McCain rejects Hagee's endorsement

[TitanTiger 20,511]

John McCain has rejected the support of controversial pastor John Hagee, nearly three months after Hagee first offered his backing to the Republican presidential candidate.

McCain has gradually repudiated certain statements from Hagee — including several perceived as anti-Catholic or anti-gay — but moved to reject his endorsement entirely after old comments he made about the Nazis were published in a left-leaning blog.

“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said in a statement Thursday. “I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.

“I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extreme views. But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual advisor, and I did not attend his church for twenty years. I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today. “

Hagee, leader of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, is ardently pro-Israel and cited McCain’s views toward Israel in his endorsement Feb. 27.

But the Huffington Post reported Wednesday that Hagee said in a late 1990s sermon that Adolph Hitler was sent to persecute the Jews on God’s behalf, as a way to expedite the re-establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. That prompted McCain’s statement Thursday.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/22/mc...ee-endorsement/

Not sure what else he can do. And again, McCain has acted on this far quicker than Obama did on Rev. Wright.

[RunInRed 16,492]

Good for McCain.

[OldNewby 27]

McCain to Hagee: Nuts!

[WinCrimson 61]

It's damage control.

Both McCain and Obama get an "F" on their associations with religious leaders.

[RunInRed 16,492]

It's damage control.

Both McCain and Obama get an "F" on their associations with religious leaders.

As if we needed any more reason for separation of church and state.

[tiger88 934]

No surprise that rir and win have chimed in here with these thoughts. You would love to equate these two situations,mccain/hagee and obama/wright. Good luck with that, lol.

[Tiger Al 0]

I'm happy to see McCain did the right thing.

[SouthLink02 8]

I'm happy to see McCain did the right thing.

Agreed.

I hope that both Democrats and Republicans continue distancing themselves from these religious extremists

[WinCrimson 61]

No surprise that rir and win have chimed in here with these thoughts. You would love to equate these two situations,mccain/hagee and obama/wright. Good luck with that, lol.

That Wright had some factual basis in his words, as articulated by TitanTiger, and all that Hagee spewed was pure controversy.

Portraying Jews to be vermin and condemning America's foolish foreign policy mistakes are two different balls of wax. Certainly, Wright wasn't justified in all he said... but he certainly relied on facts a helluva lot more than Hagee.

[CCTAU 3,350]

No surprise that rir and win have chimed in here with these thoughts. You would love to equate these two situations,mccain/hagee and obama/wright. Good luck with that, lol.

That Wright had some factual basis in his words, as articulated by TitanTiger, and all that Hagee spewed was pure controversy.

Portraying Jews to be vermin and condemning America's foolish foreign policy mistakes are two different balls of wax. Certainly, Wright wasn't justified in all he said... but he certainly relied on facts a helluva lot more than Hagee.

Pray to Jesus, not to a priest...FACT.

US gubment created aids to take the black man down....NOT FACT.

Now Catholics can worship any way they want. From a fundamentalist standpoint, they are wrong. But that's not really controversy. Fundamentalist preachers have been saying this for years.

Aids being created by the government to kill off blacks. Now that IS controversy.

Any way you spin it, Wright hurts achmed worse than HAgee affects McCain.

[OldNewby 27]

Aids being created by the government to kill off blacks. Now that IS controversy.

Substitute abortion (not that governments created abortion, but may have made it easier to obtain and fund), and Reverend Wright may be correct in his "to kill off blacks" statement.

[lca408 366]

From a fundamentalist standpoint, they are wrong. But that's not really controversy. Fundamentalist preachers have been saying this for years.

I'm glad fundamentalists are looked at as buffoons then. Anti-Catholic sentiment pervades every part of this country. Sickening.

Ryan

[OldNewby 27]

It's damage control.

Both McCain and Obama get an "F" on their associations with religious leaders.

As if we needed any more reason for separation of church and state.

If only we could persuade all fundamentalists around the globe that separation is a wise concept.

[arnaldoabru 11]

The difference is that Wright was Obama's preacher at a Church he worshiped. McCain went running,screaming, arms flaling, to get Hagee's blessing.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

The difference is that Wright was Obama's preacher at a Church he worshiped. McCain went running,screaming, arms flaling, to get Hagee's blessing.

I'm pretty sure that staying for 20 years under the teaching of a preacher that says wacko things is a tad worse than not vetting someone before asking for their endorsement to gain some traction with religious conservatives.

[TexasTiger 13,029]

The difference is that Wright was Obama's preacher at a Church he worshiped. McCain went running,screaming, arms flaling, to get Hagee's blessing.

I'm pretty sure that staying for 20 years under the teaching of a preacher that says wacko things is a tad worse than not vetting someone before asking for their endorsement to gain some traction with religious conservatives.

