150 Graduates of Pat Robertson’s College in Bush Administration

Some have accused the Bush Administration of being far too cozy with the religious right and the agenda of dominion that they ascribe to. Others have reacted that the accusations are unfounded. The fact that the Bush Administration has 150 graduates of Pat Robertson’s low rated and just recently accredited law school might suggest the former. This revelation isn’t news to the faithful, it is even on the Regent University website. It is news to those of us concerned that the Bush Administration is in bed with the far right of the religious base. You know, the same 30% that for some unexplainable reason still think Mr. Bush is doing a good job. You know, the group who likely believes that the occupation of Iraq is just going great. I suppose if you think that the earth was created in six days or that it’s only 6,000 years old, or that two of all the animals on earth once rode on a wooden boat, the Bush Presidency being a success isn’t such a stretch.

The school was founded in 1986 as the CBN University Law School. The American Bar Association (ABA) denied accreditation in 1987. It gave the school provisional accreditation in 1989. Full accreditation by the ABA didn’t occur until 1996.

The fact that 150 grads of the illustrious Regent law school being in the Bush Administration came to widespread light because of Monica Goodling. The Regent grad 1999 quit the Justice Department last week. Just a few days after she had refused to testify before Congress by pleading the Fifth Amendment. She had virtually no prosecutor experience before landing a job at the top levels of the Justice Department. She served as Justice liaison for the White House and was deeply involved with evaluating the nation’s federal prosecutors. It is the handling of the firings of several prosecutors which has led to the controversy that will most likely cost Attorney General Alberto Gonzales his job.

The law school at Regent University was once ranked in the lowest tier by U.S. News and World Reports college survey. On its own website’s admissions page, Regent states that it seeks to admit “students who are serious about the critical roles they will assume as future counselors, conciliators, defenders of the faith, effective client advocates and followers of Christ.” Later it adds “Regent Law seeks men and women who are dedicated to becoming Christian leaders who will change the world for Christ.” I would think that a law school might say that it hopes its students become good interpreters of the law, or defenders of the Constitution, or something along those lines. But the Princeton Review did at one time rank the school second in the nation in the likelihood that graduates would receive a fellowship at a conservative think tank!

The website of Regent Law tells of an upcoming symposium to “Celebrate 400th anniversary of Jamestown settlement.” A keynote speaker is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Another is Deputy U.S. Attorney General Paul McNulty. Topics include “Liberty, the Rule of Rule of Law, and religion today.” I doubt they will be discussing the need for a separation of church and state.

Regent is a televangelist founded school, started by the infamous Pat Robertson. The idea is for graduates to be the agents of change in America. They think of the big issues are abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage. Driving an agenda instead of focusing on the law. They are training people to make arguments based on the bible to push the far right agenda of hate, exclusion and corporate war for god and country.

One of the faculty support pages on website quotes Ephesians 6, 6-7 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of god from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the lord, not men. Good advice for a preacher, not so much for government lawyers. So, is the Bush Administration hiring the best legal minds the country can offer, or attorneys that can help with the Christo-Fascist agenda?

Sources: MSNBC’s Countdown with Kieth Olbermann, www.regent.edu