I Can See Clearly Now

WD-40 Helps the Spin

Rick Esenberg, esteemed Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Marquette University recently wrote in the comment section at Illusory Tenant regarding John Hagee's ties to John McCain:

He's not and never was McCain's pastor. He's some guy that endorsed him and there isn't a shred of evidence that McCain knew anything about him other than that he was a religious leader of some prominence. There is no equivalence between McCain/Hagee and Obama/Wright.

I hate to say Rick's fibbing, because having only met him once and shared only a couple hurried pleasantries over burnt coffee and stale doughnuts, he did not seem the type to prevaricate. It may be more accurate to say he's bending the truth, spinning furiously (those desk chairs at Marquette are kept nicely oiled I've heard) or better yet, stating his opinion without any facts to back it. Because, you know, this is pretty damning from Editor and Publisher, March 20, 2008 ...

In an interview that will appear in this Sunday's New York Times Magazine, controversial televangelist Rev. John Hagee declares, "It's true that [John] McCain's campaign sought my endorsement."

McCain has attempted to distance himself from some of Hagee's views, much as Barack Obama has done in relation to Rev. Jeremiah Wright. But unlike McCain, Obama has not stood on stage with Wright and accepted his accolades this year.

All right, the article doesn't come right out and say McCain sought Hagee out. Nor does it say anything about Hagee being McCain's pastor. I've no gripe there. There have been no reports of McCain sitting in on one of Haggee's megachurch sessions. So we should give the presumptive Republican candidate, and Rick, some slack, right?

Well, then ... maybe not. Here is a link to an interview McCain did with George Stephanopoulus on ABC News (sorry for the ad). With about seven minutes left in the video, McCain drops the bombshell that he did seek out the endorsement from Hagee.

Hmmm. What was that Rick wrote? “... there isn't a shred of evidence that McCain knew anything about him other than that he was a religious leader of some prominence.” Yes, with some prominent baggage. I wonder how many white supremacist groups McCain has sought endorsements from without, you know, doing a little detective work?

What do you think is worse? Pandering blindly because one is so desperate to win that he doesn't care whose endorsements he receives, or a man who found a community to share his faith with and found it difficult to break ties with the goofy uncle who was known to say the occasional stupid thang.

Or the professor furiously spinning away ... again.