Thread: McCain's Pastors: Revs. John Hagee and Rod Parsley

Found an interesting expose; while Obama's pastor is on every network, every hour, very little has been said about these two: could it be because they're erm, White? Nah......

Kurtz continues to cover Wright comments while giving short shrift to Hagee, Parsley comments

Summary: On CNN's Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz has devoted a total of approximately 18 minutes to the controversy surrounding remarks made by Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. In contrast, Kurtz has led only brief discussions on two religious figures who have endorsed Sen. John McCain and who have made controversial comments -- a single two-minute discussion on Rev. John Hagee and only seven seconds on Rev. Rod Parsley.

John Hagee


During the March 23 edition of CNN's Reliable Sources, host Howard Kurtz led a discussion lasting approximately 11 minutes on the topic of the controversy surrounding Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright. The previous week, Kurtz and his guests devoted seven minutes to discussing the controversy. During the March 23 edition, guest and conservative radio talk-show host Michael Medved claimed that "[i]f a white pastor had made the comments that Jeremiah Wright had made, people would have been equally indignant. ... I think people are so eager in this country to welcome a credible, strong, articulate, enormously talented black presidential candidate that he has gotten much lighter treatment than either [Sen. John] McCain or [Sen. Hillary] Clinton."

Kurtz did not challenge Medved's comment. In fact, Rev. John Hagee, whose endorsement McCain has embraced, said of Hurricane Katrina after referencing reports of a gay pride parade scheduled in New Orleans for the day the hurricane hit the city: "I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans."

Notwithstanding controversial comments on a variety of topics, Kurtz has devoted a total of two minutes to Hagee and much less -- seven seconds -- to McCain endorser Rev. Rod Parsley, who has described Islam as a "false religion."

As Media Matters for America has noted, McCain stated in a joint appearance with Hagee: "All I can tell you is I'm very proud to have Pastor Hagee's support." And in an interview with New York Times reporter Deborah Solomon, Hagee stated that "McCain's campaign sought my endorsement." Additionally, McCain reportedly called Parsley a "spiritual guide" during a Cincinnati campaign rally at which Parsley appeared on McCain's behalf.

During the March 9 edition of Reliable Sources, Kurtz brought up Hagee at the end of a discussion with author and political analyst Keli Goff and National Review Online editor-at-large and conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg. The three had been discussing the media coverage of Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton. Kurtz said, "Let me move on to John McCain, now the Republican nominee, all but official. He accepted an endorsement from the Reverend John Hagee. Now, Hagee has been attacked by the Catholic League as a bigot. In the past, he has called the church 'antichrist' and a 'false cult.' "

Kurtz then aired McCain saying: "When he endorses me, it does not mean that I embrace everything that he stands for and believes in. And I am very proud of Pastor John Hagee's spiritual leadership to thousands of people." He then began a discussion by asking Goff, "[W]hy hasn't that been more of a story?" During the discussion, Goldberg stated that Hagee should be compared "to Jeremiah Wright, who is Obama's pastor, who Obama has deep and abiding ties with, who is a -- who's been closely associated with [Nation of Islam leader Louis] Farrakhan and has some very disturbing views."

Goldberg added: "And if McCain is going to reject this guy who he clearly doesn't know and get into all this kind of trouble for it, I think the comparison with Wright, who is very close to Obama, that hasn't been explored very much at all." Kurtz replied: "And who's made some inflammatory statements." The discussion about Hagee lasted two minutes.

Though Kurtz referenced criticism of Hagee by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, Kurtz did not mention Hagee's comments about Katrina, or other inflammatory comments he has made. Of Katrina, he said:

All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment. And I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.


Rod Parsley

Of Parsley, Kurtz stated on the March 16 Reliable Sources: "John McCain has a pastor who's endorsed him, Rod Parsley, who has criticized Islam as a 'false religion.' Not much media attention there." Kurtz then asked guest and nationally syndicated conservative columnist and National Review Online contributing editor Deroy Murdock: "So in the case of Obama and Jeremiah Wright, do you think there's a certain media reluctance here either to criticize Obama or to go after a black minister?"

The seven-second mention of Parsley has been the full extent of Kurtz's coverage. Moreover, in the context of calling Islam a "false religion," Parsley asserted: "The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001, was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore." Additionally, Parsley wrote in his book Silent No More (Charisma House, 2005): "Besides the fact that gay socializing revolves around the bar scene -- with its incumbent drinking, drugs, and late-night carousing -- gay sexuality inevitably involves brutal physical abusiveness and the unnatural imposition of alien substances into internal organs, orally and anally, that inevitably suppress the immune system and heighten susceptibility to disease."

Much, much more at: Media Matters - Kurtz continues to cover Wright comments while giving short shrift to Hagee, Parsley comments

Hmmm.... I guess such outrages are only confined to the sodomites.... and outed gay evangelical preachers