WAY too much to cover here, so I'll be semi-relatively brief. First, evangelical king John Hagee apologized for his past harsh criticisms of the Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews." Not that mainstream media (which we all know are controlled by conservatives) would have played fair with contrasts in the case of Hagee endorsing John McCain in his idiotic bid to succeed the worst president in North American history versus the whole Barack Obama/Rev. Wright crap. McCain said he "disagreed" with some of Hagee's past remarks (there have been MANY) regarding other religions and denominations, but he didn't reject the pastor's support. Which we all know is critical 'cuz McCain isn't exactly the darling of the religious right. More on that later.
Hagee has also called the Inquisition and the Crusades as proof of anti-Semitism within the Catholic Church and even hinted that anti-Semitism, somehow rooted in Catholicism, helped shape Adolf Hitler's views of Jews. According to the Associated Press story, Hagee penned a letter to William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, writing: "Out of a desire to advance a greater unity among Catholics and evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful." Donohue, one of Hagee's critics, said he accepted the apology and planned to meet with Hagee soon. "I got what I wanted. He's seen the light, as they like to say. So for me it's over." That's right, Donohue. You tell Hagee who's boss! LOL Sorry. It's the pious Catholic in me.
Speaking of that all-too-precious-to-the-GOP-evangelical vote, there's been talk that the religious righties' presidential preference, Mike (I Don't Heart) Huckabee, is plotting with some hard conservatives to sink McCain's candidacy. This is all being "muttered" while Huckabee - known for playing the political double-face game - publicly "supports" McCain. And how Christian nice, Jesus-is-love of some evangelicals to float the idea that America deserves an Obama presidency because the lanky, tall Illinois senator is helping to realize a Biblical prophecy in their eyes: America is on the eve of plague-like destruction and the tribulation.
I wonder if any of that negative nattering is due partially to the fact that Obama is black.
Nah, nonsense. How could I be so silly to think that so many Americans would fear an African-American becoming president out of prejudice. Not this wonderful country!! ;-P
If Huckabee and his ilk don't secretly undermine McCain, Ron Paul and his ilk might still. The Libertarian is still running for the nomination, if you haven't noticed. He and his forces have been quietly organizing to stage a public revolt against McCain at the national Republican convention. I am soooo DVR-ing that. Lest we forget a former hard-right GOP congressman, Georgian Bob Barr, has entered the presidential race as a Libertarian. He offers himself as a "true conservative alternative" to McCain. Then there's Alan Keyes, yet another hard-right Repub that you want to forget but can't because he won't let you. He's STILL running as an independent. Not that the masses have noticed. Or should care.
Any of these rogue candidacies and movements could further cripple a GOP that is reeling and loathed nationwide. The party just lost this week a third special congressional election in a matter of weeks in typically reliably Republican strongholds to Democrats. Polls suggest most voters have a negative view of the GOP, and a record low perception of Emperor Dubya. There's a slight yet real movement of younger Christian evangelicals away from the GOP and - at least somewhat - toward the Democrats. (A seminary student quoted in a Seattle Times article said "I just keep thinking, if Jesus were alive now, he wouldn't necessarily be voting Republican." Hee hee.) Hell, the minority Republican leader in the House of Reps basically told his lame-ass, er, duck troops that branding Obama a liberal (among MANY horrendous and inane labels) has its limits, and that the Repub Party must reshape itself as the party of positive change.
Er, too late. Leave it to a retiring Republican congressman, who said in a newspaper story: "When Bush tries to articulate a vision, he will butcher the Gettysburg Address. Obama, he will make an A&P grocery list sing." Exactly. Not to mention, in Bush's mind, Gettysburg sounds more like "jet-tees-bug." Meanwhile, McCain became desperate by floating the gas tax holiday, and suddenly tried to get progressive recently by appealing to moderates and blue-collar Democrats. Hear McCain attempting to offer "solutions" to global climate change or call Obama an "elitist" - when McCain himself is a $100 millionaire who could care less about workers' rights and his own wife refuses to disclose tax records when virtually everyone else does. Hilarious! So, McCain, what was the color of the sky in your prehistoric world when dinosaurs ruled long before they became the fossil fuel for which your buddy Dubya thinks we need to keep ruining nature preserves to find?
At last we come to Hillary. Again, I respect her. I do. Really. In another time and world, I could support her whole-heartedly. But we live on a plane of existence in which the mere mention of the name "Clinton" invokes rage on the loopy far right and provokes even dead Republicans to rise from their graves (as I believe Rush "Oxycontin Whore" Limbaugh has suggested) for only the chance to vote against her. Her being on the top of the ticket won't work. Not in this universe. Like, as hopefully the rest of us have learned, neither would a Bush work again on a presidential ticket. Not even Jenna, whom I better preferred as an Austin Sixth Street drunk party chick. I would've done shots with her! (And hey you poor excuse for mainstream press, STOP with the Jenna wedding coverage. It's over. Done. Fin. And no more ludicrous, "campaign-changing" fake "stories" such as whether one presidential candidate's lapse in wearing a particular lapel pin - a fucking lapel pin! - or his extremely complex relationship with his pastor should determine his fate, and therefore, the fate of modern civilization. Apologies, but I've got bigger things to worry about. Yes, Faux News, and so do millions of other voters.)
Sorry. Back to Hillary. She's just digging herself into a deeper hole. It's time to save face (same thing for your "hubby"), exit stage right quietly and return to being more effective in the Senate. I leave you with this excerpt by Buzzflash.com Fifth Columnist P.M. Carpenter: "Sexism had nothing to do with it; polishing some perceived glass ceiling had nothing to do with it; falling in wild partisan love with an upstart, virtual unknown from Chicago had nothing to do with it; nor did lampooned rumors of sniper fire or campaign mismanagement or last-ditch demagoguery or anything else so commonly floated.
It was, rather, since Iowa -- which was the first and in many respects the final game-changer -- fundamentally about a progressive revulsion against any politician so callous as to trade human lives for mere political advantage. For Hillary, her Corleone-like prowar vote was nothing personal; it was just business. Fine. But in turn, for the vast majority of those who opposed her then and oppose her now, the same can be said: this was, and is, nothing personal toward Hillary. It's just the proper business of progressive politics.
And for those still behind Hillary who are thinking of staying at home in November, just remember that that, in effect, is a vote for yet another neocon pol itching for yet another neocon war. It would be like casting a prowar vote yourself."
On a more promising note, the Vatican's chief astronomer has just announced that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God. The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, said in an AP story that the vastness of the universe is capable of hosting other forms of life outside life, including intelligent ones. Such "aliens," Funes said would be considered God's creation and that ruling out the existence of life elsewhere in the universe would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.
Nooooooooo! Fuck me. Really? Wow. That's a revelation. I only came to that conclusion at age 7. Thank you, Vatican. Now I feel validated! Need a laugh and a blast from the past? Check out one of Bill O' Reilly's legendary meltdowns on "Inside Edition." Yes, he was a prima donna nutzoid self-consumed freak LONG before his Faux News show. And look at that fake rug!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/12/bill-oreilly-on-inside-ed_n_101267.html
