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<p>The Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, called for an investigation by the Federal Communications Commission, which fined CBS affiliates $550,000 for airing Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction. </p>
<p>“This is even more threatening to hemispheric stability than the flash of a breast on television during a ballgame,” Rev. Jackson (registration required) told The New York Times. </p>
<p>Jackson released a statement yesterday calling Robertson’s comments “morally reprehensible and dangerously suggestive.” He said, “Calling for the assassination of world leaders is wildly provocative.” </p>
<p>There must be a strong reproach from all sides, Jackson said. “President Bush and Secretary of State [Condoleezza] Rice should immediately rebuke and disassociate the administration from Robertson’s comments,” he said. “[Robertson’s] rhetoric, especially if taken to the conclusion, only undermines international diplomacy and dialogue, and has no place in todays world.” </p>
<p>There has been no word from President Bush, an avowed Christian who enjoyed tremendous support from evangelicals during his presidential campaigns, on Robertson’s decidedly unchristian comments. </p>
<p>The administration did distance itself from the televangelist yesterday. Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesperson, didn’t condemn Robertson’s suggestion, but he said it was “inappropriate.” He added, “We do not share his views.” </p>
<p>McCormack tiptoed around the question of whether the rest of the world might think that Robertson speaks for the Republican Party. “I would think that people around the world would take the comments for what they are,” he said. “They’re the expression of one citizen.” </p>
<p>Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld echoed that sentiment. “He’s a private citizen, he said. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time.” </p>
<p>He added: “Our department doesn’t do that kind of thing. It’s against the law.” </p>
<p>Robertson, who has refused to comment on his remarks, deserves stronger condemnation than he’s receiving from Washington, The Miami Herald opines in an editorial published today: “Robertson fed one of the wilder fantasies of the Andean demagogue by declaring that Mr. Chavez deserves to be killed.” </p>
<p>The editors explain: “Chavez has been spreading the pernicious tale that the United States has marked him for assassination, a fantasy eagerly accepted by his more gullible supporters. This big lie burnishes the president’s image as a self-styled David taking on the U.S. Goliath and promotes his populist, anti-American agenda. Trouble is, there wasn’t a shred of evidence to support this delusion … Enter Mr. Robertson.” </p>
<p>Robertson’s views don’t reflect U.S. policy. “But they no doubt will be seized by Mr. Chavez to show that he isn’t as crazy as he sounds,” the Herald argues. “You’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you.” </p>
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