Democrats.com TV

Democrats.com Video: McCain at 3 AM

Bob Fertik — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:03:32 -0400

Can John McCain pass the "3 a.m. test" for Commander-in-Chief? We report, you decide...

Thanks to the brilliant Larry Litt for writing, casting, and directing!

Do you have an idea for a campaign video? Post it in the comments below and we'll consider it.

McCain Refuses To Denounce Backer John Hagee, Who Blames Destruction of New Orleans on Gays

Bruce E. Wilson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

John McCain has once again stepped in the whole Hagee mess and John Nichols, at the Nation, gets most of what's significant about the McCain-Hagee political tie - Barack Obama's pastor has said controversial things but McCain himself indicated he considered religious leaders such as Hagee to be hate-mongers long prior to when McCain pursued Hagee like a dog in heat (detailed in this video of mine, 1st in a series).

During the 2000 election primaries, John McCain unleashed major rhetoric blasts at evangelical leaders such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, calling them "agents of intolerance" and he excoriated George W. Bush for going to speak at Bob Jones University. McCain said if he'd been invited he'd have told Bob Jones, "Get out the 16th Century... What you're doing is racist and cruel". but only a few years later McCain was after Falwell, Robertson and Pastor John Hagee like a dog in heat: McCain needed their political support. After controversy erupted, following Hagee's highly public political endorsement of McCain's 2008 presidential bid, McCain emitted weasely disavowals of anything and everything Hagee's said that's possibly offensive (there's an absurd amount) but wouldn't repudiate the apocalyptic pastor's endorsement.

As Media Matters, doing what it does best, caught on April 21st NPR's Cokie Roberts was oblivious to the fact that McCain, in effect has refused to repudiate the anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, gay-bashing pastor Hagee:

"During the April 21 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, while discussing Catholic voters, co-host Renee Montagne asked NPR news analyst Cokie Roberts if Sen. John McCain was "maintaining the endorsement" of controversial televangelist John Hagee. Roberts responded: "Well, he says that it was a mistake to seek and accept the endorsement. So I -- what does that mean? I don't know if that means that he has -- maintains it or not." In fact, contrary to Roberts' suggestion that it is unclear whether McCain still accepts Hagee's endorsement, on the April 20 edition of ABC's This Week, when host George Stephanopoulos asked, "So you no longer want his [Hagee's] endorsement?" McCain replied: "I'm glad to have his endorsement." McCain continued: "I condemn remarks that are in any way viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking." "

Now, MoveOn.com has a petition calling on McCain to "stop seeking political support from hatemongers like Hagee" and will try to present it to the Senator during his trip to New Orleans only two or three days after John Hagee reiterated, on the Dennis Prager show, Hagee's belief that hurricane Katrina was God's punishment, upon the city of New Orleans, for a gay pride event scheduled prior to the disaster.

McCain-backer, Anti-Catholic Pastor John Hagee Lies To Jewish Bloggers

Bruce E. Wilson — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:33:39 -0400

On January 24, 2007 Christians United For Israel founder, Pastor John Hagee (CUFI), participated in a conference call with Jewish-American bloggers. The intent of the call was to familiarize the bloggers with CUFI and to assure them that CUFI's motives were benign - that he didn't cynically support Israel to provoke Armaggeddon and the Rapture, where Christian souls would be saved but Jewish souls "left behind."

The following video showcases evidence demonstrating Hagee's motives were far from benign.

During the conversation, one blogger asked Hagee for some help on what to tell Jewish friends of hers who questioned the motives of Hagee and CUFI. Responding to that blogger, Hagee stated, "I do not support Israel because of any eschatological concept or prophetic concept. I support them because that I have a Bible mandate to do so beginning in the Book of Genesis and neverending."

Based on a comparison of Hagee's verbal response and of literature put out by John Hagee's Cornerstone Church Magazine most reasonable observers would conclude that Pastor John Hagee was lying. In the following video I have compiled evidence supporting that position.

In the video I show images, from the September/October 2006 edition of Hagee's church magazine, that featured on its cover an elaborate picture of war in the Middle East, a mushroom cloud predominating, with a title that read, "The Feud Between Two Families: World War Three Has Already Begin". Page two of that magazine featured a fund raising pitch, for Hagee's "Exodus II" project, which exhorted readers to "Become of part of Biblical Prophecy" by supplying money to "return Jewish families to their homeland."

Given the metaphorical and allegorical nature of religious language, Hagee generally has considerable wiggle room but in this case Pastor Hagee's words were directly contradicted by literature from Hagee's San Antonio Cornerstone Church Magazine, which exhorts readers to "Become a Part of The Fulfillment of Prophecy." by sending money to help Jews resettle in Israel.

It is standard to Christian Apocalyptic Premillennial Dispensationalist eschatology that Jews must be encouraged to return to Israel where, according to the prophetic tradition, most of them will be killed in the Tribulation, Apocalypse and battle of Armageddon except for a "remant", generally held to number 144,000 Jews who have converted to Christianity, will survive and serve as evangelical "super-Billy Grahams" who will convert all of humanity, surviving the expected (nuclear) end-times conflict, to Christianity.

The end result is that Jews, as such, and Judaism as a religion vanishes from the face of the Earth. This is known a Supercessionism, or Replacement Theology, and will be the subject of an upcoming story of mine describing how such ideas have become embedded, in United States case law, through recent decisions from the United States Supreme Court.

Kudos to Keith O at MSNBC

Ann in Ohio — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 18:26:41 -0500

My hat is off to Keith O at MSNBC for his past outspoken and courageous comments as pertaining to Mr. Bush in pre-electiion commentaries. He spoke the words that many Americans wanted to speak, but lacked the conviction to do so. Keep up the good work, Keith

Republicans: "Facts are for Wimps"

BushFlash — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:17:30 -0400

Click for video

Jonathan Alter explains the complex long-distance relationship between the White House and facts.