For the origin of Steele's comments see:
mediamatters.org/items/20050803000

FOCUS ON FANATICS:
James Dobson's Bizarre Stranglehold on Washington

By Cheryl Seal

Who, out of the entire cast of clowns and creeps euphemistically lurking in the White House wings, has the most influence on G. W. Bush? And no, it's not Barbara "Ma Barker" Bush. Dubya's far too much of a misogynistic male supremacist for that (although what anyone could ever find as "supreme" in Dubya defies imagination). And no, it's not Dick "Bunker Boy" Cheney": like Count Dracula, Cheney is only removed from life support for a few hours at a time, long enough to make a statement for the newsfolks before disappearing once again beneath the streets of D.C. And nope, it's not Laura. Since that last overdose of Prozac froze her face into a trap-like smile, she hasn't been able to talk much.

Give up? The answer is James C. Dobson, top mogul of the "cash-and-carry" Christian corporation known as "Focus on the Family." Observers say that Dobson wields more clout among rightwing "Christian conservatives" than Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Roberson combined, and has more regular access to White House ears. Over the years, Dobson, just like his disciple G.W., has given new and scary meaning to word "hypocrite." He, like Dubya, says he's pro-life, yet doesn't want US to take basic steps to insure the safety of the planet and thus all living things on it by addressing environmental degradation and global warming. And of course, like G.W., Dobson supports the war in Iraq, which has slaughtered 30,000 Iraqis and 2,300 US soldiers.

Like Dubya, Dobson pretends to be a "compassionate conservative," yet he supports hanging the poor, disabled, elderly, disadvantage young, and embattled minorities out to dry, while making sure his own pockets, and those of his rich pals, are well padded.

Dobson, in some ways, is even scarier than Dubya. Although he sets himself up as an "evangelical leader," he has absolutely no religious training. Instead, like that other Hypocrite from Hell, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, his only training is as a psychologist (Dobson's specialty is pediatrics - which, as you will see, gives Dobson an additionally nasty dimension). Dobson claims to shape "good Christian families" with his advice. But Dobson's approach has nothing to do with "good Christian" or pro-family. In fact, it sounds more like the plan Bush uses in Guantamo.

Dobson urges parents to break their child's will through corporal punishment: "It is not necessary to beat the child into submission; a little bit of pain goes a long way for a young child," says Dobson. "However, the spanking should be of sufficient magnitude to cause the child to cry genuinely." So what happens if they refuse to cry? Beat the ever-lovin' crap out of them?

Love and understanding aren't requirements in the "Dobsonite" Christian family model. As with the Bush clan, it's all about dominance and winning. Urges Dobson, "When you are defiantly challenged [by your child] win decisively."

He compares children to dogs: "Just as surely as a dog will occasionally challenge the authority of his leaders, so will a little child--only more so." Dobson believes children should never cry for more than two minutes, and if they cry longer than that, beat 'em till they stop!: "Real crying usually lasts two minutes or less but may continue for five. After that point, the child is merely complaining, and the change can be recognized in the tone and intensity of his voice. I would require him to stop the protest crying, usually by offering him a little more of whatever caused the original tears." Nice, huh?

It was Dobson and co. who helped lobby Congress and the White House out of signing onto the US International Convention of the Child, which is aimed at protecting children from exploitation and abuse and insuring that kids everywhere have their basic human needs met. The US was the only nation out of over 100 that did not sign. Why? Because the Dobsonites feared it might undermine their right to beat (they prefer the word "spank") their children. I kid you not.

Dobson believes than anyone who supports a woman's right to choose is "against God." In fact the list of things that Dobson says God is against is long and growing all the time. So is Dobson's near-paranoid schizophrenic belief that he has a direct and exclusive "hotline" to the Almighty: "If you look at the cultural war that's going on, most of what those who disagree with us represent leads to death-- abortion, euthanasia, promiscuity in heterosexuality, promiscuity in homosexuality, legalization of drugs. There are only two choices. It really is that clear. It's either God's way, or it is the way of social disintegration." Of course, in Dobson's warped mind, God's way and Dobson's way are one in the same.

Dobson's rhetoric has become increasingly more hysterical, which observers say coincides with other signs of mental deterioration? For example, he likens stem cell research to horrific Nazi experimentation.http://mediamatters.org/items/200508030007

There are some ominous overtones to Dobson's "family advice" that have made some wonder why he was attracted to pediatrics in the first place. Dobson is obsessed with homosexuality and its threat to children to a bizarre degree. Here's a classic example: Dobson "fears" SpongeBob Squarepants. No, I am not making this up or joking. Dobson believes SpongeBob is a "queer with an agenda" because SpongeBob sometimes holds the hand of his best friend Patrick. Dobson's crusade against SpongeBob (which focused on a video promoting cooperation and diversity called "We are Family") proved to be an embarrassment even to many of his supporters.
BBC reported : "Mark Barendeso, spokesman for the We Are Family Foundation told BBC that anyone who believed SpongeBob promoted homosexuality "needs to visit their doctor and get their medication increased".

