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Sunday, May 04, 2008

John Hagee Says that the Roman Catholic Church Will be Devoured by the Anti-Christ and John McCain Happily Accepts his Endorsement: Frank Rich
Posted by Melina | 8:18 PM

Today Frank Rich covers the mind bending Reverend John Hagee and his ongoing endorsement of John McCain. The fact that this man can even find followers is a testament to the level of desperation out there in the search for meaning in the wasteland of American life. How low does one have to go to find oneself adhering to a life plan set forth by the likes of this twisted man preaching hate from a television screen, and getting rich doing it?



Watching this video makes one wonder how its possible that Presidential contender John McCain could not only welcome his endorsement but continue to welcome it, with little notice of whatever inflammatory statements he has made along the way. Jon Stewart weighed in on McCain...and if you really couldn't make this stuff up, why does it take only our Jon Stewart to deliver it thusly?:



Today Chris Matthews chuckled with his panel about the other pastor in the M$M's religious endorsement wars being the crazy uncle in the attic who pops out to say odd things. The panelists discussed Obama's every action and reaction to the mistake that was the handling of the Jeremiah Wright debacle and unbelievably, thats it.... Its all just a little hard to watch, and honestly, Ive been turning it off lately; all of it. This primary is basically over. If its not for some reason, then I don't know what thats going to mean, because the truth is that this country has a huge emotional problem, and it may take some sort of huge disaster to get us back to some semblance of what were were supposed to be about.

Meanwhile, over at the Old Grey Lady, Frank Rich managed to lay out something that is so urgent and damaging to our country as to make Obama's passive pew/fence sitting during Wright's inflammatory,(if largely correct content-wise,) sermons, seem mild. The truth of McCain and Hagee is that McCain pursued the twisted fuck for his endorsement and that, even in light of having the possibility of standing on a stage next to the next possible President, Hagee consistently repeats his insane claims. And no matter how it has been approached on the kid-gloves-Sunday-shows, McCain refuses to acknowledge how insane the guy really is. Included in the morass of ideas by Hagee , are such gems as his belief that Hurricane Katrina was sent by God because of homosexuality in New Orleans, that a war in Iran should be started immediately as a "Holy War," and that the Catholic church is "The Great Whore," that is drinking Jewish blood. This is only part of the venom that this man spews regularly, and McCain is still happy to have his endorsement.

McCain claims that he does not accept "anti-anything" statements by Hagee, and dismisses any implication that there is a problem with Hagee's outrageous statements. Its unclear if McCain even is aware of what Hagee is saying, but he clearly seems to think that he can disassociate himself from some things that Hagee says and embrace the fact that the guy is religious at all. There has been incredibly little media coverage of McCain and his relationship to Hagee, but for some reason the media has seen fit to cover Obama and Wright ad nauseum, until watching political programming has become nearly impossible. As Rich notes:

I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.

And I would go further than that, in that what gets wall to wall coverage is transparently aimed at shaping the dialog in this country, and in fact to shape the race itself. Rich's point is that black transgressions get more air time and press than similar white transgressions. In support of this he notes Falwell and Robertson and their wacky take on the reasons for 9-11, and the Giuliani priest, among others. But is this merely a matter of racist coverage rather than pure favoritism towards a party, a candidate, or the status quo? Could it be just this simple, or maybe should we try to look at the fact that the outlets are all owned by large corporations that stand to benefit from the preservation of the status quo, represented by a Clinton or a McCain Presidency.

The press certainly loves McCain, and regularly accepts barbecue from him, which could be considered to be a bit of a conflict. There is a dearth of real reporting going on anymore, and the specter of Tim Russert or Matthews hosting another McCain lovefest is sickening. When does Rich call his colleagues in reporting on their behavior? Why is this as simple as a racial issue?

Obama sat for years in church and, if you believe his claims, he didn't much pay close attention to what was being said. That is not what anyone would call unusual in churchgoing Americans, though I would expect more of Obama, considering that he is a pretty deep and spiritual guy with a long term plan. John McCain was tickled to have Hagee endorse him over Huckabee, and continued to seek him out and welcome his endorsement even as the incredible sound bytes came out. ...and Obama is the one deserving of scrutiny? Perhaps that is racial, but there is also a programming angle to it that I see as having a much stronger influence on this thing than any white fear of the coming race war.

So, as much as I was happy to see Frank Rich cover this story, I wish he had gone deeper with it. Perhaps one can speculate about the racial thing easier than one can about actual entities making decisions. But this thing being driven by race would indicate that there are ratings being considered, just like when a blond girl goes missing in the Caribbean, and so doesn't that also indicate a decision by management? The question is, who is willing to take responsibility for what is going on? In the long run its easier to blame the ratings, the shareholders, and ultimately capitalism, than to own up to being part of the problem.

So, why is Obama still being questioned about Jeremiah Wright? Oh, its because crazy black preachers are much more Jerry Springer Show than white ones....right? In other words, its our fault.




c/p RIPCoco

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