Loose lips I

Christian Century, Nov 1, 2003

LOOSE LIPS I: Pat Robertson has been chastised by the U.S. State Department for comments he made on The 700 Club about blowing up the agency with a nuclear device. While interviewing Joel Mowbray, author of a book critical of the State Department, Robertson said: "Well, it looks like Congress had better do something, and maybe we, need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up." (The agency is located in an area of Washington called Foggy Bottom.) Robertson later clarified that he meant to say "gut" the place, not "mike" it.

He was particularly incensed at the State Department for backing the Liberian rebels who opposed Charles Taylor, the former president, a conservative Christian and a friend of Robertson's (Yahoo! News, October 11, and Washington Times, October 14).