McCain Supporter Hagee: New Orleans Got What It Deserved
April 23, 2008Pastor John Hagee told radio host Dennis Prager that God had a hand in the New Orleans devastation because the city was planning a “sinful” homosexual rally, but the rally never happened because Katrina hit. And Hagee said he was glad to have told NPR’s Terry Gross that Katrina was God’s judgment against New Orleans.
Think Progress has audio.
In March, when it was revealed that Hagee had referred to the Catholic Church as “the great whore,” an “apostate church,” the “anti-Christ,” and a “false cult system,” and offered that “Hitler said he wouldn’t do anything that hasn’t been done by the Roman church, only on a greater scale and more efficiently,” McCain first repudiated Hagee’s comments to the Associated Press “if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics,” but then went on Bill Bennett’s radio show and defended Hagee’s claim that his words were taken out of context.
On Sunday, McCain said it was a mistake to accept Hagee’s endorsement, but he was happy to have it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So was it a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement?
MCCAIN: Oh, probably, sure. [...]
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you no longer want his endorsement?
MCCAIN: I’m glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking.
Whaa?
I listen to you out of Buffalo, N.Y. very close to that station is some religous 24 hour religous radio that SCREAMS its signal in the late evening. Someone hosting a show at the same time you broadcast is always calling the Catholic Church the “Great Whore of Babylon” while he brings the “GOOD NEWS” about how long we have until Armaggedon. Lots of religous sects in the South can haul in a lot of money under those tents by preaching the same crap. I would like the opportunity to tell Haggis that Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. I don’t want religion in my government, I want common sense. I want the House and the Senate to stop wasting time by playing to C-Span cameras. I want elected leaders to stop unjust wars. Better yet how about not starting them at all? I want elected leaders to stop stuffing their pockets with bribes from lobbyists and feed the hungry in the name of God. And quite frankly, I want John McCain to go home and retire before my 10 year old grandson is blown up by a suicide bomber when he turns 18. Kate
One scumbag supports another…it’s only a big deal because the media makes it so.
McCain hasn’t sat in John Haggie’s church for the past twenty years. It’s safe to say that he’s never even visited his church. So……..what’s the comparison here?
Obama never flew over civilians in Vietnam dropping bombs on civilians…Obama never sold out his counrty to his captors…everything Obama heard from his church seat was true!!!
Sounds a little like moral relativism, or “hate the sins, love the sinner.” Maybe McCain’s just being a good Christian about it. Maybe he’s really becoming a liberal.
Hey Alan: You continue to defend Obama’s questionable company he keeps, Rev. Wright, The Terrorist, Louis Farakahn and other questionable people. My Mother always told me to be careful of the Company you keep. Keep company with good people and you will stay out of trouble. Keep company with people of questionable character and you will probably stay in trouble. An old cleche she used was “Birds of a feather flock together”. So I would certainly not trust Obama because of the company he keeps.
The difference with McCain and Hagee is that McCain sought out Hagee’s support and endorsement. He wanted the endorsement, and even stood on stage with him to accept his endorsement.
On Sunday he said that it was a mistake to seek the endorsement, then a few seconds later said he was glad to have it.
Ya, so McCain hangs out with Bush who has killed more people than all the terrorists combined. Bush is a friend of the Bin Laden family. Bush lies every time he opens his mouth…kinda like a fat man who’s mouth opens every time his elbows bend. You’re right, be careful who you hang out with. And I guess by that logic we should all be weary of Alan because he hangs out with Sean Hannity. Good point there buddy!!
So what if Obama was a member of Trinity for 20 years? I am getting pretty sick and tired of that being flung around as if it is somehow a crime?!!! This church has hundreds of thousnads of members….and has done extraordinarily great things for the people and it’s community……..The shallow-mindedness of some people to think that a few paasionate sermons strung together in a loop and taken out of context…somehow means that Obama has these same feelings as what was said at these particular times…and if Obama was actually there to hear these particular sermons….which if he was…probably heard them in their entirety…..I would think mature reasonable people would have the courage to except the fact that Obama condemned these words on these tape loops…..ABC News did release for its “shock-value” and he won’t reject the man…..because he sees the whole person..this man who was a United States Marine and was the valedictorian of his Navy Corp graduating class and served on President Johnson’s medical staff, and who gave spiritual advice to President Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scsndal is more than just a soundbite of some controversial words in a few sermons..played 24/7 on Fox News! My wrath is not because of Rev. Wright…this is an old story…that will backlash if continually thrown at us for political points..its about the unequal scrutiny perpetrated on Sen. Obama about people he either had a long personal asoociation with like the pastor of his church, or a limited association with a former 60s radical…Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have equally controversial people they have associated with in their lives too……The hypocrisy of all this is deafening…..It goes way beyond the craziness of “But he’s running for President…” is such a cop-out……..and is not an excuse to smear someone’s integrity…….This Silly Season is really getting a bit too stormy…..
