I'MMA LET YOU FINISH
Oh so Kelley was just nuts?
Interesting defence.
"ikman complained of USA Today's "lynch mob," and suggested that the paper was attacking him because of Kelley's outspoken religious beliefs."
My understanding of the situation is that he was trusted BECAUSE of his religious beliefs.
A USA Today reporter called the story "a lie from start to finish." But Kelley told the paper, "I saw it with my own eyes. Honest to God."
Sure. Just like Anne-Marie Emmerich.
Face fact: the "religious" are delusional.
If you believe in Invisible Friends in the Sky, why should your word be trusted about anything?
The bi-polar should be otherwise employed.
Hey, the bi-polar would probably take exception to that...
A few pieces of info jumped out:
Kelley also has the strong support of his wife Jacki who remains executive vice president of USA Today and says she has no plans to resign.
And:
Kelley's downfall began in May 2003 when the editorial leadership at USA Today changed. The editor who supported Kelley retired.
Then came the anonymous letter. So people knew what was going on but didn't feel they could say anything until the new leadership was in place?
Kelley's wife decided to call his pastors for help. Jacki Kelley knew that her husband was at a crucial moment spiritually. So on a Sunday in January, Kelley sat down with his pastors and wife and let it all out. He talked about "feeling hunted" and being in lonely desolation. Then, at this darkest moment Kelley seemed to feel God's forgiveness and direction like he hadn't before. "Jack seemed to regain a trust in a fresh sense of the Lord's presence," says Schmitt.
But Kelley was still trying to have it both ways, confession privately but denial in public. And his confession was minimal, only on what he had been caught on.
He was caught, found the Lord (again), but still refused to do everything necessary for true repentance? Yeah, right.
That *finding God* excuse sure gets around and seems to work for a lot of crooks, doesn't it.
Hypocrites!!!!!
Funny, no one recommended the disgraced Jayson Blair redeem himself by simply reading a Psalm every morning to "get into Scripture".
If anything, Kelley's fabrications and lies are even more egregious considering his professed devotion to Christian principles, which I always assumed would include being honest and truthful.
Kelley's "repentance" reminds one of St. Augustine: "Lord, make me chaste -- but not quite yet."
if he had worked for Reader's Digest, he probably would still be working.
Let's not overlook this paragraph:
Gordon Pennington, managing director of the media consulting firm Burning Media Group, observes that the plane incident says it all. "That Kelley took the corporate jet around the world for one of his assignments is a huge metaphor for what this about. One of the unexpected things of the culture of celebrity is the extent those that report it become entranced and caught by it themselves."
I contend that this is a huge metaphor for quite a few of the media types we've got these days, whether they're *Chrisitans* or most probably NOT.
A good time to bring up "Shattered Glass", the most intellectually challenging film of last year (and now available on video). To watch the TNR editor (a) figure out that he'd been played for a fool by a pathological liar and (b) try to fix the damage the damage that had been done, in the face of non-thinking staffers who wanted to believe nothing is wrong shows how difficult it is to overcome group-think.
(That's why I think if Kerry makes it to his inauguration, his challenges are only beginning. The freepers don't go away...in Congress or the red states....)
_____
Hold it for a second, I just read a quote from an anonymous White House source that tells me I'm full of sh*t. Never mind......
The interesting part of the story is how Kelly fabricated his story about the Jerusalem bombing so quickly, and passed it around with such conviction, giving himself an air of credibility.
Deceivers spend a great deal of energy on their deceptions, and it takes as much energy to untangle the threads. The problem of trust is that you end up trusting liars.
But then, the alternative is to trust no one...
Face fact: the "religious" are delusional.
Thomas Aquinas. Francis of Assisi. Soren Kierkegaard. Augustine of Hippo. Martin Buber. Jesus of Nazareth. Paul of Tarsus.
Just off the top of my head. But you're right. The religious are delusional, and as such completely incapable of making any significant contribution to civilization.
And not to defend Mr. Kelly, but:
He was caught, found the Lord (again), but still refused to do everything necessary for true repentance? Yeah, right.
That *finding God* excuse sure gets around and seems to work for a lot of crooks, doesn't it.
Hypocrites!!!!!
