Hagee ("Katrina a Judgement Against NO") Supporter goes to New Orleans for Photo Op

[Kyi Yo]

Okay, so where's the outrage now?

Dear MoveOn member,

Right-wing pastor John Hagee says Katrina was New Orleans' fault. John McCain sought out, and embraces, Hagee's support. <snip>

Here's the background: McCain wants America to see him as a compassionate, mainstream politician. So he's going to New Orleans today for a photo-op in the 9th Ward.

But he's still trying to shore up his right-wing base—so this past Sunday, he again welcomed the support of right-wing evangelist John Hagee, who said "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."1

<snip>

The petition reads: "John Hagee continues to blame the people of New Orleans for the catastrophe of Katrina. Senator McCain: If you reject intolerance and bigotry, reject Hagee's political support and stop courting hate-mongers like him."

This is not a gaffe or a "gotcha." Hagee has a history of bigoted comments and he stood by his New Orleans remarks just days ago.2 And McCain's strategy is intentional—he's been working hard to court far-right leaders like Jerry Falwell and John Hagee, despite their hateful views.3 Even when he was pressed about Hagee's hateful views, McCain said he was "glad to have his endorsement."4

Hagee's words matter. Katrina was a terrible reminder of the consequences of bigotry and exclusion. People without resources, without political power, literally sank beneath the waves while our government did nothing.

John McCain is relying for political support on a man who preaches bigotry and exclusion, who spreads the kind of hate that allowed Katrina to become a man-made tragedy. While the media is focused on his New Orleans visit, we need to call him on it.

<snip>


–Eli, Justin, Lenore, Patrick S., Anna, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Thursday, April 24th, 2008

Sources:

1. "Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" Media Matters, February 28th, 2008
http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018

2. "Hagee Says Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans 'Because it was 'Planning a Sinful Homosexual Rally,'" Think Progress, April 23, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/23/hagee-katrina-mccain/

"Will MSNBC devote as much coverage to McCain's embrace of Hagee's support as it did to Obama's rejection of Farrakhan?" Media Matters, February 28th, 2008
http://mediamatters.org/items/200802280018

3. "Hagee: McCain 'sought my endorsement,'" ThinkProgress, March 20th, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=3603&id=12500-7590520-h9CYqk&t=5

"McCain Gets Into Bed with the Religious Right," People For the American Way, February 28th, 2008
http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=25053

"McCain Woos the Right, Makes Peace With Falwell," ABC News, March 26th, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1779141&page=1

4. "McCain Flip-Flops In 30 Seconds: Hagee Endorsement A 'Mistake,' But 'I'm Glad To Have' It," ThinkProgress, April 21st, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/21/hagee-flip-flop/

[Buck Laser]

I wish this doofus got as much attention as Pastor Wright. Maybe people would pay more attention to candidates' religious values. So far as I know, McCain hasn't bothered to distance himself from any of Hagee's stupidities.

[AlanC]

I wish this doofus got as much attention as Pastor Wright. Maybe people would pay more attention to candidates' religious values. So far as I know, McCain hasn't bothered to distance himself from any of Hagee's stupidities.

You never know. Perhaps someday when a presidential candidate attends his church for 20 years, acknowleges him with the dedication and title of his book, has the man marry him and baptize his children.....maybe the press will find him as worthy of attention as the good Pastor Wright.

But it is fun to watch Obama's supporters trying the usual "everyone does it" defense here.

[Buck Laser]

You never know. Perhaps someday when a presidential candidate attends his church for 20 years, acknowleges him with the dedication and title of his book, has the man marry him and baptize his children.....maybe the press will find him as worthy of attention as the good Pastor Wright.

But it is fun to watch Obama's supporters trying the usual "everyone does it" defense here.
I happen to have great respect for Pastor Wright. I think he's been doing what a committed Christian/prophetc preacher ought to be doing when he calls for America to stand accountable before God. Old Testament prophets (and Jesus) were excoriated pretty much the way Wright has been. He (or they) never looked for popularity.

