McCain officially rejects Hagee endorsement
At long bloody last. McCain eventually accepts the inevitable.
In the face of mounting controversy over headline grabbing statements from Pastor John Hagee, CNN has learned presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has decided to reject his endorsement.You could never accuse McCain of acting hastily or of jumping the gun. He's known of these remarks for weeks and weeks now - unless he lives in a different solar system - and yet this is him just getting round to doing what he was always going to have to do from the minute these remarks became public.
The Huffington Post had published a recording of Hagee saying that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God’s will by hastening the desire of Jews to return to Israel in accordance with biblical prophecy.
“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well,” McCain said in a statement to CNN Thursday.
So, not only is he a dreadful flip-flopper, he's a dreadful procrastinator as well. He should have done this weeks ago and it's only the fact that the press are giving him such an easy ride that has allowed him to ignore this for so very long.
Of course, he's quick to get a dig in at Obama.
He added that his relationship with Hagee did not compare with Obama’s lengthy association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. “I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright's extreme views.It was understandable that Obama would be less likely to want to cut off a friend of twenty years standing because of views which he did not agree with, but McCain doesn't even have that excuse. He is actively seeking the backing of bigots simply because he wants to please the religious right.
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,” said McCain.
Indeed, he's now accepting the endorsement of people who he once described as "agents of intolerance".
There are so many things which McCain used to believe in which he now rejects that it's very hard to keep up. However, this is one change of heart that is to be welcomed, even if it took him far too long to come to the right conclusion.
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8 comments:
At least it didn't take him twenty years.
Giving up friendships of twenty years standing is something which is very hard to do. It should be much easier to give up associations with people that one has only attached oneself to for political convenience.
Especially if one has previously identified such people as "agents of intolerance".
Giving up friendships of twenty years standing is something which is very hard to do. It should be much easier to give up associations with people that one has only attached oneself to for political convenience.
For one thing, Obama's association with that Church was one of political convenience, at least initially. And regardless, it shouldn't take any person of character twenty years to do the right thing. Even when he did denounce Wright, it was clear he only did so because Wright became a political liability. So in your words, while it was certainly welcome for Obama to denounce Wright, it took him far too long to come to the right conclusion.
And obviously it was much easier for McCain to explicitly dump Hagee, since it didn't take him twenty years to do so. Nice try at trying to draw some equivalence though. Wright will be an albatross around Obama's neck for the duration of the campaign, whereas Hagee, who McCain had no long standing association with, will be promptly forgotten.
Of course, there is equivalence. We all have friends who have opinions which we do not share and who sometimes say things which we find offensive. That is understandable.
What is not understandable is someone hitching themselves to an extremist in order to win favour amongst other extremists for political gain.
McCain has utterly no excuse for his acts of utter hypocrisy, denouncing people as "agents of intolerance" and then welcoming them in order to please Christian fundamentalists.
And every comment he made about these people before shows that he understands perfectly well how offensive they are. Your candidate has no moral fibre and flip-flops constantly, flirting with people he has previously rejected in the hope of being elected.
It's simply shameless.
We all have friends who have opinions which we do not share and who sometimes say things which we find offensive.
How desperately the Obamatons want these to be viewed by the majority as the same thing. Discerning individuals however know full well what a twenty year association with a racist organization means. People understand that if someone disagrees with the racist philosophies of that organization, then they should terminate that association, not remain a member of that association for two decades without raising any objections. Oprah Winfrey was smart enough to realize what kind of organization that was and that is why she quickly disassociated herself.
So that leaves two options: Either Obama knew about the racist underpinnings of the organization and chose to remain silent for political expediency, or he wasn't aware, in which case the man is utterly clueless since the Church was pretty up front about its positions. Neither one looks good for the Messiah, does it? The Savior doesn't seem like one who is possessed of sound judgment, does he?
What is not understandable is someone hitching themselves to an extremist in order to win favour amongst other extremists for political gain.
Which is precisely why Obama associated himself with that church in the first place.
I think what you miss here is that there is an anger in the black community which you simply do not understand.
Obama has had to distance himself from it as it is political poison. But that doesn't mean it has gone away.
Or that it is without foundation.
I think what you miss here is that there is an anger in the black community which you simply do not understand.
Actually what it is is people like Wright and others whose power and existence depend on their stance that racism is as rampant as it ever has been since the fifties and sixties. To admit that we are a nation that is putting that beyond us would be to diminish their own standing and purpose. Therefore, they must continue the white supremacy fantasy that they push or they become irrelevant.
You are on record here as saying that certain parts of the population won't vote for Obama. And they won't vote for him because, as Hillary hints at, he is black.
What part of that is a "fantasy"?
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