McCain on Hagee

Initially, John McCain had an admirably straight-talking like on John Hagee -- he was proud to be supported by the anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, "pro-Israel" Christian leader who hopes to see the Middle East plunged into massive war that will result in the end of the world. Now he's getting flip-floppety:

"Yesterday, Pastor John Hagee endorsed my candidacy for president in San Antonio, Texas. However, in no way did I intend for his endorsement to suggest that I in turn agree with all of Pastor Hagee's views, which I obviously do not.

"I am hopeful that Catholics, Protestants and all people of faith who share my vision for the future of America will respond to our message of defending innocent life, traditional marriage, and compassion for the most vulnerable in our society."

That's some weak tea. When Byron Dorgan endorses Barack Obama, we take it for granted that Obama doesn't agree with Dorgan about every single issue out there. Similarly when Rudy Giuliani endorses McCain that doesn't mean they agree about everything. The issue here has to do with the role of extremists in public life. Barack Obama never sought support from Louis Farrakhan, never appeared on stage with Farrakhan, never pronounced himself proud to be backed by Farrakhan, but was nonetheless asked on national television to specifically disavow the man. People don't want to put a political coalition that includes Farrakhan in office.

McCain and his staff actively sought out Hagee's endorsement, he appeared and campaigned with Hagee, he said he was proud to be backed by Hagee. Hagee is, in short, part of McCain's political strategy. Now he tells us he doesn't agree with Hagee about everything. Well, which things? Are we supposed to believe that McCain's not into the bigotry, or the foreign policy aimed at apocalypse, but just likes Hagee because of their shared opposition to gay marriage? Is McCain going to be courting Osama bin Laden's endorsement? It's reminiscent of McCain's on-again, off-again quest for the support of "agents of intolerance" like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. McCain's trying to wink with one eye to a segment of the electorate, wink with his other eye at his fans in the media, and somehow maintain a reputation for straight talk throughout all this.

Comments

OT: FYI: Eschaton and Americablog are loading very slowly here in SE Michigan, today.

Posted by rodrigone | March 1, 2008 2:05 PM

Well, maybe the electronic media will actually now start doing some solid reporting on exactly where that Hagee loon came from, where the gets his money and media reach, etc.

After all, if it were suddenly discovered that Farrakhan's entire movement was really the creation of a group of wealthy KKK leaders, that would be a BIG story...

Posted by RKU | March 1, 2008 2:15 PM

Ahem. Straight Talk!

Posted by PartisanJ | March 1, 2008 2:26 PM

I love the continued radio silence on the left about Obama's nutty pastor and about his "never mind" whispers to the Canadians about Nafta and trade. Hagee is a jerk, but could you look at the beams in your own eyes along with the ones in your opponents?

Also: For all Obama's rhetoric about Bush's supposed fraying of foreign relations, Obama has done more potential damage with his idiotic trade rhetoric already than Bush has managed in 7 years.

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 2:34 PM

Re James Robertson

Speaking of beams in the eye, how about Senator McCains' sucking up to the mercury militia and the anti-vaxers who are just as dangerous as Hagee. See attached link. In addition to his giving a keynote address to the Discovery Institute, well known purveyors of pseudoscience crap such as intelligent design, anti-global warming, and HIV/AIDS denial.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/03/john_mccain_panders_to_the_mercury_militia.php

Posted by SLC | March 1, 2008 3:02 PM

I love the continued radio silence on the left about Obama's nutty pastor and about his "never mind" whispers to the Canadians about Nafta and trade.

Actually I have read quite a few posts on both of these topics over the past few days. But if you like, I will break silence on the issue.

1. I don't care about Obama's pastor. Why do you? Why should anyone?

2. The NAFTA issue seems to be a pretty questionable story which I am sure you know. If any of it is true I am not sure what exactly it is supposed to mean regarding either Obama or his attitudes toward NAFTA. Why don't you explain to us exactly what we should take from the fact that a surrogate may have spoken to somebody with some relationship to the Canadian government (not the embassy) and told them something about not taking Obama's rhetoric too seriously?

For all Obama's rhetoric about Bush's supposed fraying of foreign relations, Obama has done more potential damage with his idiotic trade rhetoric already than Bush has managed in 7 years.

How can one already have done potential damage? This sentence makes no sense to me.

Posted by brent | March 1, 2008 3:06 PM

There are several possible explanations for why Hagee was selected to open for mccain.

1. this happened because mccain continues to believe he will get a free pass from the press on this shit because they like him, and he figured a Hagee endorsement would help him with the huckabites.

2. it was a deliberately generated firestorm to align McCain with social convservatives against the liberal msm, and thus further bring SCs around before aggressively pursuing the independents later on.

3. it's also possible that hagee was not thoroughly vetted by the camapaign staff or that he was not googled or youtubed to the fullest extent. the whore of babylon video is not new. nor such incompetence.

Whatever the reason, I think this will only serve to further consolidate the rw base around mccain as he takes fire from the msm.

I look for McCain to try to end this matter with the statement he just offerred eseentially saying that he does not agree with Hagee on everything, but he is not going to denounce him.

It's also distracted us from the Iseman lobbying stew that was just starting to simmer.

The only votes McCain loses over this imbroglio are moderates and independents, but then he's never going to win them anyway.

Posted by Garth | March 1, 2008 3:23 PM

There are several possible explanations for why Hagee was selected to open for mccain.

1. this happened because mccain continues to believe he will get a free pass from the press on this shit because they like him, and he figured a Hagee endorsement would help him with the huckabites.

2. it was a deliberately generated firestorm to align McCain with social convservatives against the liberal msm, and thus further bring SCs around before aggressively pursuing the independents later on.

3. it's also possible that hagee was not thoroughly vetted by the camapaign staff or that he was not googled or youtubed to the fullest extent. the whore of babylon video is not new. nor such incompetence.

