Wow, I'm surprised how nice and forthcoming he is... usually you don't see that...

This story just keeps getting sillier by the moment.

Yeah, I buy drugs and then throw them away allllll the time ...

He closes his eyes briefly -- more than just a blink -- at several points in the interview. Is that a "tell" of some sort? A "tell" that he's telling a lie?

He got a 'massage' ... yeah, it's called a 'rub and tug' ... funny how he seems so much sweeter now that when he tried to tear off Richard Dawkins' head.

Bought the meth but didnt use it. Guess it's not just democrats that don't inhale.... I bet he'll end up in rehab for crystal in the next couple of days. Like Foley, it'll be a chemical abuse problem, not a "i'm a self-hating gay hypocrite" problem.

That's actually kind of clever, or at least as clever as one can be in this situation. He's saying "I was tempted, but overcame temptation." Unless more evidence comes to light, that'll probably be all he needs to do to keep looking respectable to his "flock". He may even be able to spin it in sermons to bolster his credibility. "I know temptation. I've felt temptation. But I turned away, and for that, the merchants of sin tried to destroy my life. Satan is amongst us! Etc.! Etc.! Etc., my brothers and sisters in Christ! Etc.!"

No one else will buy it, of course, but it doesn't matter if you or I do -- we're not his audience.

That one throwaway line is telling though: "I've stayed at a lot of hotels in Denver because I write in Denver." He regularly rents hotel rooms in Denver... to write. Riiiiiiiight.

How long ago did he supposedly buy this meth and throw it away?

what bothers me about this is that we may lose focus on the problem with ted haggard.

whether or not ted haggard is gay does not have any relevance. whether he takes drugs recreationally or gets his kicks purchasing and discarding them for fun isn't a huge issue, as far as i am concerned. whether he cheats on his wife is their business/problem and none of mine.

my problems with ted haggard stem from his preachings of bigotry.

i admit to feelings of immense schadenfreude not only because i do get a kick out of this, but also because with his credibility ruined, a future would be listener of his hate speech and venom of intolerance is saved from it.

This might possibly be one of the first times that I'm overjoyed that Christmas is starting before Thanksgiving.

Hallelujah. :D

He bought the drugs and threw them away.

Kind of like he put the cock in his mouth, but didn't swallow . . .

The timing is great. One more example of right wing hypocricy just in time for tuesday. Hope it makes a difference.

Is it so hard to believe he bought meth and didn't use it? After all, I smoked pot once but I didn't inhale.

Ted seems like a trustworthy person... but, I don't know. There's something about buying meth and not using it. Haha.

I agree with oskar holm

He's a bigot, a divider, a cultivator of hatred and misery in the world.

In this short clip, one can almost feel sorry for him, but ever the sociopath, he's framing it in terms of "overcoming temptation" for his base, as someone above noted.

I wish you would again show a short clip of "Pastor Ted" in full form tossing Richard Dawkins out the door. See his self-assured narrow-mindedness as a contrast to the contrite sinner shown here.

Granted that in the clip Dawkins treated Haggard without the deference or even politeness that Haggard is used to.

I may be wrong, but who goes from never taking drugs to buying meth? What a brilliant excuse he came up with in the last two days! What about the old Steve Martin "I forgot it was against the law." excuse?

Can you find any bigger lier than this guy??? i mean wow really what a lier seriouly. funny how preaches millions and he is the sinner. wat to go from catholic church to Mullahs . they are all the same i tell you

rand, that actually is a good point, haha. who goes from "clean and sober, never touched anything" to "I NEED SOME FUCKING METH"... You think you would've stopped at the corner of Alcohol St. & Marijuana Blvd. before you hit Meth Ave. & Coke Cir.

here's another news bit http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/Evangelist+admits+buying+meth+massage/TopStories/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20061103%2fhaggardallegations061103&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V2&show=True&number=5&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc

The world is full of people like Haggard, and the ones singled out always make the same mistake. They get recognised on TV. The information age is a scary place... I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yeah, when I saw this on the msn site - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15536263/ I had to come over and see what you all had on it.

Haggard looks like his name in this video. The smirk he had on his face with Rcihard Dawkins is trying to peek out, but can't. Well well well, buying meth once but not using it. What was it that tempted the preacher? Just this time?

Maybe this will get folks thinking about his message. It would be nice to think there won't be someone to carry on the work of Haggard's sermons when he's out of the picture. Maybe, but...

Seeing old tape of Jimmy Swaggart as i type.

don't worry, the Republicans have all weekend to spin this and make it look like it's the democrats fault...

Very strange. He seems like he is admitting the bare minimum of what can be proven and concocting a tale of innocence to wrap around it. Tempted to do meth? Who in the world is tempted to go find a meth dealer and buy it, never having done it before?

I'm don't know of anything he has said that qualifies him as preacher of hate other than being a Christian and against gay marriage. Then again I know little about him. The shocking part is not that he is somehow a hypocrite but that this guy was the president of a denominational group of 30,000,000 people. He's not just some right wing talk show host with a few problems. That's earth shattering. I'm aware that there are some people who think that high ranking religious leaders are just the type who would do meth and be well acquainted with male prostitutes, but I guess I'll put myself down as thoroughly shocked, since I don't think it's common at all. It does say something about what it takes or doesn't take to rise to the top of one of the largest Christian churches in America. Which, I think, is sad.

You know, Clinton's claim he smoked weed but never inhaled is actually plausible and consistent with his personality.

I can imagine him in the late 60s, an eager-beaver, smart, nerdy, Southern boy in the company of much hipper Ivy League and East Coast types, and someone pulls out a doobie and blazes it up; Clinton, desperate for acceptance from these hipsters, but not really into getting high, just fakes it so he looks cool.

