"Now that Reverend Hagee is apologizing for his anti-Catholic comments, does John McCain think that Hagee should also apologize for his other comments? If so will he have the courage to say so publicly? said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney. "Unless John McCain's idea of being a new kind of Republican includes cozying up to radicals who compare women to dogs, hold racially insensitive fundraisers and call one of the worst natural disasters in our country's history God's punishment, he should renounce John Hagee's endorsement immediately. Given John McCain's history of putting political calculations ahead of his principles, we're not holding our breath."
McCain Spent One Year Courting Hagee Endorsement. "In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, 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." [Editor and Publisher, 3/20/08]
Rev. John Hagee on Hurricane Katrina: "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." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
Hagee Repeated Claim: "The topic of that day was cursing and blessing… What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it's called a curse… In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that homosexual rally was sin. But it never happened. The rally never happened." [Dennis Prager Radio show, 4/22/08]
Hagee on African Americans: The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported: "Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.' "The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News, 3/7/96]
Hagee on Women: "Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist." [God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]
More Hagee on Women: "[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family."["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]
Hagee on Islamic Beliefs: Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly."[NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]
Hagee on Jewish Americans: "It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day." [Matthew Yglesias, The Atlantic Online, 2/29/08]
He said this two days ago. This is the man who, just last Sunday, John McCain said he was "glad to have" his endorsement. If the media is going to destroy Obama over his pastor's comments, then John McCain deserves equal time for continuing to embrace a man who is clearly a bigoted nut. It's time to ask McCain is Rev. Hagee loves the flag, or simply hates the fag.
I think if I could put a dividing line, the Orthodox and Conservatives who have a Torah appreciation give us wholehearted support. The rest [of Jews] who are not driven by the Word of God have a liberal agenda.
And the liberal agenda is they are pro-abortion. They're pro-homosexual. They're pro-gay marriage -- they want men to marry men and women to marry women -- and their difference with me is not really what I'm doing with Israel. Their hostility to me is poisoned by their liberalism. They take a liberal position that poisons their view of what we could be doing for Israel.
Note that a bit more than one-third of American Jews (around 41%, per the latest PEW survey) belong to the Reform (or "liberal," as Hagee would say) denomination of Judaism. More here.
McCain is refusing to renounce this influential evangelist's support. From Media Matters:
HAGEE: 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 are -- 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 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 that 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.
McCain supporter Pastor John Hagee, who seems to have some kind of odd control over McCain - McCain refuses to renounce the man's endorsement - has some rather disturbing things to say about Catholics (they worship a "whore"), about gays (they're responsible for Katrina), and now Jews:
"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day....
How utterly repulsive, insulting, and heartbreaking to God for His chosen people to credit idols with bringing blessings He had showered upon the chosen people. Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of anti-Semitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come.... it rises from the judgment of God uppon his rebellious chosen people."
A March 7, 1996, article (accessed via the Nexis database) in the San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:
Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a "slave sale" to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, "The Cluster."
The item was introduced with the sentence "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave."
A July 27, 2006, Wall Street Journal article about Hagee noted the incident:
To help students seeking odd jobs, his church newsletter, The Cluster, advertised a "slave" sale. "Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone," it said. "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." Mr. Hagee apologized but, in a radio interview, protested about pressure to be "politically correct" and joked that perhaps his pet dog should be called a "canine American."
This morning I had an extended breakfast with Senator John McCain of Arizona. Our topic of discussion was Israel and his candidacy for the Presidency of the United States of America....
We discussed his positions on other matters that I will share with you when I speak with you in person. This newsflash goes to the ends of the earth and I don't want to read it in the media tomorrow.
Another major scandal brewing for John McCain. This week, the GOP nominee got endorsed by a vehement anti-Catholic -- and doesn't seem to think it's that big of a deal.
Where's Tim Russert now? He sure made a big deal about Farrakhan with Obama during the debate the other night. And, Russert is never shy about discussing his Catholic roots.
Jane Hamsher has more details -- including a reaction from Bill Donohue, the wild man who runs the Catholic League, obtained by Glenn Greenwald. The outrage transcends politics. Jane thinks there is only one solution for Russert:
It's significant that this is not a partisan issue, both sides of the political spectrum are in agreement that McCain should be forced to account for this. Even the National Review is applauding Glenn Greenwald's efforts on this front.
It's going to be hard for Russert to garner an audience to address this matter that is quite as big as he did in a Presidential debate, so I'm going to make a suggestion here that I never thought I would...
(*sharp intake of breath*)
...he needs to have Bill Donohue on Meet the Press.
Fair is fair, right?
Jane is right.
This should be all the talk at Catholic churches around the country this weekend, like Blessed Sacrament parish here in DC. That's where Russert, Chris Matthews and lots of other political-types go to mass. Chances are their fellow Catholics won't appreciate the Church being called "the great whore" by a leading McCain supporter -- who McCain refuses to denounce and reject.
