McCain’s Hail Mary

so back when obama was at hyde park, he attended a dinner event with one of the most renowned and famous professors of the israeli-palestinian issue: rashid khalidi (now with columbia university).

mccain wants the video of the party to be released:

On Wednesday, McCain said 1960s radical Bill Ayers had attended the same party in 2003. McCain and Palin have criticized Obama for his ties to Ayers and questioned what the videotape of the party might show.

“Among other things, Israel was described there as the perpetrator of terrorism rather than the victim,” Palin said at a rally in Ohio. “What we don’t know is how Barack Obama responded to these slurs on a country that he professes to support.”

mccain is trying to paint khalidi as a radical, even though there is scant evidence of khalidi’s ties to the PLO and even though the PLO was heavily propped up by western donors as the moderate face of the palestinians.

more amusingly, mccain himself funded khalidi’s group:

“During the 1990s, while he served as chairman of the International Republican Institute (IRI), McCain distributed several grants to the Palestinian research center co-founded by Khalidi, including one worth half a million dollars.”

Hagee’s Apology

john hagee has finally apologized for calling the catholic church the great satan.

no word yet if he will change his mind on these other statements:

“all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

or his plans to have a “slave sale” (yes, seriously):

Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a “slave sale” to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, “The Cluster.”

The item was introduced with the sentence “Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone” and ended with “Make plans to come and go home with a slave.”

or about hurricane katrina:

“All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. 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.” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

and finally about women:

“Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist.” [God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]

or how bout his hopes and dreams to start the apocalypse? did he change his mind on those too?

when mccain was asked about hagee by o’reilly of all people, mccain pointedly condemned hagee’s anti-catholic remarks but remained silent on his anti-gay statements.

O’REILLY: OK. John Hagee is a guy…

MCCAIN: Yes.

O’REILLY: …that you sought his endorsement in San Antonio, Texas. He said bad things about Catholics and gays and other things like that. And your opponents are saying, hey, you know, McCain hangs around with Hagee. Obama hangs around Wright. No difference.

MCCAIN: I do not embrace a view that he stated about the Catholic church. I steadfastly reject it and repudiate it. I’ve never been in Pastor Hagee’s church. I know him, but the fact is that I accept his endorsement.

and what about these other statements johnny?

you got nothing to say on these either?

Will John McCain ever repudiate Hagee?

several months ago, john mccain was endorsed by reverend john hagee, a charming man who believes in an apocalyptic showdown between the west and the east, with jesus christ himself intervening and protecting the west:

“Russia is going to get in that position and they are literally, with all that massive military force, going to attack Israel,” Hagee told ABC News in 2006. “This is recorded in Ezekiel 38 and 39. God himself is literally going to destroy that army. Decimate it.”

Hagee added that the confrontation would be followed by a Chinese army of 200 million coming to the city of Armageddon, where they will meet British and U.S. forces in the Battle of Armageddon.

“At that point, Jesus Christ returns to Earth and sets up his eternal kingdom in the city of Jerusalem and there’s 1000 years of peace,” Hagee said. “The Jewish people are going to see the supernatural hand of God preserve them and deliver them while the enemies of Israel are crushed. That’s the end-time story.”

and he continues:

The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God’s plan for both Israel and the West… a biblically prophesied end-time confrontation with Iran, which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation, and Second Coming of Christ.

but wait there’s more….

Because women no longer die from abortions

before:

I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.

now:

MCCAIN: I don’t think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it’s very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should — could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And you’d be for that?

MCCAIN: Yes, because I’m a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don’t believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade.

The War on Condoms

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2…iv-prevention/

so apparently john mccain not only trumpets the failed abstinence only education program, but he also does not believe condoms help prevent AIDS.

wonderful.