A: I'm not sure Mr. Kelly is either a crook, nor has his "finding God" excused his actions. Certainly nothing in the article indicates his behavior is excused, and clearly his professional career is, for all purposes, over.
B: In the understanding of most (non-stereotyped) Protestant Christians, the only hypocrisy is claiming to know what "everything necessary for true repentance" by another person is.
The contortions of logic, principle, and belief that Christians are willing to perform in order to excuse the egregious behavior of themselves or fellow Christians is nothing short of amazing.
This is especially galling when one considers the straight-forward, no-excuses application of those very same principles to everyone with whom they disagree. The Clenis smokes dope once and is damned for eternity; the Shrub spends 20 years whoring and snorting coke but is granted instant absolution.
And so with Kelley. Betrays every Christian principle, but it's okay because he's, uh, Christian.
I found one part of the article particularly confusing: Cal Thomas has a "sterling reputation"??
I'm no fan of Cal Thomas's, but in the pantheon of right wing christian assholes he's one of the better ones.
IOKIYAC = It OK If You're A Christian.
Except for his lying, duplicity and betrayal of trust, Kelley is a good man.
These people are lunatics.
Robert, maybe not *crook* in the have to go to prison vein, but he did violate a few journalism ethics. It's always amusing that people in prison suddenly find God though.
And his behavior is not excused by many people, but it certainly seems to work for his Christian brethren.
This guys have a Jimmy Swaggart moment, and all is forgiven. Oh, you've repented? Cried a few tears? Okay. Let's move on.
So very hypocritical. Let's face it, he'd been getting away with this for a long time. He only reverted to confessional mode, because he got caught. Who's fooling whom?
Kelley's a religious nut with several religionut friends in the business, and his wife still has an executive job at the newspaper he was sacked from.
Seems all-round fucked up to me.
Also:
"Lie now, pray later"
Evangelical Reporters' motto.
Schmitt says that Kelly "began to tell me that the Lord was not speaking to him."
When the voices in your head stop, that's when you know you're in fucking trouble.
actually, pie, isn't fabricating a journal "proving" serb genocide a possible crime?
well, as long as he confesses, he should be free to get another journalism job and go to heaven.
not.
hey, these voices in my head telling me things...
you mean that's the lord?
cool.
The religious are delusional, and as such completely incapable of making any significant contribution to civilization.
Right, Robert! That Gutenberg Bible thing was crazy (1454, I think). To say nothing of those crazy Jesuits (and the Sciences)!
Not crazy. I mean come on. Crazy is actually believing these things. If you have to go cook up some false testimony from people to corroborate your story, your not crazy, your a liar.
What I found most interesting here was the whole tone and the parallels here to the 'celebrity-drug-user-fall-from-grace-but-faced-
his-fears and-is-now-a-hero-to-us-all' stories that seemed to rage a decade ago. I think this is act one in that play, the fall from grace and now facing my fears part. I thoroughly expect that within 6 months, Jack Kelley will be a frequent guest on all the american family radio type stations with his new book about his exciting career and his triumphant story about how God helped him defeat his personal demonds. Gag!
Who would have that that lying is the drug of the new millenium. Hey, Jack, JUST SAY NO!
pie, you've heard about the Colson program that is offered in some prisons (forgotten the name of it) where prisoners actually get special privileges (just regular human things) if they sign up and take the program?!
Why is his pastor blabbing? I thought that was supposed to be confidential, discretion being the better part of ministry. Maybe Kelley gave permission, but the article doesn't say so.
A fascinating article in that the behavior described is something which could be called decompensating sociopathy.
There are very gifted liars who really enjoy talking themselves out of trouble, and can be convincing, no matter how improbably their stories are. The 'enabling' behavior on the part of the "friends of Jack Kelley," is based on their desire to want to believe continuingly hard to believe stories. His deliberate manipulation of his friends at this state of discovery seems to be something enjoys greatly, as he does a rotten imitation of a victim of injustice.
The idee fixe that Jack being a Christian means he can't be stone psychopath seems to become an article of faith, which is basically the biggest obstacle to his friends recognizing the truth.
He is a sick man, they say. He needs counseling. What is it about these people that they are such poor judges of character?
I guess that being gullible is part of the job of being a committed "Christian."
Gimme a Jesuit and glass of scotch over these people whose "religion" makes them incapable of doing their jobs.
