Pastor Rick Warren lied and decieved us ...

And continues to lie and deceive us days later on talk shows – putting a black mark on his incredibly great name, the incredible goodness of his great book, and the incredible great work he’s doing all over the world.

Rick Warren knowingly lied and deceived us when he stood in front of the national television audience and told us “… We have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence …” so McCain couldn’t possibly hear the questions in advance.

This was a conscious, deliberate lie, not a mistake or miscommunication. Rick Warren knew, as he himself has admitted on talk shows, that McCain was not safely in a “cone of silence.” Warren knew – absolutely - that McCain was not even in the building, that he had not even yet arrived – and yet look at the lie Warren brazenly tells his worldwide audience:

Warren’s language is very specific in what he tells the world, starting with his use of the word “we.” “We have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence.” He leads the world to believe he has personally seen that Senator McCain was put in this “cone of silence” – yet he never did any such thing. Nor did anyone on his staff do it and report to Warren that McCain was safely in the ‘cone of silence’ … for the simple reason McCain was not even there.

Why did Warren tell such a blatant lie? There is no possible way that anyone on his staff could have informed Warren that McCain was safely in the cone of silence when he wasn’t even there. He hadn’t even arrived on the premises. The only possible thing his staff could have told Warren is that they were getting panicky because McCain hadn’t yet arrived, and they had to go on the air in minutes. Warren himself had to panic about the no-show of his major player – unless he was aware of it and prepared for it.

Yet with everyone panicking that McCain had not yet arrived, and they were going on the air, with everyone desperately trying to locate McCain and get him there, Warren goes out and does an ugly, sinister thing. Warren tells the world audience, gives assurance to the world audience, that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence …” where Senator McCain could not possibly hear the questions Obama would be asked.

Warren said this even though he knew with absolute certainty McCain was not in a cone of silence, Warren knew that at the time he said that to the TV audience, McCain was in a motorcade, in a car where McCain could hear everything – on the car’s TV screen, on the radio, or have aides tell McCain of the questions being asked on his cell phone, blackberry, or any other message center. Not only could McCain hear the questions, his aides had plenty of time to prepare his answers.

Why did Pastor Warren so knowingly and consciously lie and deceive us – and that’s not the only lie and deception Pastor Warren did and continues to do on the talk shows.

When McCain’s turn came to be on the air, Warren, threw gasoline on his fire of lies and deception by sweetly asking McCain, “Now, my first question: Was the cone of silence comfortable that you were in just now?”

This is outrageous behavior on Warren’s part. Knowing full well that McCain was not even on the premises for over half of the first hour, and knowing that he was in the normal Green Room in another building since arriving, Warren intensifies his deceit and asks McCain if he was comfortable in the cone of silence when he knows full well McCain was not in a cone of silence for over half the show, or all of it.

Warren’s first lie and deceit – that we have safely put him in a cone of silence – was despicable enough. But Warren’s continuing to lie and deceive with that question he knows to be false is, frankly, repulsive, even though it comes from a hero of mine who preaches living every day in the moral code of Christ.

McCain plays his part in this ugly sinister deceit by deadpanning “I was trying to hear through the wall.”

Again, McCain was never – not for one second - isolated in a “cone of silence” – and Rick Warren knew it. When McCain finally did arrive a half hour into the show, he was put into a Green Room in a separate building where Warren insists they unplugged the TV set, ignoring the fact that in the Green Room McCain, or his aides, could have cell phones, blackberries, and written and verbal communication by his aides who were with him. McCain was not in an isolated booth where no one could communicate with him and tell him the questions and go over responses.

Warren continued to lie in defending his lie about McCain being isolated from the questions. When we finally learned the truth that McCain was in a car, Warren desperately tried to cover up his lie and deception by saying “Yes, McCain was in motorcade, but the Secret Service would keep him isolated.” That is patently absurd. So absurd it would be laughable if it didn’t have such serious repercussions on the Presidential race.

First of all, who gave the instructions to the Secret Service to not let McCain or any of his staff with him in the car turn on the radio, take away his cell phone, blackberry and iPod – not only McCain’s, but everyone in the car with McCain. Did those instructions come in a memo form, or given verbally? And by whom? The Supervisor of McCain’s Secret Service contingent? It’s beyond ludicrous that Pastor Warren is out there days later insisting that was the truth, what really happened.

Lastly, it is totally misleading and deceptive regarding the nature of the friendship, the relationship that develops between members of the Secret Service and the candidates they are putting their lives on the line to protect. It also ignores the opportunity for other staff members to quickly brief McCain on the questions as he parks the car and walks to the Green Room, or walks from the Green Room across the lot to the building in which the forum is being telecast from.

Two other deceptions! Conscious, deliberate deceptions!

