Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

**Please see very important updates at the bottom of this post.**

The Straight Talk Express
has moved.

Literally.

Back up and check the link.

Does anyone else find that amusing?

Now it’s been replaced by Mr. McCain’s presidential exploratory committee site.
But why do I feel that ship has sailed? McCain’s chances of becoming
president, that is. Hard to say, it’s just a feeling, which is shared by some others,
let me add, but it’s still worth noting on occasions. Like when Mr. McCain decides
that Roe
v. Wade can be discarded as easily and conveniently as… well, as the Straight
Talk Express.

But I’m not so concerned about McCain and Rudy
has so many other issues.

So who’s the malleable contender?

When it comes to Republicans, the man that I hope gets taken out early is Malleable
Mitt Romney. The man who will say anything to get elected. I know, I know, it
seems they all will, but he’s got a special gift for it. He’s also just the
type of person who seems to get elected president these days. I’ve
talked to many people about ‘08 and they all are shocked when I talk about Mitt
Romney being the most formidable candidate. Again, he needs to be knocked off
early or he’s going to be trouble. Trust me.

Mitt Romney with his perfect TV looks, and his personable wife Ann were both on “This Week,”
with George Stephanopolous. One word described the appearance: slick. I know
everyone is touting that being a Mormon will knock him out of the running. I’m
not saying that won’t be a hurdle, but not anymore than all his flip flopping
and convictions of sheer convenience. But listen to him. He long ago figured
out an answer to the Mormon question. In fact, it’s a response that just might
work with many. When he talks to evangelicals, Malleable Mitt doesn’t get all
tied up in religious details. Guess what he talks about. Oh, come on, you
know. Malleable Mitt talks about values. Still married, all those
handsome sons, with their beautiful wives — one wife each, that is (sorry, but Mitt jokes about it all the time and even Ann did too yesterday on “This Week”) — and all those kids, Mitt’s grand kids.
Values he shares with evangelical Christians.

Just wait until everyone finds out Mitt also believes that when Jesus returns
he will be orchestrating everything from Salt Lake City. I’m going to be talking
about Mitt Romney’s Mormonism tomorrow with my ex-Mormon husband, who knows
just about all there is to know about Mormonism. He’ll be a guest on my
radio show talking about Mitt’s church. It should be interesting. If you have any specific questions about
Mormonism let me know.

Malleable Mitt and Ann are already preparing him to give his own version of
John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on his Catholicism.

But let me stress again that these are my views–for contrary to common newspaper usage, I am not the Catholic candidate for President. I am the Democratic Party’s candidate for President who happens also to be a Catholic. I do not speak for my church on public matters–and the church does not speak for me. – John F. Kennedy

There’s only one problem with Mr. Romney trying this tactic, besides the fact that he’s no JFK. The problem is that religious groups
are already deeply tied into the Republican Party; so much so that you can’t
get through the primaries without passing their religious litmus test. In Kennedy’s
day, politics intersecting with religion like it does today would have been unthinkable.
No more.

I know there are many, many of you that don’t care if we’re talking Mormonism,
Catholicism or my chosen faith, Episcopalian. It’s all rubbish to some. So it’s
likely Malleable Mitt’s Mormonism doesn’t matter to you. I’ve got to tell you
it doesn’t matter to me either. Spending time in Nevada has put me in contact
with many Mormons. Like all religions, there are good Mormons and there are
Mormons I wouldn’t turn my back to for fear of getting stabbed. But there is
a built in prejudice in this country, with polls showing huge numbers against
voting for a Mormon. It’s for sure it’s not
a mainstream religion. (UPDATE – also see below: This is where I linked to Jesus General, on the text “not a mainstream religion.” My tech team at the time, Orange Geek, removed it. More in update below.)

The there’s the “c” word smear.

“We evangelicals view Mormons as a Christian cult group. A cult group is a group that claims exclusive revelation. And, typically, it’s hard to get out of these cult groups. And, so, Mormonism qualifies as that.” – Ted Haggard (source)

Perfect coming from Ted Haggard, isn’t it?

It’s true that many evangelicals and other Republican primary voters are skeptical
about Mr. Romney right now. But wait until everyone meets Mitt and his lovely wife Ann, who is
fighting MS, after raising a beautiful family. Remember the common ground. Besides
winning, that is. It’s about values, not religious specifics, so says Malleable Mitt. Like I said, we need to knock him out early.
Right now everyone is underestimating him. Big Huge mistake.

UPDATE: This is a post that caused my working world to change. After it was uploaded all hell broke loose, because I linked to a Jesus General post on Mitt Romney’s Mormonism. I noted where the link originally appeared above. But once it was removed by the Mormon tech team who were running my site at the time, who did so without my permission, I have not replaced it. The whole nightmare is chronicled in “Censored by Two Mormons,” which I wrote once I got free of the tech team that censored my own site. Who knew? Not me, that’s for sure. I never dreamed someone would censor me for providing a link to information on Mormonism. It was a very chilling experience to say the least. When you own your own business it is yours to do with an you see fit. Once I decided to cover Mitt Romney, however, the two Mormons hosting and doing all the tech for my site didn’t like my providing information about Mormonism, especially topics they deemed not only sacred but secret. Mitt Romney is running for president. His faith is a huge part of his life and few people know anything about Mormonism. Providing information is not a crime. My former tech team had absolutely no editorial power or control whatsoever. They could have demanded I not cover Mormonism on a condition of hosting and working with me by also asking for a new contractual agreement, but they did not. Instead they censored me by accessing my admin section without my knowledge and pullling a link off of this post without my permission. They also pulled their sponsorship of my radio show, which was their right, of course. However, they also accessed my MySpace page and altered it by taking audio off of it as well. During this time I never knew what was going to happen next, as they also had full access to my emails. This post tells the sorry, chilling tale.