Why does this man get any air time at all? [UPDATE: Rummy weighs in]

No, I know he owns his own TV station. I mean, why does any major network have him on as a sane representative of Christianity? From today's NYT:

Televangelist Calls for Assassination of Chavez

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming ''a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism.''

''We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability,'' Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's ''The 700 Club.''

''We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator,'' he continued. ''It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with.''

Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him. U.S. officials have called the accusations ridiculous.

''You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it,'' Robertson said. ''It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop.''

I would expect to hear this sort of crap from a crackpot sitting next to me at a bus stop (no offense intended to bus riders), but not a "national religious leader." Of course, what should I expect from someone who prays for God to smite Supreme Court justices?

[UPDATE from profmarcus...]

this has to be read slowly, rolled around in the mouth for a minute or two, savored and then spit into the toilet...

The Bush administration swiftly distanced itself Tuesday from a suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that American agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, long at odds with U.S. foreign policy.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, appearing at a Pentagon news conference, said when asked: "Our department doesn't do that kind of thing. It's against the law. He's a private citizen. Private citizens say all kinds of things all the time."

private citizen...? PRIVATE CITIZEN...? a FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PRIVATE CITIZEN...??? awwww, rummy... why do you have to go and shoot yourself in the foot like this...?

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