John McCain has lately been attempting to distance himself from a recent endorsement (which the McCain campaign aggressively sought) from John Hagee, a well-known right-wing televangelist. Hagee is known among the thinking set as the stunning intellect behind the claim that Hurricaine Katrina was the manifestation of God's punishment for New Orleans for their plans to have held the annual Southern Decadence festival. As a city-wide festival that featured events of interest to GLBT people, it's not surprising that someone like Hagee would object. Anytime GLBT people gather together in the absence of self-hatred and gnashing of teeth, people like Hagee get nervous and defensive. This is nothing new.
After McCain spent last weekend on This Week offering lame excuses to the wee George Stephanopoulos for his association with this bigot ("I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything." What?) Hagee appeared on right-wing radio talk show host Dennis Prager's program to clear things up. And what did La Hagee say to de-fuse the situation?
PRAGER: Right, but in the case, did NPR get, is this quote correct though that in the case of New Orleans you do feel it was sin?
HAGEE: In the case of New Orleans, their plan to have that homosexual rally was sin. But it never happened. The rally never happened.
PRAGER: No, I understand.
HAGEE: It was scheduled that Monday.
PRAGER: No, I’m only trying to understand that in the case of New Orleans, you do feel that God’s hand was in it because of a sinful city?
HAGEE: That it was a city that was planning a sinful conduct, yes.
So Hagee's response to the criticism was to say the exact same horribly offensive thing? At least he's consistent... you've got to give him that. And his next comment?
HAGEE: That’s why secular humanists hate the bible because it gives a definite standard of right and wrong. There’s light and darkness, there’s wheat and pears, there’s sheep and goats. You can’t be all things to all people. You either do live by the word of God or you don’t live by the word of God. And there’s nothing in between. And…and our secular permissive society, that’s just a hateful idea.
Yes. The Bible is full of these dualistic, black and white, right and wrong statements. Apparently, for fundamentalist christianists, it's simply impossible to have any sort of moral dilemma. No difficult decisions. No gray areas full of contradiction. No "slippery slope" problems. It must be nice to live in such a world... so easy to plan. I've not enjoyed that kind of sophomoric mindset since I was about 15 years old, but perhaps maturity doesn't come to christianists in the same way it came to me.
Last night's Pennsylvania primary coverage featured a shocking poll result... that over 50% of Hillary Clinton's supporters would not vote for Barack Obama if he became the Democratic nominee. Fifty. Percent. Does this mean that many Democrats will either vote for McCain or not vote at all simply because their first choice didn't win enough delegates or the popular vote? I voted for Obama, but I'd certainly hold my nose and vote for Clinton if she were the nominee... I disagree with her on many issues, but she'd certainly be better than McCain. Why don't Clinton's followers recognize this?
I'll tell you why. It's because the base of Clinton's support is from aging baby boomers who have been coddled all their lives. After decades of having the media tell you over and over that your generation was the be-all end-all of human existence, ascribing to your cohorts the sole credit for much of the social and political advances of the 20th century, I would imagine it would be difficult to hear that you might not get your way on this one. Spoiled children often throw tantrums like this. It's my understanding that a little tough-love is in order...
I fear for the future of our country. We're so close to wresting control of the government from the Woodstock generation and their toxic effect on our culture. I simply worry that this election cycle is too early in that process for us to prevail. Get ready for 4-8 more years of Republican rule, whether it's through McCain or via the Clintonian wolf-in-sheep's-clothing approach. Either way, many of us will be screwed.
