I'm not sure I see Hagee's comments of God's supposed wrath against America estranged from those comments spoken by Rev. Wright...I guess it's just a matter of time before someone comes out with about a Clinton association blaming God's wrath on some social ill ...American is really demonstrating itself as the "Land of Opportunity" and embracing the right of "free speech"...what wonderful liberties this country allows for it's citizens...this American, however, chooses NOT to exercise liberties that undermines and incites our society towards action(s) that ultimately defeat all of us at some level...I wonder if a person can say they love God and Country and yet spew hatred from their month...

Sent by ard | 2:22 PM ET | 04-24-2008

You do know that Rev. Wright was quoting someone else, not saying what he believed about 911 - right?

You can find the whole sermon online easily.

Sent by Lee Stranahan | 2:38 PM ET | 04-24-2008

McCain apologists know that this won't attract quite as much bad PR as Rev. Wright because when Rev. Hagee talks hate, he does so in a pleasant tone of voice.

Sent by George de Man | 2:42 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Would the good pastor care to consult, and follow the instructions in, Proverbs 23:2, please? 23:4 might be an acceptably good start, but please move on to 23:2 as soon as possible.

Sent by John Theodorsen | 2:52 PM ET | 04-24-2008

If Wright hates America, then so does Hagee. If Obama is supposed to grovel and apologize for the association, so should McCain. Either way, it's stupid. The Old Testament prophets criticized Israel. You can love your country without the delusion that it's perfect or above criticism. You can decide for yourself whether Wright or Hagee are prophets or dopes. Citizens with brains understand that. You can only hope that the citizens without brains are small enough in numbers or are equally divided between the parties, that they don't decide elections.

Sent by Mike Fleissner | 2:59 PM ET | 04-24-2008

So, what sin cursed us to 8 years of G W Bush?

Sent by Gary | 3:07 PM ET | 04-24-2008

from the san antonio express news:

"According to the 990 forms for GETV (my note: Hagee's "nonprofit"), the organization netted $12.3 million from donations, $4.8 million in profit from the sales of books and tapes, and an additional $1.1 million from various other sources, including rental income in 2001.

As the nonprofit organization's president, Hagee drew $540,000 in compensation, as well as an additional $302,005 in compensation for his position as president of Cornerstone Church, according to GETV's tax statements.

He also received $411,561 in benefits from GETV, including contributions to a retirement package for highly paid executives the IRS calls a "rabbi trust," so named because the first beneficiary of such an irrevocable trust was a rabbi.

The John Hagee Rabbi Trust includes a $2.1 million, 7,696-acre ranch outside Brackettville, with five lodges, including a "main lodge" and a gun locker. It also includes a manager's house, a smokehouse, a skeet range and three barns.

Taken together, his payment package, $842,005 in compensation and $414,485 in benefits, was one of the highest, if not the highest, pay package for a nonprofit director in the San Antonio area in 2001. "

nothing to be bitter about in that prosperity gospel, now is there? of course, not much pristine in his devotion to, to, to .... what is it exactly?

I wonder if a person can say they love God and Country and yet use God as an ATM and leave the country without tax revenues.

Sent by tim in exile | 3:23 PM ET | 04-24-2008

God is a fabrication, a device.

It is a manifestation of the sole difference we have from animals. Our elaborate, imagination.

Our ability to imagine has given us dominion over our environment, allowing us to utilize it more effectively and to more powerful ends than any animal before us.

God is a tool that we use to define ourselves. Or rather what we would like to be, if we were not bound by our animal nature.

I despair at the thought of those Christians (and I am sure, those of many faiths) who imagine their god to be one of violence, condemnation, and wrath. It reveals a curling cruelty writhing in their brain.

"Why do we argue? We're just a successful strain of virus clinging to a speck of mud floating in a sea of nothingness"

Sent by Jody Sol | 3:36 PM ET | 04-24-2008

God must indeed be very weak if he/she/it/? needs to be "defended" by so many righteous interpreters...Isn't it a sort-of idolatry to present one's self as capable of reading the mind of God? No wonder so many abandon religion for spirituality! How do these same reverends explain the death of a baby by SIDS, or the onset of Alzheimer's in an againg person who's done only good in all their years? Spare me...

Sent by Carolyn Nord | 3:40 PM ET | 04-24-2008

It would be nice in stories like this if it were point out that McCain did not just accept Hagee's endorsement, he actively sought it out. All the back-pedaling from McCain has occurred only after others noted how toxic some of Hagee's opinions are.

