At a news conference in Florida this week, John McCain couldn't resist the opportunity to bring up remarks by Jeremiah Wright, calling them "beyond belief." This, despite the fact that Bill Moyers, in an hour long interview last Friday showed the world the broader context in which the remarks were made. McCain, who seeks to position himself above dirty politics, has instead positioned himself as a hypocrite.
You might think that, given the thin glass walls of McCain's own house, he might have chosen to stay silent out of sheer self interest. It hasn't been long since McCain powdered his nose and posed for the camera with John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel CUFI. Lest we forget, Hagee is an apocalypse-loving fundamentalist whose best selling books glorify a river of blood running in the Middle East. He and his followers raise money to "return" Jews to Israel so that they can be killed all in one place and bring on the Rapture, Tribulation and Second Coming. Come, Lord Jesus!
To make matters worse, Hagee's despicable religious hunger for a bloodbath has direct political implications. He has used CUFI to throw his weight behind political organizing that will help to bring about what he sees as a biblically prophesied war in Iran -- also a part of his god's will for these End Times. Hagee tours the country rallying the fundamentalist troops in support of a US-Iran war. All this, and McCain dares to call Wright "beyond belief"?!
After McCain flew to Hagee's side for an endorsement and press conference, why didn't we hear Hagee's ugliest remarks over and over on the air? Hagee calling the Catholic church a whore, Hagee saying that Hurricane Katrina was punishment for gay pride plans, or Hagee, shouting halleluiahs at the altar of his bloodthirsty vision? It's all about who owns the media--and who clips the bites.
If someone bothered to give us the wide angle picture -- Obama with Wright, Clinton praying with her dominionist cult The Family, and McCain kissing up to Hagee -- the composite story would be about what a very bad idea it is to have our politicians buying and selling religion.