![]() ABOUT THAT GREAT WH*RE! Is John Hagee a Catholic-basher? Solomon didnt find out: // link // print // previous // next //
TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008 SHIRTS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN: We received the following e-mail concerning Barbara Ehrenreichs unfortunate post. In our view, the e-mail is full of that unhelpful shirts-and-skins logic:
But Ehrenreichs post isnt derivative. Instead, it takes a largely reasonable Mother Jones piece (last Friday, we linked you to it and said you should read it) and turns it into a piece of deceptiveand utterly stupidpolitical porn. Ehrenreich makes a screeching claim about Clintons descent into the sinister heart of the international rightand her proof is the ladys support for a piece of legislation proposed by John Kerry. Playing her readers for perfect fools, Ehrenreich forgot to mention Kerrys role. She forgot to tell them that the damning legislation is, in fact, bipartisan. Beyond that, Ehrenreich was concerned about Clintons ever-shifting hairstylesand inevitably, she managed to drag Hitler in. Hitler, of course, had only one hairstyle. How did that turn out? Unfortunately, Ehrenreich composed a piece which was barely sane; the e-mailer gobbled it, then begged for more. But then, we think you know the logic here: When youre a shirt, youre a shirt all the way! To the shirts, its clear that the skins are demons. About them, any damn thing can be saidand some readers will lap it right up, begging for more more more more. Some people will never be able to understand how work like that harms liberal/progressive interestseven after you spell it out for them, looking at Ehrenreich playing the same stupid game before the 2000 election. Theyre in this game to yell at the skins. They can see how wonderfully vile the skins are. Its the essence of shirts-and-skins logic. By the way, since the mailer is busily working out motive: Obama or Clinton is our candidate. We vote for the Democrat in the falland, on balance, we dont see a giant difference between the two remaining Dems, as weve semi-explained many times. We think the two Dems have different down-sidesbut we dont know whose would be worse. (For the record, well be amazed if Obama is not the nominee.) We mention this last point for a reason. Please note how this sort of thinking works: If you dont batter the skins in the same way they do, they quickly start typing in motive. ABOUT THAT GREAT WH*RE: Reading big newspapers can sometimes be frustrating. Consider Deborah Solomons interview, in Sundays Times magazine, with McCain endorser John Hagee. In just the second Q-and-A, Solomons wisdom (or that of her editor) may have produced an omission:
Frustrating! Hagee has been repeatedly criticized in recent weeks for (allegedly) calling the Catholic Church the great whore. In his answer to Solomon, he doesnt cite that chargeand Solomon doesnt ask him about it. Nor does she make any attempt to evaluate the other things Hagee says. Is Hagee really a Catholic-basher? Solomon makes no attempt to find out. And as Steve Benen notes in this post, few other media outlets have examined this matter. Why is the colorful great whore comment missing from Solomons interview? We have no way of knowing; its possible that the omission reflects editorial judgment about verbal good taste. (Solomons features are heavily edited.) But we found Solomons interview frustrating for various reasons. Many liberals have criticized the press for failing to examine Hagees pronouncements. This interview represented a first pass by the Times, and Solomon made little attempt to fact-check or evaluate anything Hagee said. But then, fact-checking has been rather light in the whole matter of Hagee. In some areas, Hagees statements are a matter of clear public record. For example, Hagee appeared on Fresh Air on September 18, 2006; he was asked to discuss his best-selling book, Jerusalem Countdown and the new group, Citizens United for Israel, which he had recently formed. Hagee discussed his views of Middle East politics and Islamviews which are largely based on his interpretation of Biblical texts. Late in the interview, Terri Gross also asked about Hurricane Katrina. Hagee said the following, on the record:
Gulfport, Mississippi was apparently punished for that parade too. But Gross didnt ask about that. We have no idea why people believe they can read and interpret ancient texts this way. But this subject is largely taboo in the American press; we think it would be a very good thing if big news orgs spent more time on this important matter. That said, Hagees statements here are a matter of record. So are the Q-and-As in which Solomon cited Katrina:
To some, Hagees highlighted statement will seem hard to reconcile with his view about Katrinas origin. In our view, when a persons reasoning process differs from our own this much, its hard to know just where the contradictions begin and end. And of course, we have no idea about Hagees connections with, or behavior toward, individual gay people. Hagee seems to have extremely unconventional views about a wide range of topics. Its hard to know how logic works in perusing his various statements. At any rate, Hagees statements about Katrina are a matter of public record. Not so, it would seem, his alleged great whore remark. In this matter, we liberals are now taking talking points from Democrat-bashing public ranter William Donohue, the excitable head of the Catholic League. But Donahues claims are often bogus, and weve been unable to find a clear source for his most colorful claimthe claim that Hagee has called the Catholic Church the great whore. In Donohues press releases, he has cited this remarkable YouTube clip as the source for his colorful charge. We strongly suggest that you watch it, if only to ponder how strange Hagees presentation is. But well admit, we dont have the slightest idea whether Hagee is calling the Catholic Church the great whore in this short sermon clip. Hagee told Solomon that this charge is wrong. Again, Solomon made no attempt to evaluate this claim, and we dont really know how to judge it. As weve read liberal posts on this matter, weve been struck by several things. First, weve seen many people citing Donohues great whore claimbut weve found no one providing an actual quotation from Hagee. (Wikipedia cant even nail this one down. You know what to dojust click here.) In our view, based on a decade of work, making thunderous claims based on this kind of evidence is a good way to do bad journalismand bad progressive politics. Beyond that, it probably isnt the greatest thing when liberals take their talking-points from Donohuealthough since were reverentially citing Mister Drudge at this point, it seems our standards are falling rapidly. Finally, it would be a very good thing if big news orgs did more work on this sort of religiositypreferably outside an immediate partisan context. We look forward to reading Jeff Sharlets new book; he has done valuable work on these types of religion, and on the way such religious beliefs may connect to political power. But big news orgs tend to stay away, treating such topics as taboo; we think it would be better by far if they made a better attempt to explain what is happeningto cite one exampleinside Pastor Hagees (large) church. (Were not attempting to prejudge what news orgs might find in such venues.) By the way: Does Ernest Angley really heal all those people? We see him do it every Sunday, on our local Fox affiliate; in fact, weve seen him do it for decades now, going back to the 1970s. In all those years, weve never seen a single journalist check out Angleys remarkable claims. If your brand of aspirin doesnt work, you cant go on TV and say it does. But in our society, almost any claim is A-OKif its made as a part of religion. PLEASE NOTE: Our e-mailer may thunder about this post. When youre a shirt, youre a shirt all the way! He may judge that we, allegedly a shirt, havent battered the skins hard enough. Many people get into politics to play on one teamand to batter the other. All the good people are on their team. On the other team, people are bad.
People, those skins just wont stop fouling! Result? If they think Obama is better, then Clinton must be linked to Hitler. It all makes perfect sense to themand its bad for progressive interests. Al Gore said he invented the Internet! Ehrenreich said so, eight years back. How did that bull-roar turn out? |