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Delaware state house Dems distance themselves from Wagner tribute
The Democrats in the Delaware state House of Representatives are in full damage control mode over a tribute given back in January to C. Peter Wagner, a prominent leader of the New Apostolic Reformation. It would seem inconceivable at first glance that a legislative body owned by Dems (they have an 11-seat majority in that chamber) would give any sort of honor to one of the proponents of a fascist brand of Christianity. Nonetheless, Wagner is openly touting this as an endorsement of his efforts to raise up an army of "overcoming" Christians who, in submission to self-proclaimed "apostles" and "prophets," will take over the world and put down all resistance to it in order to bring Jesus back. Earlier today, the state house Democratic caucus put out a statement--which I got in an email along with several others who have written about this snafu--saying that Wagner is seriously misinformed. Under the House tribute process, each individual Representative is responsible for making a request on behalf of his or her constituency. Discretion for what constitutes an acceptable request is left to each individual Representative rather than subjecting each tribute to a review that could be interpreted as partisan or vindictive. The Speaker of the House is elected by the entire House and his signature appears on each tribute. That signature is a formality and is electronically applied. To be clear, in no way does a tribute represent nor should it be interpreted as an endorsement by the Delaware House of Representatives. The House does not vote on tributes. They are requested and sponsored by a specific Representative or Representatives. Unfortunately, Dr. Wagner seemingly has mischaracterized the intent of this tribute to be an endorsement by the Delaware House of Representatives. We want to be absolutely clear that the House of Representatives does not endorse Dr. Wagner or his organization. Additionally, the Delaware House of Representatives does not endorse any religion or present one above another. It is not uncommon for individual Representatives to request tributes to honor members of the religious community much in the same way that nonprofit and civic groups are recognized. Multiple faiths have been recognized through these tributes throughout the years. The statement puts the onus for this tribute on the state rep who requested it, Danny Short, a Republican from Seaford. However, the Dems bear a measure of responsibility for this epic fail as well. As has been made embarrassingly clear, the current process of legislative tributes opens the door for the state to be made to look foolish at best and horrible at worst. This situation is firmly a case of the latter. It's not unlike Sun Myung Moon hornswoggling several congressmen and senators into witnessing him crowning himself as Messiah. |
Apparently the Delaware House Dems didn't remember what happened in the Texas state house back in 1971. State Rep Tom Moore wrote a resolution honoring Albert DeSalvo for his unconventional experiments in "population control" and "applied psychology." DeSalvo, of course, was the Boston Strangler. Moore introduced it to prove that all too often, his colleagues didn't read the bills for which they were voting. This whole affair only underlines the need to turn the hot lights on Wagner and his buddies. As we found out during Rick Perry's moment in the sun, the more people know about what they want to do to this country, the less they like it. |
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