If your religion makes you a rotten judge of character, you shouldn't be a reporter. You are disqualifed from the git go.
"Lie now, pray later"
Now THAT is funny. And can apply to so much of the republican vanguard, Bush, Condi, Rummy.
Vis a vis Christians and all their upstanding behavior- we own some rental properties, and we have learned never to rent to an avowed Christian. They'll screw you every time. When it comes to the bottom line, it pays not to buy into that pious crap.
He, USA-T, and the legions of self-similar, are part of why US J-school grads are legitimate military targets.
What is it about these people that they are such poor judges of character?
I think because people who are close to that kind of 'celebrity' enjoy the little bit of limelight that brings them. "Well, ya know I work with Jack Kelley." They're blinded by the light ... so to speak.
"Their dilemma is how to support Kelley without losing their commitment to the truth"
I spit coffee thru my nose on that one.
"Their dilemma is how to support Kelley without losing their commitment to the truth"
I spit coffee thru my nose on that one.
you've heard about the Colson program that is offered in some prisons...
No, but it doesn't surprise me. The cons are doing the conning, methinks. They've had a lot of practice.
The Cal Thomas bit stopped me in my tracks, too. I dashed off the following email to Christianity Today:
"Why would Thomas risk his sterling reputation as Washington's political moralist on a man one reporter has called 'the liar of liars?' "
You're joking, right? Among whom does Cal Thomas have a sterling reputation, and do they read his column?
I'm a born-again Christian. I read Thomas' column regularly between 1992 and 1998. To say that he has little regard for truth or intellectual honesty is not an overstatement. The only reason his column is in several hundred papers is so that the millions who let Pat Robertson tell them what to think, have something they can read and agree with while they sip their morning coffee.
I've got a thick file of his old columns, and I'd be delighted to furnish specific examples on request.
Sincerely,
> think because people who are close to that kind of 'celebrity' enjoy the little bit of limelight that brings them. "Well, ya know I work with Jack Kelley." They're blinded by the light ... so to speak.
No, I think it is much more than that. They get caught in a loop which makes an article of faith that as a "Christian" Kelley must be good. When confronted with a mountain of evidence that that he isn't what he says he is, they just go into meltdown.....in something which could make their "simple" faith fall like a wall of dominoes.
That is the problem with fundamentalism, faith is literal. And you kick out one assumption, and the whole house of cards falls over.
1) Mentally ill people (Jesus, van Gogh, Hitler, religious zealots like Bin Laden, etc.) can make significant contributions to society and civilization.
2) If your mental illness makes it hard to differentiate reality from delusion, maybe reporting isn't the best field to go into.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.
Kelley also has the strong support of his wife Jacki who remains executive vice president of USA Today and says she has no plans to resign.
HIS WIFE IS THE FUCKING EXEC VEEP OF THE COMPANY.
Fuck resigning. She needs to be fired. She protected his lying ass at the cost of letting him print lies in the paper. She needs to be fired. OUT A FUCKING GODDAMN CANNON.
ha ha, Atrios saw a religious war brewing in an older thread and thought he'd throw some fuel on the fire
Two words: Elmer Gantry.
See it, or read it if you want to understand religiosity in 'Murikkka.
It seems like whenever, "should be given the benefit of the doubt" is involked there is a lying SOB close at hand.
If the truth is being told, it would follow that the benefit of the doubt would be counter productive.
Vis a vis Christians and all their upstanding behavior- we own some rental properties, and we have learned never to rent to an avowed Christian. They'll screw you every time. When it comes to the bottom line, it pays not to buy into that pious crap. -- stinky feet
stinky -- I think the key word in your complaint is avowed Christians. It isn't that real Christians will always screw you on your rental agreements, it's that you should always be wary of anybody who goes around attempting to give themselves credibility by flaunting their associations, religious or any other kind.
For what it's worth, in the New Testament Christ discourages people from making a big public show of their faith. The insincerity and self-aggrandizing nature of public declarations of piety has been a recognized problem from the start. Not that it slows down the televangelists any. They must just skip over that part of Christ's teachings. Along with quite a few other parts.
"Their dilemma is how to support Kelley without losing their commitment to the truth"
This is an easy one. Kelley"s lies are God's truth. Objective truth is simply a liberal Godless conceit.