Whatever the reason, I think this will only serve to further consolidate the rw base around mccain as he takes fire from the msm.

I look for McCain to try to end this matter with the statement he just offerred eseentially saying that he does not agree with Hagee on everything, but he is not going to denounce him.

It's also distracted us from the Iseman lobbying stew that was just starting to simmer.

The only votes McCain loses over this imbroglio are moderates and independents, but then he's never going to win them anyway.

Posted by Garth | March 1, 2008 3:25 PM

There are several possible explanations for why Hagee was selected to open for mccain.

1. this happened because mccain continues to believe he will get a free pass from the press on this shit because they like him, and he figured a Hagee endorsement would help him with the huckabites.

2. it was a deliberately generated firestorm to align McCain with social convservatives against the liberal msm, and thus further bring SCs around before aggressively pursuing the independents later on.

3. it's also possible that hagee was not thoroughly vetted by the camapaign staff or that he was not googled or youtubed to the fullest extent. the whore of babylon video is not new. nor such incompetence.

Whatever the reason, I think this will only serve to further consolidate the rw base around mccain as he takes fire from the msm.

I look for McCain to try to end this matter with the statement he just offerred eseentially saying that he does not agree with Hagee on everything, but he is not going to denounce him.

It's also distracted us from the Iseman lobbying stew that was just starting to simmer.

The only votes McCain loses over this imbroglio are moderates and independents, but then he's never going to win them anyway.

Posted by Garth | March 1, 2008 3:26 PM

I've never said this before in comments, but this site really does teem with concern trolls and wingnuts like robertson (and Robert Powell). Usually they know their drivel and transparent shilling for the right aren't welcome, but I guess some are a little slow.

Posted by scottreads | March 1, 2008 3:28 PM

sorry. it was an accident. first time.

Posted by Garth | March 1, 2008 3:28 PM

1) If you don't care about Obama's pastor, then Hagee should be equally irrelevant - more, actually, since he's not McCain's pastor.

2) On NAFTA: Since Obama's advidor and the Canadian govt guy have said "no comment", and CTV is sticking by the story, I think it holds up better than you seem to think. It's an issue because it shows Obama being two-faced, and he clams to not be running that kind of campaign.

3) Witness this">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/28/nafta-criticism-evokes-re_n_88868.html">this.

On the "real harm" front, I'll ask you to ponder what the Mexican and Canadian response would likely be to a unilateral US withdrawal from NAFTA.

Either Obama is deeply stupid and doesn't get this, or he's lying. I suspect the latter, but hey - feel free to believe either one.

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 3:32 PM

I'll ask you to ponder what the Mexican and Canadian response would likely be to a unilateral US withdrawal from NAFTA.

Perhaps an invasion. God would truly have shat upon our heads at that point.

Posted by Ed Marshall | March 1, 2008 3:39 PM

And if all this weren't enough...Hagee also seems to be a bit of a plagiarist! Jerusalem Countdown pp. 74-75 [readable through Amazon], on the first historical incident involving the "blood libel," has paragraphs lifted verbatim from Great Moments in Jewish History, by Elinor and Robert Slater (1997), p. 165. Granted, footnotes before and after this part refer to the book as a source, so the defense would certainly be sloppy note-taking or forgetting to put quotation marks around the entirety of the paragraphs in question, or something like that...

And, even besides the plagiarism, the sense of history!

The permanent separation of Jews and Gentiles occurred in one day with one historic document when Constantine signed the Edict of Toleration, also known as the Edict of Milan, in A.D. 313, officially recognizing Christianity as the official religion. The Roman Church grew in power until it ruled most of the known world through Papal States.

And the writing!

Where is the Roman Empire? Where are the Greeks? Where are the Babylonians? Where are the Turks? Where is the Ottoman Empire? Where are Adolf Hitler and his goose-stepping Nazis? They are all footnotes in the boneyard of human history, because they all made a common mistake. They attacked the Jewish people, and God Almighty brought them to nothing.

Hence, btw, no worries about the Turks incursion into Iraq--they don't actually exist... (Had to include something about current affairs...)

Posted by Mischa | March 1, 2008 3:53 PM

James Robertson:

First of all, the Canadian gov't did not issue a "no comment", it issued a denial of the story.

But with respect to "potential damage", let me assure you that Canadians remain furious with the Bush Administration over softwood lumber and steel, and this will remain a much bigger irritant than looking to renegotiate NAFTA; so the damage done is quite real, and is much more profound than anything Obama's comments might do.

~
On the subject of the post - right on Matthew.

Posted by McKingford | March 1, 2008 4:07 PM

Ed Marshall: I'll refer you to the Smoot Hawley tariff, and how well that worked out. That's the kind of thing that would come from Obama's stated goals.

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 4:07 PM

While I do not know John Hagee personally, it is fair to say that the thought he subscribes to is a very loose and heretical reading of the Gospel. Pastor Hagee is an engaging individual with a few good things to say. However, his anti-Catholic rhetoric mixed with an heretical theology of the Apocalypse should wake up even the most doe-eyed of his followers to the fact that he is very far from historical Christianity. By his own words and actions, he has made himself a hatemonger. Having said that, a decade ago it was thought there would be no way the virulently anti-Catholic Ian Paisley (of Northern Ireland) would ever sit down with Catholics, let alone Sinn Fein (the political wing of the IRA). To Dr. Paisley’s credit, he set aside (at least publicly) his decades long rant that Pastor Hagee currently borrows with so much zeal. Paisley saw that by holding on to his hatred toward Catholics he was inflaming violence in Northern Ireland and preventing his beloved homeland from finding peace, healing and prosperity. I’m sure Dr. Paisley is not about to abandon his firebrand protestantism. He did let go of his hatred, is becoming a better disciple of Christ, and the blessings from that change are having a miraculous effect on those who formerly espoused a similar violent philosophy. There's hope for Mr. Hagee yet. However, as we all know, he and everyone else ain’t gettin’ any younger.

