McCain Aides Say Hagee Endorsement Was The Result Of ‘Poor Vetting’
McCain Aides Say Hagee Endorsement Was The Result Of ‘Poor Vetting’
In addition to having previously referred to Catholicism as “The Great Whore,” controversial pastor John Hagee said on NPR in September 2006 that Hurricane Katrina was the result of God condemning New Orleans because “there was to be a homosexual parade there” the day the hurricane hit — a belief he recently reaffirmed.
Despite Hagee’s radical and bigoted beliefs, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) sought and received Hagee’s endorsement for president — one McCain said he was “very honored” to have. Since then, Hagee’s views have garnered more attention, sparking wider questions as to why McCain would accept such an endorsement.
In a recent article on the McCain/Hagee saga, Newsweek reports that McCain aides attribute the courting of Hagee’s support to “poor vetting.” But some from McCain’s own party wonder how his views could have “slipped through the cracks”:
McCain’s aides attribute the Hagee controversy to poor vetting. But even some Republicans (not affiliated with the campaign) privately wonder how the pastor’s extreme views slipped through without notice. McCain personally wooed Hagee for more than a year.
Indeed, “some Republicans” weren’t the only ones greeting this explanation with confusion. The New York Times’s Frank Rich noted yesterday that “[a]ny 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops”:
Are we really to believe that neither Mr. McCain nor his camp knew anything then about Mr. Hagee’s views? This particular YouTube video — far from the only one — was posted on Jan. 1, nearly two months before the Hagee-McCain press conference. Mr. Hagee appears on multiple religious networks, including twice daily on the largest, Trinity Broadcasting, which reaches 75 million homes. Any 12-year-old with a laptop could have vetted this preacher in 30 seconds, tops.
Newsweek noted that McCain “likes to think of himself as a straight-shooter” but when asked about Hagee’s endorsement, McCain starts “bobbing and weaving” — which is exactly what happened last month during an interview on ABC’s This Week. McCain agreed that the endorsement was “a mistake,” but 30 seconds later said he is “glad to have it.”
In seeking Hagee’s support, perhaps McCain and his staff did not “properly” vet the controversial pastor because they were taking advice from McCain’s buddy Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who just last year compared Hagee to Moses.
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I’m glad all this is surfacing. More people need to see exactly what kind of message this obese maggot brings into the world.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:30 pmMcCain Aides Say Hagee Endorsement Was The Result Of ‘Poor Vetting’
- - Ya think? Gosh, the tubes of the internets must’ve been clogged up for weeks. Oh wait, I meant their brains.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:31 pmMcCorpse thought the website was called ANYONE BUT YOU TUBE.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:33 pmHagee is a racist, anti-Catholic, anti-gay horrible human being. He is scum. But Obama or Democratic 527 needs to run McCain and Hagee hugging followed by Hagee calling Catholicism the “Great Whore” in every state with a large Catholic population (Ohio, Pennsylvania) on a continuous loop.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:35 pmWhat a triumvirate: McCorpse, LIEberman and fat fcuk Hagee. How can ANYONE take these Three McStooges seriously.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:35 pmMaybe a long hike from Egypt to the Promised Land would get Rev. Hagee back in fighting shape. Hagee vs. Wright, the modern day descendants of Moses vs. Aaron. Will it ever end?
May 5th, 2008 at 8:40 pmHagee called Catholicism “the great whore”. This from a mega-church, millionaire, mercedes driving peacher whose home base is San Antonio, Texas. A town that is 64% Hispanic, and overwhelmingly Catholic.
What an a-hole.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:44 pmSo if the McBushians knew so little about how big a liability Hagee the Hut was, how did they know he had any potential benefits? Will the endorsement of any old preacher do? Or is it just any rich as hell lard ass hater charlatan? I imagine that McBush heard “rich as hell” and saw the light post haste. He knew all he needed at that point. It’s really inconsiderate of folks to point out that there’s more to the story.
May 5th, 2008 at 8:46 pmCompletely off topic, but perhaps the dumbest person ever (response to a post on MSNBC about the economic slow down hitting Las Vegas). Note the great spelling.
