Disgraced closet-case preacher Ted Haggard is back in the spotlight with a new HBO documentary that retells the events that led up to his 2006 resignation from Colorado Springs New Life Church. The Trials of Ted Haggard, directed by Nancy Pelosi‘s daughter, Alexandra also follows Rev. Ted’s life since. It’s a sad picture. Haggard went to therapy to cure his homosexuality, but says he still struggles with his sexuality and while his wife has stayed with him, the fact that she’s saying things like “I know to restore the honor to our children is to help restore honor to their father” is a pretty good indicator she’s not staying out of love. Haggard works as a self-describe “unsuccessful” insurance salesman now and says, “At this stage in my life, I am a loser.” Get a heaping spoonful of schadenfreude after the jump.
Ted TV: Disgraced Preacher’s Awful Life to be HBO Documentary
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John M
Oh honey, don’t be too hard on yourself, you’ve always been a loser
Hint
I actually am starting to feel really bad for this pathetic guy. So sad. And there are no doubt thousands of sad men just like him, their minds permanently warped by myth and superstition.
:-(
Schadenfreude doesn’t seem to be very appropriate. The man is damaged. What a tragedy.
dvlaries
What surprises me is that more ex-tricks of Haggard’s haven’t surfaced since November ’06, telling their stories. It’s impossible to believe that Mike Jones was the only one, both hustler and preacher-client on the point of 50 when the sludge train publicly derailed. What man, sexually attracted to other men, waits till his late 40s to start trying it…? I’m not convinced we know even HALF the tales Ted could tell …or maybe Gail too.
Rob Moore
We don’t need to know every thing he did. All of us know he would be happier in life if he could learn how to integrate himself into a whole person. His wife would be happier if she was dealing with a whole person rather than a jigsaw man, and if she is not too damaged in her own right from all the religious bullshit.
Schaden Freude
If other people want to get all dewey-eyed and compassionate about Haggard, fine. But you can count me out, that’s for sure. Haggard is a self-hating, hypocritical loser on steroids. Ted, come to think of it, I think I will have some fries with that Coke. Make it snappy.
Charles J. Mueller
Ted and wife Gail damaged….
Like they are the only ones.
It’s a whole fucking, coast-to-coast train wreck out the folks! đ
DavidOnTheMedia
Dewey eyed? Please. I’m the first one at a chik flik with the kleenex out of the box, but this guy is soooo fake, such a fraud, pure wax paper, his authenticity would have to come forward at least an inch for me to even feel one iota of compassion. He is truly an evil seducing controlling lying manipulating man, even in his apologies. However, I do want to watch the documentary, as I love to see deceptive preachers sizzle in their own juices. Repent my ass, that’ll be the day, this guy is the scum of the earth. If there were ever a used car salesman that would sell you down the river, it’s Haggard. Now there’s a job he would be a success at, in his mind.
Puddy Katz
I guess he’s making money off this documentary? Still a salesman, now repackaging his “damaged” life.
I don’t feel sorry for him. I see him as manipulating everyone around him and whatever audience he has for the documentary.
I think he should just get a regular job, at WalMart or something. Bring in a regular paycheck and support the family he has chosen.
bobito
Yeah, he’s a loser and damaged, as some commenters have pointed out, but the bigger losers and the more damaged are still the people who turned to him for spiritual guidance all of those years. Back when he considered himself “successful”, he was a self-loathing closet case. Now he’s a self-loathing wannabe-back-in-the-closet case.
And I thought he did some kind of one-month “cure” and was now 100% straight – what happened with that? Is a more drawn-out “struggle” better for getting media access?
DavidOnTheMedia
“wannabe-back-in-the-closet case” Now that’s truly funny. I think a dog-poop scooper in a park somewhere would fit his truer calling.
DavidOnTheMedia
Maybe someday if he grows a few, he will apologize for the deep hurt he has caused the gay community be his actions of not being authentic about his ture gay nature. The only way he could pull a total PR turnaround would be to become a self accepting gay preacher.
thisismikesother
It bothers me so much that he “kept it a secret for fear of being rejected.” And who is it that’s propagating hate speech that drives this fear? People like him. He’s his own worst enemy in so many ways.
Even though he’s trying to be honest now, I don’t feel sorry for him at all. He clearly hasn’t made any progress. On top of it all, there are many people out there who need the exact same type of help too. If he was really trying to rectify this, he would be doing something like volunteering to work with LGBT youth by sharing his story, not making an HBO documentary about his sorry state of affairs.
amy
I feel sorrier for all the people that actually looked to this charlatan for moral advice. What a bunch of suckers.