Josh: The difference with McCain and Hagee is that McCain sought out Hagee’s support and endorsement. He wanted the endorsement, and even stood on stage with him to accept his endorsement.
On Sunday he said that it was a mistake to seek the endorsement, then a few seconds later said he was glad to have it.
Good point. Also, in an interview with Beliefnet.com, McCain said that, in addition to other evangelical leaders, he wants to “continue to establish relationships with people like [televangelist] John Hagee”, etc.
That he wants to continue a relationship with Hagee, a man who has called the Catholic Church a whore and that Katrina was a punishment on New Orleans for a gay parade that was planned, is very disturbing. McCain should be asked specific questions about Hagee (and Parsley, his “spiritual guide” who wants Islam destroyed) but he’s been given a pass. Stephanopolis (sp?) is the first person to do so on a national level and McCain didn’t do so well with it. And what about his flip-flopping with regards to prior harsh words about Falwell? He’s been given a pass on that too while Obama is being skewered.
http://icq.beliefnet.com/story/220/story_22001.html
The McCain/Hagee situation does not have to be a direct comparison to the Obama/Wright issue to be valid.
That’s all I have to say about that.
I’m appalled that John Haggie would make such a racist statement about New Orleans thats just like saying San Francisco should also get what it deserves for its blatant homosexuality. If I were McCain I would be very careful how I choose my words about Reverend Wright especially when he has one foot in the grave. McCain will be lucky if he wins this election because he probably won’t live long enough to finish his 4 year term. McCain is so fearful of Obama a black man becoming the nominee that he has to take cheap shots against Obama in order to hide his insecurities. Mccain needs to concentrate on the Pope and his pedophilia and homosexuality. Whether you like it or not Obama is going to be the nominee regardless of whether Hillary goes to the moon and back. Face reality its over for Hillary and McCain! Cathey
Sorry Alan Colmes…
Guilt by association only applies to Democrats, not Republicans!
How do I know?
Foxnews’ Hannity & Colmes, NEVER would never cover this story, so I am right!
Speaking of Hagee and other religious freaks, I just heard on Malloy how some dude has started a movement to have people pray when they fill their gas tanks so God will somehow get the prices to come down. There was even a better suggestion; have people fill their tanks with water and then get Hagee to use his influence with the lord to start turning it into gas. Shit, if it could be turned to wine why not gas? Come on McCain, get your buddy Hagee to do something useful!!
Alan:
Good show tonight, you can’t let Sean push you around anymore.When your right your right no pun intended. There are more issues,to address then the Rev Wright, Ayers,Million Man March,Luis Farakahn and such. Some of the other blog’ers on this page say it’s the company you keep or known association’s if that the facts then Sean Hannity should not have given his private phone number to Hal Turner. John McCain calls Hagee his friend,embraces his endorsement. Obama takes 200.00 dollars from W. Ayers when he ran for State Senate. Listen’s to Farakahn at the million man march he’s branded a follower. Check you-tube they have plenty of Farakahn’s speech’s not one with Obama in or on them.
Now Sean’s friend hal on his web-site told people how to build bomb’s oh Hal’s a neo-nazi, thought you should know. As officer Friday would say just the facts.
Last week’s meeting between former US president Jimmy Carter and the exiled leader of Hamas militants did not produce any results, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki said here Wednesday.
“President Carter came to the region thinking he could achieve something. Unfortunately president Carter left without anything concrete,” he told a conference in the Spanish capital.
“The only thing he achieved was permission on the part of Khaled Meshaal of Hamas to deliver a letter from a detained Israeli soldier to his family. Nothing else,” he said.
“Hamas offered nothing to president Carter. They reiterated the same positions. There was no change on the part of Hamas,” Malki added.
Louie you are so right .. it’s because Hannity is the boss and whatever he wants goes .. Colmes is there just playing the show monkey ..
Cheryl, actually, it does. Obama was a friend of Wright for reasons other than his political beliefs, just as I have MANY friends with ideas I don’t agree with. Heck, some of them are downright crazy. That doesn’t stop me from associating with them though because there is much more to life than politics.
As far as Hagee, McCain actually sought out his political support. He sought it out, knowing what a complete loon Hagee was. It was a shameless political move to appeal to the ultra-right-wing evangelicals that called him a liberal.
Now, I am still not a fan of guilt by association and I don’t think that McCain necessarily agrees with everything Hagee says. I do wonder why McCain would compromise his values for political expediency, however.