Posted By: LSD4u2 @ 05/05/2008 8:22:10 PM
May 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pmComment: Dubya, as you so disrespectfuly call our great leader of this great country is not the cause of this economic downturn. The USA was humming along just splendedly with Dubya’s economic poloicies of tax cuts , deregulation and, increased military spending and with the repubicans in control of both houses of congress was an insurance policy that Dubya’s plans would benifit all Americans for decades to come. Than the Democrats with their lies about the noble war Dubya was fighting to win over the hearts and freedom of the Iraqi people and free the world of terrorist stole the election and took over the house and senate that’s why people are hurting finailcely and gas and food prices are raising
That is complete bullshit. Pure incompetent, and a tendency toward whoredom is what it is.
The first time I ever heard of Hagee, I used the Googles to find info on him.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pmWhy is this bigot OK and not Reverend Wright.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:21 pmThis really sickens me.
Wright made more sense than Hagee.
kimmy,
This bigot is white — not a scary uppity black man.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:29 pmThe McBush people need Hagee’s endorsement because he has an enormous TV presence amongst the Evangelical Right. Hagee can potentially bring millions of born-again zombies to the polls on election day, all of them believing that McBush will promptly annihilate the Republic of Iran, thus fulfilling their sordid fantasies of dominion.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:42 pmIn seeking Hagee’s support, perhaps McCain and his staff did not “properly” vet the controversial pastor because they were taking advice from McCain’s buddy Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who just last year compared Hagee to Moses.
I find this amazing because Lieberman is Jewish and Hagee has stated many times that anti-Semitism God’s justified punishment for the Jews.
Boggles the mind to try to figure out that logic.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:48 pmLIEberman is just a cheap whore. He will do anything for his GOP pimps.
May 5th, 2008 at 9:54 pmThe reality is that McCain wants the insane bigot vote. He’s willing to pander to them and hopes that they are too busy burning crosses to be concerned about some of the less reactionary statements he’s made over the years.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:12 pm68 days after he declared himself “very proud” and “honored” to the have the endorsement of the End Times Pastor John Hagee, Republican John McCain still has not answered - or even been asked - the question that should concern all Americans:
Does John McCain agree with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of the biblical prophecy of Armageddon?
For the details, see:
May 5th, 2008 at 10:13 pm“Obama Disavows Wright; McCain Still Silent on Hagee, Armageddon and Iran.”
Where is the swiftboating arm of the Dems. Why can’t we start on a campaign to totally discredit McCain now and keep it up until Nov.? There need not be any lies, just tell the truth about him. He was swiftboated when he ran against Bush and he just came back humping Bush’s leg. Swiftboating is just good politics.
May 5th, 2008 at 10:25 pmIT should have read:
May 5th, 2008 at 10:31 pm“In seeking Hagee’s support, perhaps McCain and his staff did not “properly” vet the controversial pastor because they were taking advice from McCain’s buddy Karl Rove, the traitor.”
Oop. Does Mr. Magoo McSame have palzheimer’s?
May 5th, 2008 at 11:03 pmAre these aides’ volunteers or do they get paid for what they do? I keep waiting for these people to be quoted as saying at the end; “Yeah, that’s the ticket.” The excuses these people come up with is like the first thing that pops into their head, or something. Geesh.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:06 pmMr. McSuckup is requested to ask Mrs. Clinton to be his VP. “Oh please, let me be president.” Fear and desperation does very strange things to people. None of which are very pretty.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:13 pmMcCain has gone from a straight talker, to a class-A whore, spreading his pastie legs for endorsement’s from those like Haggis. John when you $sold$ your soul–how much did you get.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:50 pmthe liberal 527’s need to pound mccain mercilesslessly with this one.. say “mccain asked for the endorsement of a man who beleives we should start a nuclear war, the radiation from which would contaminate israel and other other allies in the middle east..do you really want our president taking advice from a man who thinks nuclear war is a good idea?”.. also.. pound him about the catholic comment in areas which are heavily catholic… if the liberals play thier cards right this dude could do more damage to mccain than wright could ever do to obama….because.. well obama can disown wright without every black turning on him.. BUT if McCain tries to repudiate Hagee like that, the right wing screwballs will eat him alive..
May 6th, 2008 at 12:49 am>not a scary uppity black man.
yes, how dare Wright be somewhat angry for having to drink at different water fountains and use different, (and undoubtedly less sanitary) bathrooms for half his life…I mean.. why cant he be like Rush Limpbawlz and only get angry for GOOD reasons, like the fact we dont have a one party system in this country..?
