he does not recall 
Regier cutting ties with his organization because of its ''extreme views,'' 
as Regier said in a statement issued Friday.

Contact Florida's Democratic gubernatorial candidates:

Bill McBride
Janet Reno

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Whore Watch


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KRUGMAN TELLS TRUTH ABOUT BUSH, INC.!!
Breaks Time Honored Media Taboo:  Openly Acknowledges Reality!
Contrasts PHONY Bush Image With Policies
Love 'Em And Leave 'Em Faux Populism
Liberals Have Facts. Conservatives?  Staged Schmoozing

The Real Thing
Paul Krugman

The point is that there is an inexorably growing gap between the image and 
the reality of the Bush administration's policies.

Mr. Bush is a master of photo-op populism; his handlers seek out 
opportunities to show him mingling with blue-collar workers. But the 
reality is that this administration loves 'em while the TV crews are 
around, then leaves 'em when it comes to actual policy. And that reality is 
becoming ever harder to conceal. ...

In other words, behind the photo-ops, the administration is busy squeezing 
programs that benefit firefighters, police officers, coal miners, veterans 
and other "humble people of America" (Mr. Novak's phrase), in order to make 
room for tax cuts that mainly help a handful of not at all humble people. 
That's not demagoguery, it's the plain truth. And it's a truth that will 
become ever harder to disguise.

What are the political implications? When Al Gore wrote an Op-Ed article 
condemning the elitist policies of the Bush administration, pundits — and 
many Democratic politicians, including his former running mate — jumped on 
him with both feet. Populism, everyone insisted, doesn't work in American 
politics.

Yet conservatives enthusiastically rely on populism — fake populism, based 
on staged shmoozing with ordinary Americans and attacks on the imagined 
cultural elitism of the liberal media. Why shouldn't liberals, who actually 
have the facts on their side, try engaging in the real thing?
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CONSERVATIVE "MORALITY" STRIKES AGAIN
Wingnut Turns Breast Cancer Forum Into Abortion Sermon
Survivors Just "Didn't Want To Hear It" Complains GOP Rep

A group of breast cancer survivors who met with Rep. John Hostettler, 
R-Ind., to ask for his support of breast cancer research said all he wanted 
to talk about was some controversial studies that have linked breast cancer 
to abortions.

"He was obsessed with that," said Coral Cochran, a Terre Haute grandmother 
who has had two battles with breast cancer and was one of 11 women at the 
meeting.

"We were extremely disappointed," she said. Some of the women said they 
felt Hostettler was implying that they had abortions. One woman said she cried.

Hostettler said in an interview that he felt it was important for the women 
to know about the studies linking abortions to breast cancer. But, he said: 
"They didn't want to hear it."