Dumbass Quote of the Day

"I have two grandchildren - Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they're my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American."

~Newt Gingrich, addressing Rev. John Hagee's congregagtion

Newt Gingrich - serious Republican presidential candidate.

By the way, remember Rev. Hagee? He's the guy whose endorsement of John McCain was rejected by the Maverick after it was revealed that Hagee is a Hitler fan because, you know, he was only doing God's work.

..."God says in Jeremiah 16: 'Behold, I will bring them the Jewish people again unto their land that I gave to their fathers. ... Behold, I will send for many fishers, and after will I send for many hunters. And they the hunters shall hunt them.' That would be the Jews. ... Then God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter," Hagee said, according to a transcript of his sermon.

Now that's someone Newt wants to be associated with, huh? I wonder what he'll do if he gets Hagee's endorsement.

Speaking Of Endorsements...

... why has the media taken a pass at the endorsement of John McCain by evangelical Pastor John Hagee? Why has the media barely spoken about McCain's refusal to reject or denounce Hagee's endorsement? Are their mouths full of barbequed ribs?

Let's look at Hagee's background. According to Wikipedia Hagee is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a non-denominational evangelical church with more than 19,000 active members. Hagee is the President and CEO of John Hagee Ministries which telecasts his national radio and television ministry carried in America on 160 TV stations, fifty radio stations and eight networks including The Inspiration Network (INSP) and Trinity Broadcasting Network. The ministries can be seen and heard weekly in 99 million homes.

Really! 99 million homes. Well no wonder the Maverick wants his endorsement. But wait, there's more.

Hagee has made various statements that some find a little, oh, shall we say, fucking nuts, such as calling the Catholic Church "the great whore", a "false cult system" and "the apostate church."

Or how about when Hagee stated that Hurricane Katrina was an act of God, punishing New Orleans for "a level of sin that was offensive to God". He specifically referred to a "homosexual parade" that was held on the date the hurricane struck and that this was proof "of the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

Cricket...cricket... cricket... do you hear that? That's the "liberal" media lining up to skewer McCain just as Tim Russert tried to do to Barack Obama during the last debate in Ohio, questioning Obama on an endorsement from Louis Farrakhan, despite Obama's repeated denunciations of Farrakhan's statements.

Here's McCain defending his endorsement:

"Well I think it's important to note that pastor John Hagee who has supported and endorsed my candidacy supports what I stand for and believe in. When he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes. And I am very proud of the Pastor John Hagee's spiritual leadership to thousands of people and I am proud of his commitment to the independence and the freedom of the state of Israel. That does not mean that I support or endorse or agree with some of the things that Pastor John Hagee might have said or positions that he may have taken on other issues. I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy. They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions." [McCain Media Availability, 2/29/08]

So we have Tim Russert on national television trying to play a "gotcha" game with Barack Obama and trying to link him with Farrakhan over an endorsement he didn't seek, asking him to reject Farrakhan's support that was never offered and driving most of the media to cover this story for days, while back in the real world the media whores remain silent over McCain actively seeking an endorsement a couple of days later from a bigoted, misogynistic "man of God" who fans the anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim and anti-gay flames ; a man who can't wait for McCain to become president so he can continue our path to Armageddon. Because that is what Hagee ultimately wants.

Here's Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks flipping out over Hagee endorsement.



What a sick, fucking joke.

As Far As I Know

There's been a lot of criticism over Clinton's 60 Minutes interview and her answer on the "Obama-is-a-Muslim" rumor. She gave a perfectly good answer... except for the ending.

STEVE KROFT: You don't believe that Senator Obama's a Muslim?

HILLARY CLINTON: Of course not. I mean that's, you know, that, there is no basis for that. You know, I take him on the basis of what he says, and, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.

KROFT: You said you take Sen. Obama at his word that he's not a Muslim...

CLINTON: Right, right..

KROFT: …you don't believe that he's a Muslim.

CLINTON: No! No! Why would I? There's nothing to base that on. As far as I know.

When I first heard what she had said (I didn't watch the interview) I thought, "Oh, great! Is she looking for a job on the McCain campaign after Obama wins the nomination?" But after watching the interview, the comment reads much worse than the interview.

But it's a painstaking process to find a video other than on the CBS website to see the full Clinton comment. As Jake Tapper notes:

To be fair, Clinton went on to say that having "been the target of so many ridiculous rumors... I have a great deal of sympathy for anybody who gets, you know, smeared with the kind of rumors that go on all the time."

But Tapper also makes a valid point. What if the shoe was on the other foot?

Let's try just one of any number of ridiculous anti-Clinton smears.

HYPOTHETICAL STEVE KROFT: You don't believe that Senator Clinton killed Vince Foster?

HYPOTHETICAL BARACK OBAMA: Of course not. I mean that's, you know, that, there is no basis for that. You know, I take her on the basis of what she says, and, you know, there isn't any reason to doubt that.

HYPOTHETICAL KROFT: You said you take Sen. Clinton at her word that she didn't kill Vince Foster...

HYPOTHETICAL OBAMA: Right, right..

HYPOTHETICAL KROFT: …you don't believe that she killed Vince Foster.

HYPOTHETICAL OBAMA: No! No! Why would I? There's nothing to base that on. As far as I know.

Food for thought, isn't it? Yes, Clinton probably should have kept the "As far as I know" comment to herself. But these politicians are so scutinized by what they they say, it was probably an automatic thing for her, not wanting to get caught in a game of "gotcha" in so many other instances of reporters pressing a question.

Yes I'm making an excuse for her, I'm not a Hillary fan and I am an Obama supporter. The comment is much ado about nothing, although hypersensitive people won't take it as such. The one thing she should have said, as Obama touched on in his portion of the interview should have gone something like this:

"This is a prejudice attack that we shouldn't stand for as a nation. Barack Obama is not a Muslim. But would it make a difference if he was? Would you be asking me the same question if he were Jewish? Or Greek Orthodox? Or Hindu? This rumor is not only an insult to Barack, but an insult to all Muslims everywhere who are being stereotyped and perpetrated as terrorists just because their religion is the same as that of opportunistic extremists. Would we be targeting all Roman Catholics because of Timothy McVeigh?"

But she didn't say that.

As far as those intrepid "journalists" out there, why don't you ask John McCain if he'll reject and denounce religious extremist John Hagee's endorsement and if not, does that mean that McCain believes the Catholic Church is a "great whore" or if he believes "that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that" instead of having a barbeque with a man you're supposed to be reporting about objectively?