Jerry Falwell has Died

Jerry Falwell has Died bumped & updated

VIDEO: CNN on Falwell's influence. VIDEO: Christiane Amanpour on Falwell.

CNN has confirmed his death. It will send shockwaves through the evangelical political movement.

Falwell started it all. You know, the convergence of religion and politics. He's now gone, but leaves behind a legacy of immitators, many of whom flourish on wingnut radio. Falwell's influence cannot possibly be underestimated.

Falwell came to power and organized the evangelical movement. Two words: Moral Majority; never mind that they weren't moral or a majority. That movement is now splintered, with many evangelicals deciding that issues like poverty and global warming are just as important as gays and abortion.

Condolences go out to Reverend Falwell's family.

Republicans everywhere are likely going to be in shock for a very long time.

Obviously, much more to come on this story.

UPDATE: The dangers of live TV in the midst of a “breaking news” tragedy.

UPDATE: The video above with Amanpour is quite interesting. She states that in her last interview with Falwell he said his most important issue for '08 was security. This is interesting on many levels, but it certainly reveals that even Falwell knew that abortion and gay rights had become too narrow a platform on which Republicans can win a majority. Times had changed.