Insane Texas persecution watch

During the Monica Goodling testimony today, the Democratic Senator from Tennessee, Stephen I. Cohen, spent part of his time asking Goodling about the large number of people working in the Bush administration who graduated from her Alma Matter, Regent University.

REP. STEPHEN I. COHEN, D-TENN.: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Goodling, I've read your vitae and it says that you grew up and you mostly went -- you went to public schools. Is that K through 12?

GOODLING: Yes.

COHEN: And it says you went to Christian universities in part because of the value they placed on service.

What was the other part, that you chose Christian universities?

GOODLING: I chose them because I had a faith system, and in some cases -- I went to American University for my first year of law school. And then I transferred.

GOODLING: And I enjoyed studying with people that shares a similar belief system that I did. It didn't mean that there wasn't a lot of diversity of discussion, because in some cases I actually found the debate at Regent was much more vigorous than it was at American University my first year of law school. But I enjoyed being surrounded by people that had the same belief system.

COHEN: The mission of the law school you attended, Regent, is to bring to bear upon legal education and the legal profession the will of almighty God, our creator. What is the will of almighty God, our creator, on the legal profession?

GOODLING: I'm not sure that I could define that question for you.

COHEN: Did you ask people who applied for jobs as AUSAs anything about their religion?

GOODLING: No, I certainly did not.

COHEN: Ever had religion discussions come up?

GOODLING: Not to the best of my recollection.

COHEN: Is there a type of student, a type of person that you thought embodied that philosophy of Regent University that you sought out as AUSAs?

GOODLING: In most cases the people at Regent are good people trying to do the right thing who wanted to make a difference in the world. If the question is if I was looking for people like that, the answer is yes. I wasn't necessarily looking for people who shared a particular faith system. I don't have any recollection that that entered into my mind at any point. But certainly there are a lot of people who applied to work for this president because they share his same faith system and they did apply for jobs.

COHEN: Are there a lot of -- an inordinate number of people from Regent University Law School that were hired by the Department of Justice while you were there?

GOODLING: I think we have a lot more people from Harvard and Yale.

COHEN: That's refreshing.

Is it a fact -- are you are of the fact that in your graduating class 50 to 60 percent of the students failed the bar the first time?

GOODLING: I'm not -- I don't remember the statistics, but I know it wasn't good. I was happy I passed the first time.

COHEN: Thank you. That was good.

Of course you can see what a serious attack that was on Christianity, can't you? Isn't it obvious that Cohen was practically begging somebody to commit an act of violence against Christians?

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT, R-TEXAS: And I would also point out, when we bring up God and Christianity and question somebody's belief for attending a religious college, that Harvard itself -- if we want to refer to them -- Psalm 8 is on Emerson Hall that houses the Philosophy Department.

GOHMERT: What is man that thou art mindful of him? -- talking to God, from Psalm 8.

The Latin phrase meant truth for Christ and the church, and that was the official motto of Harvard in 1692.

And the rules and precepts of Harvard in 1646 said, Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ at the bottom as the only foundation.

It is part of the foundation.

And I would also submit to my colleagues that the hate crime bill passed out of this committee and taken to the floor and passed recently leaves an opening. If someone here seems to indicate there's something wrong about being a Christian and someone is induced to commit violence against that Christian, then the person on this committee could possibly be charged under the hate crime bill as the principle for having committed the act of violence.

And I would just encourage my colleagues to consider well your comments and your votes in this committee. I yield back.

You've been warned, Cohen.