James Dobson Calls McCain An Unethical Adulterer, Compares Him To Bill Clinton

If you want to know why it's going to be next to impossible for Focus on the Family's James Dobson to publicly support John McCain (R) -- at least in a manner that he can straight-face -- you need only look at the condemning statement of McCain that Dobson issued in 2000:

February 17, 2000, Thursday
Dr. James Dobson's Statement on Gary Bauer's Endorsement of Senator McCain
DATELINE: COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Feb. 17

Speaking as a private individual and not as the president of Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson expressed disagreement yesterday with former presidential candidate Gary Bauer's endorsement of Senator John McCain as Republican nominee for U.S. President.  The Senator has offered no assurances that he intends to appoint a pro-life running mate or pro-life justices to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Indeed, he voted for pro-abortion Stephen Breyer and pro-abortion ACLU-activist Ruth Bader Ginsburg for that Court and for David Satcher for Surgeon General, who supports partial-birth-abortion.  McCain also voted in support of President Clinton to expand fetal-tissue research.

Furthermore, McCain has accepted huge contributions from the gambling industry and apparently is comfortable with the proliferation of gambling in American society.  He has also accepted large contributions from producers of alcohol.  McCain is in favor of combat assignments for women in the military, and has sought and received enormous financial and political support from the Log Cabin Republicans and other homosexual activists.  McCain also supports Most Favored Nation status for the brutal regime in China, and voted against our nation's monitoring of Communist Chinese commercial fronts operating in the United States.  He seeks to appease the bloated Federal public school bureaucracy and has refused to support vouchers.

"The Senator," Dobson said, "is being touted by the media as a man of principle, yet he was involved with other women while married to his first wife, and was implicated in the so-called Keating scandal with four other senators.  He was eventually reprimanded by the Congress for the 'appearance of impropriety.' The Senator reportedly has a violent temper and can be extremely confrontational and profane when angry.  These red flags about Senator McCain's character are reminiscent of the man who now occupies the White House."

Gary Bauer's endorsement of the Senator is troubling for another reason. When Clarence Thomas was being considered for Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Bauer actively championed his candidacy.  However, Warren Rudman who is John McCain's National Campaign Chairman and his most likely choice for U.S. Attorney General was a pro-abortion Senator who opposed confirmation of Clarence Thomas, despite the fact that he voted for him in order to get three federal judgeships approved.  He said about the Thomas decision, "It's a vote I'm not proud of."

Given these concerns about McCain, it is difficult to understand how Gary Bauer can support him "with great pride and with absolutely no reservation."

This statement is not intended to imply Dr. Dobson's endorsement of anyone else's candidacy for the presidency -- simply to clarify his lack of support for Senator McCain.

SOURCE Dr. James Dobson

The biggest problem that Dobson would have in backing McCain -- which he has recently hinted at -- is that the reasons he castigated him for in 2000 -- adultery, Keating Five, ethics, violent temper, profane behavior, courting the Log Cabin Republicans, stem cell research, and his acceptance of gambling and alcohol money -- haven't gone away. McCain still has those same character flaws and though he rivals Mitt Romney (R) when it comes to the speed and reach of his flip-flops, even McCain hasn't shifted on all the issues that Dobson cares deeply about.

We'll soon find out if Dobson is really a man of principle or just another political hack that drapes himself in religious clothing in hopes of electing more Republicans.

Mark Nickolas is the Managing Editor of Political Base, and this story was from his original post, "Dobson Calls McCain Unethical Adulterer, Compares Him To Bill Clinton"

Comments

[appleknocker]

That was in 2000. Jesus can change history, can't he?

[angeloR]

Oh Please...

The whole Christian right is a pretention thing " a front for a cabal of stupid white southerners who committed amongst the most heinous crimes against their owe rape produced children in human history. They want to absolve themselves of the guilt they own by pretending to be "pro-life" for the unborn (nice gimmick) " but "pro-war" for those who stand up to us, and "pro-death for criminals."

