Obama campaign condemns Bill Maher’s Romney ‘cult’ remark

[Eugene]

Source: Yahoo! News

Obama campaign condemns Bill Maher's Romney 'cult' remark

By Olivier Knox | The Ticket – 4 hrs ago

President Barack Obama's reelection campaign on Monday repudiated comic Bill Maher's description of Mitt Romney's religion, Mormonism, as a "cult."

Maher, a major donor to a super PAC backing Obama, had tweeted "Why even listen to #MittRomney on foreign policy? His entire FP experience is 2 yrs trying to brow-beat Frenchmen into joining his cult." The former Massachusetts governor spent two years in France as a missionary.

"Attacking a candidate's religion is out of bounds, and our campaign will not engage in it, and we don't think others should either," campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith told Yahoo News by email.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-campaign-condemns-bill-maher-romney-cult-remark-212707660.html

[MrSlayer]

1. Take the high road.

Until they do it.

[greymattermom]

2. love it!

He said it's a cult, but we don't think it's a cult, cult, cult, cult, cult, cult....

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. right! he backhandedly equated cult to his religion. Maher said nothing

about religion

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. for all we know, it was a set up for O by Maher

[MatthewStLouis]

14. Ha ha! Another example of Obama playing chess while the other guy plays checkers.

The President should come out and say that it doesn't matter whether a candidate is a Mormon, like Willard, or a Christian, like himself.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. Much ado about nothing...

Once again the Corporate Media trying to use Obama supporters to "divide and conquer." I hope Bill is smarter than that and not take the bait.

[ELI BOY 1950]

4. Mormon a religion???

Honestly, It is a cult...whats the problem?

[dimbear]

5. Better yet, don't even think about Rmoney's strange secretive religion. Promise me not to think

about it. Are you not thinking about it right now? Now?

[coalition_unwilling]

18. Reminds me of LBJ's 'pig-fucker' strategy. Story goes that an aide was discussing with LBJ

whether an opponent was a pig fucker and LBJ said it really didn't matter so long as they could get the opponent to deny in public that he was a pig fucker

[cakeislove]

6. Typical corporate media rules:

Democrats are not allowed to discuss the secretive cult that the Bishop Mitt belongs to.

Republicans are permitted to claim that President Obama is a secret Muslim that wants to wipe out Israel and ban the bible.

Kinda like how Sarah Palin was getting so angry about the stupid press violating her privacy and stuff. All she wanted to do was be vice President and be a heartbeat away from the big nuke button!!

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Good. Romney's Mormonism should not be an issue...

We're better than that. I know Obama is better than that. I know if Mo Udall had won the Democratic nomination in 1976, I would hope his Mormon faith would have never been an issue. Romney has far bigger skeletons in his closet than his religion.

[EC]

8. Oh, Well

Bill Maher mocks all religions, so what does it matter? President Obama can condemn and Bill can do what he wants...this means nothing in the long run.

[fugop]

11. Seriously ...

This is what I don't get. My God, if Obama has to condemn Bill Maher every time he utters something against religion, he's not going to have time for anything else. And I will never get why anyone running for office should have to disavow anything a comedian says. I get why they have to step in on people like Limbaugh or even, back in the day, Olbermann, but a comedian like Maher? Or Stewart? Or Colbert? That's their JOB! It shouldn't be seen as reflective of the president's view ever.

Drives me nuts that this happens again and again. It's just ridiculous.

[Enrique]

16. so what he said about Mormonism rings false

saying Mormonism is a cult suggests that major religions are legitimate, which contradicts Maher's whole line.

[EC]

17. No,

He's called all religions cults and fairy tales...he's consistent.

[backscatter712]

20. Yeah, I'm with Maher on this.

As far as I'm concerned, the only real difference between a religion and a cult is that a religion has more real-estate.

[polichick]

12. Good grief - Maher is not a surrogate...

Why constantly react to bullshit whining on the right?!

They sure as hell don't react to legitimate complaints by the left.

[Bake]

13. Team Obama did what they sort of "had" to do ...

Meanwhile, Bill et al. can keep hammering on the CULT.

I'm sorry, did I mention that Mormonism is a CULT? Why yes, I believe I did say it is a CULT.

Bake

[Enrique]

15. good for Obama

[Arneoker]

19. The Obama campaign is absolutely right.

Not that I am upset with Maher. He is an atheist who mocks all religions. As a Christian I wish he had some more respect for religion, but I don't stress about it.

But the campaign needed to knock Maher on this, who after all made a big splash in giving all that money to that pro-Obama super PAC.

Is Mormonism a cult? As a more orthodox Christian I would say that it is a heresy. But that's just my opinion, and I don't define "cult" as a "religion different from mine."

If Romney were elected, his religion would be one of the last things I would worry about. Assuming that his religion really is Mormonism, and not Mammonism. (Who saw Hanaeur's talk and his comparison of references to "the Creator" and "the job creators"?)

[Bluenorthwest]

21. So the list is don't talk about his Prop 8 Religious Club, don't talk about his business history,

don't mention his family, his underwear, his hair, the dog on the roof, or the fact that he's a Republican. I thought we were running AGAINST this guy.