Tim Russert of NBC news confronted Barack Obama with the fact that Nation of Islam's Louis Farrakhan recently "endorsed" Obama. Fair enough. What do you have to say for yourself Barack?
"You know, I have been very clear in my denunciation of Minister Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments. I think that they are unacceptable and reprehensible. I did not solicit this support. He expressed pride in an African-American who seems to be bringing the country together. I obviously can't censor him, but it is not support that I sought. And we're not doing anything, I assure you, formally or informally with Minister Farrakhan."
In context Russert asked Obama, in an earlier debate, if he agreed with some position of Harry Belafonte! HARRY BELAFONTE! Harry Belafonte who, at least at the time, hadn't even SUPPORTED Obama!
I digress from the real point of this post.
Do you know who Reverend John Hagee is? You probably don't. I don't get a whole lot of Christian fundamentalist readers here. If you aren't "into" it, then you probably don't know him. Just like most of you probably didn't know Pastor Ted Haggard before the scandal broke. Even though you should have. We all should have because these guys are the enemies of rational thought. Know your enemy. Here's what he looks like.
So... John Hagee has endorsed John McCain for President of the United States of America and John McCain has expressed great pleasure at receiving the endorsement. Please take a moment and read this from the NY Times.
I just want to know if the national press is going to destroy John McCain's candidacy over this. I can't think of a greater disqualification than openly accepting the endorsement of a racist maniac. Are these words too harsh on Hagee? Can an honest comparison be made between someone like Hagee on the one hand, and Louis Farrakhan on the other?
He has called for the U.S. and Israel to join forces in launching a nuclear strike on Iran, in part to hasten the "Second-Coming".
He has made statements that ALL Muslims are "programmed to kill" and that we can NEVER negotiate with them.
He thinks that New Orleans was the recipient of the judgement of god. He even points out that there was a HOMOSEXUAL PARADE scheduled for the week after Katrina.
He seems to believe that one of the future heads of the European Economic Union will be the Antichrist.
You tell me if I'm being unfair in my characterization of the good reverend.
Does the national press go ballistic? Does Tim Russert hold McCain's feet to the fire? Not simply because a really bad dude endorsed him; but mainly because of this:
“All I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.'’
What if Obama had warmly received his endorsement from Farrakhan? Would his campaign been finished?
You tell me. Need more? Listen to Reverend Hagee's own words on an NPR interview from 18 months ago.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Why isn't McCain's candidacy FINISHED??
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22 comments:
Excellent point. But I wouldn't necessarily be ... um ... whitewashing Louis Farrakhan, either. So the answer to this question -- Can an honest comparison be made between someone like Hagee on the one hand, and Louis Farrakhan on the other? -- is "yes."
Farrakhan and Hagee are both scary, creepy guys. Women, children and dogs should run - not walk - in the opposite direction if they see either one of them on the street.
I am absolutely stupefied that today, in 2008, we have people who actually believe in an almighty, benevolent god who wreaks meteorological havoc on a city because of gay people. Or that that same god would give them Prime Minister of Israel a stroke. I mean what f--king century are we living in?
Yes, you can compare Hagee with Farrakhan.
Yes, they are both scary.
Yes, it's unbelievable that we still still live in a world where some people think think these guys.
But given that all the above are true, and that we can expect our free press to hold one candidate accountable for people who endorse him -
Is the national press going to stick it to McCain on the question of Hagee's support and his warm reception of it? If not, why not? What is different in the collective mind of the press between Farrakhan and Hagee?
They will not stick it to McCain, because Christianity is considered mainstream, and it's okay to hate muslims right now. Sucks, but it's true.
Lifey - I had the same reaction - that of course they would see Hagee differently from Farrakhan. Still, he isn't "just" a Christian. He's way, way out in right field. When you start calling for thermonuclear war against sovereign states that have not attacked you... this HAS TO be challenged. There must be some members of the press willing to do it.
The problem is that wackos like him have too much power. They tell their flock to write letters to CNN and stop watching it, and the flock will do it. What network wants or needs the trouble? It'd be interesting to see Clinton or Obama take McCain on for this crap, but, again, the public will generally have a much harder time with Farrakhan.
McCain also cuddled up to Rod Parsley in Ohio last week. From the Wikipedia article about Parsley:
On October 3, 2004, Parsley preached a sermon titled "Uncensored: While Freedom Still Rings," which was in many ways the mission statement for the Center for Moral Clarity. In the two-part sermon, Parsley expressed opposition to the view that there is a separation of church and state in the U.S. Constitution; same-sex marriage; partial-birth abortion; hate-crimes legislation in California, Canada, and Sweden; sexual orientation themes in children's books; racism; and poverty.
Just the kind of stuff we need cuddled up to a President.
RBH, thanks for dropping in and for the info on Parsley.
You can be the craziest, most hateful sonofabitch and get a pass for your behavior (as long as it doesn't involve buttsex) if you're on the Jesus team. That's the way it works.
@ Philly -
You might be wrong on this. The heat has started and McCain is feeling it.
Philly - thanks for the link to the news story.
You're welcome. Hey, wait a minute... ;)
Yeah, I forgot to thank you Philly. That was... uh....
Don't forget that as Chris Matthews puts it: "The press loves McCain. We're his base."
The more I try to watch Matthews, the more I think he's completely out of touch and in his own world.
Why does anyone bother trying to watch Matthews? He's a twit.
Jon Stewart trashes Chris Matthews' philosophy of life.
Notice how he equates obtaining and possessing a woman the same as obtaining or possessing property or a job. The more Jon questions, the more Chris reveals he's crazy. It's wonderful. It's one of the best interviews I've seen him do. I also liked his reason for not accepting Chris' offer to go on Hardball, "I don't troll".
Ok, sorry, back to what was it now? McCain getting a free ride? Yeah, um bollocks. Total shite.
Here's a Young Turks take on him. Check this Matthews video
"Aqua Velva, leather, rrrrgh!"
LOL
What disgusts me about this issue and the issue of the original post is the constant reaffirmation that what drives the news is ratings and not any kind of journalistic integrity. MSNBC realizes it's getting a big market share from liberals, so they tell Chris to apologize. NBC hasn't felt the need yet to reel in Russert, and CBS? Well they're going to try this attack McCain thing since no one else is and hey, what have they got to lose? Nobody watches CBS anyway. It's all bullshit.
Philly:
What disgusts me about this issue and the issue of the original post is the constant reaffirmation that what drives the news is ratings and not any kind of journalistic integrity.
Sounds great. But considering the general ignorance and apathy of the populace -- and not only your millennials -- how would the networks pay the bills?
The issue isn't really about the news media's choices. It's about the idiots who think that the free market of ideas is mostly about celebrity gossip.
Completely off topic, but due to circumstances beyond my control, theparentheticalatheist.wordpress.com has now become (((Billy))) The Atheist (iambilly.wordpress.com)
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