You’d think I’d applaud John McCain for finally rejecting the endorsement of the far-right Texas TV preacher and hatemonger, John Hagee. A little over a week ago, Hagee expressed “regret” about some of his remarks, but McCain didn’t repudiate Hagee. He now has, along with another far right preacher in Ohio.
So what?
McCain is only rejecting the endorsements because they were becoming a problem with rational people: Both said incredibly stupid things about other religions, things ordinary Americans would strongly reject, or things that the newsmedia would harp on about. That’s why McCain belatedly rejected the endorsements.
However, Hagee also said incredibly hatefilled things about gay people, but McCain wasn’t moved to repudiate Hagee over them. That’s because among the far right christianists that McCain’s trying to win over, being anti-gay is a badge of honour. If he repudiated the anti-gay hatemongering of Hagee and other preachers, he’d further risk losing the support of the frothing right of his own party.
So, yeah, McCain did the right thing in rejecting the endorsement of Hagee. But it would seem that attacking gay and lesbian Americans is still okay with him, just like Bush-Cheney. If he really is a “different kind of Republican”, he still has a long way to go to prove it. This was just one baby step.
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