McCain Finally Rejects Hagee Endorsement

The news that the Rev. John Hagee, one of John McCain's most prominent backers, once suggested that Hitler and the Holocaust were God's will has finally caused the candidate and his controversial backer to part company.

The Huffington Post report that Hagee had suggested that the Nazis implemented God's will as part of a grand scheme to drive Jews from Europe to Palestine -- "Because," in Hagee's words, "God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel" -- blew up on McCain Thursday.

And McCain blew up his relationship with Hagee.

Changing his tune after months of saying that "very honored" to have the powerful televangelist's backing, the candidate is now refusing that support.

After refusing to reject the pastor's endorsement even after Hagee's anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim and anti-gay sentiments had been revealed, the Arizona senator released an email statement that read, "Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well."

The candidate's rejection of his evangelical supporter's endorsement came after the Interfaith Alliance, a religious group claiming nearly 200,000 members, released a statement suggesting that, "Senator McCain needs to tell the American people that he refutes these absurd and offensive comments that breed hate and send the wrong signal about America to the international community. There is no place in public discourse for religious or political leaders to espouse this narrow-minded thinking and hatred."

Around the same time that McCain rejected Hagee's endorsement, Hagee withdrew it.

"Ever since I endorsed John McCain for president, people seeking to attack Senator McCain have combed my records for statements they can use for political gain. They have had no qualms about grossly misrepresenting my position on issues most near and dear to my heart if it serves their political ambitions," said Hagee in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues. I have therefore decided to withdraw my endorsement of Senator McCain for President effective today, and to remove myself from any active role in the 2008 campaign.

The pastor concluded, "I hope that the Senator McCain will accept this withdrawal so that he may focus on the issues that are most important to America and the world."

That won't be a problem.

McCain needs to put distance between himself and Hagee.

But how distant are they?

Hagee did not suggest that the candidate had said or done anything to offend him. The preacher objected to being a "distraction," not to John McCain.

Presumably, despite the withdrawal of his formal endorsement, Hagee still supports McCain as the candidate most in line with his religious and political views.

This, ultimately, is what should trouble Americans most about the McCain-Hagee connection.

The relationship between the pastor and his candidate may have changed, at least formally. But the inclinations that brought them together in an unsettling linkage of politics and religion have not changed.

Comments (45)

1. Important questions still to be asked are:

   Why did McCain actively seek his, and Parsley's endorsements?

   Why did he wait so long to reject Hagee's?

   Why has he not rejected Parsley's?

   Why do these people have "any active role in the 2008 campaign"? Are there apocalyptic views representative of his own, vis a vis, Mideast policy?

   Posted by jmusolino at 05/22/2008 @ 4:54pm

2. Whoopee!

   We didn't get the privilege of endless clips of Hagee like we did with Wright, so the Hagee endorsement hasn't damaged McCain as much as Wright damaged Obama.

   I guess since the other networks have allowed Fox News to play a leadership role with the TV networks, Fox's decision to not endlessly loop Hagee clips like they did with Wright makes Hagee's despicable views less of an issue for McCain, right?

   Posted by Metteyya at 05/22/2008 @ 5:07pm

3. 'have combed my records for statements they can use for political gain. They have had no qualms about grossly misrepresenting my position on issues most near and dear to my heart if it serves their political ambitions," said Hagee in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues..." '

   Took a page from your own playbook didn't they Pastor Hagee. Adios Nutjob!

   Posted by OneVote at 05/22/2008 @ 5:33pm

4. At least Reverend Wright did not preach god's glory unto the Nazis. Even if he had glorified the terrorists of September 11, 2001--which he did not--that would still leave him about 5,997,000 short of god's apparent messenger, and that's only with Jews.

   Nazi sympathizers for McCain unite!

   Posted by onthehelm at 05/22/2008 @ 6:08pm

5. Here's and idea: maybe you can create POW Vets for Truth to swiftboat McCain for being a coward during captivity and hurt him the way Kerry got hurt. Go ahead, give it a try.

