Greene, Again; McCarthy, Again

In my last post, I lamented that I had no choice but to defend US Representative Ilhan Omar, the famous Democrat from Minnesota. It gets worse. Now it's Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, who a year ago was credibly accused of

doing more to push people away from and out of the Catholic Church than any prominent atheist ever could,. We always look forward to Donohue’s statements. Time and time again, he proves our point: Religious denial of reality, whether it be about the existence of Christian nationalism or child abuse, is causing immense harm to our country.”

Now, it's difficult to disagree with Donohue because

During an April 21 interview with far-right Catholic news organization Church Militant, activist Michael Voris alleged that bishops receive "enormous sums of money from the federal government, federal taxpayers, to assist in illegal immigration," prompting Greene to take aim at Catholic charities that provide funding for causes related to undocumented immigrants." The Catholic League's Bill Donohue accused me of slandering Catholics and Catholicism in an interview I gave to Michael Voris at Church Militant. Nothing could be further from the truth, and he must apologize promptly and publicly for these words," she said.

"It's the church leadership I was referring to when I invoked the devil. The bishops know that but had their loyal lapdog pretend I was being disrespectful about the faith. Just so we're clear, bishops, when I said 'controlled by Satan,' I wasn't talking about the Catholic Church. I was talking about you."

"What it is is ... Satan's controlling the church. The church is not doing its job. It's not adhering to the teachings of Christ. It's not adhering to what the word of God says we're supposed to do and how we're supposed to live," she said.

"And what they're doing by saying, ‘Oh, we have to love these people and take care of these migrants and love one another. This is loving one another' — yes, we are supposed to love one another, but their definition of what ‘love one another' means means destroying our laws. It means completely perverting what our Constitution says. It means taking unreal advantage of the American taxpayer."

Her inflammatory comments sparked Catholic League President Bill Donahue to condemn her remarks, asserting that he would be reaching out to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy regarding the matter.

"Satan is controlling the Catholic Church? She needs to apologize to Catholics immediately. She is a disgrace," he said in a statement. "We are contacting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about this matter. He's got a loose cannon on his hands."

She remarked additionally

If the bishops were reading the Bible and truly preaching the word of God to their flock and not covering up child sex abuse and pedophilia, loving one another would have the true meaning and not the perversion and the twisted lie that they’re making it to be..."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene says that Christian organizations are working to resettle undocumented immigrants and refugees in the U.S. because "Satan's controlling the church." https://t.co/cbnTrbOjuY pic.twitter.com/3N3X72ZLgc

— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) April 27, 2022

Donahue demanded an apology, after which Greene demanded one from him.

.That's how it's done these days. Not the apology but the demand for an apology, which brings no apology, aside from possibly a statement of regret that the subject of the comment was offended. And that's no apology at all.

Initially, the Georgia congresswoman had criticized Catholic Charities for aiding immigrants and, as Donohue charged, "had plenty of opportunities to make rational criticisms of the agency, but instead she slandered the entire Catholic Church." 

She could have acknowledged that the Church has made some amends for past pedophilia of its clergy or suggested a means, such as an end to priestly celibacy, to purge the behavior.  She could have made a distinction between legal and illegal immigration, arguing that the Church has not. She could have explained what biblical book, chapter, or verse the Catholic prelate is ignoring.

In a normal environment, one in which Republicans are occasionally held accountable, the congresswoman's incendiary remarks would be a problem for House Republicans. Promising to contact Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Bill Donahue- at least for now- is properly assigning responsibility to House leadership. Marjorie Greene traffics in hatred, bigotry, and dishonesty, otherwise being an upstanding citizen. Somebody has to put the pressure on the House GOP and, if it has to be someone who himself has exhibited limited tolerance for differing viewpoints, we'll take it.

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Time Will Tell

It's a gamble. But probably not much of one.

On Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh commented

I ran across this -- I don't even know what it's called, the latest papal offering, statement from Pope Francis. Now, I'm not Catholic.  Up until this, I have to tell you, I was admiring the man.  I thought he was going a little overboard on the common-man touch, and I thought there might have been a little bit of PR involved there. But nevertheless I was willing to cut him some slack.  I mean, if he wants to portray himself as still from the streets where he came from and is not anything special, not aristocratic. If he wants to eschew the physical trappings of the Vatican, okay, cool, fine.  But this that I came across last night totally befuddled me. If it weren't for capitalism, I don't know where the Catholic Church would be. 