He's not the only one that suggests Dobson may need help. Some survivors of childhood sexual molestation have said they were deeply disturbed when they read that Dobson urged in a 2002 newsletter that "to prevent homosexuality," fathers should take their sons into the the shower with them and show them their penises.

A psychologist acquaintance of mine speculated that Dobson may have been sexually abused as a child and was in a deep denial, masking his sense of shame, self-loathing and disempowerment with what is called "reaction formation" - ie., exhibiting the opposite feelings, as in illusions of grandeur, exaggerated feelings of godliness, and overempowerment against homosexuals. The shrink said that it struck him as ominous that Mr. Smith was in a family/helper profession, as it iis common for men who have been sexually abused as children to become molesters themselves and to hide their activity beneath a cloak of family/child "helper" - priests, counselors, boy scout troop leaders, etc. "These people think that their position of authority and righteous indignation at the sins of others protects them from scrutiny." In any case, he said, Dobson's fear-based power over his supporters smacked more of James Jones/Branch Davidian-style cult than modern religious movement.

But though we can only speculate on the internal demons that drive Dobson, his disproportionately powerful influence in Washington is beyond doubt.

In the 1990s, Dobson worked with Newt Gingrich, Tom Delay, and other corrupt phony "family value Christians" to help ram the US government so far to the right and into the clutches of the NeoCons that we are now in a stranglehold. Dobson used his radio show to promote the Gingrich-Delay agenda under the guise of "promoting Christian values and supporting the family." Beneath a cloak of phony "psycho-Christian babble" Dobsonused his 3-5 million listeners (since then the number has nearly doubled) to strong arm Congress and voters into going along with the Gingrich-Delay scheme. And, of course, he raised a great deal of money for his empire while he did it.

Slate.com reports "Dobson is now America's most influential evangelical leader, with a following reportedly greater than that of either Falwell or Robertson at his peak... He proselytized hard for Bush during this last year, organizing huge stadium rallies and using his radio program to warn his 7 million American listeners that not to vote would be a sin. Dobson may have delivered Bush his victories in Ohio and Florida. He's already leveraging his new power. When a thank-you call came from the White House, Dobson issued the staffer a blunt warning that Bush 'needs to be more aggressive' about pressing the religious right's pro-life, anti-gay rights agenda, or it would 'pay a price in four years.'


Then there is the influence Dobson has had in shaping the US Supreme Court. We can thank Dobson for being instrumental in securing a place on the high court bench for Bush's henchman and toady Alito. In January 2005, Dobson was reported to have threatened six kiey Democratic senators with blackballing them in their homestates and insuring their defeat in 2006 if they voted against conservative nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Guess who the six Democrats were? Ben Nelson (NE), Mark Dayton (MN), Robert Byrd (WVA), Kent Conrad (ND), Jeff Bingaman (NM), and Bill Nelson (FL). All but five (Mark Dayton should be commended for having the guts and character to stand up to Dobson!), voted against the filibuster that might have prevented Alito's confirmation. Dobson may be a slimebag, but what total and utter self-interested cowards these five Dems were!

The only Senator to have spoken out loud and clear against Dobson and his unholy agenda is Ken Salazar (D-CO). "I think that the way Focus on the Family and the conservative right wing is attempting to take the country will threaten the basic cornerstone of our freedom," says Salazar . "I think the kind of attack that is being used against (Democratic senators) and against me has the potential of moving our country to abandoning the freedom of worship which we enjoy in this country, and moving toward the creation of a theocracy."

Dobson has also threatened Arlen Specter. In November, 2004, Specter was being considered for the post of chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman. During his hearings, he asserted that he doubted that any U.S. Supreme Court nominee desirous of overturning Roe v. Wade would be confirmed. Dobson responded by threatening Specter on ABC's This Week: "Senator Specter is a big-time problem for us. There are many, many members of that committee that are more qualified and less of a problem than Senator Specter." But despite Dobson's threats, Specter was given the chairmanship.

Some of Dobson's threats are downright scary. He has declared that if the GOP does not go along with the Dobson program, then he, Dobson will self-destruct. And, "If I go...I will do everything I can to take as many people with me as possible."

Unfortunately, the mainstream media actively aids and abets Dobson's cause. On February 8, when the Christian Coalition declared its opposition to Bush's environmental policies, guess whom the talking heads gave equal time to? Yep - Dobson's group, Focus on the Family. Dobson has been given more air time in the past few years - everything from being quoted as a "spokesman for evangelical Christans" on the nightly news to cozy forums on talk shows like Hannity and Colmes, than any single comprable progressive or moderate figure. Yet don't ever expect to see any " 60 Minutes" or "Dateline" exposé of Dobson's intrigues, abusive prescriptions for child rearing, or dubious financial dealings. Dobson is a sacred cow - complete with horns and cloven feet!

For a good overview of the Dobsonite Cult, see "James Dobson: Leader of the "Focus on the Family" Cult" by Michael Gerson

www.skeptictank.org/hs/dobson.htm