For some reason, the text of this post didn’t show up when put in the hopper, so here it is below. We’ve had techs out for the last three days trying to figure out what’s going on with my connection, so it likely has something to do with me loading the post at the same time. Anyway…
I know many will think that the title is too harsh. Tough. It’s apt. This whole subject of McCain embracing Hagee segues perfectly into what’s playing out in Gaza right now. Politicians embracing Bush’s foreign policy through religious gas bags, which doesn’t do anything for our honest broker status, as we continue down the path that doesn’t exactly promise peace in the Middle East, with everyone more interested in proving who is more pro Israel.
Obama failed his Sister Souljah moment on Farrakhan last week during the debate,
having to be pushed to denounce – reject (whatever) Farrakhan’s heinous
bigotry.
Now we’ve got the Republican nominee John McCain doing the same thing only
with Catholic bigot and hard right bigot John Hagee. Hagee runs CUFI, Christians
United for Israel. Hagee is part of the Rapture crowd that believes in the
collision between American and Iran, the ultimate Apocalypse that will usher
in the Second Coming of Christ. No doubt Hagee’s favorite song is McCain’s “Bomb,
bomb, bomb Iran.” CUFI is one of the groups responsible for other horrendous
foreign policy leanings that has taken the U.S. from honest broker to siding
with Israel even when the government is wrong, and against how many Israeli
citizens feel about the hard right foreign policy that is leading to anything
but peace in the Middle East.
As an aside, I also have to wonder what would happen if this article from the Jerusalem Post got any traction. Being not exactly fond of the Likud line myself, Obama deserves credit, but during an election season his view wouldn’t exactly be greeted warmly.
Glenn
Greenwald on Hagee’s endorsement last week:
Hagee believes that “the president’s support for Israel fulfills a biblical
injunction to protect the Jewish state,” which “will play a pivotal
role in the second coming.” These views are not unrelated to Hagee’s
support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain’s so-called “pro-Israel
views,” his belligerence towards Iran, and his social conservatism as
reasons for the endorsement. And in critical contrast to Obama and Farrakhan,
McCain actually seems to share some of Hagee’s more twisted views, as evidenced
by McCain’s joyful singing about dropping bombs on Iran.
JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005: But the Palestinians have never owned the
land. I want you to hear this very clearly. The land of Israel was given to
Abraham, Issac and Jacob and their seed in an eternal covenant. It is recorded
in the book of Genesis. The boundaries are there in the Bible. And that land
belongs to the Jewish people today, tomorrow and forever because it is their
covenant by the word of God.BILL MOYERS: According to John Hagee, devastating consequences await those
who violate God’s word. God, he says, may already have sent Hurricane Katrina
to punish the U.S. for its role in helping Israel remove Jewish settlers from
the Gaza Strip.JOHN HAGEE, SEPTEMBER 18, 2005 I want to ask Washington a question. Is there
a connection between the 9,000 Jewish refugees being forcibly removed from
their homes in the Gaza Strip now living in tents and the thousands of Americans
who have been expelled from their homes by this tremendous work of nature?
Is there a connection there? If you’ve got a better answer, I’d like to hear
it.
Religion and politics, toxic bedfellows; and I say this as a Christian and
deeply spiritual American. I can only imagine how secular Americans feel.
Comments are closed.