I'm not. List the wacko things. How pervasive were they over those 20 years? The comment we know about AIDS was barely even a blip in that one sermon.

McCain sought out people as political allies and embraced them for political purposes. We have every reason to think he was never sincere about doing so.

Here's what McCain said about his other recently rejected spiritual guide:

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN: And I'm very honored today to have one of the truly great spiritual leaders in America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide, Pastor Rod Parsley, who is here. Thank you for your-- for your leadership and your guidance. I'm very grateful you're here, sir.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitloc...g-attack-mccain

Very strong words. Did he mean a single one of them at the time? Or was he just cynically using "Christianity" to score points with folks he once rejected? In 2000, Jerry Falwell was an "agent of intolerance" to be roundly rejected. In 2007/08 he was to be embraced whole-heartedly. What a hypocrite. What an absolute fraud. He fooled me. I voted for faker in 2000. Looks like he's fooling you in 2008.

[TexasTiger 13,029]

John McCain has rejected the support of controversial pastor John Hagee, nearly three months after Hagee first offered his backing to the Republican presidential candidate.

McCain has gradually repudiated certain statements from Hagee — including several perceived as anti-Catholic or anti-gay — but moved to reject his endorsement entirely after old comments he made about the Nazis were published in a left-leaning blog.

“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said in a statement Thursday. “I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.

“I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extreme views. But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual advisor, and I did not attend his church for twenty years. I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today. “

Hagee, leader of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, is ardently pro-Israel and cited McCain’s views toward Israel in his endorsement Feb. 27.

But the Huffington Post reported Wednesday that Hagee said in a late 1990s sermon that Adolph Hitler was sent to persecute the Jews on God’s behalf, as a way to expedite the re-establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. That prompted McCain’s statement Thursday.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/22/mc...ee-endorsement/

Not sure what else he can do. And again, McCain has acted on this far quicker than Obama did on Rev. Wright.

Not sure why either one of you finds it necessary to bring Obama into this one. Hagee's comments have been out there for a long time and McCain has known about them. He only pulled the trigger when it was clear he could no longer tolerate the baggage. I suppose one could say the same about Obama, but for him it was rejecting a person. For McCain it is only finally rejecting an endorsement. That should have been easy months ago. And McCain couldn't even man up and own his own mistake. The dude is 71 years old and finds it necessary to say, "but I'm not as bad as that guy" in his supposed stand up moment. If my child had "accepted responsibility" like this, I'd tell him to try again.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

Look, Tex, I'm not loving my options this year. I know what I'm getting in McCain and what he's doing in courting these guys (though why he went for the TBN loony crowd to do so I'll never know). I'm just saying, we have two preachers who've said some loony/controversial stuff. One candidate considered one of them a mentor and sat under his preaching for 20+ years until his comments became too politically radioactive at which point the person he couldn't disown anymore than he could disown his own grandmother...he disowned. The other sought after some endorsements of prominent preachers to lessen his own political radioactivity with religious conservatives and did a sorry job vetting them.

Personally, I find the combo from Obama a tad worse. Your mileage may vary. But don't act like only one person is playing political games here.

[TitanTiger 20,511]

John McCain has rejected the support of controversial pastor John Hagee, nearly three months after Hagee first offered his backing to the Republican presidential candidate.

McCain has gradually repudiated certain statements from Hagee — including several perceived as anti-Catholic or anti-gay — but moved to reject his endorsement entirely after old comments he made about the Nazis were published in a left-leaning blog.

“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them,” McCain said in a statement Thursday. “I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well.

“I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright’s extreme views. But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual advisor, and I did not attend his church for twenty years. I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today. “

Hagee, leader of San Antonio’s Cornerstone Church, is ardently pro-Israel and cited McCain’s views toward Israel in his endorsement Feb. 27.

But the Huffington Post reported Wednesday that Hagee said in a late 1990s sermon that Adolph Hitler was sent to persecute the Jews on God’s behalf, as a way to expedite the re-establishment of the Jewish state of Israel. That prompted McCain’s statement Thursday.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/22/mc...ee-endorsement/

Not sure what else he can do. And again, McCain has acted on this far quicker than Obama did on Rev. Wright.

Not sure why either one of you finds it necessary to bring Obama into this one. Hagee's comments have been out there for a long time and McCain has known about them. He only pulled the trigger when it was clear he could no longer tolerate the baggage. I suppose one could say the same about Obama, but for him it was rejecting a person. For McCain it is only finally rejecting an endorsement. That should have been easy months ago. And McCain couldn't even man up and own his own mistake. The dude is 71 years old and finds it necessary to say, "but I'm not as bad as that guy" in his supposed stand up moment. If my child had "accepted responsibility" like this, I'd tell him to try again.