Now, as I mentioned before, I'm not Catholic.  I admire it profoundly, and I've been tempted a number of times to delve deeper into it.  But the pope here has now gone beyond Catholicism here, and this is pure political.  I want to share with you some of this stuff. 

"Pope Francis attacked unfettered capitalism as 'a new tyranny' and beseeched global leaders to fight poverty and growing inequality, in a document on Tuesday setting out a platform for his papacy and calling for a renewal of the Catholic Church. ... In it, Francis went further than previous comments criticizing the global economic system, attacking the 'idolatry of money.'"

I gotta be very careful.  I have been numerous times to the Vatican.  It wouldn't exist without tons of money.  But regardless, what this is, somebody has either written this for him or gotten to him.  This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope.  Unfettered capitalism?  That doesn't exist anywhere. Unfettered capitalism is a liberal socialist phrase to describe the United States.Unfettered, unregulated. 

At 1:00 p.m. Pacific time- 4:00 p.m. Eastern time- on Wednesday, Digby brilliantly responded

Ok, now I'm starting to really enjoy this. Has anyone alerted Wild Bill Donohue to the fact that Rush Limbaugh is calling the pope a Marxist? If Donohue were anything other than a broken down right wing hack, he's be bringing forth the anti-gay, drug addict slurs right about now. (After all, the guy usually defends everything the Church does, including priest pedophilia.) Nothing? Chirp??? 

She could not know for sure at that time that Donohue would not react to Limbaugh's remarks.  But, recognizing his allegiance to politically conservative ideology, she probably does know that the website of the organization "Wild Bill" heads, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, recently argued on its website

The board of directors at Time Warner cannot distance themselves from Bill Maher any longer. On Friday night, Maher teed up Dan Savage, another anti-Catholic bigot. What happened was particularly vicious.

Maher commented on gay couples who adopt children, alleging that a Hawaiian bishop said these kids had a greater chance of committing suicide. Here is how Savage responded: “That’s total bulls***. He’s confusing children of gay parents with children who are raped by Catholic priests. Sorry, I am just done being lectured about children and their safety by Catholic-f***ing bishops, priests, cardinals.” Shortly thereafter, Savage again remarked about “kiddie-f***ing Catholic priests.”

We are sending to every member of Time Warner’s board of directors a copy of 54 anti-Catholic statements made by Bill Maher on TV [click here to read the report]. Friday’s show concluded the season. The time has come to close this show once and for all.

And now, for what you probably hope is the last time, the clip in which not Bill Maher but a guest of Bill Maher made the remark which set Donohue off:





Donohue's silence- if it remains- is particularly telling given an article published in the hard-right Daily Caller approximately an hour and a half before Limbaugh's rant.  In it, the Catholic League head maintained "Pope Francis is neither liberal nor conservative. He's simply Catholic, and a towering champion of its many causes."

Now a towering figure on the right has criticized Pope Francis for "regurgitating this stuff" about rapacious capitalism and has charged him with being "totally wrong , I mean, dramatically, embarrassingly, puzzling wrong."   The next 24 hours will test whether Bill Donohue is committed to his faith in Catholic Christianity or little more than a "right wing hack."



                                            HAPPY THANKSGIVING


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Reverend Hagee and William Donohue

apology- an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret (a public apology) (Merriam-Webster online dictionary); statement expressing remorse: a written or spoken statement expressing remorse for something (encarta)

The Boston Globe: "The Rev. John Hagee, an influential Texas televangelist who endorsed John McCain, has apologized to Catholics for his stinging criticism of the Roman Catholic Church and for having "emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews."

The Los Angeles Times: "An evangelical pastor who backs John McCain tried to put his controversial remarks about the Catholic Church behind him, apologizing to the head of the Catholic League and expressing "deep regret for any comments Catholics found hurtful."

The Wall Street Journal: "John Hagee, the controversial evangelical pastor who endorsed John McCain, will issue a letter of apology to Catholics today for inflammatory remarks he has made, including accusing the Roman Catholic Church of supporting Adolf Hitler and calling it “The Great Whore.”

The New York Times: "Mr. McCain said Tuesday that he had not been involved in brokering the apology letter from Mr. Hagee...."

Predictably, Hagee uttered the standard line of any public official who wants to avoid admitting a mistake but wants to be characterized as having offered an "apology," expressing "deep regret for any comments Catholics found hurtful." (Translation: the problem is not in what I said, but in how you took it.)

Doesn't any of these newspapers understand what an apology is?

Predictably, Hagee uttered the standard line of any public official who wants to avoid admitting a mistake but wants to be characterized as having offered an "apology," expressing "deep regret for any comments Catholics found hurtful." (Translation: the problem is not in what I said, but in how you took it.)