[PostmodernProphet]

I happen to have great respect for Pastor Wright. I think he's been doing what a committed Christian/prophetc preacher ought to be doing when he calls for America to stand accountable before God. Old Testament prophets (and Jesus) were excoriated pretty much the way Wright has been. He (or they) never looked for popularity.

they also didn't scream hatred.......

[AlanC]

I happen to have great respect for Pastor Wright. I think he's been doing what a committed Christian/prophetc preacher ought to be doing when he calls for America to stand accountable before God. Old Testament prophets (and Jesus) were excoriated pretty much the way Wright has been. He (or they) never looked for popularity.

Right you are. Wonderful man. So tell me are you one of the white people he accuses of having invented aids and sent it to Africa to kill blacks? Cause I know I'm not. But since you have such great respect for him, I assume you know more about that than I do. :ponder:

[PatrickHenry]

AIDS was certainly created in a US bioweapons lab.

It was in response to Kissinger's desire for a depopulation bomb.

As for Hagee, may that lardo soon have a fatal heart attack.

[ViolaLee]

Isn't it odd that Republicans are all about talking about Wright, but when Hagee is brought up, they don't want to know.

McCain SOUGHT out Hagee's endorsement and he stands on stage with the man who calls the Catholic Church a whore and says gays caused Katrina.

But we shouldn't acknowledge any of that.

[PatrickHenry]

Esceptionalism from the "real" Americans, Viola.

[AlonzoMourning23]

AIDS was certainly created in a US bioweapons lab.

It was in response to Kissinger's desire for a depopulation bomb.

Is this a joke or a conspiracy theory? It's to the point where I can't tell anymore.

[AlanC]

Isn't it odd that Republicans are all about talking about Wright, but when Hagee is brought up, they don't want to know.

McCain SOUGHT out Hagee's endorsement and he stands on stage with the man who calls the Catholic Church a whore and says gays caused Katrina.

But we shouldn't acknowledge any of that.

McCain is a political whore who is pretty desperate to do anything that he thinks will get him some votes from the conservative base and from the religous right folks who both don't trust him. So he panders for endorsements. No that doesn't bother me, because I already know he doesn't mean it. Kind of like Hillary trying to sound like she supports gun rights. No one believes it and they just take it for what it is, political pandering.

But see Obama doesn't need all these associations he has. He has been absorbing them for the last 20 years and that is who he is. He says he's moderate. But his life, his past, his record, his associations all say he is not moderate. That is why these things are more of a problem for him.

People are trying to figure out who he is, really, not just who he says he is.
That is what gives the image of his pastor more wieght than whoever McCain is trying to get photo ops with.

We know McCain is pandering when he embraces Agee. We think Obama is serious when he embraces Wright.

[Buck Laser]

We know McCain is pandering when he embraces Agee. We think Obama is serious when he embraces Wright.
It sounds as if you completely discount Obama's statements disavowing Wright's more controversial statements.

Why?

I'm not running for president, but if Wright were my pastor, I wouldn't have disavowed his remarks. I don't believe that AIDS is some white plot, but I do believe, for example, that US foreign policy did exacerbate Islamic nations' anger at the US. In that respect, 9/11 was definitely a matter of chickens coming home to roost.

Once again, why do you say that Obama embraces Wright? I really thought you were smarter and more perceptive than the usual suspects. Now I'm beginning to wonder.

[AlanC]

Once again, why do you say that Obama embraces Wright? I really thought you were smarter and more perceptive than the usual suspects. Now I'm beginning to wonder.


Ahh I don't know. Perhaps it is because he went to the man's church and claims Wright is the one that led him to his faith. Perhaps it is because he stayed there for 20 years. Perhaps it is because he had the man perform his marriage. Perhaps it is because he use the man's words in the title of his book. Perhaps it is because just before he disowned him, he made the statement that he could never disown him, because he was like family, a part of his life. Perhaps that is why I think Obama embraces Wright.

So you think one sentence neutralizes all that embracing? Now I'm starting to wonder if you aren't having some thought process problems. So which is it? Wright is a great man and Obama has no reason to disown him or has Obama sufficiently disowned hiim that we should all stop obsessing about it?

