K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
One of this campaign's hysterical press scandals was that Minister
Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had
previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign
did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert
demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has
no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by
Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful.
However, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least)
Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a
sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed John
McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert
and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and
"reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very
honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of
Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I
am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."
McCain's sainted supporter, Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's
group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman
actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan
deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not
be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate
his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views
even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but
John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP
politicians are free to court without any consequences or media
objections?
Here is just a small sampling of the belief system of this welcomed
McCain supporter:
All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate
with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in
2006:
TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room
for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy,
should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then
again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?
JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --
TG: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam
in general.
JH: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a
scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.
God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had
a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin.
From the same interview:
JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens.
I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to
God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.
The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not
carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on
the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was
that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never
demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.
So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know
there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible
teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings
punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that
the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the
city of New Orleans.
The End Times -- Rapture -- is imminent and the U.S. Government must
do what it can to hasten it, which at minimum requires: (a) a war with
Iran and (b) undying, absolute support for a unified Israel, including
all Occupied Territories (hence, Joe Lieberman's love affair with
them). From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times
(h/t PZ Meyers):
A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle
East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I
have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads
the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, ratcheted up his
rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem
Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a
necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of
most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-
selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in
a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for
both Israel and the West.
Hagee believes that "the president's support for Israel fulfills a
biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state," which "will play a
pivotal role in the second coming." These views are not unrelated to
Hagee's support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain's
so-called "pro-Israel views," his belligerence towards Iran, and his
social conservatism as reasons for the endorsement. And in critical
contrast to Obama and Farrakhan, McCain actually seems to share some
of Hagee's more twisted views, as evidenced by McCain's joyful singing
about dropping bombs on Iran.
The GOP has long been given a pass on courting the most warped and
twisted religious figures around. George Bush spoke regularly with Pat
Robertson -- never once forced to "denounce" or "reject" him. In 2006,
Rev. Hagee had a private meeting with uber-White House neocon (and
convicted criminal) Elliot Abrams, who just happens to run Middle East
policy in the Bush administration, and afterwards, Hagee gushed that
he and Abrams (like he and Lieberman) shared similar views towards the
Middle East: "we felt we were on the right track."
Watching the media's treatment of Farrakhan and Hagee, is it possible
to imagine a more transparent, and grotesque, double standard? In the
framework of the Russert-led establishment press, white evangelical
Christians are, by definition, entitled to great respect no matter how
radical, extreme and hateful their professed views are. These are,
after all, religious Christians -- People of Faith -- and, as such, it
is wrong, even bigoted, to suggest that they should be repudiated.
There is nothing ever radical, hateful or dangerous about the views of
white evangelical Christians like Hagee.
Thus, white evangelical Ministers are free to advocate American wars
based on Biblical mandates, rant hatefully against Islam, and argue
that natural disasters occur because God hates gay people. They are
still fit for good company, an important and cherished part of our
mainstream American political system. The entire GOP establishment is
permitted actively to lavish them with praise and court their support
without the slightest backlash or controversy. Both George Bush and
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent formal greetings to the 2006
gathering of Hagee's group.
By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black
Christian ministers like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep
suspicion, even contempt. McCain is free to hug and praise the Rev.
Hagees of the world, but Obama is required to prove over and over and
over and over that he does not share the more extreme views of black
Ministers.
How come Tim Russert -- in all the times he sits and chats with
Lieberman, McCain and various high Bush officials -- never reads all
of the inflammatory, disgusting, crazed "Rapture-is-Coming/ All-Jews-
will-Burn/ Kill-All-Muslims/ Hurricanes-are-Punishment-against-Gays"
pronouncements from John Hagee and James Dobson and Pat Robertson and
demand that John McCain and George Bush and Joe Lieberman "denounce"
those views and "reject" their support? What's the difference,
exactly?
Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had
previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign
did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise. Nonetheless, Tim Russert
demanded that Obama jump through multiple hoops to prove that he has
no connection to -- and, in fact, "rejects" -- the ideas espoused by
Farrakhan deemed to be radical and hateful.