   Posted by marybretbrad at 05/22/2008

   There would be no problem showing that McCain turned his back on POWs and MIAs as a politician, including those held in Korea. Pretty hard to criticize McCain on his valor when he spent the war as a guest of the Hanoi Hilton. I guarantee you that the voters of this country would be appalled to know the truth.

   Problem is, Obama is sticking to the high road in this campaign and is not getting down to level of the Clinton and Republican slime machines.

   It is my sincere hope that veteran activists will bring to light the character of man who willingly sells out his fellow soldiers for sake of political gain in a country which is in the stanglehold of the military industrial complex. Walk a mile in the shoes of a mother whose son who was left in Viet Nam as a POW and imagine the horror of your own government lying to you and trying to cover up massive evidence that POWs were still held captive many years after the war. There is some great footage of McCain on veterans websites running roughshod over witnesses at the kangaroo court of Congressional hearings on POWs. Because our media is controlled in large part by the military industrial complex (GE for instance) and advertising dollar from defense contractors, you won't find any MSM journalists willing to take on this story this election cycle. But maybe, just maybe, McCain will get his just reward for betrayal by other sources that seek truth and justice.

   Posted by OneVote at 05/22/2008 @ 6:15pm

6. The inability to make important distinctions lives on. Hagee and Wright aren't even close to being comparable but in a juvinile moral equivalence of all pastors are exactly the same you think McCain should be as damaged as Obama, but it won't happen. And you'll be frustrated.

   Posted by marybretbrad at 05/22/2008 |

   So why do you suppose that McCain dumped Hagee if the distinction is so easy to draw?

   Posted by OneVote at 05/22/2008 @ 6:21pm

7. The real irony here is that as much of a nutjob Hagee clearly is, any close inspection of McCain would reveal that he is a nutjob of his own stripe.

   Straight Talk my ass, McCain is closer to being a genuine neocon than Dubya ever was, and if he were to become our next president we might yet be witness to Hagee's --and far too many other's-- wished for Armageddon.

   As much as I am concerned about the long odds against a Barack Obama presidency providing the necessary course correction at this juncture, the likely consequences of a John McCain presidency are probably too horrible to contemplate.

   If our so-called mainstream media does 1/10th of its job of exposing the Real McCain in the upcoming months it will be starkly obvious that he is unqualified, and frankly unfit, to be president of the United States.

   I'm not encouraged based on the piss-poor performance of our media on such nuggets as the 2000 election, the Iraq War run-up, and now the unexamined chest pounding on Iran.

   In spite of all of the bad signals Obama likely wins in a landslide this November, but as I've indicated it may not matter much to the future of a nation that is increasingly straight-jacketed by some historically bad turns of events that were ultimately the result of a thickly polluted political culture in Washington DC.

   Historians will likely be picking through the rubble for many centuries to come --if we manage to survive the devastation of our global ecosystem.

   P.S. If anyone here doubts how sick and twisted McCain really is, just take a gander at "The Mark of McCain" at the outstanding Counterpunch.org muckraking site --just type the title in the search box. The Nation's newsfeed also recently carried a fine piece by Matthew Yglesias, entitled "The Militarist", from The American Prospect (prospect.org). McCain is a shady political opportunist who has gotten a free ride in the media for far too long.

   Posted by b_kool_66 at 05/22/2008 @ 6:52pm

8. Nice posts, OneVote.

   Posted by b_kool_66 at 05/22/2008 @ 6:55pm

9. There were two ways Hagee might have explained his position on Hitler, the Jews and the Holocaust. One, the way he did, in which God is made to seem the efficient cause of the Holocaust itself, and, two, way it really was, in which human beings, not God, caused the Holocaust and God provided a refuge for what was left of European Jewry in the land of Israel. This latter interpretation would be the one you'd hear in most Christian circles, as it's completely and utterly consistent with the pattern of the Cross. But not John Hagee. For Hagee and for not just a few other Evangelicals as well, God would seem so to despise human freedom as to make every human act one of His own. The apology Hagee needs to make is to God, not to the Jews. The Jews are simply likely to take him for a schlemeil. Rather, Hagee's mistake is to be found in his embrace of an errand theology, one which always seems to lead him into swamps of this kind. McCain, on the other hand, is just posturing, something of the man's signature since birth. In his case the apology needs to be made the world.

