[Errigal]

Calling the Catholic Church the "Great Whore" was fine. Saying New Orleans was punished by God was fine. Saying God sent Hitler to drive the Jews to Israel is totally unacceptable. We now know the rules of the game.

McCain Denounces Hagee

By Juliet Eilperin and Michelle Boorstein
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) renounced controversial Christian pastor John Hagee today, after learning that Hagee had remarked Nazism constituted an expression of God's will.

The comments, which Hagee made in the late 1990s and were first posted on the website "Talk to Action" on May 15, draw from a biblical verse and imply that Adolf Hilter's actions had helped speed the creation of the state of Israel.

"'And they the hunters should hunt them,' that will be the Jews," Hagee said. "'From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.' If that doesn't describe what Hitler did in the holocaust, you can't see that."

When asked what McCain thought of the remarks, campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds responded with an e-mail from the candidate denouncing Hagee.

"Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them," McCain said in the statement. "I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee's endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well."

The comments represented a significant shift by McCain, who had refused to reject Hagee's endorsement in the wake of other controversial comments, such as the reverend's attack on Catholicism and his implication that Hurricane Katrina represented divine retribution. After learning of those comments, McCain said just because someone endorsed him did not mean he endorsed that person's views.

At roughly the same time McCain rejected Hagee's endorsement, the reverend issued a statement saying he was withdrawing it to prevent any further damage to the presumptive GOP nominee's candidacy.

"Ever since I endorsed John McCain for president, people seeking to attack Senator McCain have combed my records for statements they can use for political gain. They have had no qualms about grossly misrepresenting my position on issues most near and dear to my heart if it serves their political ambitions," Hagee said in the statement. "I am tired of these baseless attacks and fear that they have become a distraction in what should be a national debate about important issues. I have therefore decided to withdraw my endorsement of Senator McCain for President effective today, and to remove myself from any active role in the 2008 campaign.

"I hope that the Senator McCain will accept this withdrawal so that he may focus on the issues that are most important to America and the world," Hagee added.

At the same time that McCain rejected Hagee, the senator made an effort to draw a distinction between his link to the controversial evangelical and Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) ties to Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright. Wright's incendiary remarks about the U.S. government have dogged Obama for months on the campaign trail.

"I have said I do not believe Senator Obama shares Reverend Wright's extreme views. But let me also be clear, Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual advisor, and I did not attend his church for twenty years," McCain said in the statement. "I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today."

McCain Denounces Hagee | The Trail | washingtonpost.com