Pat Robertson & SourceWatch

There's never a quiet day at SourceWatch, our open-source encyclopedia of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda. Some days, articles that have been patiently compiled by our volunteer writers over months, are suddenly in demand.

Pat Robertson

A case in point is the article on the founder of the Christian Coalition of America, Pat Robertson, who proposed in a broadcast on his 700 Club program that covert American agents should assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Associated Press quoted Robertson stating. Over the last eighteen months a number of regular contributors have compiled a comprehensive listing of online news stories on Robertson spanning the last decade. Others have started profiles on the various organisations Robertson is involved in.

Meanwhile Cindy Sheehan's vigil outside George W. Bush's ranch has put a spotlight on the cost of the war in Iraq. In a column last week for O'Dwyer's PR Daily, Kevin McCauley, contrasted Sheehan's vigil in the Texas heat with Bush remaining "cocooned in Crawford, sticking to the script of appearing only before supporters and people in the Administration."

In the last week over eighty new articles have been started as well as numerous additions to existing pages.

Some of the topics that contributors have worked on in the last week include:

• A new contributor has started a series of profiles conservative players including the Acton School of Business, Young Conservatives of California, Protest Warrior, the Texas-based marketing company Winning Strategies and the Texas Public Policy Foundation and some of its staff and officebearers.
• User "Artificial Intelligence," (AI) another regular SourceWatch contributor, has been working on a series of articles related to Cindy Sheehan's Peace Vigil in Crawford, Texas outside George W. Bush's ranch while he has been on vacation inside. AI has also decided to get in early and has started an embryonic page on the U.S. presidential election, 2008 and has helped keep the Treasongate: Beyond Karl Rove page up to date.
• Maynard has updated the article on the New Democrat Network. Aside from some tidying up and adding in links between similar articles Hugh Manatee posted some material on ChevronTexaco's lobbyist, Wayne L. Berman who also happens to be one of Bush's Rangers who raise funds for Bush's presidential election campaign.
• Sheldon Rampton has expanded the articles on Jack Abramoff and Thomas D. DeLay while I have been busy updating the material on the Australian polling and political strategy company Crosby/Textor, who after having run the campaign for the UK Conservative Party are now helping the conservative National Party of New Zealand in the general election there.

Of course, all of these articles can benefit from further editing and refinement. Can you help? Documenting and uncovering public relations campaigns is an ongoing research project. If you'd like to participate, become a SourceWatch volunteer contributor and help add to or edit these and other articles. It's free to sign up, and we'd love to have you join us.