   Posted by john lowell at 05/22/2008 @ 7:36pm

10. The inability to make important distinctions lives on.

    Posted by marybretbrad at 05/22/2008

    Indeed it does.

    We in white America don't even get it that Jeremiah Wright isn't necessarily talking to us, but in a manner akin to Malcolm X, his target audience may very well be the members of his own race (as opposed to Martin Luther King - and to a certain extent Barack Obama - whose chosen audience was/is the white community).

    We whites are so monumentally ethnocentric, so colossally hubristic and so damned arrogant as to believe that everything is about us, all of the time.

    I do not understand Jeremiah Wright's message, nor would I profess to understand its roots. I just know that I - and those like me - are not the only race that walks this earth or the only race that has a voice to speak or ears to hear.

    Who(m?) it is that Hagee is speaking to, I have no freakin' clue.

    Posted by skeletonman at 05/22/2008 @ 7:58pm

11. Said it on the other thread...and now more true than ever...

    Hagee is not going to be ammo against McCain.

    Now, with the duel rejections of each other...the whole thing will be over by this Sunday's talks shows. (How can you bring it back?)

    The key to going after McCain is the war with the general population, as well as his hypocrisy on lobbyists....

    AND splitting him off from his base.

    Keep bringing up his stance on...global warming....affirmative action....closing Gitmo....campaign finance...."agents of intolerance"...all without Democratic Party or Obama fingerprints.

    Call it "Americans for Real Conservatism" in the ads, make it sound like Limbaugh ditto-heads who are fed up, but fund it through a liberal 527.

    Posted by Mask at 05/22/2008 @ 8:09pm

12. Pastors ?? do any of you care about pastors..? Another smoke screen..

    Obama dosent need to slime Mccain to win this... Just Play the 'Highlight' reel of the past 8 glorious years under our most popular prsident ever (mr. 29%..But what do we the people know)...

    Does anyone remember the Seinfeld where George does the opposite of every instinct he has..(and he becomes succesful) ??

    thats all the next pres has to do... ask himself 'What would Georges admin do???'... then do the opposite... It would have worked for the current administration... can anyone give an example otherwise..??

    Posted by Vvf1969 at 05/22/2008 @ 8:23pm

13. Posted by b_kool_66 at 05/22/2008

    Thanks. That Mark of McCain article is a good one.

    Posted by skeletonman at 05/22/2008

    Weird. I listened to a few of Wright's sermons and found myself saying, "Amen," more than once. I'm white. I believe blacks from Chuck D to Jay-Z, Marcus Garvey to King has or had something that white American should make every effort to understand. I think this includes Reverend Wright.

    We may not be the audience these folks were speaking directly to - but we definitely can learn something by listening in.

    One interesting example: try listening to Bob Edwards Weekend - you can get it through iTunes - where he interviews Michael Eric Dyson (April 26-27, 2008). Fantastic stuff. Another is Race Matters by Cornel West.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/22/2008 @ 9:07pm

14. wow,

    america sure is neurotic.

    no wonder you guys are pumped full of paxil.

    please, america,

    NO MORE BUSH!

    we beg you.

    Thursday, May 22, 2008 10:06:41 PM

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/22/2008 @ 10:07pm

15. Well, men who did not serve still did very well on the job. Look at Bubba and you'll see why McCain might be wrong: No military experience needed, talk a lot instead.

    -------------

    McCain and Obama battle over military service By Steve Holland May 22, 08

    UNION CITY, California (Reuters) - Republican John McCain took aim at presidential rival Barack Obama's lack of military service on Thursday, drawing a rebuke from the Democratic front-runner for his "endless diatribes and schoolyard taunts."

