1 Boring Old Man

Bud Schulberg wrote The Harder They Fall in 1947 – an expose` of the crooked business of Professional Boxing. It was made into a movie in 1956 – Bogie’s last film. The title comes from the saying, "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" or "the higher they rise, the harder they fall."

The phrase has become a paradigm for characters who fall from grace in some kind of public scandal. There’s a lot of that going around – public scandal. In the realm of the Christian Evangelicals, it’s become almost commonplace. During the heyday of the televangelists, notable examples were Jim Bakker of PTL network fame and Jimmy Swaggart from Louisiana. But, in spite of those falls, the evangelical, charismatic style Christianity has spread like a western forest fire – non-denomenational mega-churches sprouting all over the country. But then this movement became political, and George W. Bush and his sidekick Karl Rove learned to tap into this movement as a political force and brought us this current nightmare of a government.

Recently, the Christian elected, Conservative, Republican Congress has been wrecked with scandal. At first, it was corruption – Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Tom Delay, Bob Ney. More recently, it has been sexual scandals – most prominantly Congressman Mark Foley and the higher ups who covered up his "trolling" for sex with Congressional Pages. But this current scandal, allegations that Ted Haggart, President of the National Association of Evangelicals and senior pastor at the Colorado mega-church, New Life, has been involved in an ongoing homosexual affair and used Methamphetamines seems to be the one that will hit the Religious Right squarely in between the eyes.

Yesterday morning, Ted Haggard was interviewed by Denver KUSA as he left his home near Colorado Springs. There were several statements that stand out:

"We can’t get into much. We’re a little late for an appointment." What appointment would he and his wife be driving to on a day in which his entire life is on the line? A church investigation? Doubtful. Why would his wife be with him? I’m betting on a therapist appointment. He’s lying right now, and my guess would be that the person he’s lying to is in the car with him – Gayle Haggard.

"I put myself on an extended suspension of my senior pastor role. I resigned from the N.A.E. Because both of those roles are based on trust. And right now my trust is questionable."  Good for him. His trust is questionable, particularly in his marriage, and his wife is sitting in the car next to him. His feet of clay are showing, and he’s still trying to keep things from crashing down around him.

After denying sexual involvement [with the man he claimed he never heard of the night before] he admits going there [to see the man] for a massage, and admits he bought Meth from him, but says he never used it, threw it away. He claims he went to see the man by referral from the hotel he was staying at. He doesn’t recall which hotel. Why?

"I’ve stayed in a lot of hotels in Denver, because I write in Denver." That scenerio is pretty transparent. I guess his story at home is that it’s just too hectic around the house and he has to get away to write his many self-help books. What author goes to a nearby city and checks in to many different hotels to write? A cabin in the mountains maybe, some kind of retreat, but not downtown hotels in Denver. Again, who would be the target of such a story? The lady sitting next to him.

Why be preoccuppied with scandals? Mark Foley? Ted Haggard? It is simple. The Republican control of our government was achieved on a "moral platform." Without Pray the Vote, Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage, anti-Gay, anti-Stem Cell Research, pro-Christianity, without Ken Starr dogging Clinton’s morals, Bush et al would have never been elected. Never. Not without the support of men like Ted Haggard.

I feel sorry for Ted Haggard. He’s like a kid who has told increasingly fantastic stories about why he doesn’t have his homework, he left it at home. Now, he’s being driven by his teacher to his home where his mom who has heard him say we didn’t have any homework the night before and his teacher are about to meet, and the whole house of cards is going to collapse. That’s how Haggard looks in this interview.