Hagee even boasted "in my zeal to oppose anti-Semitism and bigotry in all its ugly forms. I have often emphasized the darkest chapters in the history of Catholic and Protestant relations with the Jews...." (Translation: I made these remarks because I'm really a valiant soldier in the war against prejudice.)

And how did William A. Donohue, the zealot who is president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, respond to this phony apology?

Well, miracles do happen. If I wasn’t a believer before, I sure am now.

Republican activists have been working with him over the last several weeks, giving him books and articles and getting him up to speed and away from the black legends about the Catholic Church. I have to assume he’s acting sincerely, and now understands (that what he has been saying is wrong).

Someone who crusades against what he considers anti-Catholic or anti-Christian sentiment should understand this, at a minimum: a miracle is a supernatural act of God. If it is not this, it is not a "miracle." And Reverend Hagee's conversion of convenience is not a miracle, but a desperate act by a mere mortal hostile to homosexuals, blacks, Roman Catholics, and New Orleans and determined to divert attention from his pal, John McCain.

No Choice But McCain


The man whom everyone seemed to agree would be the strongest Repub presidential candidate, Senator John McCain, was speaking at a town hall meeting in Richardson, Texas on February 28, 2008 when, according to abcnews.com's Jake Tapper, he stated "I am a proud conservative, liberal Republica--- conservative Republican," he said, catching himself. "Hello?" he said as the crowd laughed. "Easy there."

Now, I don't think John McCain is a liberal. He has become a favorite of The Wall Street Journal, and the Wall Street crowd is quite comfortable with a President who pledges to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy. And if he chooses to keep American troops in Iraq for up to a hundred years, it should make Japanese bankers and the mainland Chinese government happy. And there is no telling the impact high spending coupled with low taxes, a budget underpinned by the Chinese, could have on our national debt, the value of the dollar, even national security.

Now comes word that Reverend John Hagee of the 17,000 member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas has endorsed McCain. In a news release, bombastic director of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights Bill Donahue alleges the Christian Zionist Leader has called the Roman Catholic Church "the great whore," an "apostate church," "the anti-Christ," and "a false cult system." In its press release on Sadie Hawkins Day, the Democratic National Committee sets out some other views held by Rev. Hagee:

Hagee on Hurricane Katrina
"All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Islamic Beliefs
Fresh Air host Terry Gross asked if Hagee believed that "all Muslims have a mandate to kill Christians and Jews," to which Hagee replied, "Well, the Quran teaches that. Yes, it teaches that very clearly." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on African-Americans
The San Antonio Express-News reported that Hagee was going to "meet with black religious leaders privately at an unspecified future date to discuss comments he made in his newsletter about a 'slave sale,' an East Side minister said Wednesday." The Express-News reported:

"Hagee, pastor of the 16,000-member Cornerstone Church, last week had announced a 'slave sale' to raise funds for high school seniors in his church bulletin, 'The Cluster.'

"The item was introduced with the sentence 'Slavery in America is returning to Cornerstone" and ended with "Make plans to come and go home with a slave." [San Antonio Express-News 3/7/96]

Hagee on Catholicism
"Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews." [Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee]

Hagee on Women
"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." [God's Profits: Faith, Fraud and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Sarah Posner]

"[T]he feminist movement today is throwing off authority in rebellion against God's pattern for the family." ["Bible Positions on Political Issues," John Hagee]

Hagee on LGBT Americans
"The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know that there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the day of judgment." [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06]

Hagee on Iran
"The coming nuclear showdown with Iran is a certainty," Hagee wrote [in 2006] in the Pentecostal magazine Charisma. "Israel and America must confront Iran's nuclear ability and willingness to destroy Israel with nuclear weapons. For Israel to wait is to risk committing national suicide." [The Nation, 8/8/2006, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20060814/new_christian_zionism]

So John McCain jokes about being a liberal, is revealed likely to have had an "inappropriate relationship" (romantic or otherwise) with a lobbyist, and now accepts the endorsement of a man who appears to hostile to women, Roman Catholics, blacks, Muslims, and gay people. And all this after Mitt Romney (who as a Mormon himself failed to rally Republicans around his candidacy) drops out of the race. This leaves to challenge John McCain only a Southern Baptist clergyman who is (to the base) embarrasingly anti- abortion rights, anti- gay rights, pro- public education; and- worse yet to the economic conservatives who dominate the Republican Party- anti- greed. Which of course leaves the the GOP faithful with.... Senator John McCain.