    Posted by HelenDAO at 05/22/2008 @ 10:39pm

16. Hagee is a mentally deranged extremist, as are many if not most of his "flock" (such an apt label for the dimwitted sheep on two legs that absorb and revere the bigoted swill this guy and others like him so earnestly preach).

    Ten minutes of the great George Carlin's riff on the calumny of TV evangelism is all any rational, thinking person needs to both laugh oneself silly, and realize the pathetic psychological and emotional grip these charlatans have on so many millions of cretinous Americans.

    Reagan first (whom the late, great Richard Widmark called an "affable, boring fellow" when he knew him in Hollywood) abetted later by the demagogue Dan Quayle, and then of course by George W. Bush, allowed these creeps, with the aid and comfort of corporate media, to move stage front in our national life and political discourse, in a cynical alliance designed to both solidify their respective "base" and pander to the worst angels of our nature through the elevation and legitimization of these hatemongers and delusionists.

    With the inevitable trouncing of the McBush candidacy, this may at long last send these reptiles scrambling back under the rocks from whence they crawled, and hopefully neuter their political influence at all levels of our society. If this happens as a result of Obama's election, I will consider his victory a true watershed in the reclamation of American decency and true righteousness. Hallelujah! Amen.

    Posted by stonecutter at 05/22/2008 @ 10:42pm

17. There is not much difference in Pastor Hagee's remarks that have been cited, from that which is taught in most Evangelical churches every week.

    And while Pastor Parsley was wrong about America being a Christian nation and created to destroy Islam, he certainly isn't wrong about the evil of Islam and it's intentions from the beginning to destroy Judaism and Christianity.

    The anti-Christian, and anti G-d in general crowd is feeling emboldened to begin attacking Christianity on a level this country has never witnessed.

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/23/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    Well, then, there's one hell of a lot of nonsense and bigotry taught in most Evangelical churches every week, if what you say is true. Larry, you may want to work a bit at eradicating the evils of your own religion, including centuries of murderous intolerance that continues to this day, with your born-again leader's occupation of Iraq and its resultant 1.2 million murders. You may want to do something about the centuries of torture, again continuing to this very day in places like Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and the gulags your born-again leader has set up across the globe. And your "anti-Christian anti-God" complaint sounds a bit whiney, Larry. A lot like those on your side who, once upon a time, would dismiss any criticism of their ideas as coming from "commies", "pinkos", and, of course "commie-pinkos". I would submit to you that Hagee, Parsley, Bush, Robertson, Falwell, etc., and their devotees are today's Pharisees, "whitened sepulchers", and I would further submit to you that, were Jesus alive today, they would be the ones calling loudly for his execution.

    Posted by jmusolino at 05/23/2008 @ 01:49am

18. Separation of church and state? – not so much.

    http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/05/religious-political-endorsem ents.html

    Perhaps McCain is learning.

    Posted by PacificGatePost at 05/23/2008 @ 03:23am

19. cast the islamo-brownos into the lake of fire!

    eat their children before they eat you!

    i gonna start teaching my son mandarin..........

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/23/2008 @ 04:22am

20. John 15:18-25

    Posted by lvliberty1 at 05/23/2008

    John 15:18-25.

    Those of your persuasion love to proof text this particular passage as 'evidence' of their persecution.

    Why conservative christians have this unfounded need to feel put upon is beyond my ken.

    Christianity is only the most powerful religious force ever to sweep the planet, yet there is this need among the generally white, usually Protestant, always right wing adherents to take on this mantle of being despised without stopping to consider if their own actions have brought this upon themselves.

    There is an enormous difference between what Christ did in taking up the mantle of the despised of his time - the lepers, tax collectors - and what those who proof text John 15:18-25 are doing.

    In the one case, the sufferings of others were freely taken on; in the other, sufferings of one's own making are publicly displayed, as so much gnashing of teeth and rending of garments.