I'm surprised he is having a dark night of the soul over this. What's the problem? Everything he did he did for God and God wanted him to do it. The old USA Today editors didn't have any problem with that you'll note. Why he is letting evil unbelievers bring him down escapes me.
I think we will soon see those new editors looking for work.
I have to disagree with atrios on Cal Thomas--he's a scumbag. References to him should take the form "ethnic cleansing advocate Cal Thomas." His solution for the Israel/Palestine mess is forced relocation of Palestinians, including Palestinian citizens of Israel.
HE GAVE HIS BOGUS SOURCES GODDAMNED SCRIPTS!!
Unbeliveable. Un-fucking-believable.
Hey, just a little moment of weakness in this good-jeesus-loving man's life.
Imaginative apes? Homo deists?
So we now have another association of moles infiltrating the press: Gegrapha.
Wonder if Johnny "B.C." Hart is part of this one, too?
The worrisome aspect of the Jack Kelley stuff to me is the way in which highly connected and influential professionals substitute faith in a fellow believer for critical examination of the facts.
I hate to see journalists substituting faith for fact checking. It makes you wonder -- are the journalists who gave Jack Kelley a free pass also giving the "born again" chimp in the Oval Office the same consideration?
AUgDog,
I am just astonished...and I will admit, not a little amused, at the the tap dance his friends have to do, which turns into a Busby Berkely spectacular in order to make Kelley anything other than a liar. But not only is he a liar, I think he knows exactly what he is doing.
And enjoying the crisis of faith he has unleashed as this remarkable story plays out.
This reminds me a lot of the enabling which went on when the friends of David Begelman tried to justify his embezzling. One of the rationale was he only stole 30K (which Cliff Robertson had to pay taxes on.)
The outcome: Begelman gets community service and has to make an antidrug film. Robertson never works this town again.
Same coin, different sides.
Q: What do Christian Fundamentalist Pastors and "teachers" at Stalinist re-education camps have in common?
A: The willingness to publicize a penitent's counsel with his pastor/teacher-leader.
From the Christianity Today article:
-------
Casual acquaintances didn't notice but Kelley was also in a spiritual decline. Charles Schmitt of Silver Spring, Maryland, is Kelley's pastor and says he didn't notice until Kelley slowly started talking to him about it. "He had a lack of inner resources" to deal with the controversies.
-----
Geez, I can remember when the father-confessor promised a sacred covenant of confidentiality. That was in the olden days of Pat O'Brien movies, I guess.
"Christianity Today" could offer a new course at "The World Journalism Institute." "How to report confessions made during pastoral counseling." Offered Fall, Spring.
If you haven't seen the "World Journalism Institute website, check it out. It's apparantly where Fundies like to recruit new soldiers to serve in the Fourth estate theatre and where Cal Thomas and Kelley used to go to proselytize, er, "teach."
Check out the lists of "visiting teachers" and grads. How come so many Christians also worship at the shrine of Rev. Moon? And when are the two messiahs gonna battle it out?
http://www.worldji.com/why.asp
Approx. 40k BCE
You're this guy with a talent for picturing things. Most of your tribe thinks you are a bit off. While the tribe goes out to get food or look for mates you draw pictures. Soon the tribe gets sick of giving you food. You just want to be left alone to do your paintings in some cave, but you gotta eat too. What is an imaginative guy to do? Lets see. Make up some stories about very powerful beings that are always eyeballing the tribe looking for all kinds of shit that would make them mad, hence bringing ruin to the tribe. But you've got the answer for this because only you can communicate with these invisible beings. You can explain to the beings what's going on and the all powerful beings tell you what they want from the tribe. Lucky for you some of those things the all powerful beings want done is pictures to be made in caves and for you to be cared for by the tribe. Welcome to the birth of the Artist and Religion.
How come so many people who are "publicly pious" act so terribly? The religious right is neither religious or right.
I went into spasms seeing Gary Bauer on TV explaining how getting addicted to prescription painkillers was morally different than get addicted to other things (re Limbaugh).
How about when Pat Robertson said God told him Bush would win in a landslide and then prayed for three Supreme Court justices to retire (or die).
Do they listen to themselves? Or are they intellectualy dishonest?
