Daily News photo by Margaret Sonnier

by SHEILA SMITH

I pretty much know, on some level, that I am crazy.

If you read my column regularly, you are probably nodding in agreement.

Thankfully, on the days when I feel particularly imbalanced or that I have warped views on life, Pat Robertson speaks and I realize I am totally normal.

At least compared to him.

There are people in this world we all enjoy listening to or reading about because all you can do is laugh nervously at their ranting: Glenn Beck; Kanye West; Donald Trump; any Maury Povich guest; Vice President Joe Biden; any member of Westboro “Baptist Church”; and, of course, Robertson.

If you are not familiar with Robertson – well, you’re lucky, but if you don’t know him, here is everything in a nice package: he is a former Southern Baptist minister who helped found the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) and “The 700 Club”, a Christian news/counseling series he also co-anchors. He made a failed attempt at gaining the Republican Party’s presidential nomination for the 1988 elections. He has no experience as a meteorologist but contributes any major natural disaster to gays and lesbians and feminists. He also blamed those same members of society for the 9/11 attacks and pretty much blames them for anything that goes wrong anywhere in the world.

He also makes millions of Christians across the world drop their heads into their hands while moaning, “Please stop talking, you’re making us all look like deranged idiots.”

Just in May, a female caller to “The 700 Club” series asked Robertson how to help her deal with her husband’s infidelity.

Robertson’s advice? “Here’s the secret. Stop talking about the cheating. He cheated on you. Well, he’s a man. Does he provide a home for you to live in? Does he provide food for you to eat? Does he provide clothes for you to wear? Is he nice to the children … is he handsome?…Males have a tendency to wander a bit, and what you want to do is make the home so wonderful that he doesn’t want to wander.”

CBN, Robertson’s own network which airs “The 700 Club,” even tried to clear up the matter by saying it was a “misunderstanding.”

But Robertson is really big on the “he’s a man” excuse, only helping to confirm male stereotypes in society.

During the scandal last year in which it was revealed Gen. David Petraeus had an affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, Robertson said it wasn’t surprising since she was “an extremely good looking woman” and Petraeus was “a man.”

Robertson has no love for gay people or feminists and believes they are destroying society and straight families. Husbands who cheat on wives? Eh, they’re guys, whatcha gonna do? Certainly that does not destroy the family unit.

It gets even better, though.

On a recent episode of “700”, another woman called for advice on how to confront her husband regarding his constant infidelity.

And here is Robinson’s million-dollar answer:  “Ma’am, with all due respect, it seems like the problem in your marriage is disobedience. When a wife disobeys her husband the holy bond between the two starts to disintegrate and all sorts of problems start to crop up…The apostle Paul tells us in Corinthians the importance of submission. And when you lose that submission in a marriage, there’s only one solution: a sound spanking on the bottom…Wives must be spanked by their husbands. It’s the only way to keep biblical order. Nothing too hard, just enough to let her know he’s the one in charge. So I have to ask, when was your last spanking, dear?”

Cue a woman who is, in my opinion, awesome: “Excuse me? I ask you how to confront my husband over his cheating, and you tell me to get spanked? My husband’s never spanked me. I would never let that happen…And what kind of crazy, chauvinistic mummy would even suggest such a thing? Do you ever think before you speak? Or are you trying to sound like a outdated male pig?”

Robertson answered, “You see, that’s exactly the kind of attitude that tells me you’re not getting the discipline you need at home.” In his mummy-like wisdom, he added that the purpose of women is to obey men, have babies and cook meat. But, in true Robertson form, he added that lesbianism, feminism – and even vegetarianism – had contributed to her poor attitude. He also said, “So stop worrying about what your husband is up to, and just get back to basics.”

Remember the old, creepy Reverend Cain in the “Poltergeist” films, the one who needed little Carrie Ann’s soul to avoid damnation? That’s Robertson. In a long line of laughable, so-called ministers or spiritual leaders, I roll my eyes less when Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks compared to when Robertson speaks.

However, he makes me feel like one of society’s normal members. No matter how bad my day gets, no matter what I face, at least at the end of the day I can lay my head on my pillow and be thankful I am not as crazy as Pat Robertson.