    Posted by skeletonman at 05/23/2008 @ 06:27am

21. McCain saw that the MSM couldn't protect him from this and did what he had to do.I think that it is only the begining,look at the restrictions he is putting on theMSM,in regards to his medical records.

    Posted by eniobob at 05/23/2008 @ 06:35am

22. LVL sayeth, "There is not much difference in Pastor Hagee's remarks that have been cited, from that which is taught in most Evangelical churches every week."

    And like the Pope's questioning of Islam, shouldn't we ask the question: Perhaps there is something fundamentally violent in Evangelical Christianity?

    How about this quote from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice:

    281 "I said to one of the Cuban Friends, "It must be hard to be a Christian in Cuba." He smiled ,"Not as hard as it is in the United States," he said. Of course, I asked why he said that, and he went on,"You are tempted by three idols that do not tempt us. One is affluence, which we do not have. Another is power, which we also do not have. The third is technology, which again we do not have. Furthermore, when you join a church or a meeting, you gain in social acceptance and respectability. When we join, we lose those things, so we must be very clear about what we believe and what the commitment is that we are prepared to make."

    This quote is interesting because it reveals something that many Evangelical Christians in the United States lie to themselves about - that Christians in the United States are a persecuted minority. The reality is that Christians are more often than not the agents of persecution, just as Christians are frequently worshiping some idol rather than following the teachings of Jesus - whether that idol be affluence (Prosperity Gospel), power (as is evidenced by the politics of the Religious Right), or technology ("smart" bombs, electronic border monitoring, closed circuit television cameras, personal data mining all done obstensibly to secure them from all those Muslims they believe are out to get them). Joining a church is one ingredient to getting the keys to the kingdom - on Earth. And it has to be the right one - one that, more likely than not, is primarily concerned with serving one of the aforementioned idols.

    http://www.pym.org/publish/fnp/fnp09-pages_145_to_174.pdf

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/23/2008 @ 08:59am

23. The double-standards in American politics are so huge and obvious, it seems almost unnecessary to point them out.

    If our spineless press and media plan to give McCain a free ride in the general election, we're all in for a very stormy November.

    Let's hope the American people are intelligent enough to see through the fog. We have to remember who was in power when Al-Qaeda attacked on September 11th and how they were able to cleverly prevent themselves from being held accountable and how they refused to accept even the slightest responsibility.

    If we fail to recognize that we have stumbled full-steam down the wrong path (three elections in row)...we deserve to suffer a great and pitiful fate.

    Posted by CrushInfamy at 05/23/2008 @ 09:11am

24. I was wondering when we would get some good ol bible verses and have Mr. Liberty edumacate us godless heathens on how parsley and hagee were just doing god's work. I wonder how long some of these religious nutbags would be leading churches if the church's had to pay taxes. However, I don't believe McCain believes the first word that comes out of either nutbags mouth. This is all politics. McCain wants liberty's vote. He wants Rio's vote and every other crazed religious person's vote. He needs these votes to win the presidency. I am sure if he could he would have the gay marriage ban back on every ballot this fall if he could. Because he knows this will bring out the evangilical base faster than a televangelist when he sees an old woman with extra money, or any money for that fact. The republican brand is damaged, and in order for McCain to win he has to have all the base and hope to pry loose as many other voters as he can scare with the islomo facist boogie monster stories.

    Posted by Sleepy at 05/23/2008 @ 09:31am

25. McCain should have stuck with his original (2000) assessement of this crowd....

    "agents of intolerance" comparable to Farrakhan!

    He actually opposed the Religious Right, before supporting them, before renouncing them.

    heheh

    Posted by Mask at 05/23/2008 @ 09:37am

26. I think the takeaway of the whole saga is quite clear:

    Some religious figures sure do say crazy things.

    Hopefully this neutralizes things, except for the pointless banter of which pastor is "crazier."

    It's why religioun should be no part of politics in this country.