Posted by Warren Anderson | March 1, 2008 4:17 PM

Re James Robertson

It should be noted that Mr. Robertson has neglected to respond to the comment relative to Senator McCains' endorsement of the mercury militias' pseudoscientific garbage which was posted earlier. Many in the medical community would consider that to be more serious then Senator Obamas' waffling over NAFTA.

http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2008/03/john_mccain_panders_to_the_mercury_militia.php

Posted by SLC | March 1, 2008 4:23 PM

McCain's problem is that the right's coalition is full of agents of intolerance and bigotry, and he needs their votes. Bush and Rove were lucky enough that nutjobs fell quietly into line without too much tv time required outside of Bob Jones U.

I hope the 'Freak Show' that is the movement right gets the spotlight they so richly deserve this year during the McCain courtship.

Posted by AJ | March 1, 2008 4:24 PM

Aha - to be fair, at the end of the chapter, Hagee praises Pope John Paul II for working towards reconciliation between Catholics and Jews, and for acknowledging and repudiating the history of Catholic anti-Semitism...(although he mis-writes and calls it "reconciling the Roman Catholic Church with its anti-Semitic past"...); that said, I don't know what he thinks its role in eschatology is supposed to be...

Posted by Mischa | March 1, 2008 4:30 PM

There is nothing "dangerous" about Hagee. He is the kind of person we need in this country's leadership - a person with strong family values and principles, who is unafraid to tell people the truth even when people don't want to hear it.
He is a great friend of Israel, and if you believe in the Bible than you know that the US will only survive as long as it supports Israel.
If Hagee (or someone like him) can't be President,and I would at least like the next president listening to him on occasion.
(BTW, I am not an Evangelical or a Christian at all. So don't dismiss my words as simple evangelical bias for one of my own. It is my honest opinion of a man who I respect.)

Last but not least, there is no comparison between Farrakhan and Hagee. Hagee does not advocate violence or hatred of any group. On the contrary, he has always been a staunch supporter of human rights.Farrakhan is a bigoted anti-semite and black supremacist who openly advocates racism and bigotry.

Posted by Aharon HaCohen | March 1, 2008 4:39 PM

Re: For all Obama's rhetoric about Bush's supposed fraying of foreign relations, Obama has done more potential damage with his idiotic trade rhetoric already than Bush has managed in 7 years.

Has one person died due to Obama's trade rhetoric? Bush has tens if not hundreds of thousands of innocent deaths on his dungheap.

Posted by JonF | March 1, 2008 4:42 PM

I appreciate the "sauce for the gander" element to this, but the whole thing is a non-story. It was a non-story when some far right loon endorsed Paul. It was a non-story when Farrakhan endorsed Obama. The fact is that there are lots of nuts and bigots in the United States, and I would think Presidential candidates have better things to do then go around "denouncing and rejecting" them. If the Communist Party endorsed Kerry or the KKK endorsed Dole, did that matter? No.

Does anyone really think a McCain administration is going to be anti-Catholic? If he promotes apocalypse in the Middle East, it is going to be for secular reasons.

Just drop it. This is the blogosphere at its stupidest.

Posted by Pithlord | March 1, 2008 4:43 PM

With all that winking with both eyes it's surprising McCain hasn't walked into a wall or fallen off a stage. Maybe that's what happened to Bob Dole.

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 4:45 PM

Yesterday, John Hagee, a very fat man whom others listen and suck up to, endorsed my candidacy for President.

I was fully aware that Pastor John believes the universe is shaped like a Burrito, and that he prays daily and devoutly for lots of other people to die excruciating, unbelievably horrifying deaths, just to prove that monstrous entities like Zool and Gozer are real and live among us.

What I thought we'd do is get Pastor John's endorsement, wait for the usual rioting and bad press, and then suggest, in that straightforward yet nuanced way for which I am famous, that I obviously do not believe in Pastor John's Zool-based Burritovision of the world we inhabit.

My friends: Think I'm crazy? Do you honestly believe I accept any of that crap? I just want his people to think I do. It's all just campaign Kabuki. They know it, and I know it. It's just politics. Doesn't mean anything.

My friends, I am hopeful that Catholics will just ignore this little episode; and that Protestants, Muslims, Sufis, Jews, Mormons, Ba'haians, Zoroastrians, Rosicrucians, Flying Spaghetti Monsterians, and Chtulu Worshipers, who share my vision of a future -- a future of America as a place where fat white men grown rich from duping the ignorant and gullible will watch over us, as we're marching, marching to Shibbloeth, with the Buxram and the Sword.

An America of people watching over us who will speak our message of defending innocent life within America's borders, traditional marriage, family values, and compassion for a representative sample most vulnerable in our society.

Posted by Jemand von Niemand | March 1, 2008 4:49 PM

Brent - 1. I don't care about Obama's pastor. Why do you? Why should anyone?

The guy is Obama's pastor and his wife's, of 20 years, Obama dedicated a chapter in his book to gush about what a profound influence the pastor has on his thinking. The pastor in question has a range of black separatist philosophies that mirror La Raza in racial philosophy - "to our own race, everything! To other races, nothing!" The pastor is also thick as thieves with black muslims and their separatist "community services".

*****************

Robertson - On the "real harm" front, I'll ask you to ponder what the Mexican and Canadian response would likely be to a unilateral US withdrawal from NAFTA.