Please " we"re the great show on earth¦

[ApolloSpeaks]

It would be amusing if what you say about Dobson's son were true. For Christianity, an ancient Greek religion mixed with Jewish ideals, is Platonism for the masses. An ingenious synthesis of Hellenism and Judaism created by the Greek educated Pharisee St Paul.

[bellier20]

Notice if you will how, whenever a member in good-standing of the Religious Right® like Dobson is forced to contradict his otherwise unassailable moral principles, his or her apologists find any number of expediant ways to explain away their hypocricies.

For Apollo here, it's simply a matter of finding those factors that "transcend past moral failings," " of which there have notably few for Dobson traditionally. Maybe he'll find his exceptions to the Dobson rules now, that he has to, eh Apollo? Yet one more case where liberals are pandering hypocrites without moral compass, while Republicans are "transcendant." How conveeeeeeenient.

[ApolloSpeaks]

PATRIOT, NOT POLITICAL HACK

If Dobson were to endorse McCain his decision will be predicated on factors transcending the Senator's past moral failings. If a Dobson endorsement comes it will be based on the greater principles of foreign policy, national security and Supreme Court appointments. That would make him a patriot, not a political hack.

[billwetzel]

Like you know, starting wars for no reason and getting good Americans maimed and killed. Patriotism. Go wave that flag made in China, buddy.

[knowhelpnow]

Can Dobson endorse anyone without getting hit with tax evasion?

[ApolloSpeaks]

My dear fellow if you're referring to the Iraq War there were ten reasons for starting that one 9 of which were perfectly sound with the remaining half sound. As a corrective to your ignorance read the Iraq War Resolution passed by both houses of Congress and supported by most of their constituents.

[caseyblab]

Factors such as what?

[rwt1138]

If it looks like Obama is going to win, Dobson will fold. In the end, Dobson is more of a powerbroker than a religious man, God is just his schtick. Dobson always folds; he has to. He isn't going to get everything he wants on his plate, but if he admits failure he risks losing some of his followers, which are the source of his power. Without them, no access to the halls of power.
His standard modus operandi is to talk tough and take hardline, principled stands, then take whatever tepid, dishwater non-action congress tosses him and go back to his followers declaring victory. All he needs is for a Senator or two to float some doomed anti-gay or anti-abortion legislation once in a while, which keeps his base fired up. Expecting Dobson to stand on some sort of principle is just futile.

[philtll]

"God" is _always_ a schtick. Whomever the proponent may be. Every single one of them. Sorry.

[LeaderofMen]

Correct. And Dobson knows it.

[demigod]

So where is Dobson today, with McCain supposedly "winning" the Brokeback Christian smackdown ? None of those "Christians" cared a thing about any of Dobson's issues. It was a suckfest that Obama never should have attended, never should have legitimized. Christians cannot be reasoned with, no fanatics can. Dobson's silence is deafening, and a hipocracy. Inaction is an action - if he opposes McCain - as he did - he should come out with it. But he obviously doesn't want Obama to win, so he keeps quiet, by calculation. Republicans have no honor.

[S1m0n]

Consistency isn't a trait conservatives of Dobson's strripe care about. If he decides to back McCain for political reasons, he'd have no trouble doing a 180 on his earlier statement and making it stick. His audience doesn't *do* the kind of critical thinking that makes inconsistency important.

[Durango]

Dobson is wrong again.There is no comparison between McCain and Clinton.

Clinton is charismatic and intelligent. And very, very well spoken.

And neither man's sex life is any of Dobson's or the rest of our business.

Nor does it reflect in any way their competence to govern.

[Peddler]

I wonder if you would have the same feeling if Bill Clinton or John McCain had an affair with your wife? Speak for yourself......don't speak for others.

[montanadan]

Please allow me to speak for myself, for Durango, and for every other person in the world: If either Bill Clinton or John McCain has an affair with my wife, it would not be Dobson's business nor yours.

[luziannagirl]

Yeah, and we'll soon find out if all the legions of "Christian values" voters vote based on their shared principles, or on the the jerk of their puppet strings.

