War on Islam

John McCain's "spiritual guide" explains that we need to understand America's purpose as waging a broad-brush campaign against Islam:

A certain number of clueless liberals are going to wonder why this isn't nearly as big a deal as Reverend Wright, so in case you don't get it the difference is that anti-Muslim bigotry is a fairly mainstream and popular sentiment in the United States so associating with the Daniel Pipes' and Rod Parsley's of the world is only a problem in the actual, substantive sense of indicating that McCain's foreign policy views are bad and dangerous, not in the freak show "this'll hurt in November in Pennsylvania" sense.

Comments

To hurt McCain in the NJ & PA area the Dems need to run the Hagee anti Catholic stuff hard. That will end McCain's wishful thinking of winning those states.

Posted by TDE | May 8, 2008 12:34 PM

It probably also won't be as big a deal as Rev. Wright both because the relationship with McCain is more tenuous (though of course McCain actively sought out Parsley's support), and because Parsley isn't a Scary Black Man that might rape your mother in her sleep ...

You've got to love the Liberal Media.

Posted by Nav | May 8, 2008 12:34 PM

Wow. "We get off on warfare"?

Least he's honest.

Posted by Trevor J | May 8, 2008 12:35 PM

This in the end is why I decided that McCain would use TMBG's Racist Friend against Obama instead of vice versa. Hagee's bigotry is a feature not a bug as far as McCain is concerned.

Posted by crack | May 8, 2008 12:37 PM

Heh. As I said on the Clinton thread below, Matthew thinks it is time for Democrats to stop calling Clinton supporters racists and get back to their bread-and-butter of calling Republicans racists. And not 40 minutes later we have... Matthew calling Republicans racists. It was as predictable as the sun rising in the morning.

BTW, it is a flat-out lie to say that McCain called Parlsey his spritual giude. But Matthew has never had a problem with lying about McCain in this campaign.

Posted by Al | May 8, 2008 12:43 PM

If Wright were mainstream, he wouldn't be a big deal because... well, because he wouldn't be a big deal.

Pipes' brand of ignorant, racist, iflammatory bullshit is mainstream, no matter how many Persons Of Color corporate America puts in its commercials on the teevee to entice you to buy stuff.

And, Pipes, Hagee, LaHaye and the rest of the Dominionist evangelicals truly want a "confrontation of civilizations", a climactic East vs. West, Christianity and Islam, good-versus-evil battle -- an Armageddon... so McCain is their obvious choice as Leader to continue the eight years of Good Work begun by Lil' Boots and Shooter.

If Jesus were trying for the nomination, in any party, persons like Pipes would Swiftboat him.

Posted by Jemand von Niemand | May 8, 2008 12:57 PM

al writes :"BTW, it is a flat-out lie to say that McCain called Parlsey his spritual giude."

al is right, Mccain called Rod Parsley "a spiritual guide."

logically most people took that to mean that parsley WAS mccain's "spirital guide."

but by saying "a' rather than "my" i guess this means to suggest that Mccain has more than one, or that he actually doesn't agree with Parsley and simply thought pandering to rod's audience was an ok thing to do.

either way mccain really needs to explain what he was doing at that rally. can't imaging the msm is gonna ask him that question, though.

no question about Parsley being a racist, however.

Posted by dj spellchecka | May 8, 2008 1:00 PM

Whereas, the idea that many black people may still harbor a bit of hostility towards a country that kept them in slavery for some 300 years and then segregated them for another 100 is, you know, beyond the pale and just reflects an unhealthy level of hatred.

Posted by Doug-E-Fresh | May 8, 2008 1:00 PM

BTW, it is a flat-out lie to say that McCain called Parlsey his spritual giude.

Right. Parlsey is *a* spiritual guide, but not McCain's guide. He's only a guide for everybody else.

Posted by justinb | May 8, 2008 1:04 PM

DJ,

Islam isn't a race, last I heard. It's a religion.

Posted by Hector | May 8, 2008 1:09 PM

I will say that I think if the press ever really did press a candidate on whether or not they agreed with the whacky fundies that Jemand mentions above, the majority of Americans would be appalled. However, because fundy groups have spent so much time crying about "unfair treatment" whenever the press so much as tries to discuss the root of their theology, the press is scared to do it.