Sent by Glenn | 3:44 PM ET | 04-24-2008

If McCain had spent 20 years of his life exposing himself and his children to that man, the this might be actually something to be concerned about.

But as of now, it's just one guy saying something, somewhere.

Sent by deek | 3:49 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Yes, and God just dod not care about the rest of us in Southeast Louisiana that got in his way. Hey Rev. please pick up a copy of the New Testament.

Sent by Beverly | 4:06 PM ET | 04-24-2008

This isn't McCain's only lapse in judgement, or reversal of position since he began to run for President in 2000. The film of him singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb..bomb, bomb Iran" isn't something you expect your Commander in Chief to be doing. And his flip-flops on basic questions like his personal views on abortion or the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy also show he's not the "maverick" straight talker he's made out to be.

Sent by florida resident | 4:54 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Gotta love that old time relijun. I wonder if Hagee's church sponsors a cave painting class. Sounds right up their alley.

Sent by Annon Amos | 5:16 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Though I am sick of the coverage on the associations of candidates, I wonder if the Hagee support of McCain will get the an equal amount of slandering press as Obama and his former pastor? Somehow I think FOX News, etc. won't be on this one...

Sent by J. E. | 5:23 PM ET | 04-24-2008

But does he wear a flag pin in his lapel? A true patriot!

Sent by P. Shears | 5:26 PM ET | 04-24-2008

It's news that McCain hasn't distanced himself from this claptrap. No wonder he's running scared from the GOP ads in North Carolina.

Sent by Sweetie | 5:31 PM ET | 04-24-2008

It should be pointed out that John McCain actively sought Rev. Hagee's endorsment during the Texas primary and went to San Antonio to stand next to him to receive it. None of the Hagee comments are new and all have been well publized. Just one more indication that John McCain's judgement is fundamentally flaud. (pun intended)

Sent by Rusty Bienvenue | 5:36 PM ET | 04-24-2008

As a New Orleanian, I can say that such dehumanizing perceptions of New Orleans have led to years of egregious levee neglect and then to the neglect of flood victims (immediately after the storm and now). So, this "one guy," who apparantly is influential enough for McCain to pursue his endorsement, is indeed something to be concerned about. I live here, and I see every day the effects of the government writing off New Orleans. Except when they need a photo op for a political campaign.

Also, saying that God destroyed a city and killed people who were too poor to leave it, and saying that aggressive foreign policy fanned anti-American flames abroad are not comparable.

Sent by Michelle | 5:43 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Good grief Jody, you keep posting these angst-ridden, negative screeds and I just might start wearing all black and turn into a liberal.

Sent by deek | 5:53 PM ET | 04-24-2008

"But as of now, it's just one guy saying something, somewhere."

we'll remember this line when next we hear tell of an allknowing conservative rendering us the generic voice of jane ordinary citizen and her unctuous concern for the condescending elitism of the momentary frontrunner.

Sent by tim in exile | 6:06 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Hagee is a fat slob who bilks his neo-con lemming followers out of millions.
His "sermons" are filled with judgment and hatred, and he's about as much like Jesus as Charles Manson is.
He's an embarrassment to American religion, especially Christianity.

Sent by KarenZipdrive | 7:20 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Bravo Mike Fleissner!!! That was the best comment I've seen in a long time.

Sent by Nick Martinez | 7:41 PM ET | 04-24-2008

All this BS makes me even happier to be an athiest. Honestly, who cares? Do any of you actually believe and adhere to everything you hear from your churches? If that's the case, good luch living in the real world.

Sent by darwin | 8:00 PM ET | 04-24-2008

What a shame that this all gets so much attention in a country so grand. An opportunity to have an intelligent, compassionate person elected to office might pass us by because of small mindedness as usual, and now racism too. Apparently we would prefer to have people elected who have been on the scene for decades and have shown nothing accomplished but incredible personal wealth.

Sent by Scott Miller | 10:45 PM ET | 04-24-2008

So how would Pastor Hagee account for the Pacific tsunami of 2004, or the Kashmir earthquake of 2005, or the situation in Darfur,...or the last two presidential elections?

Sent by Isaac | 11:12 PM ET | 04-24-2008

Yahweh, in addition to his anger management problems, continues to do very sloppy work.

A squadron of F16's equipped with laser guided bombs could have dealt with the sinners without devastating the coastlines of three states.

Sorry, but when you claim omnipotence others have the right to critique your work.

Sent by Dennis M | 8:37 PM ET | 04-25-2008