I've been waiting for the shoe to drop for this mf'er since everyone started panning Obama for his pastor (we even posted about it once). The idea that Jeremiah Wright is the only religious radical* associated with a presidential candidate is ridiculous. Since before his anointment as the lunatic fringe's presumptive nominee, John McCain has aligned himself with some of the most extreme and radical cultists in the business.
How radical? Here are a few of just Hagee's direct quotes.
- “Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.” - Jerusalem Countdown (revised edition, 2007, p. 114)
- "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, September 18, 2006
- "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... Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of antisemitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come.... it rises from the judgment of God upon his rebellious chosen people." - Jerusalem Countdown, pp. 92-93
Finally this, from the NYT:
The McCain campaign sought Mr. Hagee’s support, Mr. Hagee said in a recent interview. But after the two announced the endorsement at an event on Feb. 27 in San Antonio, Mr. Hagee’s hometown, the campaign has stopped talking about it.A spokeswoman answers questions by referring to a statement Mr. McCain made the day after the endorsement, when it was greeted with a barrage of criticism: “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.”
...
Mr. McCain began seeking Mr. Hagee’s endorsement more than a year ago, trying to bolster the campaign’s support among evangelical voters.
...
Mr. McCain, who does not talk about religion publicly, has a rocky history with conservative Christians. Eight years ago, he called the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson “agents of intolerance.”But as he prepared to run for president again, Mr. McCain was the graduation speaker at Mr. Falwell’s Liberty University in 2006, met with Mr. Hagee in Texas and spoke at his Night for Israel in Washington in 2007.
As recently as last week, however, James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family criticized Mr. McCain in an opinion article in The Wall Street Journal for his unwillingness to support a federal amendment against same-sex marriage and to oppose federal financing for stem cell research.
You see? Hypocrisy at its purest. He tries to distance himself from them, but in the same breath, he begs for their endorsement so he can pander to the evangelical right.