How come GWB was never asked if he really believes that he will be swept up into heaven in the rapture while all the catholics and jews and muslims and episcopalians get left behind? Ask him if he thinks its going to happen in his lifetime? Ask him if he knows which people that he knows are going to hell. Ask him if he thinks LeHaye's books (the "Left Behind" series) are truthfully prophetic. These are all common views among evangelicals, and if he fudges, ask him why he hangs out with so many people that do believe these things.

Sure, the fundies would eat it up. But I doubt most Americans would.

Posted by Doug-E-Fresh | May 8, 2008 1:12 PM

No, no, no, what McCain said was that Parsley was his Dirigible Pride.

Posted by El Cid | May 8, 2008 1:24 PM

This sort of post usually benefits from a reference to the New Republic.

Posted by otto | May 8, 2008 1:30 PM

McCain was on the Daily show last night. He sounded very reasonable until he started talking about Islam and the middle east and then all of a sudden, though he continued to look normal and talk in a normal tone of voice, he started a strong of-course-you-know-they're-all-the-bastard-spawn-of-
Satan spiel (paraphrasing). It was amazing. Suddenly, without any warning or change in appearance, he went from a reasonable politician who understands the world is a complex place, to a dangerous lunatic you don't want to have walking the streets unsupervised. Granted, the media are plugging for him as hard as they possibly can, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone with half a brain actually voting for this man.

Posted by Archimedes | May 8, 2008 1:34 PM

Is there any evidence that McCain had even met Parsley before this year?

I suspect calling him "a spiritual guide" was just standard campaign rhetoric rather than some claim of a deep personal connection.

Posted by ed | May 8, 2008 1:36 PM

McCain was on the Daily show last night. He sounded very reasonable until he started talking about Islam and the middle east and then all of a sudden, though he continued to look normal and talk in a normal tone of voice, he started a strong of-course-you-know-they're-all-the-bastard-spawn-of-
Satan spiel (paraphrasing). It was amazing. Suddenly, without any warning or change in appearance, he went from a reasonable politician who understands the world is a complex place, to a dangerous lunatic you don't want to have walking the streets unsupervised. Granted, the media are plugging for him as hard as they possibly can, but it's hard for me to imagine anyone with half a brain actually voting for this man.

Posted by Archimedes | May 8, 2008 1:37 PM

With respect to the anti-Moslem comments, aren't there a lot of Moslems in Michigan, a key battleground state ?

Posted by H-Bob | May 8, 2008 1:43 PM

I suspect Parsley is a closeted bone smoker.

Posted by Kay | May 8, 2008 2:46 PM

I will start separating Islam from terrorism when the terrorists do.

Whether you like it or not, fundamentalist, militant Islam is at war with us. Not saying we need to carpet bomb Medina and Mecca but we need to be aware of who/what wants to do us harm. And, contrary to the President's claims, they don't want to hurt us because of our freedoms.

Posted by danceswithgoats | May 8, 2008 2:50 PM

I'm totally in Obama's camp and agree that the Rev. Wright nonsense is a "freakshow", but lets be fair...

Not only is anti-muslim sentiment more acceptable, but Parsley was not McCains pastor for 20 years and he was not the inspiration for the title of his book or the central theme of his most famous speech...

Posted by Phil-bo | May 8, 2008 2:52 PM

Let's imagine for a moment that Rev. Wright had said, "We get off on warfare." It's not too hard to imagine that, and as a, you know, Christian, he would only say something like this to point out that it is a bad thing. A sin. Something we need to work on.

Had he done so and the moment were captured on tape, he would be roundly condemned by the media finger-waggers, each of whom would be appalled that the horrid man would say such a terrible thing about this beloved country.

Now, Rev. Parsley actually says, "We get off on warfare," only to him this is a good thing, something we should all be praised for. USA! USA! And no one bats an eye. Really, that is just amazing.

Posted by Rob Mac | May 8, 2008 3:08 PM

No, no, no, what McCain said was that Parsley was his Dirigible Pride.

A pander to Ron Paul voters?

Posted by mds | May 8, 2008 3:10 PM

No, no, no, what McCain said was that Parsley was his Dirigible Pride.

El Cid

Jesus -- the Cid's right!

I've waited all my adult life for a prestidential candidate who has the balls to admit that they favor a return to lighter-than-air craft as part of the long-overdue Greening Of America! A candidate who will take on the entrenched, petroleum-sucking airline lobby!