    Posted by Hman23 at 05/23/2008 @ 09:58am

27. Living in Texas, I've been following the exploits of this extremely dangerous tub of goo - Hagee - for a while. His vision to graft the myths and bigotry of the Bible onto the real world is a recipe for epic blood-baths. His proximity to power (hence McCain's desire for his endorsement.) makes him one of the most dangerous men in America. The fascinating dynamic of this gelatinous phenomenon is not his pro-Israeli, pro-Zionist, anti-Jewish vision; but the embrace of him by many powerful leaders in the Jewish community (also a prime motivator for McCain to seek his endorsement). ....stupid? cynical? savvy? don't know. but, extremely dangerous.

    Posted by blueCedars at 05/23/2008 @ 09:59am

28. Please verify this horrifying list of un-democratic behavior:

    Elected Officials Voting for Obama Who's constituents voted for Clinton

    Robert Cramer – Alabama Gov. Janet Napalitano – Arizona George Miller – California Gerald McNerney – California - Obama Donation $5,000 Fortney Pete Stark – California Zoe Lofgren – Cal. Howard Berman – Cal. Adam Schiff – Cal. Henry Waxman – Cal Linda Sanchez – Cal Joe Donnely – Indiana - Obama $7,500 Donation Baron Hill – Indiana – Obama $12,500 Donation Ben Chandler – Kentucky – wow Obama drew less than 10% Bill Delahunt – Massachussetts Gov. Deval Patrick Mass. Sen. Ted Kennedy Mass. - $10,000 from both candidates Sen. John Kerry – Mass. Gov. Bill Richardson – New Mexico Carol Shea-Porter – New Hampshire Gov. Brad Henry – Oklahoma Patrick Murphy – PA Donations from Clinton $2500 Obama $18,826 Sen. Bob Casey – PA Patrick Kennedy – RI Charlie Gonzalez - Texas Eddie Johnson - Texas Rick Boucher – Virginia Nick Rahal – WV Sen. Robert Byrd –WV $10,000 from both candidates Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV – WV - Obama $5000 Donation

    Posted by KJW at 05/23/2008 @ 10:14am

29. thats all the next pres has to do... ask himself 'What would Georges admin do???'... then do the opposite... It would have worked for the current administration... can anyone give an example otherwise..??

    Posted by Vvf1969 at 05/22/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    this is what the bush mis-administration did when they seized power, to the detriment of all Americans.

    let's not do such a brain dead policy again.

    Posted by emile duBois at 05/23/2008 @ 10:38am

30. "Why conservative christians have this unfounded need to feel put upon is beyond my ken. "

    Simple: If yer not fer 'em, yer agin 'em!

    Not accepting Christ as your personal savior, not letting them force their views on others, and not letting them take over our government is "persecution".

    I call it self-protection.

    Posted by Balrog at 05/23/2008 @ 12:00pm

31. accepting Christ as your personal savior,

    what the hell does that mean? following some Elmer gantry preacher? checking your brain at the door? posting hate filled screeds at the Nation blog?

    Posted by emile duBois at 05/23/2008 @ 12:08pm

32. I would have liked to have seen McCain distance himself sooner, still, it's good to see it happen. I like to see that our candidates are open to discussing issues. If we are to get anywhere as a nation, we need dialogue. Attachments to hardliners and extremists make this difficult to accomplish. By their very definition, they aren't open to discussion about their issues, period.

    Whether or not McCain is more open to dialogue about important issues is debatable. Only time will tell. And in making this break, it seems he's taken a step in that direction.

    Posted by bubbadog at 05/23/2008 @ 12:22pm

33. McSame is an unmitigated disaster as a candidate. dumb as a box of rocks for one thing.

    Posted by emile duBois at 05/23/2008 @ 12:45pm

34. "The warning words of Solomon in Proverbs 1 ring so true today in this atmosphere of hate towards those who actually believe in the Bible."

    You are confused: non-belief <> hate.

    I have the right to not believe in your religion. I have the right to not have your religion foisted upon me. I have the right to not have your religion imposed upon my children in school. I have the right to believe in my own religion.

