McCain takes high moral ground on Obama-Ayers, but still "hearts" Catholic-bashing Hagee

[Amerigo Vespucci]

McCain bashes Obama on Ayers but stands by his association with anti-Catholic pastor Hagee

By: John Amato on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 at 1:01 PM - PDT

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/20/mccain-bashes-obama-on-ayers-but-stands-by-his-association-with-anti-catholic-pastor-hagee/

Leave it to John McCain to straight talk himself into the ground over John Hagee. Isn’t it interesting that it took all this time for the media to finally discuss McCain’s relationship with John Hagee? McCain foams up over Obama’s knowledge of Ayers, not an endorsement mind you, but says he still is very happy with the endorsement of the extreme Catholic hating preacher by the name of John Hagee and is proud to have lobbied to get it. Obama never asked anything of Ayers, but McCain begged Hagee’s help. It probably was a mistake actually says STM, but he’s glad he got his support anyway. What the heck is he talking about?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you say he should condemn these comments.

MCCAIN: Sure.

STEPHANOPOULOS: A lot of Senator Obama’s allies and others say that you should condemn the comments of Reverend John Hagee, an evangelical pastor…

MCCAIN: Oh, I do. And I did. I said, any comments that he made about the Catholic church I strongly condemn, of course.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yet you solicited and accepted his endorsement?

MCCAIN: Yes, indeed. I did. And I condemned the comments that he made concerning the Catholic church.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’re going to hold onto his endorsement? Your own campaign acknowledged that you should have done a better job of vetting Pastor Hagee.

MCCAIN: Oh, sure.

ABC News supplies the transcripts:

MCCAIN: Because if you’re going to associate and have as a friend and serve on a board and have a guy kick off your campaign that
says he’s unrepentant, that he wished bombed more — and then, the worst thing of all, that, I think, really indicates Senator Obama’s
attitude, is he had the incredible statement that he compared Mr. Ayers, an unrepentant terrorist, with Senator Tom Coburn, Senator
Coburn, a physician who goes to Oklahoma on the weekends and brings babies into life — comparing those two — I mean, that’s not –
that’s an attitude, frankly, that certainly isn’t in keeping with the overall attitude…

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama said…

MCCAIN: And it’s very insulting to a great man, a great doctor, a great humanitarian, to compare to him with a guy who says, after 2001, I wish we had bombed more.

I had a reconciliation with the anti-war movement. One of the great experiences of my life was to get to know and love David Ifshin.

I had a reconciliation with the Vietnamese, when we normalized relations.

But how can you countenance someone who was engaged in bombings which could have or did kill innocent people…

STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama says he was eight years old when that was happening.

MCCAIN: But he became friends with him and spent time with him while the guy was unrepentant over his activities as a member of a
terrorist organization, the Weathermen. I don’t — and then to compare him with Dr. Tom Coburn, who spends so much of his life bringing babies into this world — that, in my view is really — borders out outrage.

STEPHANOPOULOS: He also pointed out that he and Mr. Ayers have a very loose relationship. They live in the same neighborhood. There
was an organizing meeting many, many years ago, in his house. And he says, frankly, I don’t agree with these comments that Mr. Ayers made.

MCCAIN: Doesn’t agree with them? Does he condemn them?

Would he condemn someone who says that they’re unrepentant and wished that they had bombed more — and compare him to a doctor, one
of the great humanitarian — in my view, one of the greatest spokespersons for the rights of the unborn in America?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, you say he should condemn these comments.

MCCAIN: Sure.

STEPHANOPOULOS: A lot of Senator Obama’s allies and others say that you should condemn the comments of Reverend John Hagee, an
evangelical pastor…

MCCAIN: Oh, I do. And I did. I said, any comments that he made about the Catholic church I strongly condemn, of course.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yet you solicited and accepted his endorsement?

MCCAIN: Yes, indeed. I did. And I condemned the comments that he made concerning the Catholic church.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But you’re going to hold onto his endorsement?