Trade with Canada does not cause a job loss and decline in workers wages or generate pathologies in either country. Mexico is a different matter. The Mexico part of NAFTA does only reward the Ruling Elites and fuck over most Americans and Mexicans.
If we dumped Mexico, there would be a lot of crying fatcats in Mexico City, Tel Aviv, New York City and Inside the Beltway - but it is hard to see Mexico's elites being any more hostile to us than they currently are - which is plenty. The openly hate America and dump their surplus population on us and suck up tens of billions in welfare and other social costs.
Closing the Border with Mexico would promote an excellent attitude check on the gringo-haters down South.
Canada and us can trade just fine - we only have a few big issues that can be worked out a lot easier if corrupt Mexico, not an honest and pair partner at all, is dumped

But the real problem is both the Dems and Republican's rich crowd are part of the same scam - concentration of wealth at the top by the Owner Classes, a Latin Americanization of the lower classes as skilled and unskilled labor is farmed out to 2 billion hungry 3rd worlders until wages between US workers and Chinese, etc. "Levelize" and reach parity. NAFTA isn't the biggest problem.
And it will continue until mass-unemployed blacks burn US cities again, the dolar is turned into toilet paper by the Owner elites and whites rebel, or Democrats pacify the masses by redistributing part of the Owner Classes and the Top 1% wealth to the masses to keep their cut tolerable while having more welfare for the masses. Masses that will need that welfare as jobs go and wages shrink to parity with their global competitors.

******************

The Black Messiah appears growingly, to be a polished scam artist that is fudging quite a bit, on a range of matters, with the Jewish MSM owners full backing.
Never when this contest started would I have thought that Hillary would be the more honest Democratic candidate - but she is.

Posted by chris ford | March 1, 2008 4:53 PM

Um, Aharon HaCohen, if that is your real handle, Hagee advocates an attack on Iran to precipitate the unifying of Arab armies under Russian leadership to attack Israel, which attack will be repelled and the attackers destroyed by none other that God Himself, followed by massed Chinese armies marching to be met at Armageddon, followed by the return of Jesus and presumably some big present for Hagee for bringing it all about.

Somewhere (or everywhere) in there are incitements to violence based on religion, and I am pretty sure pure religious bigotry, as well as a violent militant nationalism and insane eschatology. Seems like McCain could do better, is all I'm sayin'...

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 4:54 PM

JonF's comment puts this whole thing into perspective. Robertson slagging Obama for being against NAFTA while Bush and his ever-eager imperialist buddy McCain seem poised to wage bloody and useless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and (their dearest hope) Iran? Really sickening moral myopia. And the whole point of MY's post was about McCain's characterless pander to a known anti-Catholic bigot who would be quite happy to see the Jews incinerated as part of the wonderful wind-up to the End Times. No, let's ignore that and roast Obama for something one of his people may or may not have said to somebody in Canada. Sometimes the shit here in comments is just unbelievably, lamely weak.

Posted by scottreads | March 1, 2008 4:56 PM

The Black Messiah appears growingly, to be a polished scam artist that is fudging quite a bit, on a range of matters, with the Jewish MSM owners full backing.

So Obama is anti-Semitic and is backed by the Jewish MSM. Damn, he's good.

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 5:01 PM

Aharon HaCohen: "BTW, I am not an Evangelical or a Christian at all."

No shit. With that name, I'd never have guessed.

"Hagee does not advocate violence or hatred of any group."

Take this bullshit back to the settler community you come from, Zionist.

As for the NAFTA thing, based on what I read over at TPM, this is another case of there being no "there there". Nobody has said Obama has said anything. It's all been a press report that everybody has denied ever took place and didn't involve Obama personally at all.

These Clinton freaks are really stretching to get something on Obama. All they're doing is demonstrating they don't have anything. Yet they claim Hillary has been "vetted", when everything in Hillary's past is still up for grabs and known, while they've got zip on Obama so far except one slum landlord and one pastor, neither of whom they can directly tie to Obama's opinions or actions.

It's pathetic.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | March 1, 2008 5:14 PM

More Hagee:

He believes that "there is a clear record of history" linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.

He believes 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.

He believes that the only difference between a woman with PMS and a terrorist is that you can negotiate with a terrorist.

Nothing to see here, folks.

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 5:19 PM

Ed Marshall: I'll refer you to the Smoot Hawley tariff, and how well that worked out. That's the kind of thing that would come from Obama's stated goals.

I'll refer you to the 100 Years War. That's the kind of thing that would come from McCain's stated goals.

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | March 1, 2008 5:22 PM

RE Mr. Aharon HaCohen

Pay no attention to anything posted by Mr. Hack. In case Mr. Cohen is new to this blog, I will inform him that Mr. Hack is a convicted bank robber who did 9 years in the federal birdcage in Leavenworth, Kansas. In addition, Mr. Hack has advocated the assassination of police officers and has made threats on this blog against a radio talk show host, Michael Savage nee Weiner. Since both he and Mr. Savage are scumbags, I don't get too excited about the last item.

Posted by SLC | March 1, 2008 5:27 PM

Jeebus,
Let's just call off the election and leave the current village idiot in charge! Ok. Let the American sheeple continue to lose their homes, their jobs, their future retirement acounts...and give the Repugnicans another 4 years to send them off to die and continue to loot the treasury. It's amazing how stupid we are as a country. Of course McCain wants Hagee's endorsement. He's part of the racist, bigoted, sexist, homophobic wing of the party...The Base! So I hope the McCain lovers go ahead and join the service just in case he wins. He'll need you. Someone has to be available to occupy Iraq for the next 50 or 100 years and to ... bomb,bomb,bomb,..
bomb,bomb,Iran...bomb,bomb,bomb,..bomb,bomb,Iran.

Posted by Sam | March 1, 2008 5:33 PM

Well, for one, Haage and McCain have something in common. They left their first wife for a younger one. McCain 2nd wife was 18 years his junior; Haage 2nd wife was 12 years his. Both men carried on these affairs while still married.

