| Rev. Pat Robertson wrote
a letter in response to one issued by Sen. Frank Lautenberg
earlier this week about condemning comments Robertson
made on ABC Sunday, in which he indicated terrorists
were a far smaller threat than American judges.
In his response, Robertson re-emphasized his contention,
saying Afghan "cave dwellers" were a far smaller
threat to Americans than U.S. judges. That letter follows.
To read Lautenberg's earlier letter, click
here.
Robertson was a guest on ABC’s This Week with
George Stephanopoulos last Sunday. Asked asked if judges
were a more serious threat than terrorists, Robertson
responded, “It depends on how you look at culture.
If they look over the course of 100 years, I think the
gradual erosion of the consensus that's held our country
together is probably more serious than a few bearded
terrorists who fly into buildings. And I think we have
controlled Al Qaida. I think we'll get Osama bin Laden.
We've won in Afghanistan. We won in Iraq. And we can
contain that. But if there's an erosion at home, you
know, Thomas Jefferson warned about a tyranny of oligarchy.
If we surrender our democracy to the tyranny of oligarchy,
we've made a terrible mistake.”
Lautenberg said in a letter to Robertson he was shocked
at his remarks.
“It was shocking to hear your cavalier dismissal
of the atrocious 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon by describing them as “a few
bearded terrorists who fly planes into buildings,”
wrote Lautenberg in his letter to Reverend Robertson.
Lautenberg went on to write, “To suggest that
members of the federal judiciary are somehow in the
same class as “a few bearded terrorists”
is an assault on the men and women on the federal bench
who safeguard our rights under the Constitution everyday.”
Article originally published May 6, 2005. |