I knew kids in my social circle who did the same thing back in the late 70s when pot smoking was what all "cool" people did. Refusing to toke made you look like a dork, but if you took a toke and didn’t inhale, well, that wasn’t too uncool, and no one probably noticed anyhow.

I have never understood why people went so apeshit over Clinton's claim when it was such a perfectly plausible answer.

Then again, Clinton haters were always so creepy and irrational.

...whether or not ted haggard is gay does not have any relevance....my problems with ted haggard stem from his preachings of bigotry.

The relevance lies in the fact that Ted preaches bigotry when he himself is tainted with the same issue he speaks out against. It's not that his personal life affects me--because it doesn't--it just makes him look just as much of a fool and hypocrite as when Mark Foley spoke out against pedophiles and then later engaged in that activity.

Watching the Dawkins confrontation, I think we all knew that one day this megalomaniac would fall. I've followed his media appearance closely ever since I saw the Dawkins piece, and this is a very good finale.

The video is revealing. Notice how when asked if used meth and had sex that at first he shakes his head no then nods yes!!

It may be that the election will show that many of the Christian Fundamentalists the Republicans have depended on in the past have diapppeared: this could be a sign that The Rapture is finally under way.

Just not quite the way they thought.

Seeing how I’m a liberal, pseudo-intellectual dipshit, the retail industry’s determination to ring in the holidays earlier every season has been a source of untold annoyance over the years. But when the president of the 30 million-member National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), the largest evangelical group in America is outed for buying crystal methamphetamine and getting a massage (nudge nudge, wink wink) from a homosexual prostitute, I will welcome the fact that Christmas now comes in November.

What was the Republican outrage? Kerry's botched joke? Is that all you guys got?

I live in Manitou Springs, Colorado which is right next to Colorado Springs and the home of this monster.

What we have here is Haggard trying to maximize the space of plausible deniability. He is admitting to that which is proved through his voice mails by the Denver television station. They are matching his voice word for word and have verified that it his him on the voice mails. So, Haggard is admitting to only the extent of what is "proven". Who do you believe though, given Haggard's initial blanket denial? Jones or Haggard?

Who does John Everyman man on the street believe?

I don't feel even slightly sorry for this guy. He's just another lying hypocrite, a BS political preacher. One that has nothing but anger and a desire to punish those on the recieving end of his low brow bigotry.

A massuer who sells drugs to clients is also a prostitute. For him to know the guy had meth, he had to ask for it. The hotel guy who lined him up had some reason to trust him. Prior dealings?

How about a piss test brother?

erick,

what i meant in my earlier comment is that i have a problem with gay bashing hate preachers, regardless of whether they are secretly gay or not.

i agree it is hypocritical of him to be both, but i don't like to frame the conversation such that haggards flaw was his inconsistency.

now i am rationalizing my own glee over this man's misfortune, but i hope that out of this comes at least the slightest glimmer of light into the minds of haggard's 30 million fans. at least his followers will have to start thinking about homosexuals as people in their own midst, and not just an evil out-group.

You know, as crazy as it sounds, I initially gave this nutjob the benefit of the doubt when the story broke. I didn't know of the voicemails then, so all I saw was a man being accused of things. Not too unbelievable that it was a vicious lie (hell, it's something I'd accuse him of for a kick).

But then I heard of the voicemails. That lost a lot of doubt right there, but even then I still thought it might be something vicious.

With this? Yikes. Everything in it screams lies, except for the parts where he is admitting to breaking the law or already lying. Buy drugs, after apparently never doing that in your life, and then removing them. Right. Going to him for a message, but suddenly you're being offered drugs; and as a pastor, you're somehow tempted.

I was at a pool tournament and was wearing a shirt that was "suggestive" (it had pot leaves on it). Some person I had seen once offered the chance to go get high. Amazingly, having never felt any desire at all to do drugs, I could say no. Apparently I have more moral fiber than an evangelical pastor. That's going on my resume.

And the line about the hotels? Please.

He would be more believable if he had said, "Jones gave me the meth in my milk. I was so high I don't know what happened. Farm animals were running all through the hotel room. I think there may have been sheep. It's the meth that made me do it. I've asked Jesus to forgive me, and Jesus said I am forgiven. Now I am here to tell everyone about the evils of meth."

Jeebus.

For anyone who may not be aware of this fact, crystal meth is the preferred drug in certain gay circles. As others have pointed out, this Haggard guy is only fessing up to things that can already be substantiated--hardly an act of contrition. If the hooker boy wants Haggard to come clean he should threaten to draw a road map of the crystal meth-fueled sex he had with his holiness.

As a liberal, single, heterosexual male, I'm fairly proud of most of my bad behavior so normally I couldn't care less if someone wants to snort crank off some gay hooker's butt. I, however, am not claiming any moral high ground like these creeps.

Just to add to this increasing pile of Haggard hatred: doesn't it strike anyone as a little odd that he nods his head while his mouth says 'no' ?

Does anyone remember that Jane's Addiction song "Ted, Just Admit It"? Seems oddly pointient here.

No, they just tell the truth and you think it's hate.

It's official. They've found him guilty of "sexually immoral conduct."

From Yahoo! News/the AP: COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The Rev. Ted Haggard agreed to resign as leader of the New Life Church after its independent investigative board recommended removal, saying he was guilty "of sexually immoral conduct." ADVERTISEMENT

"We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard," a statement from the church said. "Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct."

Having watched the earlier clip, it's more clear that Haggard was hedging his bets, then admitting what he had to because of the voice mails. Looks, smells, and sounds like a pack of lies from his end.

"I went for a massage...ON MY PENIS!"

Hey, read between the lines. He was referred to a gay masseuse? Why would someone refer you to a gay masseuse?

This is not his first "sexually immoral activity"