Your own campaign acknowledged that you should have done a better job of vetting Pastor Hagee.

MCCAIN: Oh, sure.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So was it a mistake to solicit and accept his endorsement?

MCCAIN: Oh, probably, sure. But I admire and respect Dr. Hagee’s leadership of the — of his church. I admire and appreciate
his advocacy for the state of Israel, the independence of the state of Israel.

I condemn remarks that are made that has anything to do which is condemning of the Catholic church, but — so…

(CROSSTALK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: … no longer want his endorsement?

MCCAIN: I’m glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. But thanks for asking.

[DarienComp]

1. Okay, this interview shows exactly why nobody should vote for McCain.

The man is a bona fide idiot. He regrets seeking Hagee's endorsement, but he's glad to have it?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. "Oh, sure"...

He seems to have completely lost his hearing in one ear...

:rofl:

[DarienComp]

5. I think he's lost his thinking in one half of his brain.

I can't decide which one though.

[BlooInBloo]

2. If by "high ground" you mean "attacks", then yes...

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/04/mccain_hits_obama_for_ayers_co.php

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. Yes, "moral high ground" as in "pot, meet kettle"...

...I clearly remember the 2004 elections, especially from a Catholic point of view.

My church basically tried to paint the picture of George W. Bush as a man who "respects the rights of the unborn" and John Kerry as a pro-abortion baby killer.

It didn't matter if Kerry was "pro-choice" or "pro-abortion"...it was seen as the same thing.

It didn't matter if Bush tossed eighteen-year-old after eighteen-year-old into the Iraq meat grinder...he respected the rights of the unborn.

In 2008, having Hagee call my church "The Great Whore" and having McCain eagerly seek his endorsement doesn't equal a big Catholic turnout for McCain.

This will be interesting.

[Breeze54]

6. Thanks for posting the transcript. - McLame is a such a RW slimeball!

:puke:

:kick: & Recommended

PS. You should post this transcript in GD! ;)

[tishaLA]

7. "but thanks for asking"

what an asshole. It's amazing that the best answer McCain can give to his political duplicity is "thanks for asking," as if that will make the duplicity somehow disappear. Americans recognize a double standard and political gamesmanship when they see it.

[rgbecker]

8. I'm tempted to go with McSame....

He's for Babies, Lapel Pins, End of the World, and Israel. What more could an American want?

[Berry Cool]

9. This is going to sound like a dumb question

but is Ayers anywhere on record as having actually said "I wish I had BOMBED MORE"?

Yes, I mean literally, that he didn't BOMB ENOUGH.

Yes, I understand he is on record as saying that he feels he didn't "do" enough to help achieve the ends of the Weather Underground, and that he wishes he had done more.

He is also on record as saying that he is not sorry he set off bombs as part of what he did do.

But does he ever, anywhere, actually say that wishes, specifically, that he had SET OFF MORE BOMBS?

Because, see, I'm not so sure he did, and it seems to me that what's happening here is that part of the smear job being done on Obama is a very slippery and sneaky and deliberate glossing over and smushing together of what Ayers said that is designed to make him sound even worse than he is.

As in:

--Take Ayers' statement that "I am not sorry I set off bombs for Weather Underground"
--Add it together with his statement that "I only regret I did not do more for the movement"

and, if you use rather slippery logic, you get:

"The only thing I regret is that I did not SET OFF MORE BOMBS."

Then you take that statement and you repeat it enough times until people believe it's a direct quote, and then you emphasize Obama's association with the man.

Next thing you know, you have a large number of voters thinking Barack Obama is best friends with a man who wants to set off bombs across America because he doesn't feel he set off enough of them in the sixties.

When, of course, not only is the connection weak at best, but there may be no indication that when Ayers said he didn't feel he did enough, that he was specifically referring to not having set off enough bombs. And that in fact, he may think that the movement would have gone further had he done more OTHER things that would have been more constructive and less destructive.

We can't let them get away with this kind of crap.