On August 26, 1960 Haage married his first wife. They were married about 15 years when they divorced in September 1975. The Liberty Flame reported in May 1994 that during the time when Hagee was serving the Charismatic congregation at Trinity Church (1976) in San Antonio, he divorced his wife, resigned and married a young woman in the congregation, Diana Castro. Custody of Hagee’s two children by his ex-wife, Martha, went to her.

In a letter to the church, Hagee admitted immorality, which later became part of the court records in the custody battle. Martha later also remarried and started another family. Not surprisingly, there is a hiatus from 1976 to 1987 left out of Hagee’s web site biography.

This can be found here along with the following two quotes of Haage.

http://www.pfo.org/jonhagee.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/john-hagee

Here is one of Haage’s quotes from this web site:
"Christians don't steal or lie, they don't get divorced or have abortions. If the 10 Commandments were followed by everyone we would be able to fire half the police force and in six months the prisons would be all half empty." "The Fish Gate" 9/2/07

Here is another of his quotes:
"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.”

Posted by Joann Sovelenko | March 1, 2008 5:36 PM

Rev. Hagee is the one who has body guards around him no matter where he goes.Talk about a big ego.I feel he thinks the real God.Wonder he didn't try to take over the Branch Dividian in Waco before it burnt down years ago.
Try to get an appointment with Rev.Hagee,I heard he checks your bank account before he will agree to meet with you,and that's if your a member of his church.
An endorsement from Joel Osteen would carry alot more meaning than from Rev. Hagee.How do we know if Rev.Hagee did this on purpose to hurt McCain lose alot of votes in Texas,to help Huckabee win in Texas Tuesday,and when Mccain wins the Republican nomination,Rev.Hagee will take credit in helping him win.Sounds like Rick Perry,he would endorse Satin if he knew he would win.Politics is very strange and sometimes it brings out the real morals and beliefs of a person.

Posted by gwj78025 | March 1, 2008 5:39 PM

A history lesson for this comment:

"I'll refer you to the 100 Years War. That's the kind of thing that would come from McCain's stated goals."

Might be in order. The 100 years war was a result of the English King (and nobility) attempting to hold and expand their ancestral Norman holdings, and ultimately, to gain control of the French Crown.

I'd love to see you point out how anything McCain advocates lines up with anything remotely like that.

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 5:46 PM

So Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each think that there would be value in renegotiating portions of NAFTA. So what? So do many of the other signatories, although they may not all be talking about the same portions. At least we'd be negotiating, and all parties could take part in approving it. The posssibility of win-win exists.

McCain, on the other hand, as far as I know, thinks NAFTA is just ducky and that the other parties who would like to open some issues to negotiation can blow him. Yes, jsut the kind of man we need to mend fences abroad after the disaster of Bush.

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 5:55 PM

JR

Um, 100 years of war. You know, like 100 years in Iraq. Wow, you do seem a bit thick.

Posted by dad | March 1, 2008 5:57 PM

Well, for one, Haage and McCain have something in common. They left their first wife for a younger one. McCain 2nd wife was 18 years his junior; Haage 2nd wife was 12 years his. Both men carried on these affairs while still married.

On August 26, 1960 Haage married his first wife. They were married about 15 years when they divorced in September 1975. The Liberty Flame reported in May 1994 that during the time when Hagee was serving the Charismatic congregation at Trinity Church (1976) in San Antonio, he divorced his wife, resigned and married a young woman in the congregation, Diana Castro. Custody of Hagee’s two children by his ex-wife, Martha, went to her.

In a letter to the church, Hagee admitted immorality, which later became part of the court records in the custody battle. Martha later also remarried and started another family. Not surprisingly, there is a hiatus from 1976 to 1987 left out of Hagee’s web site biography.

This can be found here along with the following two quotes of Haage.

http://www.pfo.org/jonhagee.htm

http://www.answers.com/topic/john-hagee

Here is one of Haage’s quotes from this web site:
"Christians don't steal or lie, they don't get divorced or have abortions. If the 10 Commandments were followed by everyone we would be able to fire half the police force and in six months the prisons would be all half empty." "The Fish Gate" 9/2/07

Here is another of his quotes:
"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.”

Posted by Joann Sovelenko | March 1, 2008 6:00 PM

For the benefit of Mr. HaCohen, I'll just note that SLC is a noted genocidal Zionist freak who recommends Syrian "Hama Rules" being applied to Palestinians.

He also has an obsession about me that seems slightly S&M'ish to me. Sorry, SLC, I'm not going to be a top to your bottom (and damn sure not vice versa).

Robertson: If you can't see how McCain's Iraq policy is an attempt to "hold and expand..." oil company "holdings" and "ultimately to gain control of the Middle East" - not just one lousy European country - I don't know what to tell you, since you're obviously completely deaf, dumb and blind.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | March 1, 2008 6:00 PM

I think Hagee's taking an awful chance in his plans for Israel that events have not supported. let's say some idiot (say, a president McCain, for example) agrees with him that launching an attack against Iran guarantees a unified Russian-led Arab strike against Israel that the Lord Almighty will repel.

I don't know about that. God Himself didn't see fit to swat back a single 220-mm missile when Hezbollah was raining them down on Israel like manna. Right? Am I right? (Hint: yes, I am)

So that just makes Hagee an idiot to believe the God will do 0% retaliation up until some threshhold and then 100% retaliation after that. I myself envision the Almighty's response to be the integral over all possible responses, creating a smooth curve, and that we should have already seen evidence of His Divine Intent To Supernaturally Protect His Chosen People.

Posted by Daddy Love | March 1, 2008 6:10 PM

"Um, 100 years of war. You know, like 100 years in Iraq. Wow, you do seem a bit thick."

Hmm. There will be wars in the future regardless of who gets elected, and regardless of their policies, because events are not controlled by the White House or the Congress. Woodrow Wilson believed that war could be eliminated. I'd much rather see someone elected who didn't have pipe dreams and big plans.

