Radical clerics and Presidential candidates

Glenn Greenwald has some thoughts on the fact that Big Pundits like Tim Russert are so concerned about the potential influence of some radical Muslim cleric on Barack Obama, while the overt embrace of radical Christianist clerics by the Maverick McCain and lots of other Republicans doesn't seem to bother them nearly so much.

In Some hateful, radical ministers - white evangelicals - are acceptable Salon 02/28/08, he writes about John McCain's supporter John Hagee who has been a loud advocate for launching a preventive war on Iran. Because Jesus was, you know, a big fan of war and killing and stuff. At least on Planet Hagee. Greenwald has the following to say about the Establishment press' approach to radical Christian clerics:

Hagee believes that "the president's support for Israel fulfills a biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state," which "will play a pivotal role in the second coming." These views are not unrelated to Hagee's support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain's so-called "pro-Israel views," his belligerence towards Iran, and his social conservatism as reasons for the endorsement. And in critical contrast to Obama and Farrakhan, McCain actually seems to share some of Hagee's more twisted views, as evidenced by McCain's joyful singing about dropping bombs on Iran.

The GOP has long been given a pass on courting the most warped and twisted religious figures around. George Bush spoke regularly with Pat Robertson - never once forced to "denounce" or "reject" him. In 2006, Rev. Hagee had a private meeting with uber-White House neocon (and convicted criminal) Elliot Abrams, who just happens to run Middle East policy in the Bush administration, and afterwards, Hagee gushed that he and Abrams (like he and Lieberman) shared similar views towards the Middle East: "we felt we were on the right track."

Watching the media's treatment of Farrakhan and Hagee, is it possible to imagine a more transparent, and grotesque, double standard? In the framework of the Russert-led establishment press, white evangelical Christians are, by definition, entitled to great respect no matter how radical, extreme and hateful their professed views are. These are, after all, religious Christians - People of Faith - and, as such, it is wrong, even bigoted, to suggest that they should be repudiated. There is nothing ever radical, hateful or dangerous about the views of white evangelical Christians like Hagee.

Tags: christian fundamentalism, christian right, christianism, glenn greenwald, john hagee, mccain