3-03-08, 9:44 am

A Feb. 28 endorsement by right-wing religious television personality John Hagee has earned Republican presidential hopeful John McCain renewed criticism from both the left and right for appearing to embrace the sharply bigoted positions Hagee has staked out over the years. McCain won the endorsement after weeks of soliciting the hardline minister's backing.

Indeed, in Republican circles, the Hagee endorsement was seen as something of a coup for McCain and a significant step toward locking up the nomination over rival Mike Huckabee who is widely regarded as the 'Christian fundamentalist' candidate.'

On the same day he welcomed Hagee's endorsement John McCain waffled saying he doesn't have to agree with the people who endorse him. McCain appeared at a press conference with Hagee, smiling and embracing the controversial minister. And the next day, Feb. 29, John McCain again expressed pleasure at receiving Hagee's backing.

According to some media accounts, Hagee's endorsement of John McCain isn't sitting well with some in the far right community, however. Right-wing head of the Catholic League, William Donohue, lambasted Hagee for his frequent denunciations of the Catholic Church as 'the great whore of Babylon' and 'a cult.' Donohue described Hagee as having 'waged unrelenting war against the Catholic church.' He called on McCain to reject the prized endorsement.

Donahue failed to criticize Hagee's xenophobic and homophobic positions or his religious intolerance of Islam, however. Donahue has frequently made comments that suggest he shares Hagee's penchant for intolerance and hate if not all of his views. For example, in 2004, Donohue defended Mel Gibson's controversial movie 'The Passion of the Christ' on an MSNBC talk show by saying, 'Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It‘s not a secret, OK? And I‘m not afraid to say it. That‘s why they hate this movie.'

For his part, John Hagee hasn't confined his social commentary to religious intolerance or bigotry against LGBT people. In 2006 Hagee claimed that the devastation following Hurricane Katrina was punishment from God. 'New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that,' Hagee insensitively claimed.

In 1996, Hagee used a 'slave sale' to raise funds for his church.

In 2006, he distorted Islam, claiming that all Muslims have a 'mandate to kill Christians and Jews.'

Hagee has also been quoted as targeting women for hateful remarks, saying, 'Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick. Do you know the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS? You can negotiate with a terrorist.'

After MSNBC's Tim Russert repeatedly raised the question of the unsolicited endorsement of Barack Obama by controversial figure Louis Farrakhan, some groups are demanding the media and John McCain make similar denunciations and rejections of Hagee's endorsement.

Media watchdog group Media Matters, for example, recently stated, 'The same day [Russert repeatedly raised Farrakhan to Obama], Pastor John Hagee – who has made controversial comments about homosexuality, Islam, Catholicism, and women – endorsed Sen. John McCain, who embraced Hagee's support.' Would the cable news outlet devote similar attention to the Hagee-McCain relationship?, it wondered.

The Republican Party has thrived on divisiveness, intolerance, and hate for decades. And John McCain, who had until now, labeled himself as a maverick outside of the party's mainstream, is desperate to win any endorsements from even the most extreme sections of the far right.

Don't expect the corporate media to hold John McCain to the same standard they appear to be holding Barack Obama.

--Reach Joel Wendland at