John McCain has once again stepped in the whole Hagee mess and John Nichols, at the Nation, gets most of what's significant about the McCain-Hagee political tie - Barack Obama's pastor has said controversial things but McCain himself indicated he considered religious leaders such as Hagee to be hate-mongers long prior to when McCain pursued Hagee like a dog in heat (detailed in this video of mine, 1st in a series).

 

During the 2000 election primaries, John McCain unleashed major rhetoric blasts at evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, calling them "agents of intolerance" and he excoriated George W. Bush for going to speak at Bob Jones University. McCain said if he'd been invited he'd have told Bob Jones, "Get out the 16th Century... What you're doing is racist and cruel". but only a few years later McCain was after Falwell, Robertson and Pastor John Hagee like a dog in heat: McCain needed their political support. After controversy erupted, following Hagee's highly public political endorsement of McCain's 2008 presidential bid, McCain emitted weasely disavowals of anything and everything Hagee's said that's possibly offensive (there's an absurd amount) but wouldn't repudiate the apocalyptic pastor's endorsement.

As Media Matters, doing what it does best, caught on April 21st NPR's Cokie Roberts was oblivious to the fact that McCain, in effect has refused to repudiate the anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, gay-bashing pastor Hagee:

"During the April 21 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, while discussing Catholic voters, co-host Renee Montagne asked NPR news analyst Cokie Roberts if Sen. John McCain was "maintaining the endorsement" of controversial televangelist John Hagee. Roberts responded: "Well, he says that it was a mistake to seek and accept the endorsement. So I -- what does that mean? I don't know if that means that he has -- maintains it or not." In fact, contrary to Roberts' suggestion that it is unclear whether McCain still accepts Hagee's endorsement, on the April 20 edition of ABC's This Week, when host George Stephanopoulos asked, "So you no longer want his [Hagee's] endorsement?" McCain replied: "I'm glad to have his endorsement." McCain continued: "I condemn remarks that are in any way viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking." "

Now, MoveOn.com has a petition calling on McCain to "stop seeking political support from hatemongers like Hagee" and will try to present it to the Senator during his trip to New Orleans only two or three days after John Hagee reiterated, on the Dennis Prager show, Hagee's belief that hurricane Katrina was God's punishment, upon the city of New Orleans, for a gay pride event scheduled prior to the disaster.