Warren told his national television audience that the decision as to who would go first was decided by a flip of the coin. Though Warren doesn’t say it, the impression I, and everyone I know who watched the show, got from Warren’s statement that the flip of the coin was done as every flip of the coin is done before a major event, such as the Super Bowl, or overtime in a football game – the two opponents (McCain and Obama) gather with the referee (Warren) who says “Heads McCain, Tails Obama” and then flips the coin with all interested parties watching.
I did a anecdotal survey of 47 people who saw the show, and everyone of them thought Warren’s representation that it was done by a flip of the coin was done in the manner I just described, the manner we all assumed and expected it would be done. It was a shock for everyone of us to find out that Warren did the coin toss secretly weeks before, supposedly in front of his staff. Why would Warren represent – and clearly lead us to believe – that the coin toss was done in the standard open fair way when he did it surreptitiously well in advance of the night of the forum.

What possessed Warren to tell such an insinuation lie when he clearly and simply could have told us the truth on national television?

Shockingly, Warren does another lie by insinuation when he says first on national television and then over and over on talk shows in the days that follow, that he culled the questions from over 200,000 he received from his followers, again insinuating he reviewed them all and chose the questions he was going to ask. That by itself is another absurdity. To go through 200,000 questions would take a staff of ten people each going through 20,000 questions in the month leading up to the forum. That’s 5,000 a week, that’s 1,000 a day (714 if they worked seven days a week), and that doesn’t count the enormous amount of time and work involved in going through all of the questions the ten staff members selected, and narrowing them down to a mere 1% of the questions, 200, and then narrowing and re-narrowing them down to the questions Warren finally chose. It’s another pathetic ludicrous claim by Warren that he personally reviewed 200,000 questions from his followers.

The truth is Warren asked the questions he wanted to ask.

The ugly truth is that Warren asked questions that were, in the jargon of people who do interviews, “softballs,” “hit out of the park” questions that were perfect for McCain.

Why? Because Pastor Warren is a McCain supporter through and through, and he’s not honest enough to openly admit it.

A peak into that truth about Warren being pro-McCain came with McCain’s answer to Warren’s question about the role God and Jesus play in his life, and how McCain goes about the process of involving God and Jesus in his decisions. McCain never answered the question, and Warren never pressed him to answer. Instead McCain gave the story of when he was a Prisoner of War – a story he’s told hundreds of times at the drop of a hat – of one of his guard’s drawing a cross with his foot in the dirt. The story tells us something interesting about the guard, but absolutely nothing about the role Christ played in McCain’s life, especially his daily life, both personal and professional. And Warren let him get away with that story which in and by itself is beautiful and inspiring, always drawing applause as it did that night.

Another intriguing question about this whole affair that makes it look like a set-up. How come McCain was “late” getting to the forum? A national television event of enormous importance, close to the debate forum McCain has been screaming for, and McCain “accidentally” arrives late – over a half hour late???

That’s another absurdity. You would think that for a national television show this widely anticipated, McCain and Obama would have both gotten there at least one hour before air time. McCain wouldn’t dare risk being late for the show, and would never allow himself to be tied up by anything else that would make him over a half hour late. Neither McCain nor anyone on his staff would ever take such a terrible risk with such severe repercussions. His delaying his arrival so he could be informed of the questions was no accident. It was carefully planned and staged – all to the enormous benefit of McCain.

A powerful hint of this was that Obama when asked a question had to take time to think of his answer, and was clearly thinking of his answer for the first time, often taking time to reflect and consider what his answer would be. McCain never hesitated for a second on any answer – not one! He had a “ready-made answer” for every question, and never had to hesitate or even think about his answer. Any person, especially one vying for the Presidency, would have to take a moment – at least a moment – to reflect upon the question being asked - to consider it and mull it over in their minds as Obama did. Not McCain. After the preliminaries were over, McCain had a ready-made answer for every question he was asked. The tougher the question, the more immediate and ready-made McCain’s answer was.

This is not the only reason Obama bombed miserably on the show. He stunk all on his own, and some of his answers were embarrassing, like his answer to the question “When does life begin?” Obama’s answer “That’s above my pay scale,” was the typical weasely answer of a political spin doctor, and it stunk.

A tremendous amount of the failure of Obama rests solely on his shoulders and his inept performance. However, the enormous advantage Warren gave to McCain by allowing him to have the questions in advance – and then continue to defend that McCain didn’t get the questions in advance, gave McCain the opportunity to give a superb presentation, which Obama was denied.

The bottom line: 92% of the people we surveyed said – shockingly – they expect McCain to cheat, they do not expect Obama to cheat – which says it all.

What makes this such a pathetic event – a terribly sad and painful event – is that Rick Warren descended to this deceitful, lying game playing at the height of his career – a career in which he has done incredible things that have inspired tens of millions of people all over the world. A career in which he discovered an eternal truth in everyone finding a purpose in their life and sold twenty-five million books preaching it. A career in which he had been a tremendous force for good all over the world, bringing healing and hope to the oppressed, the poor and the starving. A career in which he had walked with “kings”, heads of nations, and not lost his common touch or his bringing of Christ’s message, of “doing to these the least of my brethren” as Obama said and complimented him for doing it.

It truly hurts to see a man of this greatness descend to this political chicanery and duplicity.