H
Harry Hope
Guest
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/3/21/145822/038
Mar 21, 2008
Hagee Acknowledges McCain Sought His Endorsement
By Frederick Clarkson
Editor and Publisher reports that this Sunday's New York Times
magazine will report:
In an interview... controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee
declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my
endorsement."
McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views,
much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and
accepted his accolades this year.
That's fine as far as it goes.
More to the point about the origins of this controversy, Obama did not
court and did not accept the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, while
McCain -- as we reported here at Talk to Action, courted Hagee for at
least a year;
received and touted his endorsement;
and has not renounced it even as he has denounced Hagee's views on
certain things in general terms.
I am a lot less interested in the various candidate denunciations of
the views of thier supporters and pastors (that's easy), than I am the
real world political alliances that influence and forge public policy.
Louis Farrakhan and for that matter, Jeremiah Wright, are not running
big political machines.
But John Hagee is.
Via his controversial lobby Christians United for Israel, he assembles
the most aggressive of the Armageddonist oriented Christian Zionists
into a considerable political force who are beating the drums of war
with Iran.
John McCain, and for that matter, his supporter Sen. Joe Lieberman,
have calculated that CUFI is a necessary constituency for his
presidential ambitions.
The question is not whether John McCain endorses the outrageous
anti-Catholicism, anti semitism, and anti gay bigotry (clearly he does
not) so much as what influence will John Hagee and his allies have on
the foreign and military policy of the United States in a McCain
administration?
If the answer is 'none' -- then why did McCain so aggressively seek
Hagee's support?
He really can't have it both ways.
It was not so long ago that McCain denounced Jerry Falwell, Pat
Robertson and Bob Jones as "agents of intolerance."
What has changed?
Even one of his top foreign policy advisors, former Secretary of State
Lawrence Eagleburger, continues to view the Religious Right as "a
serious problem."
I wonder what kind of problem Eagleburger and McCain think the
religious right is, and whether Hagee (and for that matter Parsley
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/3/1/12739/66894) are part of the
problem?
_________________________________________________
George W. McCain goes flip floppin' along.
Harry
Mar 21, 2008
Hagee Acknowledges McCain Sought His Endorsement
By Frederick Clarkson
Editor and Publisher reports that this Sunday's New York Times
magazine will report:
In an interview... controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee
declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my
endorsement."
McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views,
much as Barack Obama is doing in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and
accepted his accolades this year.
That's fine as far as it goes.
More to the point about the origins of this controversy, Obama did not
court and did not accept the endorsement of Louis Farrakhan, while
McCain -- as we reported here at Talk to Action, courted Hagee for at
least a year;
received and touted his endorsement;
and has not renounced it even as he has denounced Hagee's views on
certain things in general terms.
I am a lot less interested in the various candidate denunciations of
the views of thier supporters and pastors (that's easy), than I am the
real world political alliances that influence and forge public policy.
Louis Farrakhan and for that matter, Jeremiah Wright, are not running
big political machines.
But John Hagee is.
Via his controversial lobby Christians United for Israel, he assembles
the most aggressive of the Armageddonist oriented Christian Zionists
into a considerable political force who are beating the drums of war
with Iran.
John McCain, and for that matter, his supporter Sen. Joe Lieberman,
have calculated that CUFI is a necessary constituency for his
presidential ambitions.
The question is not whether John McCain endorses the outrageous
anti-Catholicism, anti semitism, and anti gay bigotry (clearly he does
not) so much as what influence will John Hagee and his allies have on
the foreign and military policy of the United States in a McCain
administration?
If the answer is 'none' -- then why did McCain so aggressively seek
Hagee's support?
He really can't have it both ways.
It was not so long ago that McCain denounced Jerry Falwell, Pat
Robertson and Bob Jones as "agents of intolerance."
What has changed?
Even one of his top foreign policy advisors, former Secretary of State
Lawrence Eagleburger, continues to view the Religious Right as "a
serious problem."
I wonder what kind of problem Eagleburger and McCain think the
religious right is, and whether Hagee (and for that matter Parsley
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/3/1/12739/66894) are part of the
problem?
_________________________________________________
George W. McCain goes flip floppin' along.
Harry
