So
that Fox Nation article cites
a Gateway Pundit article which cites
the Cochrane Times, an Alberta newspaper.
However, the only part that is actually from the original Cochrane Times article is "Bikers seem to have thwarted attempts by the Westboro Baptist Church to protest the funeral of Newtown, Conn., shooting victim Principal Dawn Hochsprung."
The Fox Nation article also cites Free Republic, as does the Gateway Pundit article. It seems that the author of the Gateway Pundit article was pointed to the Cochrane Times article by
this Free Republic post by a poster named raccoonradio, though Fox does not seem to quote anything from the Free Republic thread. The original post consists of a link to the Cochrane Times article and a full quote of the article, and a picture (the one used in the Gateway Pundit and Fox Nation articles) and quote apparently from the L.A. Harley Times. I can't find that article, but the original source is apparently the
Newtown Patch, which is also the original source for the Cochrane Times article.
As mentioned, the Free Republic post quoted the entire Cochrane Times article. Starting immediately after where Fox Nation ends the quote, it goes as follows:
The vocal right-wing Christian group, whose website is godhates[bundle of sticks]s.com, produced a video called "God Sent the Shooter," and has blamed the massacre on gay marriage. It put Hochsprung's funeral on its online "picket schedule."
But there was no sign of the church group, as local newspaper the Newtown Patch live-blogged throughout the day with updates, and reported that people had arrived from as far away as Massachusetts to protect the mourners -- just in case.
Bikers from New York formed a formidable-looking wall of motorcyles.
Late in the day the Patch wrote: "Applause erupted in the crowd ... as it was announced that members of the Westboro Baptist Church were not coming to protest at the wake."
As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly a quarter million people had signed a WhiteHouse.gov petition -- created Dec. 14, the day of the Sandy Hook shooting -- to "legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group."
Over half the comments in the Free Republic thread are decrying the Cochrane Times' description of Westboro as a "right-wing Christian group." Simultaneously, one commenter, named LearsFool, argues that Westboro actually has a valid point in claiming that America's acceptance of sin is what is causing bad things to happen, and that Christians who distance themselves from Westboro are *******. Another commenter says, "[Westboro] claims to be anti-gay. That is a lie. Phelp’s small group NEVER attacks gay events or gay rights organizations. They only go after Christians with deceased family members at their funerals." Conspiracy theories are floated that Westboro is actually funded by Democrats and gay rights advocates, in an effort to make Christians look bad. This would be a good time to remember that within that very thread is a conservative arguing that Westboro is right.
The Gateway Pundit article is the source of the "Conservative bikers turned out yesterday to protect Newtown mourners from
Democrat Fred Phelps and his Westboro cult from protesting" line (emphasis in original). Their full quote of the Cochrane Times article has "right-wing Christian" crossed out, and appends " (GP Correction: Fred Phelps is not a “rightwinger”, he’s a Democrat. And the Westboro Church is not a Christian group – It is a sick cult.) It is well known that Fred Phelps has run for office as a Democrat several times. Shame on the Cochrane Times for labeling him rightwing!" The Fox Nation author apparently sympathized with the Free Republic posters and the Gateway Pundit author, writing that photo caption (the only part of the Fox Nation article which is not directly copied from someone else).
While living in Kansas in the 90s, Fred Phelps ran for political office several times as a Democrat. Phelps supported Al Gore's 1988 presidential run due to comments Gore had made while running for Senate in 1984, opposing a "gay bill of rights" and saying that homosexuality was not something "society should affirm." As far as I can tell, none of the other candidates in the Democratic primary had made any negative public remarks about LGBT rights at the time. And the other option would have been to support a Republican, which would not really be an option for someone who hates the United States military. Further, Westboro called Vice President Gore a "famous [bundle of sticks] pimp" in 1997, and picketed his father's funeral in 1998, shouting "Your dad's in hell!" This would seem to call into question Free Republic commenter Hardraade's remark that "[Phelps] and the rest of the ilk had a close, personal relationship with the Gore family." Although,
this Mother Jones article quotes Phelps as saying that Gore "sold his soul to the [bundle of sticks] agenda," suggesting that he felt betrayed by Gore.
In the past, Westboro has been defended in court by the ACLU. Some conservatives automatically see this as proof that Westboro and Democrats are just totally aligned on every issue. The ACLU, however, does not defend Westboro because they agree with them -- they are standing on principle, that free speech should not be abridged simply because we don't like it. Being on the same side as someone else on a single facet of a single issue does not mean you agree with them on everything. The KKK has protested Westboro in the past -- this does not mean that everyone who disagrees with Westboro must also agree with the KKK's views on race. Now that I think about it, I'd be interested to see how Fox reports the KKK vs. WBC protests.
Theologically, apart from his insistence on a[n allegedly] literal reading of [neologist, anachronistic, 20th-century English translations of] [a tiny handful of verses in] the Bible on same-sex relations, Phelps also subscribes to
Hyper-Calvinism -- a Christian doctrine essentially stating that, despite what John 3:16 may lead you to believe, God does not in fact love everyone, but only loves the small handful of people that he has forced to obey him, and hates the vast majority that he has forced to disobey him. This is not a doctrine that is typically held to by liberal people, and seems rather at odds with Democratic ideals of fairness and the like.
In short, Phelps's politics are complicated and crazy and can not be summed up simply by calling him a Republican or conservative (and I haven't even gotten into his past as one of Kansas's most zealous civil rights advocates (yes, on the pro- side) in the 60s); at the same time, it's pretty clear that when he opposes conservatives, it's not because they're not liberal enough for him.
As for the description of the bikers -- they are apparently the
Patriot Guard Riders, a non-partisan motorcycle club started to counterprotest against Westboro protests of military funerals. Wikipedia notes that PGR has well over 200,000 members, and "is open to anyone, regardless of political affiliation, veteran status, or whether they ride or not. The only prerequisite is 'a deep respect for those who serve our country; military, firefighters, or law enforcement'." PGR's website describes themselves as combatting "misguided religious zealots". Describing them as simply "conservative bikers" is certainly an oversimplification.
Free Republic poster Toespi says, "I am furious. I consider myself right wing, and there isn’t one speck of similarities between Westboro, myself or any other right wing person or organization I know. This ***hole [the author of the Cochrane Times article] should be made to retract his comment. In fact, I would like to sue him." It is interesting to note that several other commenters cite Phelps's history as a lawyer and tendency to sue others as proof that he is a Democrat.
So yeah, Fox Nation sucks.