Because there were two posts from Al (not to mention a handful of other comments in previous threads from others) about why Obama was catching heat for Wright's comments and his reaction to them while McCain wasn't being questioned about Hagee. The comparison was already out there, I just tagged on to it.

[TexasTiger 13,029]

Personally, I find the combo from Obama a tad worse. Your mileage may vary. But don't act like only one person is playing political games here.

They're both politicians, no doubt. And I'll give you mega props for fairly consistently making a very strong effort to be thoughtful and fair, even with those with whom you disagree. But in this instance, I think your first comment that McCain somehow moved quickly and Obama didn't was a bit of a stretch and not necessary.

[AURaptor 1,126]

But it still is not like saying the US created aids to kill the black man. And it damn sure ain't the same as saying God Damned America, no matter what context it was in.

So to compare the two really is stretching the point to try and deflect from the Wright controversy.

The only ones here who have made comparisons have been the Hagee apologists.

WTF ? Are you STONED?? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO MADE THE COMPARISOINS, and no one else!! My gawd, how much a dullard can one possibly be??

McCain's spiritual advisor II

Just wow.

[Tiger Al 0]

But it still is not like saying the US created aids to kill the black man. And it damn sure ain't the same as saying God Damned America, no matter what context it was in.

So to compare the two really is stretching the point to try and deflect from the Wright controversy.

The only ones here who have made comparisons have been the Hagee apologists.

WTF ? Are you STONED?? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO MADE THE COMPARISOINS, and no one else!! My gawd, how much a dullard can one possibly be??

McCain's spiritual advisor II

Just wow.

I asked why the MSM has ignored this relationship. Erase Jeremiah Wright from our memory banks and I'd still wonder the same thing.

You will rarely, if ever, see me try to make a "two wrongs make it right" defense. In both of the Hagee threads I started, the very first responses in each brought up that comparison. One was by ranger12 and the other was by YOU. And I will say here and now that I was mistaken to have labeled Hagee as McCain's 'spiritual advisor.' On further review, I don't find where McCain has ever called Hagee that. I'm sorry. It was the other whackjob, Rod Parsley, who he called his 'spiritual guide and a great American leader.'

[RunInRed 16,492]

McCain rejects endorsement of a second controversial pastor

(CNN) — Hours after his rejection of Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement, John McCain rejected the backing of Pastor Rod Parsley, who said that Islam was a “conspiracy of spiritual evil.”

"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America,” he told the Associated Press. “And I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement."

The decision to cut off Parsley could have the bigger impact on the presidential race: in 2004, the Ohio pastor was a major figure in an unprecedented evangelical turnout operation that helped an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative pass overwhelmingly, and which was widely believed to have helped President Bush carry the critical swing state state – and the presidency — by a slimmer one.

The leader of the World Harvest Church in Columbus also founded the Center for Moral Clarity — an organization which has held that adultery should be treated as a crime – during the last presidential cycle.

Serious question on all of this...does these rejections hurt McCain with any of the evangelical base? It seems he's having to walk a fine line.

[Tiger Al 0]

McCain rejects endorsement of a second controversial pastor

(CNN) — Hours after his rejection of Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement, John McCain rejected the backing of Pastor Rod Parsley, who said that Islam was a “conspiracy of spiritual evil.”

"I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America,” he told the Associated Press. “And I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn't endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement."

The decision to cut off Parsley could have the bigger impact on the presidential race: in 2004, the Ohio pastor was a major figure in an unprecedented evangelical turnout operation that helped an anti-gay marriage ballot initiative pass overwhelmingly, and which was widely believed to have helped President Bush carry the critical swing state state – and the presidency — by a slimmer one.

The leader of the World Harvest Church in Columbus also founded the Center for Moral Clarity — an organization which has held that adultery should be treated as a crime – during the last presidential cycle.

Serious question on all of this...does these rejections hurt McCain with any of the evangelical base? It's seems he's having to walk a fine line.

The flip-side to that question is, "Does his seeking out these nuts for an endorsement help him with moderates who don't care for the hate-filled brand of religion these two push?" There are plenty of Christian leaders out there who could "validate" him in the eyes of the republican base without being lunatics. Rick Warren, T.D. Jakes and Joel Osteen are three that come to my mind who have excellent Christian bona fides but don't spew the vitriol that Hagee and Parsley do.

[WinCrimson 61]

Am I the only one that think both associated with Hagee and Wright for political purposes?

Being a member of and 8,000 member church couldn't be looked at as anything but an asset for Obama. Hagee, as unbelievable as it may be, has a moonbat following that helped doom us in 2004 and is still alive and well for the most part. Why not exploit them for the 15% of the nation that they represent? That's 15% of the vote.

All in all, I don't think either candidate holds the views of their former religious allies.