When Nutjobs Backtrack

Late Update: What does a nutjob do when he's called on his lies? Writes an apology, of course. I get the feeling Robertson won't "be available for interviews" over the next few days.

Ah, the ubearable lightness of Pat Robertson's, um, whatever substitutes for upper brain within his cranium. He now insists that he merely wanted US forces to engage in a non-lethal class 1 felony (kidnapping) re: Hugo Chavez...but, alas, the magic of videotape proves that "Rev." Robertson is nothing more than a bald-faced liar:

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson insisted Wednesday that he did not call for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, despite comments broadcast on his program two days earlier.

"I didn't say 'assassination,'" Robertson said Wednesday on his Christian Broadcast Network show "The 700 Club" about remarks reported by The Associated Press and other media outlets.

"I said our special forces should 'take him out.' 'Take him out' could be a number of things including kidnapping.

"There are a number of ways of taking out a dictator from power besides killing him. I was misinterpreted by the AP, but that happens all the time."

But a video of Monday's telecast shows that Robertson's exact words were: "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. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war, and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

The last sentence says it all: the oil made him do it.

Even more amazing, though, is something Digby noticed over at CNN--apparently one of the anchors attributed Robertson's vicious statement to the doctrine of "religious freedom," which has to make you wonder what sort of religion condones assassination...particularly when it's pretty obvious that Chavez's "crime" is that unfortunately Venezuela owns..."our" oil.

That fact must just drive Pat Robertson up the wall...that is, when he isn't yelling at neighborhood kids to get off his lawn.