Unstable Isotope:
I'm convinced that *many* people who are "publicly pious" rank beneath sewer rats because they are simply using religion to cover gaping holes in their scruples. Pat Robertson made business deals with murderous Liberian dictator Charles Taylor to mine gold. Ralph Reed received a "salary" from Enron for "consulting" when he needed a few extra bucks.
It seems like whenever, "should be given the benefit of the doubt" is involked there is a lying SOB close at hand.
Actually the phrase seems usually to be invoked about thirty seconds after the last shred of doubt has gone down the crapper.
Faith-based initiatives for the Fourth Estate.
When I showed the Kelley story to my ex-reporter fiance, he just about had a shit-fit. Me, personally, even though I'm a working writer and many, many people have tried to, uh, evangelize me into the newsroom, I know enough to Just Say No. (As in, "You could not pay me enough.")
I'm really troubled by the fact that Christianity Today got the pastor to talk about Jack Kelley's personal and private moments. I told one of my friends who is a journalist that if someone told a reporter about a spiritual conversation I'd had with them, I'd sue. And I know better not to sue (I have years of experience tangling with the Church of $cientology). But my spirituality is *mine*, it's not to be trotted out by someone who calls himself my spiritual leader to put in the pages of Christianity Today.
However, this is not the spirituality of Jack Kelley, his church or of Christianity Today. They all make a point of wearing their spirituality on their sleeve for all to see, and they also make a point of judging those who do not meet their standards. While I'll admit it's fun to read a good Christianity Today trashing (usually on some obscure doctrinal grounds that would make no sense to Jesus as opposed to merely lying one's head off, like Kelley did here), it is, in my opinion, wrong.
Jesus made a point of telling people not to wear their spirituality on their sleeves. He condemned those who made a point of acting so they looked like they were fasting and praying in public, instead telling his followers to act like a normal person in public and do one's praying in one's closet. This is the one thing that the people at CT and their fellow travelers simply cannot abide. They believe that the mandate to convert the world overcomes any good sense.
And don't be mistaken, that was Jack Kelley's mandate. I wonder how many people he converted, how many people whose faith he strengthened on the basis of his fabulous lies? Does he feel any sense of guilt for that? I imagine he probably doesn't think of it, or if he does, he puts it off to the greater glory of God. It makes me sick to think that.
I used to call myself a Christian, but after I stopped going to church a couple of years ago and the actions of the current administration, I gave that name up. I call myself a very imperfect follower of Jesus. That's the best I can do. I know I fail in a lot of things, but I am at least realistic about it. I don't try to cover my sh*t up, unlike a certain president who calls himself a Christian, as well as this reporter who does the same.
To me the weird thing about the article was its lack of a clear timeline and its confusion between the Kelley who lied after he became famous and the Kelley who lied before he became famous. The idea that he was "corrupted" by a celebrity culture but was somehow "ok" before just doesn't ring true. He has been fabricating stuff for a long time, his experiences, his fantasies, aren't something that kind of happened to him along the way they are actually part and parcel of his religious life, part of his marketing of himself as a religious journalist--which they try to imply might mean ethical or truthful but clearly means anything but. In that way I foudn the entire article, and the description of his friends rallying around, incredibly disturbing. What happened to love the sinner but hate the sin? These guys don't even hate the sin. And the pastor? Is the worst thing you can say about Kelley that he "didn't have the inner resources" to deal publicly and honestly with the fact that he had lied, falsified reports,and slandered his co-workers to protect himself? Is that really the worst thing--that he wasn't strong enough to carry through the abomination with a high hand?
And as for his wife? Well, stand by yer man and all that but unforgiveable is another word I'd use for her.
Can there be any doubt that christianity, as practiced by this group of fundamentalist phonies, is nothing but a religion best characterized as "at your feet or at your throat?"
(yeah, I know it was the huns, but it seems really applicable to these jimmy swaggarts and their enablers).
aimai
I just wanted to say, Atrios, that your title for this piece is perfect.
"stinky -- I think the key word in your complaint is avowed Christians. It isn't that real Christians will always screw you on your rental agreements, it's that you should always be wary of anybody who goes around attempting to give themselves credibility by flaunting their associations, religious or any other kind"
You are spot on, and that was the point of my post. I have absolutely nothing against Christians (being one myself, sort of) it is the AVOWED part. When you find out a person is a Christian within 5 minutes to talking to them about renting an apartment, the jig's up.