According to a report from The Associated Press, the measure to restrict abortions to the first 20 weeks after conception will be ignored by the Democratic-controlled Senate but not necessarily by voters in next year’s GOP primaries. The legislation, heading for near-certain passage in the House, contravenes the 1973 Roe versus Wade decision that legalized abortions and invites court challenges that could eventually force the Supreme Court to reconsider that decision.

The “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” will die in the Senate and even, if it reached the White House, would be vetoed. The White House, in its veto threat statement, said the measure was “an assault on a woman’s right to choose” and “a direct challenge to Roe versus Wade.”

But anti-abortion proponents and social conservatives in the Republican Party, who have seen their issue overshadowed by economic concerns since Republicans recaptured the House in 2010, were energized.

Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, called it “the most important pro-life bill to be considered by the U.S. Congress in the last 10 years.”

Democrats, on the other hand, predicted that the move would backfire on Republican efforts to improve their standing among women.

“The bill is so egregious to women, said Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., that women are reminded that “the last possible thing they ever want to do is leave their health policy to these men in blue suits and red ties.”

Democrats repeatedly pointed out that the Judiciary Committee that approved the measure last week on a party-line vote is made up of 23 Republican men and not one woman.

Most states allow abortions up to the point when the fetus becomes viable, generally considered to be about 24 weeks of pregnancy. The legislation would ban abortions that take place 20 weeks after conception, which is equivalent to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, a New York-based reproductive health research organization that supports abortion rights, in 2009 1.3 percent of the 1.2 million abortions in the country, about 15,600, occurred 20 weeks after the fetus was conceived.

Share your thoughts about this issue. Email your opinions about this anti-abortion bill to jdne...@bellsouth.net for possible publication.

Paulette Andrepont

The family and friends of Paulette Andrepont are mourning the loss of their loved one who passed away during the evening hours on June 17, 2013, at the age of 56.

Funeral services honoring Paulette’s life will be held at Matthews and Son Funeral Home in Jennings on Thursday, June 20, 2013, at 2 p.m. Paulette will be laid to eternal rest in Reed Cemetery. Rev. Garland Reed will officiate.

A gathering of Paulette’s family and friends will be held at Matthews and Son Funeral Home in Jennings today, Wednesday, June 19, 2013, from 1-10 p.m. Visitation will resume on Thursday, June 20, 2013, at 8 a.m. until the time of her funeral services at 2 p.m.

Paulette was born in Crowley to the late Fernen Andrepont and the late Joan Hebert Andrepont on July 31, 1956. She was a surgical technician. Paulette enjoyed her job and loved helping others. She also enjoyed cleaning and making everything smell wonderful.

Paulette is survived by one son, Fernen Shane (Melissa) Andrepont of Evangeline; two brothers, Roderick (Pamela) Andrepont of Evangeline, and Randy (Felicia) Andrepont of Tepatate; her twin sister, Pauline (Raven) Gotte of Evangeline; and her beloved granddaughter, Brooke Andrepont.

To extend online condolences, please visit www.matthewsandsonfuneralhome.net.

Daily News photo by Holli Brucchaus

On July 1, Medicare opens a national mail-order program that will dramatically drop the prices the government pays for those products but patients will have to use designated suppliers. The goal is to save taxpayers money but seniors should see their copays drop, too.

The Louisiana Oil and Gas Park’s Gator Chateau has welcomed three new residents, including a baby alligator and two alligator snapping turtles.

The additions come after recent losses at the Chateau, including the deaths of young gator Clothile as well as Rambeaux, the alligator turtle who was more than a century old.

Mosquitoes are making their presence known to residents but the good news is that the insect count is at a low point so far, according to Jeff Davis Parish Mosquito Control.

That’s actually very good news considering just in May, Department of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, DVM, began warning horse owners to vaccinate animals for both Easter Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and the West Nile Virus (WNV).

A few United States flags received their own “honorable discharge” Friday, June 14, in honor of Flag Day.

Glenn McFarlain of James O. Hall Post 19 of the Jennings American Legion, with assistance from Boy Scout Troop 65, conducted a Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Southwest Louisiana War Veterans Home.