On the other hand, if we take Obama's first explanation at face value, it could explain some other things. If Obama sat in Wright's church for 20 years and never heard the level of hate in the man's sermons, it could indicate some hearing difficulty. Such a difficulty would then explain why he voted present so many times. Perhaps he just never understood what he was supposed to vote for.

I'm sorry, that was just a little sarcasm that was hard to resist.

[PatrickHenry]

Is this a joke or a conspiracy theory? It's to the point where I can't tell anymore.
No joke. But I won't run the thread further off-topic with a response.

[lily]

I wish this doofus got as much attention as Pastor Wright. Maybe people would pay more attention to candidates' religious values. So far as I know, McCain hasn't bothered to distance himself from any of Hagee's stupidities.

This explains why McCain was so vocal about the Republican Committee in South Carolina not run the ad they were going to run using Wright and Obama side by side.

[AlonzoMourning23]

I happen to have great respect for Pastor Wright. I think he's been doing what a committed Christian/prophetc preacher ought to be doing when he calls for America to stand accountable before God. Old Testament prophets (and Jesus) were excoriated pretty much the way Wright has been. He (or they) never looked for popularity.

We have a double standard in this country for what blacks and whites can say. I can't imagine you'd ever, ever express the same respect for a white man saying equally offensive things about blacks, asians etc.

[apdst]

Isn't it odd that Republicans are all about talking about Wright, but when Hagee is brought up, they don't want to know.

Isn't it odd that Liberals are all about defending someone like Wright and hailing him as a hero and Conservatives could give a shit what Hagee has to say.

[AlonzoMourning23]

Isn't it odd that Liberals are all about defending someone like Wright and hailing him as a hero and Conservatives could give a shit what Hagee has to say.

Why is it that, no matter what I say, people always seem to make general comments about liberals that run directly counter to what the liberal above them, me, said?

I'm starting to think no one views me as a liberal anymore.

[micfranklin]

McCain SOUGHT out Hagee's endorsement and he stands on stage with the man who calls the Catholic Church a whore and says gays caused Katrina.

Fred Phelps and that church claim the exact same thing.

[apdst]

I'm starting to think no one views me as a liberal anymore.

You oughta take that as a compliment...LOL!

[apdst]

Why didn't any of the Liberals post this article?

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/04/24/mccain-calls-hagee-views-nonsense/

Updated: McCain calls Hagee views “nonsense,” takes jab at Obama
by Mosheh Oinounou
New Orelans, LA — Rev. John Hagee’s view that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for the sins of New Orleans residents is “nonsense,” McCain said at least nine times aboard his bus today.

The DNC has been calling on McCain to specifically condemn those remarks for weeks even though the GOP presumptive nominee has previously rebuked other controversial Hagee remarks.

“It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. I don’t have anything additional to say. It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, I don’t have anything more to say….it’s nonsense. I reject that categorically.”

Hagee endorsed McCain in late February.

*****UPDATED with full exchange from bus. Notice that at the end of his response, McCain gets a shot in on Obama and Wright telling reporters, “I didn’t attend Pastor Hagee’s church for 20 years.”

Q: What is your reaction (to Hagee Katrina comments)?

McCain: It’s nonsense.

Q: Would you withdraw accepting his endorsement?

McCain: It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything additional to say about that. It’s nonsense.

Q: Do you regret accepting his endorsement?

A: It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything more to say about that. Of course–I apologize for that. It’s nonsense. I reject that categorically and I would point out there’s a lot of people who have endorsed me. They support my views. That does not mean that I support–would I consider repudiating his endorsement? I certainly condemn those parts of his remarks. I continue to appreciate his support for the state of Israel and for many of the good things that he and his church has done. But I repudiate as strongly as possible those remarks and those of the Catholic church as well.

Q: You and your Democratic opponents spend a certain amount of time commenting on surrogates and endorsers, on what they said. Do you think that is in any way interfering with how you’re trying to conduct your campaign?