Pastor Hagee? Have you met Neal Horsley?
I wonder how many mules Hagee has … well, you know.
Look real close before you drop your draws Pastor, you want to make sure you picked a Jenny for the act. Otherwise, you’ve … well, you know. The only thing worse than sex with a mule is gay sex with a mule.
Would God be proud of everything the US government has taken part in? Would God bless every Law, Act, Bill, Action, or War? Would a God find a place in their heart for war between men (and women)? Would God bless discrimination, hate, bigotry in any form, racism, genocide (native Americans), slavery (though the Bible repeatedly claims it is OK to have slaves, which I find deplorable), industry that pollutes the Earth, womb, water, and air? I don not think any God would bless or feel any pride for the previous statements. I feel that it is arrogant to truly believe that we can know what a god really thinks, but if we could, I would not bet my soul on any possible pride felt by said God due to the way we treat each other. Here is the surprise; I do not care if god exists, is real, or not real, I really see no proof either way. Some would claim, “Oh you are an atheist or agnostic.” Well no, I do not care either way and concern myself with things that can be proven with evidence; yet I still have a moral sense that if there were a God, that God would be pissed.
Without secular government, Liberty would become extinct.
We are affected by the psychological reaction we experience when we hear or read words. The reaction may be conscious or unconscious but we conditioned by the language that surrounds us. The Green House Effect has turned into Global Warming and now is a cute little puppy named Climate Change, Thus removing the sound of threat or man’s influence. To avoid the constitutionality of choice the wording is not anti-choice instead it is called pro-life.
How is your PTSD or my grand father’s shell shock, as G. Carlin has pointed out years ago through comedy? A tax shelter for the ultra wealthy is called a fair tax or flat tax. If you wish to have the tax be a smaller proportion of your income just make more money. That sounds great for a world full of only Kings, but we are living in reality. We greet one another on radio talk shows as, “you’re a great American,” thus leaving the opposing viewpoint drowning in anti-Americanism or unpatriotic, un-American, subversive waters by default. How sad it is that blind nationalism reminiscent of the Soviet era of anti-Soviets were rounded up and sent to reprogramming camps or prison for dissenting opinions. World War 2 had a group that rounded up anti-Germans, they were lovingly called the S.S. That is why we should all be disturbed by the use of the term anti-American or un-American when describing fellow Americans. The catch phrase, “Love it or Leave it,” is an endearing bumper sticker for Pol Pot. He hated the educated intellectuals of Cambodia who were smart enough to realize how much they did not Love it. Yes the big surprise is the fundamentalist Extremists during the 1980’s who beat down the Soviet Union in Afghanistan by the Mujahedeen who referred to the Soviet Union as secular atheists that had to be expelled and defeated in the name of God. Does that sound familiar? Does the fear, ridicule, or language of some conservatives sound similar to the Bush Sr. Freedom Fighters of Afghanistan? Many conservatives routinely mention their displeasure for intellectuals, science, atheists, and other religions other than Christianity, Anti-American, Americans, and opposing views, thoughts, or speech. The problem is that questioning religion, conservative republican ideologies, or foreign and domestic policy will garner a possible label of un-American or anti-American subversion reminiscent or the Alien and Sedition Act of early American history. This is extreme nationalism, a super pride of nationhood, a pride so great that anything or anyone even slightly different thus becomes an Anti-American. We must remember that the only true Anti-Americans are those who wish to commit violence, kill, or wage war upon the nation, not the Americans who question or participate on the other side of the political equation. We are all Americans. Speech, thought and opinion are and can never be Anti-American. Though it would seem that we have sunk down to Soviet Era Nationalism. I am now sick and tired of being sick and tired of blind nationalism.
Mouse, lol. Hilarious, and true.
The Rev. Hagee hasn’t been John McCain’s mentor and spiritual advisor,nor has McCain written a book based on one of his sermons.
Rev. Wright is a bigot and Obama is his disciple.
Craig: You’re right. That’s what makes it so much worse. McCain sought out Hagee’s endorsement purely for political purposes: to appeal to the ultra-right-wing of the party that is dominated by evangelicals. Obama’s relationship to Rev. Wright was as a friend and a religious advisor, NOT as a political partner. I have very close relationships with many people that I disagree with politcally, and I don’t plan on ending them either.
No doubt that McCain’s only motive in contacting Hagee was an attempt to gain favor with the evangelical community(which is quit shallow,yet typical of politics.) My point is that McCain hasn’t been under the tutalidge of Hagee as Obama has under Wright.
My point is that Obama’s relationship with Wright had nothing to do with politics, and McCain’s has everything to do with politics. BTW, it’s up to you which post you want to continue this discussion under (if at all). I posted this to both.