    Just because I believe in my own religion and choose NOT to believe in your religion does not mean you are hated or persecuted. Even though your religion dictates that you spread the word, that fact that I do not want to hear that word – on my front porch, at public events, or in public schools – does not mean that you are being hated or persecuted. It means your religion is being rejected. While I understand that rejection hurts, it is my RIGHT to reject your religion, just as it is your right to reject my religion.

    You religion is YOURS, not MINE. Instead of acting like a spoiled brat that always has to have its way, have the tolerance and the decency to allow me to choose my own religion. Quoting the bible ad nausea as though it is the final incontrovertible word is proof in and of itself of your egotistical intolerance to others religious beliefs. It may be the final word for you, but it is not for many others, and certainly not for me. In discussions such as these, quoting the bible proves NOTHING. All it proves is that you are an arrogant fool incapable of rational discussion with others who do not share your belief.

    Posted by Balrog at 05/23/2008 @ 1:18pm

35. Posted by Balrog at 05/23/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    nicely skewered.

    the Christoids, not actual Christians, live in a bubble of their own creation, pun intended

    Posted by emile duBois at 05/23/2008 @ 1:27pm

36. Weird. I listened to a few of Wright's sermons and found myself saying, "Amen," more than once. I'm white.

    Posted by srjenkins at 05/22/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    Me too. I have been waiting for a reasoned refutation of what the Reverend preaches but it never seems to come. Ever time I ask the question as to what exactly he said that wasn't right or mostly right, I get blank stares.

    Maybe he makes alot of whites uncomfortable because he hasn't swept history under the carpet. It is what it is.

    Posted by OneVote at 05/23/2008 @ 1:50pm

37. o

    o

    o

    o

    o

    o

    there's s-me extra "o"s for th-se wh- have tr-uble spelling g-d.

    Posted by frosty zoom at 05/23/2008 @ 1:51pm

38. UNION CITY, California (Reuters) - Republican John McCain took aim at presidential rival Barack Obama's lack of military service on Thursday, drawing a rebuke from the Democratic front-runner for his "endless diatribes and schoolyard taunts."

    Posted by HelenDAO at 05/22/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    Yeah...McCain misses the vote on the GI bill and then says to Obama how dare you question me on these issues which you know nothing about because you never served. Hilarious! Hey John.....while you were campaigning and not voting, did you ever consider that your opposition vote might just be important given that all sorts of non-war heroes would be voting for it?

    Posted by OneVote at 05/23/2008 @ 1:55pm

39. Posted by OneVote at 05/23/2008

    "Me too. I have been waiting for a reasoned refutation of what the Reverend preaches but it never seems to come. Ever time I ask the question as to what exactly he said that wasn't right or mostly right, I get blank stares."

    That's just the kool-aid kicking into the bloodstream of your lefty friends.

    Posted by pontificus at 05/23/2008 @ 2:27pm

40. Posted by pontificus at 05/23/2008

    Actually I think he means he was asking it of the right. So maybe its the Kool-Aid kicking into the right's veins.

    Posted by Cccomfo1 at 05/23/2008 @ 3:53pm

41. Let's get something clear: any criticism of Hagee or his ilk from me is not about the private, personal practice of faith, in any sect...there is a revered place for that inalienable right in our Constitution and our culture.

    It is about right-wing extremists, bigots and reactionaries transparently wrapping themselves in the cloak of religion, a despicable, anti-American practice that has sadly existed in this country long before the DofI was signed.

    Just watch the exceptional film of "The Crucible" from 1996, with Daniel-Day Lewis, Paul Scofield and Joan Allen, to experience the hammer of historical religious extremism in the service of mindless hatred and fear among those gullibles who consider the Bible infallible. Sadly, this is as much a legacy of the American experience as the New Deal and vanquishing the Nazis in WWII. It's still with us, which makes it almost as impervious as HIV.

