Did Kansas GOP Leader House Speaker Send Email Prayer Calling for Death of Barack Obama?

How hateful has our politics become? This hateful:

An email recently sent by Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal (R-Hutchinson) to his Republican colleagues appears to endorse a controversial prayer that some say calls for the untimely death of President Obama.

“Pray for Obama. Psalm 109:8.” That’s the slogan an email from O’Neal refers to, a phrase that’s become popular in some circles on bumper stickers and other merchandise. The bible passage itself reads, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” The real controversy arises in the next verse of Psalm 109, however, which continues, “May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.”

In a message accompanying the email, O’Neal writes:

“At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!”

O’Neal’s office has insisted that his use of the psalm was referring only to the first segment, which they say simply shows support for Obama to be replaced as president, via an election, as soon as possible.

Back in 2009, The Huffington Post’s Jason Linkins suggested that Psalm 109:8 was “the latest thing in ‘Debasing The Institutions You Pretend To Hold Dear In Order To Suggest That President Barack Obama Should Be Murdered Without Actually Coming Right Out And Saying So.’”

In some circumstances, endorsement of Psalm 109 with regards to Obama has been dealt with seriously. Last year in Florida, a corrections officer was suspended after highlighting the passage and referring to it as the “Obama prayer.”

I’ve concluded that some Democrats think God is a Democrat and is on their side when they pray.

Many Republicans seem to think God is a Republican — but enough about Rush Limbaugh.

Many Republicans do seem to think God is on their side when they pray.

Of course, I would argue that my view is correct:

God is the quintessential independent.

Think Progress:

O’Neal forwarded the prayer with his own message: “At last — I can honestly voice a Biblical prayer for our president! Look it up — it is word for word! Let us all bow our heads and pray. Brothers and Sisters, can I get an AMEN? AMEN!!!!!!”

O’Neal’s office refuses to apologize for the email, insisting that the message was only referring to Obama’s days in office.

Sementelli notes the response of a Rockford Register Star columnist who explains why this excuse won’t do.
Speaking to a reader he writes, “You say that verse 8 of Psalm 109, as applied to President Obama, does not suggest a wish for his death. But the first five words of verse 8 are: ‘Let his days be few.’ And verse 9 says: ‘Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.’…You suggest yourself that scripture should not be ‘taken out of context.’ Well, the context of Psalm 109 is a wish for someone’s death.”

Mediaite’s Francis Martel:

Essentially, using the Psalm to pray towards President Obama is about an eye-gouging and a case of mistaken incest away from wishing him the fate of Oedipus.

Some have suggested that, as the email refers only to 109:8 and not the subsequent lines, it is not meant to call for the death of the President and for his children to be “wandering beggars.” Even if this is the case– and O’Neal deserves some benefit of the doubt– why take a chance on forwarding something like this? Anyone who has any experience in politics should be able to predict with some certainty that his political enemies would be able to Google the rest of the Psalm, or would have had the foresight to look up the context of the statement to make sure it wasn’t some out-of-place, highly inflammatory bit of the Old Testament. Not to mention that, unlike the more narrative parts of the Bible, many Psalms are meant to be taken as individual parts of a whole, so referencing one line of a Psalm directs back to the whole thing more than a line out of, say, Job or Revelations would. This new email is a bizarre plot deviation to a bizarre unfolding story, equal parts offensive and bumbling

The larger issue is this:

The more you follow it you must conclude: our politics is no longer about affirmative conversations or even fiery debates about policies.

It’s all about hating another party, those who lead it, those who belong to it, and those who may agree with some or all of it.

So why wouldn’t an overt or covert death wish be part of this?

Still, prayers are needed:

For those who are making such prayers.