From my perspective, that means that both Obama and McCain are bad choices - they both have overly idealistic views of what can and cannot be done.

Hillary isn't much better, given her theory of health control "reform"

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 6:22 PM

Isn't the "Russian/Arab attack on Israel repelled by God's direct intervention; thereby leading to the Apocalypse" shtick lifted (intact) from the execrable Left Behind books?

And shouldn't Pastor Hagee be investigated for plagiarism?

Posted by Jay C | March 1, 2008 6:32 PM

McCain, like Reagan and his romance with end-timers, is so old that he doesn't care whether the world ends soon.

Posted by Hedley Lamarr | March 1, 2008 6:47 PM

A 2006 article in Ha'aretz explains why Hagee is A-OK with the Israel Lobby. They like his followers money and votes, and are willing to take their chances on this whole Rapture thing:

New Christian pro-Israel lobby aims to be stronger than AIPAC
By Shlomo Shamir

NEW YORK - Televangelist John Hagee told Jewish community leaders over the weekend that the 40 million evangelical Christians in the United States support Israel and that he plans to utilize this power to help Israel by launching a Christian pro-Israel lobby.

The lobby is slated to launch in July, during a Washington conference in which hundreds of American evangelicals are slated to participate, Hagee said at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which represents 52 national Jewish groups. He also discussed the lobby with Israel's consul general in New York, Aryeh Mekel.

Hagee said his group would be a Christian - and more powerful - version of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a large pro-Israel lobby, and would target senators and congressmen on Capitol Hill. A quarter of congressmen are evangelicals, and many American legislators represent regions that include a large evangelical population, he said.

Hagee - the founder and senior pastor of the evangelical Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, that claims an active membership of more than 18,000 - said the lobby's activities would be a "political earthquake."

Posted by Steve Sailer | March 1, 2008 6:57 PM

Robertson -- you really do make this easy:

"The 100 years war was a result of the English King (and nobility) attempting to hold and expand their ancestral Norman holdings, and ultimately, to gain control of the French Crown.

I'd love to see you point out how anything McCain advocates lines up with anything remotely like that."

McCain has openly advocated holding our Iraq conquest (which he would inherit from W) and expanding it by attacking Iran. He has openly said he would be happy to see US troops in Iraq for 100 years. Substitute "Mideast oil" for "the French Crown," and Bob's your uncle!

Posted by Invigilator | March 1, 2008 7:22 PM

Our troops have been in Germany for over 60 years now. Ditto for Japan. They've been in Korea for over 50.

Do we own any of those three countries? Are you operating under some delusion that we dictate how they'll operate?

Are you under some equal delusion that we'll operate any differently in Iraq? If we were absolutely dictating to Iraq even now, would the Iranian President be visiting soon?

Posted by James Robertson | March 1, 2008 8:08 PM

"Well, which things? Are we supposed to believe that McCain's not into the bigotry, or the foreign policy aimed at apocalypse, but just likes Hagee because of their shared opposition to gay marriage? Is McCain going to be courting Osama bin Laden's endorsement?"

These are good reasonable questions that any decent reporter or journalist should be throwing Saint John's way until a reasonable reply is obtained. But the likelihood of little Timmy Russert pressing Saint John on this, or his cozy mutually beneficial relationship with the lobbyists of the industries he has oversight obligations is zero. Russert is prime RNC beef.

Posted by della Rovere | March 1, 2008 8:27 PM

♫ Round 2... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghSJsEVf0pU
Obama 08

Posted by andre walker | March 1, 2008 8:51 PM

Re: I'd much rather see someone elected who didn't have pipe dreams and big plans.

The pipe dream and big plans are all on the Neocon side. The idea that we transform an ancient, syubborn and very dysfunctional culture into a Jeffersonian democracy is the height of hubris. The sensible thing to do is to give the Middle East wide berth. Those who swat at hornet's nests get stung and those who wade into snake pits get bitten.

Posted by JonF | March 1, 2008 9:15 PM

chris ford wrote:
The pastor in question has a range of black separatist philosophies that mirror La Raza in racial philosophy - "to our own race, everything! To other races, nothing!"

Except no, he doesn't at all; you are either a liar or you're spouting off ignorantly about stuff you haven't bothered to do a cursory investigation of from sources other than right-wing smear campaigns. If you go to the church's page at tucc.org and look at Dr. Wright's talking points you can see he makes abundantly clear that his African-centered theological perspective is not meant to put down other races, but is rather meant to help African Americans recover from the legacies of slavery, discrimination, and being treated as objects:

* To have a church whose theological perspective starts from the vantage point of Black liberation theology being its center, is not to say that African or African American people are superior to any one else.

* African-centered thought, unlike Eurocentrism, does not assume superiority and look at everyone else as being inferior.

* There is more than one center from which to view the world. In the words of Dr. Janice Hale, “Difference does not mean deficience.” It is from this vantage point that Black liberation theology speaks.

Incidentally, your translation of the slogan of "La Raza" is also grossly misleading--see here.

Posted by Jesse M. | March 1, 2008 9:56 PM

http://tinyurl.com/2ta2hb

AMERICA HAS BEEN BLESSED WITH GUIDANCE IN PASTOR HAGEE'S EXCITING WORD OF PROPHECY!!!

"John McCain is a man of principle!!!!"

SO TRUE!!!! SO TRUE!!!! SO TRUE!!!!

A MAN OF PRINCIPLE!!! A MAN OF PRINCIPLE!!! A MAN OF PRINCIPLE!!!

PASTOR HAGEE'S ENDORSEMENT ALSO VINDICATES AND AFFIRMS AMERICAPHILE'S ANALYIS!!!!