    Posted by stonecutter at 05/23/2008 @ 6:36pm

42. enough Jesus... enough... lvliberty .. you are a sheep.. A story is a story.. The bible; written by man.. There is no boogey man.. Fairytales... get over it ..

    On behalf of all of us 'God Hatin', libral', gun hatin', fag-lovin', spineless, (did i mention jesus hatin' yet), tax lovin', Nascar hatin', flag-burnin', leftist commies... ENOUGH BIBLE PASSAGES...!! We get it... Jesus is your co-pilot.. We get it...

    P.S. the hell with Terry Shaivo too...lol (rememember that lil' Republican fiasco)

    I need some churchin' up... (no more apostrophies, I promise)

    Posted by Vvf1969 at 05/23/2008 @ 6:54pm

43. Hey John.....while you were campaigning...

    Posted by OneVote at 05/23/2008

    So that's what we call it when Republics suck up to corporate special interests nowadays

    Posted by skeletonman at 05/23/2008 @ 8:09pm

44. To The Nation blog

    After watching the usual gibberishi skirt the One and Only one issue, conscience moves fingers to type ...

    THE YEAR OF THE JEW

    Lieberman => Pope in NY synagogue => Hillary obliterates Iran for $10 mil =>

    THE GREAT ABOMINATION : Bush crucifies Christ for Kahane in the Knesset =>

    All opposed religions interpretations drink ideological Kool Aid. =>

    Hillary kicks butt in Boca Raton (=>Obamas; cf aka sacrificing little Christian children to drink their blood). **** 1. It is false victory the Nation can claim, in participating in, if not bringing about, these purges of one form of religious expression ('ideological kool-aid'?) in favor of another, while NOT condemning with equal force and in no uncertain terms, G.W. Bush's Great Abomination on Israel's Knesset floor.

    2. He did this by falsely and improperly assuming the role of priest, not president, in declaring these Zionist Jews "chosen people", equating worshipers of the Old and New Testament as "people of the Book", thus obliterating the difference; establishing a "New Covenant" it was called, between America and Israel based on 'special ties" between their peoples. This is predication of US policy on the cultic religion assumption, expressly prohibited by the U.S. constitution.

    3. And the GREAT ABOMINATION is not merely formal, but reptilian/satanic.in content. This follows from the teachings of positive Christianity, that the snake in Genesis symbolizes an era of development of brain function; that Christ in Jesus, son of Mary, actualized the essence of the higher, mammalian (collective soul) brain; and these two lower brain functions compete, in a sense, for access to and control of the functions of the Mind brain (intellect). Regression from the more advanced soul brain position of consciousness through Christ, to the Old Adam brains completed in the Jewess Mary represents return to snake brain religion and morality..

    4. When you start slicing into religious differences in America on the basis of YEAR OF THE JEW politics, splitting Obama and Wright because the good Reverend sides with Hezbollah; then wheeling around to turn on McCain and Haggee because, while not hating the Jews, he does hate Catholics, so we can't have McCain's campaign grooming Catholic haters any more than we can tolerate Obama's campaign grooming Israel haters. WALLA! -- group psychotic insight strikes Katha Pollitt -- STFU TO THE WHOLE GOD DAMN BUNCH OF THEM. WE WANT LOVE, NOT HATE! (fade into... kumbaya, Imagine, All We Are Saying, women are the niggas of the world --- recycle '67-'73 endlessly -- it will always sound new.to McCaananites, who wouldst blot it out of their mind forever. )

    Khomanie had it right.. .

    Posted by jones at 05/24/2008 @ 04:05am

45. That's just the kool-aid kicking into the bloodstream of your lefty friends.

    Posted by pontificus at 05/23/2008 | ignore this person | warn this person

    Care to take OV up on the challenge and actually answer the question with something other that 2nd-grade level (apologies to 2nd graders everywhere) right wing inanities, Ponti? Or do you want to continue proving the point that OneVote made?

    Posted by jmusolino at 05/24/2008 @ 11:43am