Oh,so Kelley's supposed to be sick now and that's the reason for his fabricated stories.Sick my ass, if he wouldn't have been caught he'd still be peddling his lies.
WTF is wrong with these assholes who think god is talking to them? Of course, they're nuts, but they're scary and possibly dangerous.Anyone who says god is talking to them should be taken away in a straight jacket and held as an enemy combatant never to be heard from again.
I think that's a pretty balanced article. I don't see the author or editors trying to cover up Kelley's wrongdoing or his supporter's having been duped. They are simply reporting what everyone around the situation has said. There's only one editorial comment and it's negative to Kelley -- the impression that he enjoyed his own celebrity.
David Aikman founder
Julia Duin (Washington Times) board member
Terry Mattingly (Scripps Howard columnist) board member
Gordon Govier (Scribe Media, radio broadcast journalist), newletter contact
Clifford W. Kelly, Ph.D. (Focus on the Family Institute) member
Sources: http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~scr...ribe/
Geglog.htm
ttp://www.urbana.org/u2000.seminars.detail.cfm?
id=188
http://www.focusinstitute.org/Pr...asp?
Record=1005
Sorry. That was supposed to be Gegrapha:
David Aikman founder
Julia Duin (Washington Times) board member
Terry Mattingly (Scripps Howard columnist) board member
Gordon Govier (Scribe Media, radio broadcast journalist), newletter contact
Clifford W. Kelly, Ph.D. (Focus on the Family Institute) member.
Sources: http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~scr...ribe/
Geglog.htm
http://www.urbana.org/u2000.semi...tail.cfm?
id=188
http://www.focusinstitute.org/Pr...asp?
Record=1005
I particularly liked how the article enumerated Kelley's falsehoods (a suspiciously short list), but called Blair's "countless"... you'd think, between the Times' public self-flagellation and Shafer over at Slate, they could have found an actual number in place of a demonstrably false adjective (I mean, seriously, we're talking about articles published by the most prominent newspaper on the planet,
not grains of sand on a beach or somesuch...) When the supposedly neutral journalist reporting the story deliberately slants details like that, why should we believe Kelley's avowed supporters about anything? Maybe someone should start looking through their back-files...
"Either all these guys are lying, which is not credible. Or that Jack was not telling the truth or that he is delusional. I don't see any other alternative."
rotflmao
hey, the man is sufferring from narcissistic personality disorder, because he ain't retracting AT ALL
- see the link to his "statement" in USA Today at the foot of the article Atrios links to - Jack blames it all on USA Today's handling of the investigation "which was not conducted in good faith", and history is gonna vindicate him blah blah blah:
People who truly know me realize that this mistake is inconsistent with my history as a journalist and my ethics as an individual. I trust over time they will balance my lapse in judgment against the way in which USA TODAY has handled this matter."
now really rotflmao
Kiss Hank's Ass
We must ask, is the Christian Wrestling Federation anointed with chism or standard olive? And what could sound more like the Testaments than the glorious interfight pronouncements of wrestlers?
The Beatles are evil.
And, in a concept that defies or maybe obviates easy snark, [George Takei voice], Bibleman.
To conclude, behold the redoubtable Skeptic's Annotated Bible and Skeptic's Annotated Quran.
Journalists who worship me never have to make up stories.
The American Journalism Review story (http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=3613) portrays Kelley as somebody with an almost pathological desire to be universally liked and admired. While most people interviewed said they can't believe that Kelley would lie and plagiarize the work of others, they sure didn't look too hard at the earlier signs (like somebody else mentioned, he didn't start lying after he got to ride the jet; his first known cheating was plagiarizing a Wash Post report on gypsies in 1992).
I knew a guy once who fabricated investigations -- he had that same mix of wanting to be a star, finding it too hard to do it honestly, and then realizing that he could cheat and get away with it, because he was so special.
Oh, and Kelley's wife isn't the executive VP for all of USA Today, she's just a VP in the advertising department.
Kei & Yuri
That Beatles page is hilarious. They don't even get the lyrics right. What, did they get them from kissthisguy.com?
Didja notice one of the sponsors:
Left Behind Prophecy Club
Yikes!!!
I'm calling out.Check this out.
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