It was not so long ago, that John Hagee was at the pinnacle of his power. Last year Sen. Joe Lieberman publicly compared him to Moses at the annual conference of his Christians United for Israel (CUFI); and John McCain was in the middle of his long courtship of Hagee’s support for his presidential campaign. McCain eventually secured Hagee's endorsement, but it only took a few months for the the relationship to end in a mutual renunciation tht sent shock waves throughout American public life.
Since then, bloggers, reporters and interest groups have been taking a closer look at the world according to Hagee. And as Bruce Wilson (whose video showing that Hagee says God sent Hitler to drive the Jews to Israel, sparking McCain's disavowal of Hagee) among others have shown, Hagee's fanatical views and demagoguery have been out in the open in his books and sermons for all to see for a long time. It has too often been the case, that leaders of the Religious Right have not received the scrutiny they merit over the course of their careers. But times have changed a bit. There are now more reporters, bloggers and interest groups who are paying attention than ever before. And the entire Hagee episode is an excellent case example that merits more detailed study.
You have probably heard of Pastor John Hagee. Senator McCain, after seeking Hagee's endorsement, rejected it: "McCain told CNN's Brian Todd that he rejected Hagee's endorsement after Todd brought to his attention Hagee's comments that Adolf Hitler had been fulfilling God's will by hastening the desire of Jews to return to Israel in accordance with biblical prophecy," CNNreported on May 22.
But you might not be aware that unlike Senator McCain, Washington's right-wing "Israel Lobby" has not put any daylight between themselves and their close comrade John Hagee, or his "Christians United for Israel." When you say "Israel Lobby," people tend to think "AIPAC." Many people don't realize that a key component of the "Israel Lobby" consists of people who call themselves Christian.
Until recently, John Hagee was not exactly a household name. But he has, as leading Christian Zionists before him have been, a larger than life figure to those whose political world centers around rightwing Israeli politics. This includes elected officials and senior staff of both major parties in the United States.
In the wake of the the widespread revulsion over John Hagee's unambiguous views that God sent Hitler to drive the Jews to Israel in order to fulfill his interpretation of Biblical prophesy, and John McCain's repudiation of his views as "crazy and unacceptable," Hagee has issued a press release. It is posted on the web site of his organization, Christians United for Israel. In it he makes many statements. Many of them undoubtedly heart felt. Many of them are no doubt true.
But what Hagee does not address is the original controversy, while furiously tossing red herring in all directions.
Senator Joe Lieberman's bizarre alliance with John Hagee is not as strange as it seems, now that people are noticing. His role as a headliner at the Christians United for Israel conference is of a piece with pandering to the religious right by political leaders, including leading Democrats over many years, particularly when it comes to the religious right's support for Israel.
Now of course, there are many who are supportive of Israel and are not part of or sympathetic to the religious right. And that will remain unchanged. But Leiberman, while no longer a member of the Democratic Party, and of course John McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, epitomize the way that pols of both major parties have been more than willing to turn a blind eye to the apocalyptic, anti-democratic, hate-infused agenda of Hagee, among others. Hagee and the religious right grew powerful in part because of, not inspite of the pandering and accomodation of the likes of Leiberman.
Take a look into John Hagee’s organization, Christians United for Israel, as it held its bizzare annual Washington-Israel Summit on July 16, 2007. Reporter Max Blumenthal speaks with Zionist extremists John Hagee, Joe Lieberman, Tom DeLay, Ambassador Dore Gold and other war-mongering, Doomsday-worshiping "Christian" Zionist extremists.
In New Orleans as part of his so-called "Forgotten Places" tour, former Navy airman John McCain found himself evading incoming flak over the most recent comments of Pastor John Hagee. Coming just days after George Stephanolous lobbed him a Hagee softball, McCain faced questions over Hagee's assertions that "God's hand" was behind Hurricane Katrina because New Orleans was a "sinful city." But still absent from the media discussion about John McCain and his supporter the End-Times Pastor Hagee is the question of conflict with Iran. Given his own tough talk toward Tehran, does John McCain agree with Pastor John Hagee that war with Iran is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy?
The following video is 5 minutes long. It does important, immediate political work I can assure you.
San Antonio Megachurch leader, Pastor John Hagee, formed Christians United For Israel (CUFI) in early 2006, as a political lobbying bloc to 'support Israel'. In practice, CUFI generally supports the far-right politics of the Israeli Likud Party and categorically rejects any Israeli-Palestinian peace deals which would feature Israeli land concessions.
