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Hate Talk Express: John McCain Endorsed By Notorious Bigot John Hagee
By Daniel Koffler / February 29, 2008
At the Democratic debate in Ohio on Tuesday, Tim Russert pressed Barack Obama on the unsolicited endorsement he received from Louis Farrakhan. Russert evidently thought it important for Obama to provide a double-super denunciation, since weeks earlier, Obama remarked:
I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet Magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree.
Since that statement apparently was insufficient, Obama made a further point to "reject and denounce" Farrakhan. In total, he has now decried, strongly condemned, disagreed, rejected, and denounced. One can only speculate what will be the next hoop Obama must jump through to prove once and for all that he doesn't harbor sympathy for Farrakhan deep in the recesses of his heart.
In the meantime, though, it might be worth remarking that John McCain received the endorsement of John Hagee, a white Evangelical preacher whose views are every bit as vile as Farrakhan's.
Who is John Hagee? He is the leader of the group Christians
United for Israel, ostensibly dedicated to fostering good relations between the state of Israel and American Christians (though Protestants only; more on that in a moment). In fact, Hagee advocates a first strike against Iran on the grounds that it "will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an 'inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon.'" In other words, the annihilation of Israel is a feature, not a bug of his brand of Zionism. Hagee supports the Jewish state, as Lenin would have put it, the way a rope supports a hanging man.
Hagee's philosemitism is likewise peculiar:
It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day.
Whose fault is it that the Jews have been an historically persecuted people? The Jews' fault, of course, and not their persecutors. Nor are Jews the only group for whom Hagee has, shall we say, an idiosyncratic way of showing his Christian affection.
Islam in general — those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.
Hagee on gays and New Orleanians:
I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that…[T]here was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came…I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.
This is the Great Whore of Revelation 17. This is the Antichrist system. This is the apostate church…This false cult system that was born in Genesis 10 and progressed through Israel and became Baal worship, God says "the day is going to come when I'm going to cause this Beast to devour this apostate system"…This false religious system is going to be totally devoured by the Antichrist.
Hagee on Harry Potter fans:
As millions of people anticipate the release of the latest Harry Potter book and film, we're reminded once again of Satan's ongoing attempt to deceive and destroy. The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult.
So how did the Straight Talk Express react to support from a man who, by Russert logic, any decent person must reject and denounce pre-emptively? McCain immediately declared himself "very honored," and continued, "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee's support." And that's the least of it. McCain held a public event to celebrate the Hagee endorsement, and has worked it into his stump speech.
Imagine, for just one moment, what the headlines today would be if Barack Obama had lavished such fulsome praise on Louis Farrakhan.
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"The real enemies of the Jews are people like Obama and Ismail. The later is a loser who nobody cares about but Obama is a real danger because he will try to destroy Israel if he gets elected President of the United States."
Hey, don't lump me in with Obama. The Senator from Illinois is barely distinguishable from the neocon savage Mrs. Clinton on the important structural issues (trade, healthcare, et al), and has performed his genuflections to AIPAC with devoutness equal to his opponent's.
As far as nobody caring about me, why did you spend your time concocting silly lies about me and then displaying your ignorance here for all to chuckle over?
You care about me! You really, really care about me!Â
You'll notice that David's sole basis for portraying Hagee as a friend of the Jews is his unstinting support for Israel-or, to be more precise, for the most bellicose variant of current Israeli policy. Note further that, even within Israel-no, especially within Israel-there is significant support for the idea that unwavering US support for one version of Zionism hasn't been the best idea.
So even if support for Israel is the marker for "friend of Jews", Hagee falls to the right of many Israelis. And if one's notion of philosemitism refers to religious, cultural or social conceptions of Judaism, Israel isn't even in the picture.
So completely has support for right-wing Zionism eclipsed other aspects of Judaism among some Jews that we are treated to David performing ridiculous cognitive pirouettes to defend the porcine bigot Hagee.
Thought experiment: if Hagee were indifferent to Israel but otherwise held the same archaic notions of redemption via his brand of sun worship, with all the deleterious consequences that has for Jews, would he still register on David's radar as a friend? I think it's sad that, in David's eyes, Hagee's fealty to a political system trumps his unhinged worldview and his multiple prejudices, obvious to all but David. Â Â
You said, "My point here is solid. If you come to a public forum to defame a good man–you better show something. What has Daniel shown you? That he thought God punished New Orleans? That he does not like Muslims . . . Are these bad opinions? Even if you disagree with them that does not make the man a "bigot."
Are you serious? Change the word "Muslims" to "Jews" and now does that make the man a "bigot"?
The suggestion that I must defend Hagee for not being a bigot adds insult to injury. The conviction that Hagee is some kind of anti-Jewish demon is off the wall and unsupported by any evidence. My point here is solid. If you come to a public forum to defame a good man–you better show something. What has Daniel shown you? That he thought God punished New Orleans? That he does not like Muslims? That he fears the threats of the psycho leader of Iran so much he would find a pre-emptive strike against Iran justified? Are these bad opinions? Even if you disagree with them that does not make the man a "bigot." Normal Jews share these opinions (except, perhaps, the speculation concerning New Orleans.)
Hence, consider the cover of the book "Standing With Israel"–Daniel Ayalon, a moderate and Ambassador of Israel to the US says: that the book has "brilliantly captured the spirit of brotherhood between the Jewish people and American Christians." To say that this support is bad would be warped to say the least. John Hagee is the best Christian friend one can cite for "the Jewish people"– David Brog wrote the book–he is Hagee's colleague.Â
Good grief, ZBird–if you can't follow this I don't know what to say. Would a signed personal letter from B. Netanyahu help? Would signed copies of letters of support from numerous Jewish leaders and organizations seal the deal?  Blantant bias and anger needs to be kept in check in our community. I am shamed a Jew can say these kinds of things against an OBVIOUS philo-semite. He has committed his life to supporting Israel and has brought hundreds of thousands of Americans to help Israel. A thank you is a minimal bit of courtesy. A defamation is off the wall and wrong.
Read "Standing with Israel" by David Brog, forward by John Hagee funded by Hagee, distributed by Hagee. See WHY these Christians support Israel and see for yourself if this is "nefarious." Be thankful such a man is the kind of Christian that he will turn the other cheek when faced with such accusations from the radical wing of the Jewish community.Â
Maybe the results of sexual conduct 20 years earlier is hard to quantify or scientifically prove, although even in those cases you could manage to find a few statistics to back up your point.
But here, Koffler's posted something chock-full-of quotes, mostly from reliable sources or actual video tapes, that convincingly show Hagee is a total bigot. Â
 Do you think Koffler is quoting things out of context? Has Hagee renounced his prior views? Has he said other nice things that somehow make up for this outrageous, hateful speech? If so, please FIND A SOURCE. With the internet, it's much easier to do research than when you were a kid–give Google a try. But for heaven's sake do you think you're convincing anyone by saying the guy is an "obvious" friend to Israel?
–Z
Is it calling Catholicism "the Great Whore" and "the Antichrist," blaming Hurricane Katrina on gay people, claiming that persecution of the Jews is our own fault for not accepting Jesus, or gleefully calling for Israel to be wiped out in a nuclear holocaust that appeals to you the most?
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