During my morning ritual of perusing the New York Times for news (yes, even faux news junkies have to read real news on occasion), I stumbled upon a new Op Ed by New York Times writer Frank Rich. And I stopped in the middle of the article going, wait, this is familiar.
The All-White Elephant in the Room
By FRANK RICH
Published: May 4, 2008BORED by those endless replays of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright? If so, go directly to YouTube, search for “John Hagee Roman Church Hitler,” and be recharged by a fresh jolt of clerical jive.
What you’ll find is a white televangelist, the Rev. John Hagee, lecturing in front of an enormous diorama. Wielding a pointer, he pokes at the image of a woman with Pamela Anderson-sized breasts, her hand raising a golden chalice. The woman is “the Great Whore,” Mr. Hagee explains, and she is drinking “the blood of the Jewish people.” That’s because the Great Whore represents “the Roman Church,” which, in his view, has thirsted for Jewish blood throughout history, from the Crusades to the Holocaust.
Mr. Hagee is not a fringe kook but the pastor of a Texas megachurch. On Feb. 27, he stood with John McCain and endorsed him over the religious conservatives’ favorite, Mike Huckabee, who was then still in the race.
…
I wonder if Mr. McCain would have given the same answer had Mr. Stephanopoulos confronted him with the graphic video of the pastor in full “Great Whore” glory. But Mr. McCain didn’t have to fear so rude a transgression. Mr. Hagee’s videos have never had the same circulation on television as Mr. Wright’s. A sonorous white preacher spouting venom just doesn’t have the telegenic zing of a theatrical black man.
Perhaps that’s why virtually no one has rebroadcast the highly relevant prototype for Mr. Wright’s fiery claim that 9/11 was America’s chickens “coming home to roost.” That would be the Sept. 13, 2001, televised exchange between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, who blamed the attacks on America’s abortionists, feminists, gays and A.C.L.U. lawyers. (Mr. Wright blamed the attacks on America’s foreign policy.) Had that video re-emerged in the frenzied cable-news rotation, Mr. McCain might have been asked to explain why he no longer calls these preachers “agents of intolerance” and chose to cozy up to Mr. Falwell by speaking at his Liberty University in 2006.
I know that Mr. Rich is a bit of an it-getter (and he’s been a guest on the show not once, but twice.). However, I think he may have missed a show or two recently. Had he done so, he would have realized that this very issue was addressed over a month ago, playing this very Falwell/Robertson video and pointing out explicitly that McCain spoke at Liberty University.
Or maybe he *did* see the show and realized someone needed to bring this issue more to the forefront.
You’d think Mr. Rich would be more careful about missing Stephen’s show; Frank may have to make a second call to the “Atone Phone” to account for this error!
Still, I give Frank Rich all sorts of props for being a mad it-getter. His praise for Stephen’s performance at the WHCD, his appearances on the show and his shout-outs to Stephen-era TDS throughout his book (The Greatest Story Ever Sold) win him major points to my mind.
Well, that and the fact that he once compared Sarah Brightman’s performance in The Phantom of the Opera to “Minnie Mouse on Quaaludes” … which is just funny, regardless of what you think of her performance. :)
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
I love Mr. Rich’s piece – however, I think he ignores another gigantic elephant in the room – the GOP’s. I disagree entirely that it’s “just” a black and white thing.
It’s a Republican-Democrat thing – people ignore what McCain is doing because it’s expected that a lot of Republicans will have some inherent level of intolerance, and Democrats are simply not allowed to have it or know anyone who hasn’t reached some ACLU- level kumbaya hand-holding with all religions and races.
McCain reversing his view that these guys are intolerant idiots with superstitious blame to place for a Hurricane is no surprise because Republican’s pander to the RR and have since the attempted takeover of their party, yet Obama sitting in a Church where a pastor preaches that the US invented HIV to kill black people is unexpected because Democrats aren’t supposed to be stupidly intolerant like the Republicans are, at this point, almost assumed to be.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
Good points. In Mr. Rich’s slight defense, he does say “virtually no one,” not “no one.” And I presume he’s thinking of real news shows, which TCR is not, as the staff frequently declares.
It *should be* the responsibility of the “real” news/pundit shows to provide this kind of analysis and context for the news, and they don’t, and our civic discourse is poorer and less-informed for it.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0
The Young Turks (available at the Huffington Post) has a clip of Hagee in a huge setting preaching that the Bible says a man must work and if he doesn’t, he can starve. He repeats the STARVE in such evil tones that he makes the Rev. Wright look like preacher light.
Shout Out (Hey!):
0