SchadenFriday: James Dobson

Maybe we should call this one SchadenThankFuckingChrist. It appears that Dobson’s influence has been steadily falling off.

The ministry apparently has been “flat” for some time. For example, in 1994 Dobson’s monthly newsletter had a circulation of 2.4 million copies. Today, that circulation is about 1.1 million. Also, in the 1990s, Dobson was drawing audiences of 15,000 or more to his speeches; but in the lead-up to the 2006 mid-term election, only about 1,000 people heard his anti-abortion speech at the 2,500-seat Mt. Rushmore National Monument amphitheatre. Daly explains that the event was a last-minute invitation and that Dobson rarely accepts speaking engagements.
According to news accounts and audited financial reports posted online for potential donors, the organization’s staffing is down (30 layoffs last September). Total donations and number of donors are down as well. Focus orders and resells copies of Dobson’s tapes and books, which are the evangelist’s personal business; but those purchases have declined from $678,000 in 2004 to $269,000 in 2006. His last book was published in 2001; another is not anticipated until 2009. The whole Dobson family, including wife Shirley, daughter Danae and son Ryan, produce books and tapes, but revenue from all Dobson-family materials are down, from $781,000 in 2004 to $307,000 in 2006.

Perhaps most importantly…

Even Focus on the Family Action – Dobson’s most recent project, founded in 2004 to help steer public policy – seems stalled. Daly says Action’s fortunes are tied to “hot issues in the public square”; in his letter to potential donors, Dobson offers “occasional specific voting recommendations on ballot measures in your area and on a national level.” But contributions declined from $8.8 million in 2004, its start-up year, to $6.8 million in 2006, while website hits fell from 18,000 monthly in 2005 to 8,700 monthly in 2006. A Focus spokesperson says Focus Action is not the main public policy website and that CitizenLink.com, where the candidate assessments were announced, is doing much better.

Anytime we can see the theocon scaremongering Morality Police losing influence, the future looks a bit brighter for people who value their personal freedoms and choices. Dobson’s crap is so insidious that even my Catholic cousin was at one point buying (and giving to me for a wedding present) his taped lecture series, probably not even realizing that as an evangelical, Dobson is at best an ally of convenience to Catholicism.

SchadenFriday Campaign Edition

http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1035231820070710?src=071007_1153_DOUBLEFEATURE_rebel_cleric_killed”>Put a fork in ’em. The ultraconservative in centrist’s clothing is toast.

SchadenFriday Evening Edition: Abstinence-Only Programs

Looks like, once again, when somebody bothers to crunch the numbers those flimsy justifications for abstinence-only programs are found lacking.

SchadenFriday, Early Edition (Hovind Redux)

Looks like creationist paragon of moral fortitude Kent Hovind might be headed to the slammer.

SchadenFriday: Glen Phillips edition

This SchadenFriday goes out to…. me, and my massive life changes.
Take it away, Glen.
Someone’s in the backyard banging on the door
Daddy’s gone away, he’s coming back no more
His baby’s curled up on a stranger’s floor
Momma’s thinking family dinners weren’t too much to ask for
Everybody here’s got a story to tell
Everybody’s been through their own hell
There’s nothing too special about getting hurt
But getting over it, that takes the work
One way or the other we’ll all need each other
Nothing’s gonna turn out the way you thought it would
Friends and lovers, don’t you duck and cover
Cause everything comes out the way it should
Blessed are the humble, blessed are the meek
Blessed are the hungry, blessed are the weak
Blessed are the ones on the other side
And blessed are we just for being alive
One day I stopped wanting anything at all
The heavens opened up like a waterfall
No use in worrying about when it ends
Just for now be thankful for what I get
One way or another a man’s gonna suffer
Makes no difference the way you wanted it
But friends and lovers, don’t you duck and cover
Cause everything comes out the way it should in the end
Seems like life is a palindrome
Cry when you die, cry when you’re born
In between it’s all about the ups and downs
Add them all together, they’ll cancel each other out
One way or another, one way or another
You won’t get what you wanted, but you’ll get enough for sure
One way or another, the winter pays for the summer
Won’t get what you wanted, but what you got’ll be good
Someone’s in the backyard banging on the door
Daddy’s gone away, he’s coming back no more
His baby’s curled up on a stranger’s floor
Momma’s thinking happy endings weren’t too much to ask for

SchadenFriday: Macaca moron-a

Without a doubt, Senator George Allen’s gift that keeps on giving. Looking over Mr. Sidarth’s numbers in the article, I see further proof that we monkeys are destined to reclaim the planet from you lowly H. sapiens.

SchadenFriday: A tie!

I’m stuck today between gloating over the losses for radical anti-science conservative school board members in Kansas primary elections, and Bill Dembski’s research assistant Joel Borofsky admitting that the Kansas science standards are a stealth attempt to teach ID and not about “teaching the (false) controversy”.
Congrats on another successful round, guys. Have fun spinning this as a win. I’ll be at the pool, reading over my grant proposal for the research you’re not doing. Ta ta.

SchadenFriday Late Edition: The Passion of the Drunk

I refuse to see Mel Gibson’s snuff film Passion because I’m pretty sure that Gibson has flipped his lid and I have no desire to see a guy in a rubber suit get flogged for 2 hours. The desire to even make such a movie suggests to me a diseased mind, and it seems like I might be getting confirmation.

SchadenFriday: Ralph Reed

Today’s award goes to Ralph Reed, cherubic ex-leader of the Christian Coalition, who lost his bid to be the Republican nominee for the Lt. Governorship of Georgia this week.

SchadenFriday Late Edition: Hovind’s lawyer too?

One of my readers (kewl, I have readers!) informed me that Kent Hovind’s lawyer might also be in a bit of legal trouble. It seems that Glen Stoll of Washington state is in a pickle as well. Stoll is Hovind’s lawyer, and has ownership of the embroiled Dinosaur Adventure Land House of Lies creationist theme park ever since a property dispute involving a lack of building permits.