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TechnoratiMcCain's God Squad: Huckabee and Hagee
Sen. John McCain is not a religious man, but he has people around him who are qualified to talk to God on his behalf.
For reasons that have more to do with electoral politics than a deep and personal faith, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee knows he has to genuflect in the general direction of Jesus Christ to get his party's nomination.
That's what conservative Republican candidates have done ever since casual churchgoer and astrology buff Ronald Reagan made conventional piety mandatory for anyone with White House ambitions.
Still, Mr. McCain has consistently passed on opportunities to talk about his faith publicly. Whenever he is cornered, he'll spout something trite and predictable so as not to alarm the GOP faithful for whom the mere declaration of faith -- no matter how anemic -- is sufficient.
Last month, the Arizona senator skipped the excruciatingly thoughtful Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa., citing a scheduling conflict.
Not only did his Democratic rivals manage to show up, both bared their souls in what was arguably the most nuanced and informed audience Q&A to date.
For his part, Mr. McCain is smart enough to leave the thees and thous to the once "impious" Democrats.
Why say a word when pious surrogates like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and the Rev. John Hagee, founder and pastor of the 19,000-strong Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, are around to elevate your game for you?
On Friday, Mr. Huckabee showed just what kind of God-lover he was in a speech before the National Rifle Association convention in Louisville, Ky.
"That was Barack Obama," the former Baptist minister said, responding to the loud sound of something falling backstage. "He just tripped off a chair. He's getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him and he -- he dove for the floor."
What was it that Jesus said about a good man saying good things that are stored up in his heart -- and an evil man expressing evil things that flow from his heart and out of his mouth?
Even a room full of Second Amendment enthusiasts knew better than to laugh at such tasteless banter about a gun being pointed at a prominent black politician -- especially 40 years and one month after Martin Luther King Jr. took a bullet in Memphis, Tenn.
It took Mr. Huckabee five hours to get around to issuing the standard apology for saying what was in his heart: "I made an offhand remark that was in no way intended to offend or disparage Sen. Obama," the Huckster said. "I apologize that my comments were offensive. That was never my intention."
On Sunday, the former presidential contender made it clear that there was nothing he would enjoy more than to be John McCain's running mate. Now that's a ticket the Dems could enjoy beating up on.
But Mr. Huckabee isn't the only man of God who wants to stay in Mr. McCain's good graces.
The Rev. Hagee, a big-time huckster who puts most shady preachers to shame in the "remove-the-log-from-your-own-eye" department, recently apologized to Catholics for preaching that their church was the "great whore of Babylon" spoken of in the Book of Revelation.
"In my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all of its ugly forms," Mr. Hagee wrote, "I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews. In the process, I may have contributed to the mistaken impression that the anti-Jewish violence of the Crusades and the Inquisition defines the Catholic Church. It does not."
The Rev. Hagee said he no longer believes Hitler conspired with the Catholic Church to perpetrate the Holocaust, but he hasn't exactly mellowed on homosexuals or Muslims -- his most frequent target these days.
The good reverend isn't a total neanderthal. He did apologize for sponsoring a mock slave auction at his church in 1996. "There is not one racial bone in my body," he said at the time. "I was trying to help the high school seniors raise money for their senior trip."
Remember, this is the preacher whose endorsement John McCain actively sought.
Meanwhile on the "values in politics" front, a fifth member of Mr. McCain's presidential campaign has had to step down in recent days because of embarrassing connections to lobbyists.
Still, Charlie Black, Mr. McCain's chief political strategist, remains on the campaign payroll.
In the past, Mr. Black has represented such stalwarts of human rights as Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines, Jonas Savimbi of Angola and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire. To his credit, he has yet to represent Satan. With Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Hagee on board, America finally has a presidential campaign with standards.
Tony Norman can be reached at tnorman@post-gazette.com.
Copyright ©1997 - 2008 PG Publishing Co., Inc
23 Comments so far
Show AllChristians United for Israel, or, CUFI. Yup. So that armageddon can proceed and all Jews who refuse to convert to Christianity can be banished to hell by that most loving of God's, Jesus Christ.
Flag pin on the lapel
Cross on the sleeve
Atheist, let me help you with that difficult one.
Wright spoke of Israel's oppression of the Palestinians.
Hagee has a huge organization called Christians United for Israel.
Any other questions?
Why isn't the MSM making as big of a deal of Hagee as they did of Wright ? Wright's an intelligent man ! Hagee is mentally ill.
Please google "Hillary Clinton the Family" and read the Barbara Ehrenrich article. Then tell me whether you think Hillary Clinton would or would not pander to the "religious right".
Kent
I don't know much about Hinduism, but Buddhism frowns on homosexuality/sodomy/lesbianism. I'm not a Buddhist, but I study it.
They don't believe in killing, so they also frown on abortion unless going through the pregnancy would be detrimental to the mother. They don't forbid birth control like Catholics do.
Maybe Hagee's use of the term "racial" rather than "racist" or the British "racialist" conveyed something significant. Was he sending a message that he is the purest of Aryans, undefiled by mongrelization?
One of the very few things I like about McCain is that he's not a religious fanatic and doesn't wear his faith on his sleeve, unlike most of his fellow Republicans and Hillary Clinton. However, he is willing to pander to the bigotry of the religious right with veiled Muslim bashing and flagrant gay-baiting and abortion-banning rhetoric.