That settles it! let's get behind McCain's and push him all the way up there! He's our man -- because he's full of hydrogen!!

Posted by Jemand von Niemand | May 8, 2008 3:17 PM

hector writes: " DJ, Islam isn't a race, last I heard. It's a religion."

whoops, right you are. i got confused because al was talking about matt calling people racists, and i didn't realise matt wasn't calling anyone a racist but rather was talking about "anti-Muslim bigotry."

Posted by dj spellchecka | May 8, 2008 3:21 PM

I think it's proper not to compare Parsley with Wright but rather with Farrakhan. Farrakhan endorsed Obama, and Obama had to repudiate the endorsement because of Farrakhan's outrageous comments. Which he very quickly did. Meanwhile, Parsely endorsed McCain. McCain should have to repudiate the comments. And definitely not have a press conference with the dude. If everyone makes a ruckus on the blogosphere, we'll get there. Let's get to work.

Posted by industrial | May 8, 2008 5:33 PM

Re: I will start separating Islam from terrorism when the terrorists do.

Are as thorough in your condemnation of Christianity when radical Christians commit murder and mayhem inthe name of their beliefs. It does happen you know.

Posted by JonF | May 8, 2008 6:48 PM

Obama really needs to go after McCain for putting American's life at risk with his diseased mis-reading of the challenges we face. Post-Iraq, to have a candidate still spewing gormless "Arab Mind" vileness is unutterably squalid and wrongheaded. McCain is Alan Keyes/Frank Gaffney/Doug Feith/John Bolton/Rummy/Yoo/Wolfowitz stupid/evil/dangerous incarnate.

Posted by Trevor | May 8, 2008 7:00 PM

"it's hard for me to imagine anyone with half a brain actually voting for this man."

Welcome to, oh, probably forty percent of America!

And if Bush starts a war with Iran, that number will jump to sufficiently over fifty percent to make McCain the next President.

Sad, but there it is. Thirty percent of the US electorate STILL support the first or second worst President in US history - after electing him TWICE. They'd elect him a third time and beyond if they could.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | May 8, 2008 7:37 PM

"Welcome to, oh, probably forty percent of America!"

Note that I did initially qualify my comment with "with half a brain".

Posted by Archimedes | May 8, 2008 9:27 PM

If the US was founded in part to destroy Islam, I guess the founders forgot about it pretty quickly.

Treaty with Tripoli adopted 1797,
http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/treaty_tripoli.html

Art 11 is especially relevant:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

McCain, Bush, Parsely, and all their ilk are so full of BS... It has gone beyond 'dumb or lying' to either dangerously deluded idiots or soulless authoritarian exploiters.

Posted by travc | May 8, 2008 10:18 PM

As a Muslim all too familiar with the casual anti-Muslim bigotry of so many Americans-- and despite the fact you were born in Britain, yeah, I'm talkin' to you, Andrew Sullivan-- can I just say, AMEN brother!

And "all too familiar" doesn't preclude "frequently stunned, shocked, and deeply saddened". It's really oretty depressing.

Posted by Hana | May 9, 2008 1:01 AM

As a Muslim all too familiar with the casual anti-Muslim bigotry of so many Americans-- and despite the fact you were born in Britain, yeah, I'm talkin' to you, Andrew Sullivan-- can I just say, AMEN brother!

And "all too familiar" doesn't preclude "frequently stunned, shocked, and deeply saddened". It's really pretty depressing.

Posted by Hana | May 9, 2008 1:01 AM

No comment to make about the video itself but the "pssst...Do Something!" at the end of the video made my fillings vibrate. Am I the only one who found this jarring and more than a little annoying?

Posted by EPMason | May 9, 2008 4:18 AM

JonF - You are joking right? Over 11K terrorist type incidents committed by Muslims recorded since 9/11 and you are worried about "radical Christians"? The good news is that when Christians commit violence in the name of God they are acting in direct contravention of the New Testament.

I was amazed by the number of Muslims surveyed in Britian that think killing someone for insulting their prophet or converting from Islam is acceptable. The pollsters don't bother polling Christians because the figures would be in the .00001 percentages.

Posted by danceswithgoats | May 9, 2008 8:54 AM