May 6th, 2008 at 2:08 am“McCain personally wooed Hagee for more than a year.” Perhaps by “poor vetting” McCain’s aides meant he had applied the wrong definition of vet. : to subject ( a person or animal) to to a physical examination or checkup. There are some on this site who should not be so quick to cast a stone regarding McCain’s thoroughness.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:26 amWell then,
May 6th, 2008 at 2:35 amDisown and denounce Hagee…..
BS again, McCain was glad to have the endorsement of Hagee, did not matter what he had said, about the Catholic Church or the people of New Orleans………………..Let McCain continue his path, his hypocrisy only grows day by day………………..
May 6th, 2008 at 7:37 amYet another example of McCorpse’s leadership style and a sneak preview of what we could anticipate if he, too, were to be appointed to the White House by the Supremes.
Poor vetting with regard to crucial presidential appointments could produce dire results, a replay of what we’ve witnessed over the past 7 1/2 years.
Those who believe that Bush/Cheney were/are too moderate would likely be much happier with McSame.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:39 amGive it up libs!! There is no comparison to “Ridin Dirty” racist Wright!!
Not even a good try!!
May 6th, 2008 at 8:52 amThis again sounds a lot like George W. Bush. His poor vetting led to hires like Brownie, Townsend, even Gonzales where everything is based on politics and nothing is based on merits.
May 6th, 2008 at 8:58 amA 7th grader could have vetted Hagee.
What BS!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:11 amReally Dumb Question: Let us assume that I believe that Hagee was poor vetting.
Didn’t also denounce Falwell and then reverse himself and speak at a Liberty College event (?Commencement?). So if McCain already knew about Falwell, how did he “vet” to get the facts to reverse himself ?
May 6th, 2008 at 9:47 amFirst, do people really need to comment on Hagee’s weight? Hagee’s a bad guy because he thinks the Jews caused the Holocaust, not because he is fat.
Moving on: How long will it take McCain to come to his senses (assuming he still has any sense to come to) about his endorsment by G. Gordon Liddy? McCain has done a wonderful job of embracing Liddy, despite the fact that Liddy is still completely unrepetent for Watergate, still jokes about using Hillary and Bill photos as target practice, and when it comes down to it, is still basically a terrorist. But he’s McCain’s buddy.
May 6th, 2008 at 9:54 amFirst, do people really need to comment on Hagee’s weight?
Such is the risk one takes when publicly offending large groups of people.
If you can’t handle the heat (fat), get out of the kitchen (lose some damn weight.)
May 6th, 2008 at 11:16 amDieNow,
May 6th, 2008 at 12:01 pmYour comments about Hagee’s weight make you look childish at best, and irrelevant at worst.
Comment on the issues and people will listen.
Make cheap comments about his weight and people will conclude that you have nothing of substance.
Of course, that may be your goal. If you WANT to lose to McCain, keep talking about Hagee’s weight because that will be the result. If McCain can show that Hagee’s opponents are a bunch of childish fools, then he can prevail. Are you on his team?
Commenting on Hagee’s weight is fair game because it proves him to be a hypocrite. He condemns gay people, for example, but overlooks his own sin of gluttony. As Jesus said (Matt 7:3), Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
May 6th, 2008 at 3:11 pmIt is not fair game.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:20 pmIt is childish.
Is that really the level of debate that you prefer?
People here were rightly outraged over the questions at the last PA debate, but then they make stupid comments about Hagee’s weight that serve no interest other than to distract from the real issues.
Half the time reading the comments here, I suspect that Karl Rove is paying people to act like nitwits.
Identifying hypocrisy is fair game, like it or not. The best weapon against fundies like Hagee, or Bush, for that matter, is to use their own religion against them. It’s character assassination against a character assassin. Perfect justice.
May 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pmCome on, DM. Stop acting like you are on some moral highground on this one. It looks ridiculous. His weight has nothing to do with his chacacter.
May 6th, 2008 at 4:14 pmYou are not using anything against Hagee. You are doing nothing more than mocking his appearance. You are acting like some high school cheerleader mocking the ugly girls.
Hagee has said a lot of horrendous things. When you talk about his weight, people forget all about those horrendous things.
But maybe that’s what you are seeking to do.
Who sent you?