And what's really ironic is that these people see themselves as independent-minded.

[LeaderofMen]

That's exactly what I'm waiting for. I can't wait for the exit polls interviews with 'values voters' after they've pulled the lever for McCain. Other Christians, capable of cognitive dissonance until their brains melt, will find no problem with it. The rest of us who are capable of critical thinking will have another piece of evidence for their extreme delusional thinking.

[paixa3]

This may be the first time Dobson said anything that is important.

[joeyfoto]

Who cares what Dobson thinks? If it was up to little-men like him, we would have disqualified Presidents Washington & Jefferson. Virtually every first-rate president of the 20th century, would have earned James Dobson's disapprobation, if he knew the facts in time. I'm sure some candidate passed-muster at "Focus on the Family," just not FDR, Ike Eisenhower; Jack Kennedy or Bill Clinton.

The great heathen Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense" " indisputably among the first rank of America's founding fathers " spoke about Christianity with his usual clarity: "Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented there is none that is more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason and more contradictory in itself, than this thing called 'Christianity.' Too absurd for belief, too impossible to convince and to inconsistent for practice, it renders the heart torpid or produces only atheists and fanatics. As an engine of power, it serves the purpose of despotism; and as a means of wealth, the avarice of priests; but so far as respects the good of man in general, it leads to nothing here or hereafter."

In Revolutionary times, most of the finger-pointing-prigs were good "Conservatives," who sided with George III; lived as tories and fought against the American Revolution. After American patriots drove the British out, many of their ilk were given a coat of tar with a dusting of feathers and shipped back to England.

[luziannagirl]

Who cares what Dobson thinks? You better, that's who, joeyfoto.

We all better, because these "little-men" are dictating our domestic and foreign policy, helping engineer the sucking dry of our American commonwealth, and participating in the destruction of democracy.

Ignoring and laughing at treasonous bozos like Dobson got us 8 years of Dubya.

We continue to ignore them at our own peril.

[kroses98]

I think you have this backwards!!!

[cowboyjerkface]

I've said it once and I'll say it again, if Obama loses in November, it wont be because anything John McCain, the Republican Party or Rush Limbaugh said or did...it will be because white democrats and independents vote their color instead of their party or country.

[cassidynj]

Is morality relative?

Either John McCain is an unapologetic adulterer or he is not; adultery is bad or it is not. Endorsing John McCain is saying adultery is ok, every now and then.

Once Dobson endorses McCain he is saying that morality is relative, not absolute. Once he makes this case, how can abortion be considered an absolute moral issue?

[Herrington]

Are we supposed to believe that ethics have anything to do with the life and mission of Dobson? Really, you can only shame a man who is capable of feeling shame. Dobson will shrug it off and continue to bilk money from unhappy housewives and small business wanabees that believe criticism of their pastor is the voice of the Devil.

[omahkohkiaayo]

One of the reasons for mass dissatisfaction among Dems with their party is an unwillingness to just tell the truth without fear or favor and no politically-contrived or calculated taboos.

If McCaine can cherrypick and tout the Code of Conduct that led him, as a POW, to refuse an early release relative to other POWs, then the same Code of Conduct can be mentioned in connection with his 30-some radio broadcasts in violation of that same Code of Conduct. If McCaine can tout his "military service" and cherrypick which aspects of it to focus on, then it is fair game to mention that his "military service" also included over 100 demerits and finishing at the rock-bottom of his class at Annapolis along with his own admitted adultery which, under UCMJ, is grounds for courts martial, loss of security clearance and loss of commission.

Chickenhawks are driven to ultra-sycophancy and war mongering because of their own cognitive dissonance angst (e.g. "If you are so pro-military and pro-war, why did you never serve in the military and/or go to war when you had the chance?") so it is that some liberals have their own cognitive dissonance problems that cause them to avoid any critique of the military or anyone's purported military service (e.g. "Since I have never served, like about 90% of the total population, how can I dare presume to question the military service of anyone who has served?").