CUFI is working to develop a capacity to mobilize, on short notice, the political energies of millions, potentially up to 10 million or more, of American evangelicals.
[UPDATE: George Bush just warned that WW3 might begin over Iraq's alleged attempt to get nuclear weapons, an effort that the IAEA says is a trumped up charge in the first place, and the IAEA has credibility; the agency's assessment of Iraq's nuclear program prior to the US invasion of that country (moribund) was born out. Last September 21, I posted here about an allegation that Bush cited "Gog and Magog" to Jacques Chirac as a reason for the invasion of Iraq. As I mention in my post, Senator John McCain stated, in April of 2006 on "Meet The Press", that a US attack on Iran could trigger "Armageddon".]
In this excellent video by Max Blumenthal which shows a gathering of modern day nazis led by Hitler want-to-be John Hagee of "Christians United For Israel," the statement which requires further analysis is the one by Tom Delay in which he says that "I Hope it Comes Tomorrow."
IT of course was a reference to the Rapture or Armageddon. IT means that life ends on earth tomorrow. IT means you die tomorrow. But Tom Delay says that "This is what I live for."
Now putting aside that this may be one of the few times in Tom Delay's life where he was actually being honest, it is imperative that we discuss what this quote means and how it affects governance in America.
It was filmed at a conference presided over by the Rev. Hagee in Washington, DC last week – at a hotel I think I recognize as being on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol. The attendees were quite candid with Mr. Blumenthal – almost anxious to explain their view of the “End Times” and Islam (spoiler: they think Satan is behind Muslims). Rev. Hagee had Mr. Blumenthal evicted from the conference after Mr. Blumenthal asked him a pointed question about Rev. Hagee’s book, Jerusalem Countdown.
As the drumbeat for a U.S. strike on Iran follows a familiar path, it is critical that we revisit the once encouraging beginnings of the 2006 Democratic Congress.
The CUFI is Christians United for Israel and they are Texas-based evangelicals dedicated to the idea the advancing the development of Israel as a way to advance the day of the Rapture.
John Hagee, deemed one of the 20 most influential evangelical leaders in America, is an increasingly powerful, fast rising star on the Christian right who has built his career on aggressive support for the Israeli hard political right. In early 2006, Texas pastor John Hagee founded the new, ostensibly "pro-Israel" national lobbying group "Christians United For Israel". But John Hagee's writings, in his latest book, might lead some to doubt Mr. Hagee's love for Jews.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. contingency planning for military action against Iran's nuclear program goes beyond limited strikes and would effectively unleash a war against the country, a former U.S. intelligence analyst said on Friday.
"I've seen some of the planning ... You're not talking about a surgical strike," said Wayne White, who was a top Middle East analyst for the State Department's bureau of intelligence and research until March 2005.
"You're talking about a war against Iran" that likely would destabilize the Middle East for years, White told the Middle East Policy Council, a Washington think tank.
...We're talking about clearing a path to the targets" by taking out much of the Iranian Air Force, Kilo submarines, anti-ship missiles that could target commerce or U.S. warships in the Gulf, and maybe even Iran's ballistic missile capability, White said.
This gem from James Dobson in today's NY Times http://www.nytimes.com/...
"Despite all the spiritual shortcomings of the Jewish people..."
This is naturally not his description but
"according to scripture -- and those criticisms come not from Christians but from the Old Testament. Just look in Deuteronomy, where Jews are referred to as a stiff-necked and stubborn people -- despite all of that, God has chosen to bless them as his people. God chose to bless Abraham and his seed not because they were a perfect people any more than the rest of the human family."
The bit below the fold was written in response to this diary, but I found the subject at hand diary worthy all by itself.
Ben Cardin has associated himself with John Hagee, the San Antonio, TX megachurch pastor, televangelist, and National Chairman of "Christians United for Israel", a group of the usual wingnut suspects, (Falwell, Parsley, Bauer, etc.) and involved in the Ken Blackwell campaign in Ohio, that is backing Bush's Iran entanglement folly.
Hagee also, once upon a time, back in 1996 managed to piss off African Americans by announcing a "slave sale" as a fundraiser- an event he was forced to apologize for and change the name of.
Hagee's certainly not the kind of fellow I want my next Senator sharing podiums with.