NOW, AMERICA'S GREATEST PRESIDENT NEEDS TO MOVE FORWARD WITH THE BEAUTIFUL COULTER PLAN FOR MIDDLE EAST STABILITY!!! WHAT A BEAUTIFUL GIFT TO SENATOR MCCAIN, TO AMERICA, TO ISRAEL AND TO THE PEOPLE OF IRAN WHO ARE COMPLETELY UNAWARE ABOUT THE COMING RAPTURE!!!

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD IS THE PERSIAN PIAPS!!!!

STRIKE NOW, MR. PRESIDENT, AND SPREAD FREEDOM!!!!

THANK YOU, PASTOR HAGEE, FOR EXPOSING POPERY!!!!!

REMEMBER, THE ROMAN POPE HAS BEEN EXPOSED AS AN AGENT OF PIAPS!!!!

THANK YOU, TOO, FOR READING AMERICAPHILE!!!!

THE IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS PROVIDED BY AMERICAPHILE CAN BE FOUND NOWHERE ELSE!!!

ALSO, THE MORNING AFTER IS A POWERFUL TOOL FOR WITNESSING AND PREPARING SERMONS!!!!

SENATOR MCCAIN, PLEASE READ THIS EXCITING FACT-BASED ONLINE NOVEL YOURSELF!!!! A PRINTOUT HAS BEEN SENT TO YOUR CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS!!! IT IS WHAT EVERY CANDIDATE NEEDS TO INFORM AN INTELLEGENT FOREIGN POLICY!!!!

THANKS AGAIN, PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN PASTOR JOHN HAGEE!!!

SEE YOU ALL AT THE RAPTURE!!!!!

Posted by RALPH | March 1, 2008 10:02 PM

THANK YOU, PASTOR HAGEE, FOR EXPOSING POPERY!!!!!

Ian Paisley? Is that you?

Posted by Kevin | March 1, 2008 10:28 PM

SENATOR MCCAIN, PLEASE READ THIS EXCITING FACT-BASED ONLINE NOVEL YOURSELF!!!!

Not if it's written in all caps I bloody well won't.

Posted by Senator McCain | March 1, 2008 10:35 PM

Robertson: "Are you under some equal delusion that we'll operate any differently in Iraq? If we were absolutely dictating to Iraq even now, would the Iranian President be visiting soon?"

Pointless straw man. Nobody said anything about "absolutely dictating" in the sense that Maliki can't go to the bathroom without asking first. That's simply stupid.

The reality on the ground is that Iraq's military can't do anything without asking, that Iraq's parliament can't do anything which the US will not approve of, and Iraq's government wouldn't be breathing if US forces were to withdraw tomorrow. Just like Karzai wouldn't be breathing in Afghanistan if his 600 US mercenaries were withdrawn tomorrow.

The Iraqi government is wholly dependent on the US for its protection. Therefore it can do nothing without asking except those things which the US doesn't give a damn about. Visiting leaders from other countries - even Iran - is not something the US cares about - especially if Maliki can't make any deals which the US doesn't approve of.

There is an Iraqi nationalist coalition being worked on and if it can seize power in the next parliamentary elections, the Maliki puppet regime will be kicked out, followed by the US. And when the US doesn't leave, this will clearly demonstrate the fallacy of considering Iraq a "sovereign country".

However, the nationalist coalition will then unleash the Mehdi Army and the Sunni "Awakening" crowd to join those insurgents who haven't quit yet, and the US will get its ass kicked out of Iraq.

It's not certain yet that this scenario can be successful, given the deep conflict between the Sunni and Shia, which could derail a nationalist coalition being formed.

However, if Iran pressures the Iranian-backed Iraqi militias to cooperate, it could happen. Iran's long term purpose is to get the US out of Iraq. It's not going to accept a permanent US presence there with air bases and the like, at least not absent a "grand bargain" with the US on Iran's own security. Therefore, sooner or later the Iranian-backed Iraqi militias are going to turn on the US. They have to, despite having benefited from the US presence so far. Even Ayatollah Sistani does not want the US in Iraq permanently.

And when those militias add their weight to the Mehdi Army and the Sunni insurgency, the US is finished in Iraq. There is absolutely no way the US can win against the combined armed forces of the Iraqi people operating as an insurgency. Completely impossible.

You're simply ignorant of any notion of what goes on in Iraq.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | March 1, 2008 11:18 PM

I don't wear rose colored glasses about Iraq, but I also don't assume failure. Circa 1947, there was widespread belief (try the NY Times archives) that the US had lost the peace in Europe.

We gave up on reforming the south in 1877, after a decade of trying. That consigned the region to another 90 years of being backward, and blacks in the region to another 90 years of being stepped on.

The project in Iraq is not one that we can expect to succeed over the course of few years. It will take a long, long time.

What we do know is this: If we bail, things will get worse. They may well get worse in a way that requires future intervention; i.e., a localized version of how Europe went after we walked away in 1919.

Posted by James Robertson | March 2, 2008 11:22 AM

To the person who asked about where Hagee comes from, the story is actually rather tragic. I am from San Antonio, the home to Hagee's megachurch. Before his mega days, he was viewed as a down-to-earth sort of guy. I can even think of some Christian friends who found solace and good advice in his words in the earlier days. These people would today not touch him with a ten-foot pole. He gets his money, nevertheless, from a very large congregation and from successful marketing of his writing, television, etc. The San Antonio Express-News ran a story in '03 about his questionably high compensation. Also, as this blog entry points out, his rhetoric has gained him fame and infamy more recently.
His origin and his current success are not questioned. The story would be then: how was the change made in rhetoric and focus? Even though I will not be voting Republican this year, as someone who comes from a Catholic family and as someone who does not want the apocalypse brought about by our next president, I do not wish to see McCain continue to allow this support to stand.

