CONDEMNING THE “ANTI-ANYTHING”
By Mande Wilkes
FITSNews – May 23, 2008 – For the better part of the past year, presidential candidates have been running around establishing themselves as “pro-this” and “anti-that,” (or “pro-that” and “anti-this”). In attempting to secure their respective party nominations, the focus has been to define themselves to specific segments of the voting public.
Now we’re reaching the point in the campaign where the candidates must abandon appealing to particular groups, and focus instead on not “not appealing” to a particular group. In essence, the name of the game has shifted from “court voters” to “court voters only to the extent that you don’t un-court the courted.”
Accordingly, John McCain is being hyper-vigilant with his remarks, which is especially prudent in light of yesterday’s John Hagee brouhaha. Consider this statement he made to ABC …
“I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything.”
Really? What about torture? Isn’t he kind of anti-torture? And Iraq. McCain is sort of anti-pulling out, right? Abortion: Anti, no? Amnesty? … uhh actually he’s not anti-amnesty, but you get the point.
At its core, politics is about turning off one group to turn on another. That’s why declaring an opposition to “opposition” weakens his campaign more than upsetting somebody ever could.
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By FWFIV May 23, 2008 at 8:15 am
Based on his last vote on the subject McCain is not against torture anymore
By McCain is a democrat May 23, 2008 at 9:13 am
McCain is anti-small government, anti-fiscal restraint, anti-peace, anti-civil liberties, and anti-straight talk.
Simply another pandering politician that has been an integral player in growing the size of our federal government and our national debt.
By HP May 24, 2008 at 9:19 am
His rejection of an actively-sought but apparently haphazardly-researched endorsement by Pastor Hagee is disturbing. Reprehensible, actually. The November choices are a true quagmire at this point.
By HP May 24, 2008 at 10:33 am
CBNNEWS.com, the Brody File 5/23/08
Pastor Hagee’s Statement:
The past 24 hours have been extremely disappointing ones to me. My disappointment has nothing to do with the fact that I parted company with John McCain – this was best for both of us and for the country. It is time the candidates and the media turn their attention back to the pressing issues of our day and stop focusing on what I did or did not say decades ago.
But what has been disappointing has been to see my life’s work – the great passion of my life – mischaracterized and attacked. I have dedicated my life to combating anti-Semitism and supporting the State of Israel. In taking a stand for Israel I have received death threats from anti-Semites and neo-Nazis, and I’ve had the windows of my car blown out beneath the windows of the rooms in which my children slept. To hear people who know nothing about me or my life’s work claim that I somehow excuse the Holocaust is simply heartbreaking.
Let me be clear — to assert that I in any way condone the Holocaust or that monster Adolf Hitler is the worst of lies. I have always condemned the horrors of the Holocaust in the strongest of terms. But even more importantly, my abhorrence of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism has never stopped with mere words.
I have devoted most of my adult life to ensuring that there will never be a second Holocaust. I have worked tirelessly to eliminate the sin of anti-Semitism from the Christian world and to ensure the survival of the State of Israel.
I have traveled the country teaching Christians to love the Jewish people and stand with Israel. Our ministry has given over $30 million for humanitarian causes in Israel. I founded Christians United for Israel to bring together all pro-Israel Christians into a movement that can support Israel during these very challenging times.
The fact is that all people of faith have had to wrestle with the question of why a sovereign God would allow evil in the world. After Auschwitz, this question became more urgent than ever.
Many people simply could not explain how a loving God would permit such horrors. After the Holocaust, they abandoned their faith in a sovereign God who intervenes here on earth. While I disagree with this conclusion, I would never denigrate those who arrived at such a conclusion.
But I and many millions of Christians and Jews came to a different conclusion. We maintained our faith in a sovereign God who allows both the good and the evil that is in the world. We therefore search the scriptures for an explanation for that evil. We believe that the words of the Hebrew prophets such as Jeremiah may help us understand the mind of God. But our search for an explanation for evil must never be confused with an effort to excuse it.
What is more important than how we answer the question of where was God during the Holocaust is what we as men and women do here on earth to make sure that there will never be another Holocaust. We must give meaning to the words “Never Again†through our actions. It is to this effort – this effort to fight anti-Semitism and to support Israel – that I now return. Thank you.
By Tamarle May 24, 2008 at 7:32 pm
the best ever (in a nut shell) analysas of the political game i have ever read. U go girl.