AT LEAST FOUR POSSIBLE McCAIN RUNNING MATES HAVE ALSO PRAISED HAGEE

You may already know about this:

Senator John McCain got support on Wednesday from an important corner of evangelical Texas when the pastor of a San Antonio mega-church, Rev. John C. Hagee, endorsed Mr. McCain for president. Mr. Hagee, who argues that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive, biblically prophesized military strike against Iran that will lead to the second coming of Christ, praised Mr. McCain....

Mr. McCain ... said he was "very honored" by Mr. Hagee's endorsement. Asked about Mr. Hagee’s extensive writings on Armageddon and about what one questioner said was Mr. Hagee's belief that the anti-Christ will be the head of the European Union, Mr. McCain responded that "all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support."...

As Glenn Greenwald notes, Hagee has said some rather harsh things about Muslims ("those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews"), Katrina victims ("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"), and, er, the Harry Potter books ("The whole purpose of the Potter books is to desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult") -- and Bill Donohue of the not-exactly-liberal Catholic League has noted that Hagee doesn't seem to like Catholics much, either:

... for the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it 'The Great Whore,' an 'apostate church,' the 'anti-Christ,' and a 'false cult system.'

Will McCain face the same scrutiny that Barack Obama has faced after being endorsed by Louis Farrakhan (an endorsement he's rejected)? Naaah. Of course not.

I just want to add that at least four people who've been mentioned as possible McCain running mates have also spoken well of Hagee:

Mike Huckabee:

... Mike Huckabee risked his standing with Catholic voters on Sunday by courting his evangelical base at the church of a controversial preacher accused of disparaging Catholics.

... Huckabee delivered a Christmas season sermon at Cornerstone about Christ's birth and embraced Hagee, calling him "one of the great Christian leaders of our nation." ...

Joe Lieberman:

...Last month, Lieberman warmly greeted Pastor John Hagee, a founder of Christians United for Israel and a man who agrees with Lieberman's view that a pre-emptive U.S. strike may one day be necessary to neutralize Iran.

"I would describe Pastor Hagee with the words the Torah uses to describe Moses," Lieberman told Hagee and his followers at a recent conference the group held in Washington, at which Lieberman was invited to speak. "He is an 'Eesh Elo Kim,' a man of God, because those words fit him; and like Moses, he has become the leader of a mighty multitude in pursuit of defense of Israel." ...

Governor Rick Perry of Texas:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has drawn criticism from rival candidates for saying he agrees non-Christians are condemned to spend eternity in hell.

Perry was among some 60 mostly Republican candidates for Tuesday's midterm election attending a Sunday service at San Antonio's Cornerstone Church, where pastor John Hagee said in his sermon non-Christians were "going straight to hell with a non-stop ticket," The Dallas Morning News reported.

Afterward, Perry told reporters there was nothing in the sermon he could disagree with....

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina:

Greenville celebrated "A Night to Honor Israel" last Tuesday evening....

It was the initial rally in the State of South Carolina of the new organization, Christians United For Israel (CUFI), which was founded last year by Dr. John Hagee...

Governor Mark Sanford sent a special letter of greeting and support. Sanford wrote: 'This special event in support of Israel brings hope for the future. It demonstrates a commitment to work together on common ground to address the concerns and issues that affect us all." ...

Would any of them have to answer questions about their kind words for this bigoted lunatic? Naaah. Of course not.

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UPDATE: Did I say "lunatic"? Read about Hagee's book Jerusalem Countdown:

...He argues that a strike against Iran will cause Arab nations to unite under Russia's leadership, as outlined in chapters 38 and 39 of the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon." ... The strike will provoke Russia -- which wants Persian Gulf oil -- to lead an army of Arab nations against Israel. Then God will wipe out all but one-sixth of the Russian-led army...

To fill the power vacuum left by God's decimation of the Russian army, the Antichrist -- the head of the EU -- will rule "a one-world government, a one-world currency and a one-world religion" for three and a half years.... The "demonic world leader" will then be confronted by a false prophet, identified by Hagee as China, at Armageddon, the Mount of Megiddo in Israel. As they prepare for the final battle, Jesus will return on a white horse and cast both villains -- and presumably any nonbelievers -- into a "lake of fire burning with brimstone," thus marking the beginning of his millennial reign....

So hey, don't worry about your adjustable-rate mortgages, people.