A: …I didn’t attend Pastor Hagee’s church for 20 years. There’s a great deal of difference in my view between someone who endorses you and other circumstances.

[Elrathin]

Q: Would you withdraw accepting his endorsement?

McCain: It’s nonsense, it’s nonsense, it’s nonsense. It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything additional to say about that. It’s nonsense.

Notice how he didn't say he would withdraw accepting his endorsement though? That's classic!

[AlonzoMourning23]

Q: Do you regret accepting his endorsement?

A: It’s nonsense. I don’t have anything more to say about that. Of course–I apologize for that. It’s nonsense. I reject that categorically and I would point out there’s a lot of people who have endorsed me. They support my views. That does not mean that I support–would I consider repudiating his endorsement? I certainly condemn those parts of his remarks. I continue to appreciate his support for the state of Israel and for many of the good things that he and his church has done. But I repudiate as strongly as possible those remarks and those of the Catholic church as well.

To sum it up: "I accept it, even though I find his views repugnant. I'm a political whore after all."

[lily]

Of course he's not going to answer......he needs the Religious Right, anyway he can get them.

[Elrathin]

Of course he's not going to answer......he needs the Religious Right, anyway he can get them.

And their dumb enough to believe him.

[lily]

Well.....he's all they got, there really isn't much choice.

[Elrathin]

Well.....he's all they got, there really isn't much choice.

Don't know if it is going to be a trend or not, but a couple of Christian friends of mine have said they are going to sit out voting this year and most of their church is doing the same.

[apdst]

he needs the Religious Right, anyway he can get them.

The same way that Obama needs the black vote, anyway he can get it. Huh?

[lily]

You lost me here apdst........I didn't think Obama had any trouble getting the black vote, where as McCain does getting the religious right, especially with his stance on abortion.

[apdst]

I didn't think Obama had any trouble getting the black vote

He would have a helluva time getting the black vote if he didn't bill himself as being black. How many times do we hear about the white half? Never!

[ViolaLee]

He would have a helluva time getting the black vote if he didn't bill himself as being black. How many times do we hear about the white half? Never!

LOL!!!!! Show us a link proving he billed himself as black. :ecstatic: That's hilarious.

He talks about his white half just as much as he talks about his black half.

This is America, didn't you know that with one drop of black blood you're considered black?

Your argument is the silliest thing I've ever heard.

[Drocket]

You'll have to forgive apdst his confusion on this issue: he's a Rush listener, and as such thinks "Obama, the Magic Negro" is Obama's campaign theme song :P

[PostmodernProphet]

I'm starting to think no one views me as a liberal anymore.

I have to admit that your new avatar made me suspect my memory.....

[4Reaganomics]

Hillary Doan know what iz like to be black in a country full of rich white peeeeeople

Barack knowwwws

- Rev. Jermiah Wright as he build his 1.6 million dollar mansion

[micfranklin]

Hillary Doan know what iz like to be black in a country full of rich white peeeeeople

Barack knowwwws

- Rev. Jermiah Wright as he build his 1.6 million dollar mansion

Well Hilary is white and Obama is black....

[4Reaganomics]

just further exemplifying how Obama is riding his partial black race into the Democratic nomination

[ECW]

So, denying what he is would get him your vote?

Yeah.

Right.

[AlonzoMourning23]

I have to admit that your new avatar made me suspect my memory.....

It's in honor of Troubador, I know he loves it!

[apdst]

Show us a link proving he billed himself as black.

Show me when he's billed himself as anything other than black. Thank you.

He talks about his white half just as much as he talks about his black half.

Yeah, he sure does, when he tells us how is white grammy is a, "typical white person".

[Elrathin]

Show me when he's billed himself as anything other than black. Thank you.

He hasn't billed himself as black or white. Show us otherwise.

[apdst]

He hasn't billed himself as black or white. Show us otherwise.

Will Obama be touted as the first black president, or the first half black president?

[Elrathin]

Will Obama be touted as the first black president, or the first half black president?

Let me say it again in bold. HE hasn't billed himself as a black person. Just because others are, does not mean he is.