February 29, 2008

Why is this outrageous now?--updated

Perhaps the media is picking up on the whole McCain/Hagee story, after Bill Donohoe raised a fuss about Hagee's open hatred of Catholics. What is interesting to me is that Hagee is hardly new to the political scenery. He was a prominent Bush supporter. Why did Donohoe not object then?

Are we seeing a reemergence of the conservative Catholic/conservative Evangelical split that seemed to disappear under Bush?

Update: NPR Blog has the McCain story.

And this from Greenwald's post about McCain's tepid "I don't agree with everything, just that he likes me" response:
As has been noted many times, most recently today by Matt Yglesias, Hagee's so-called "commitment to Israel" actually means that he wants Israel united so that the Rapture can happen and all Jews, including Israelis, will be slaughtered and sent to hell. And the "spiritual leadership" which McCain heralds consists of calling the Catholic Church the "Mother Whore" and a "cult" and arguing that Hurricane Katrina, which resulted in the devastation of tens of thousands of lives, was God's punishment against New Orleans because it scheduled a gay pride parade that week.
The fact that McCain thinks he can get away with openly embracing one of the most influential and hateful bigots in the country is a reflection of the profound media double standard he knows favors and protects him. Just imagine if Obama had issued a statement similar to McCain's with regard to Farrakhan: "I am very proud of Minister Louis Farrakhan's spiritual leadership to thousands of people" and "don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. I'm still 'honored" to have his support."

As it is, Obama -- who never appeared on a stage with Farrakhan or sought or praised his support -- was attacked by the Jamie Kirchicks of the world even though he denounced Farrakhan's views and rejected his support. Yet here is McCain, refusing to denounce anything about Hagee, instead openly embracing him and expressing "honor" at receiving the endorsement, and there is . . . . almost nothing. For those in the media who sputtered on about the nonexistent Obama/Farrakhan matter -- and even for those who didn't -- how can you possibly justify not covering all of the aspects of this odious McCain/Hagee association?


Sullivan adds:
"There really are double standards for white fundamentalists, aren't there?"
Yes, for all their victimology about how Hollywood and the media are so anti-Christian, they are treated with kid gloves so often. Hagee's views are horrendous and oddly similar to Iran's nutjob leader. But one is derided while the other gets to meet with our own President.

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