Posted by Ernesto | March 2, 2008 12:35 PM

Serves both Hagee and McCain right - both are true bigots. Perhaps Hagee can now invoke divine wrath on McCain.

Posted by Patriotic Muslim | March 2, 2008 12:36 PM

Best and most concise piece on McCain's embrace of Hagee's endorsement around. Thanks.

Posted by Nell | March 2, 2008 3:56 PM

John Hagee is an ignorant and hateful anti-Catholic bigot. In fact his rather ludicrous dispensationalist views put him at odd with most of Christianity. I am troubled that Senator McCain would not rebuke his support. Looks like I will be voting Democratic for the first time in my life.

Posted by Matthew | March 2, 2008 6:12 PM

Let's get back to the basics in this Country. The bible is God's word. There is going to be an Armagedon. John Hagee is a staunch supporter of Israel and we better listen to what he has to say. Abortion and the gay life style are sins according to God's word. If you listen to the Hal Lindsey Report on Friday nights on TBN, you get more truth about what is going on than the liberal news media. There are a lot of Catholics that are Christians, but that doesn't mean the Catholic Church is a Christian institution. There is still only one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus. We don't have to go to a pope or pray to Mary. We are told to the Father (God) not an earthly father, in Jesus name. Praying to Mary is not in God's word. Hagee is a man that God has raised up in this generation to point our country toward their stand with Israel. We better not back away from that or we are done as a nation. This nations principals better get back to the bible or we are done. God punished Sodom and Gomorah for their lifestyles. If He doesn't judge this Country, He will have to apoligize to Sodom and Gomorah. There is only one state that is acceptable in God's eyes and that is the State of Israel. God placed his blessing on Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob (Israel). The Edomites and Ishaelites are not to be partakers of that blessing. GET REAL AMERICA.

Posted by James L. Blekfeld | March 2, 2008 6:17 PM

Let's get back to the basics in this Country. The bible is God's word. There is going to be an Armagedon. John Hagee is a staunch supporter of Israel and we better listen to what he has to say. Abortion and the gay life style are sins according to God's word. If you listen to the Hal Lindsey Report on Friday nights on TBN, you get more truth about what is going on than the liberal news media. There are a lot of Catholics that are Christians, but that doesn't mean the Catholic Church is a Christian institution. There is still only one mediator between God and man and that is the man Christ Jesus. We don't have to go to a pope or pray to Mary. We are told to the Father (God) not an earthly father, in Jesus name. Praying to Mary is not in God's word. Hagee is a man that God has raised up in this generation to point our country toward their stand with Israel. We better not back away from that or we are done as a nation. This nations principals better get back to the bible or we are done. God punished Sodom and Gomorah for their lifestyles. If He doesn't judge this Country, He will have to apoligize to Sodom and Gomorah. There is only one state that is acceptable in God's eyes and that is the State of Israel. God placed his blessing on Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob (Israel). The Edomites and Ishaelites are not to be partakers of that blessing. GET REAL AMERICA.

Posted by James L. Blekfeld | March 2, 2008 6:18 PM

The candidacy of FLIP-FLOP JOHN McCAIN, an apparent war monger with serious anger management issues, should raise serious concerns on the part of the American public, if not the punditocracy. While we should all respect and honor his sacrifice and service during the misbegotten Viet Nam War (always honor the troops, if not the policy), the fact that he was under the total control of NVA Intelligence and the KGB for over five years should give us pause for great concern. It is more than likely that we are dealing with the fictional “Manchurian Candidate” incarnate. It is more than possible that ‘control triggers’ were planted deep in his psyche by his captors (a possible root cause of his anger management issues). Why else was he allowed to survive when his captors knew that his father was one of the principle managers of the American war effort? It doesn’t require a great stretch of the imagination to see that if he was allowed to live and return as some kind of ‘hero’, that a promising political career could await him given his family background and ties. Imagine him dealing with Bush’s soul-mate, Putey-Pute Putin, an ex-KGB General, when Putey decides to activate the control trigger at a critical juncture. Can America afford to take this chance? I THINK NOT!

Posted by Eric Cashdan | March 2, 2008 8:53 PM

Hagee speaks the truth from the word of God. No wonder you find it all so offensive.

Posted by Jimmy Z | March 2, 2008 9:05 PM

This is irritating as Catholics have supported McCain more than pretty much any other denomination.

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=392

There's even been a whole "Catholics for McCain" group that was co-chaired by Catholic convert, and former candidate, Sam Brownback.

http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/news/pressreleases/a4cefb57-b97b-4467-a23e-dd6d31ce42ce.htm

I think McCain really doesn't share his views on Catholics and never did. He adopted a kid through Mother Theresa's group, etc. Still this kind of pandering for the extremist vote doesn't bode well. I'm going to wait-and-see how it plays out before I make a definite opinion on him. At the moment I'm still voting for him, but more on a "lesser evil" basis than I expected.

Posted by Thomas R | March 3, 2008 3:08 AM

It does not matter who McCain has endorsing him. The Republicans are stuck with him. Who else is there? Does this mean that McCain is anti-Catholic? This is interesting.

Posted by barbb2 | March 4, 2008 8:45 AM

now john hagee has to asked his church to define his divorce, a man who can tell you everything about the jews and the end of the world,how to live for god,but is he living for god or just another money sucking used car salesman making a buck off of uneducated protestants man these people will believe anything just put the name preacher on it, they cant read the book for themselves, they call these screamers preachers.

Posted by michael sasko | March 8, 2008 2:08 PM

now john hagee has to asked his church to define his divorce, a man who can tell you everything about the jews and the end of the world,how to live for god,but is he living for god or just another money sucking used car salesman making a buck off of uneducated protestants man these people will believe anything just put the name preacher on it, they cant read the book for themselves, they call these screamers preachers.

Posted by michael sasko | March 8, 2008 2:09 PM