I'm still trying to figure out what conservative Christianity has, other than his iconic significance, with Jesus. Christ was a pacifist, a despiser of the rich and champion of the poor and powerless, an advocate of mercy and forgiveness and an opponent of the political class of his day. Abortion and homosexuality were rampant in the Roman Empire of his day, but he is nowhere recorded as condemning them. In other words, he was a liberal. One need not be religious to endorse these values, which are also found in Buddhism and Hinduism, among others.
"What was it that Jesus said about a good man saying good things that are stored up in his heart — and an evil man expressing evil things that flow from his heart and out of his mouth?"
Why is Jesus´name still mentioned in one breath with the American brand of christianity? There is nothing that goes on as completely accepted in this country that has anything to do with the teachings of Christ. Christ threw Mastercard and them out of the temple; they are however an essential part of current life in the USA. Who do you know here that does NOT try to acquire more wealth first, spiritual life later? What did we do after 9/11: turn the other cheek?
Please.
So, onward. But please spare me the nonsense about so-called christian Hukkabee, or any of the others.
lillulu -
You are exactly right.
I consider Huckabee far more dangerous than Hagee. Hagee does not have the personal charm and quick wit that Huckabee possesses (think Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd). Huckabee, who generally believes very much the same things as those that Hagee espouses (especially in regards to the Middle East and Israel) can convince most people that he is really a down home, kindhearted populist when in reality he is a conscienceless, cold-blooded conservative, racist to the core, and willing to continue the very programs and policies that have brought this country to the abyss.
Sometimes I fear that The Daily Show and Colbert Report (as much as I love them) do more harm than good, in that they allow pigs like Huckabee, Feith, Kristol, Norquist and hosts of other un-American neocons to state their cases, to banter with the hosts, make jokes and to appear as if they are normal human beings.
They are not.
Huckabee is not a "nice" man. He just showed his true colors when he made that thug-like remark about an attempted assassination on Obama. That's what he wishes would happen, and he let it slip.
I'm so tired of hearing the phony apologies from these politicians. The only thing they're sorry about is the fact that the public doesn't go along with their stupid statements.
Huckabee tells good jokes.
Seriously, If Huch-a-berry is McCain's VP choice, the far, far to right born again lifers will arise once again in November and flood the voting booths.
Was talking with one last evening and he said that the planet Earth was only 5,000 years old and created in six days by God and God's days were 24 hours long. Oh yes, he's voting for McCain naturally. A very intelligent person too, wealthy and wise. ___ He scared me. His wife got the Bible out and proved it to me. All this time I've been stupid.___ As many here will likely agree with.
Mr. Hagee is full of himself. A self righteous modern day Pharisee who's false teachings are an afront to the teachings of Jesus. The man is a true crackpot! The fate of Hagee and those like him are stated in Revelation. The beast will turn on them.
January 2008 - ABC News:
"McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign..."
Hey, six down (the count is actually six that we know of), only 53 "good people" to go...
If Haggee jumps on McCains bandwagon any harder, it will be crushed beneath his enormous fat...(Gluttony is a SIN, fatass)
Six thousand years old is the earth, so says one idiot
Another moron cries "great whore"
While the tortured one defends torture
The first two straight from a book of fairy tales and the latter bound to roast in their hell…
Ain't life grand?
"There is not one RACIAL bone in my body" - Bagee Hagee
So he has no race, or is he ALL races?
Actually I would be surprised if he had ANY bones in his body...probably had them replaced with titanium alloy to support the massive bag of putrid fat he call a body.
McCain doesn't need these God-fearing people. He's already got the media backing him to the hilt. The election is in the bag.
Mr. Norman, Who, exactly, was it that 'qualified? these two blowhards to speak to any god on behalf of McCain?
Huckabee is a bad imitation of a wannabe red neck; and, Hagee has no bones at all just lard and bull shit wrapped in a really bad Huey-Dewey-Louie costume.
It is quite interesting to see after the sturm und drang that the God Squad put out earlier in the Repug nomination battle regarding their never backing McCain, they are falling into line like "good christian soldiers." Perhaps they have realized their time in the sun has gone once they threw their lot in with Dubya, Cheney, & Co., and are now jumping on McCain's band wagon in a desperate attempt to be a participant at the table if the Arizona senator wins in November.
I've always been very skeptical of Reagan's, "there's not a racist bone in my body", which Hagee amended to "racial bone". What a strange and obfuscating metaphor. Do they mean to imply that, "it's my brain that's actually racist, my bones are innocent" What Huckabee and Hagee have said is a lot more troubling to me than anything Jeremiah Wright said.
It seems like in nearly every news clip or photo of McCain, Lieberman is standing there like his personal body guard. Looks like he's been assigned the role of neocon watch dog, keeping the new dumb ass lackey in line and on course.
Huckabee is a nice man, but probably not qualified to be president. It was an unfortunate faux pas.
Hagee, however, is a certifiable lunatic. He wants to be on the 50 yard line when the Russian-Arab-Iranian coalition are defeated by God in Israel, and he thinks its happening momentarily.
What a crop of luminaries! Makes me very, very proud.