Coalition for Traditional Values criticizes Laura Bush-Fiction!

Coalition for Traditional Values Criticizes President and Mrs. Bush for Her Stand-Up Comedy Routine at the White House Correspondent's Association Dinner-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor
A letter from the "Coalition for Traditional Values" that is critical of First Lady Laura Bush for her widely publicized comedy routine at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington DC on 4/30/05.
The letter cites the Bible and says that she failed to "submit" to her husband and that he failed to exercise control over her.

The Truth
This letter is a hoax.
There is no Pastor Roy Delong and no group in Washington DC known as the "Coalition for Traditional Values."

The story caused a bit of a stir for a legitimate organization called "The Traditional Values Coalition," a Conservative group long founded by the Rev. Louis Sheldon.
The hoax letter used a redesigned version of their logo but used a borrowed address that includes the wrong zip code for the address.

Matt Drudge published the letter on his Drudge Report web site and the phones at the Traditional Values Coalition started ringing with inquires from reporters.

Laura Bush's performance at the Correspondent's Dinner was widely applauded.
Those who were there say she delivered her lines like a pro and had everybody in the room laughing.
The Los Angeles Times said she "stole the show."
The dinner is an annual occasion characterized by the White House and the correspondents poking fun at each other.
On this occasion, President Bush took the microphone and delivered a couple of humorous lines and was in the middle of telling a joke when he was interrupted by a pre-arranged voice from the audience that heckled, "Not that old joke----not again."
Laura Bush stepped up to the microphone, nudged George Bush aside, and started a stand-up routine that joked about her husband, the Bush family, and their ranch in Texas.

Some excerpts:

"George always says he's delighted to come to these press dinners. Baloney. He's usually in bed by now. I said to him the other day, 'George, if you really want to end tyranny in the world, you're going to have to stay up later.' "

"A typical White House evening goes like this. Nine o'clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I'm watching 'Desperate Housewives' — with Lynne Cheney. Ladies and gentlemen, I am a desperate housewife."

"My husband and I are complete opposites — I'm quiet, he's talkative; I'm introverted, he's extroverted; I can pronounce 'nuclear.' "

Last updated 5/4/05

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Coalition for Traditional Values
139 "Q" Street, Nw
Washington, DC 20003

President Bush should "Stand Up" to First Lady's Stand-up Routine

Sunday, May 1, 2005
By Pastor Roy DeLong
Chairman, Coalition for Traditional Values

Members of the elite media and their allies inside the beltway were greatly amused by the performance of the First Lady at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner this weekend. We at the Coalition for Traditional Values were appalled.

Proverbs puts it best: "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh him ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." We would imagine that President Bush is feeling pretty rotten right now.

As you know, the family plays an essential role in Christianity, and the Bible is crystal clear about the structure of that family. "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything." (Ephesians 5:22-24)

That is not what we saw this weekend. Instead, we saw our President undermined, mocked, and emasculated by his own wife on the most public of stages, and at a time when his manliness is already under attack. We saw the leader of the free world seemingly unable to lead his own family. Mr. President, as God's elected represented here on earth, you owe it to every American to live your life as an example to us. And that example extends to the behavior of your wife, Mrs. Bush, as well.

The Coalition for Traditional Values encourages you both to put this sorry episode behind you so that this country, founded on Judeo-Christian principles, can move forward, following the lead of the First Family. And that family should be prepared to lead by Biblical example: Him first, the husband second, and the wife in him.