However, though, the equally fringe, radical and hateful (at least)
Rev. John Hagee -- a white evangelical who is the pastor of a
sprawling "mega-church" in Texas -- enthusiastically endorsed John
McCain. Did McCain have to jump through the same hoops which Russert
and others set up for Obama and "denounce" Hagee's extremism and
"reject" his support? No; quite the opposite. McCain said he was "very
honored" to receive this endorsement and, when asked about some of
Hagee's more twisted views, responded: "all I can tell you is that I
am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support."
McCain's sainted supporter, Joe Lieberman, last year spoke to Hagee's
group and lavished him with such obsequious praise that Lieberman
actually compared Hagee, favorably, to Moses. Why is Louis Farrakhan
deemed by our political establishment to be so radioactive as to not
be fit for good company -- black candidates are required to repudiate
his support even when they haven't sought it and denounce his views
even when they've never advocated anything close to those views -- but
John Hagee is a perfectly acceptable figure whom mainstream GOP
politicians are free to court without any consequences or media
objections?
Here is just a small sampling of the belief system of this welcomed
McCain supporter:
All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate
with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in
2006:
TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room
for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy,
should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then
again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?
JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --
TG: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam
in general.
JH: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a
scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.
God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had
a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin.
From the same interview:
JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens.
I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to
God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.
The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not
carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on
the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was
that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never
demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.
So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know
there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible
teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings
punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that
the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the
city of New Orleans.
The End Times -- Rapture -- is imminent and the U.S. Government must
do what it can to hasten it, which at minimum requires: (a) a war with
Iran and (b) undying, absolute support for a unified Israel, including
all Occupied Territories (hence, Joe Lieberman's love affair with
them). From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times
(h/t PZ Meyers):
A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle
East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I
have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads
the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, ratcheted up his
rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem
Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a
necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of
most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-
selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in
a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for
both Israel and the West.
Hagee believes that "the president's support for Israel fulfills a
biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state," which "will play a
pivotal role in the second coming." These views are not unrelated to
Hagee's support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain's
so-called "pro-Israel views," his belligerence towards Iran, and his
social conservatism as reasons for the endorsement. And in critical
contrast to Obama and Farrakhan, McCain actually seems to share some
of Hagee's more twisted views, as evidenced by McCain's joyful singing
about dropping bombs on Iran.
The GOP has long been given a pass on courting the most warped and
twisted religious figures around. George Bush spoke regularly with Pat
Robertson -- never once forced to "denounce" or "reject" him. In 2006,
Rev. Hagee had a private meeting with uber-White House neocon (and
convicted criminal) Elliot Abrams, who just happens to run Middle East
policy in the Bush administration, and afterwards, Hagee gushed that
he and Abrams (like he and Lieberman) shared similar views towards the
Middle East: "we felt we were on the right track."
Watching the media's treatment of Farrakhan and Hagee, is it possible
to imagine a more transparent, and grotesque, double standard? In the
framework of the Russert-led establishment press, white evangelical
Christians are, by definition, entitled to great respect no matter how
radical, extreme and hateful their professed views are. These are,
after all, religious Christians -- People of Faith -- and, as such, it
is wrong, even bigoted, to suggest that they should be repudiated.
There is nothing ever radical, hateful or dangerous about the views of
white evangelical Christians like Hagee.
Thus, white evangelical Ministers are free to advocate American wars
based on Biblical mandates, rant hatefully against Islam, and argue
that natural disasters occur because God hates gay people. They are
still fit for good company, an important and cherished part of our
mainstream American political system. The entire GOP establishment is
permitted actively to lavish them with praise and court their support
without the slightest backlash or controversy. Both George Bush and
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sent formal greetings to the 2006
gathering of Hagee's group.
By contrast, black Muslim ministers like Farrakhan, or even black
Christian ministers like Rev. Jeremiah Wright, are held with deep
suspicion, even contempt. McCain is free to hug and praise the Rev.
Hagees of the world, but Obama is required to prove over and over and
over and over that he does not share the more extreme views of black
Ministers.
How come Tim Russert -- in all the times he sits and chats with
Lieberman, McCain and various high Bush officials -- never reads all
of the inflammatory, disgusting, crazed "Rapture-is-Coming/ All-Jews-
will-Burn/ Kill-All-Muslims/ Hurricanes-are-Punishment-against-Gays"
pronouncements from John Hagee and James Dobson and Pat Robertson and
demand that John McCain and George Bush and Joe Lieberman "denounce"
those views and "reject" their support? What's the difference,
exactly?
