McCain Embraces Right Wing Extremists

The media frenzy over a pastor at Obama's church seems to finally be dying down. But why hasn't there been a similar frenzy over the bigoted hate-mongers who are endorsing John McCain. McCain embraces the endorsement of far worse people than Obama's pastor, and it gets ignored by the media. Jews on First has this report:

Barrack Obama dealt frankly, openly and intellectually with the issue of his complex relationship to Jeremiah Wright. Contrast that with John McCain's embrace of Christian Right leaders Pastors John Hagee and Rod Parsley. This is big picture stuff...

...the media has not lingered on John Hagee's anti-Catholic bigotry, even though McCain stood smiling with Hagee to receive the televangelist's endorsement. When McCain subsequently distanced himself from Hagee's hateful statements, it was only for fear of losing Catholic votes...

Hagee has based his career, wealth, position and enormous power on hatred: hatred of Islam, of homosexuals, and of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Yet John McCain went out of his way to court him, in hopes that Hagee's endorsement would make the Christian Right forget his not-so-long ago disdain for them as "agents of intolerance." McCain courted Hagee knowing full well that, when it comes to Israel, Hagee is doing all he can to insure there is to be no land for peace deal. Ever.

Then there's McCain endorser Rod Parsley. A man who has said that Allah is a demon spirit...

On October 30, 2007 Parsley filled his World Harvest Church outside of Columbus, Ohio with faithful lay and clergy to hear former Senator Rick Santorum and religious right leader Gary Bauer state that Islam must be destroyed if we are to survive

Four short months later, Parsley jumped off McCain's Straight Talk Express to stand with the candidate. McCain proudly proclaimed his pride in having this man as his spiritual guide.

So while the GOP, or maybe even Hillary, tries to paint Obama into a spiritual corner, take a step back to look at the big picture. Why are the media--and the Democrats--giving McCain a pass on his supporters blatant anti-Catholic and anti-Muslim bigotry?

McCain can't have it both ways. He can't paint himself as more tolerant than the right wing fanatics that backed Bush while actively embracing right wing fanatics like these.