Even though John McCain's new BFF says anti-Catholic things with great vigor. McHagee says he's just a little bit misunderstood:

I have always had great love for Catholic people and great respect for the Catholic Church. My wife comes from a Catholic family and millions of my viewers are Catholics. I am shocked and saddened to learn of the mischaracterization of my views on Catholics that has spread while I spent the weekend celebrating the 50th anniversary of my entry into the ministry with family and friends.

Throughout my career I have been a strong critic of Christian anti-Semitism. But any fair review of my record will demonstrate that I have consistently criticized all Christians – Protestant and Catholic alike – for the sin of anti-Semitism. In fact I rarely address this topic without castigating the founder of Protestantism, Martin Luther, for the horrendous anti-Semitism he spouted towards the end of his career. It is a bitter irony that in my zeal to hold my fellow Christians accountable for our past anti-Semitism, I now find myself compared to an anti-Semite. To call me “anti-Catholic” makes about as much sense as calling me “anti-Protestant.” I am, most assuredly, neither.

I wonder why The TODAY Show hasn't invited Bill Donohue back on to discuss this issue further?

I'm no fan of Bill Donohue as you well know, but it's interesting to see him get his freak on over Hagee's endorsement of McCain. CNN covers the story pretty thoroughly on The Situation Room.

Donohue: This thing is out of bounds and this is why McCain has to look at thi---this--it's the totality of what the man stands for. He's been bashing Catholicism for decades and making a mountain of money over it.

CNN: McCain's campaign didn't respond when we asked if he knew about Hagee's writings before accepting the endorsement 

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Of course McCain knew. And McCain's refusal to denounce the Catholic hating preacher is very interesting indeed. So far Chris Matthews thinks Democratic political ads are more important to Hardball than John McCain getting hammered by the Catholic League over this endorsement. The one Huckabee begged to get in on himself. That's very revealing. You would think in a sixty minute show, Tweety would at least raise the issue. Can you imagine the outrage filled hour Matthews would have produced if Hillary or Obama gladly welcomed Hagee into their open arms?

Will Russert give McCain the same treatment he gives Obama and Hillary?

We already know that the Catholic League's Bill Donohue is an embarrassing buffoon that talk shows love to book because he says repulsive things in defense of the Catholic Church and will smear anyone with his anti-Catholic rhetoric for political and monetary gain.

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As an Englishman again, you have to be quiet when an Irishman speaks.

She said the awards are worthless to her.

Listen, you want to take it outside, Christopher, that's fine."

What's interesting about this clip is when he's confronted by an equally obnoxious character who will not be bulldozed by Bill's tactics, he immediately wants to " take it outside" and duke it out. It's typical behavior of this strain of right wing, Christian Conservatives. (It looks like MSNBC scrubbed these remarks from their transcript. I don't usually believe that this happens on purpose most of the time, but I'm not certain in this case.)

Radar has more...Christian Donohue Says He'll Slap Bejesus out of Athiest Hitchens

So what exactly did it mean?

"It meant, if you want to keep it up, I'll sock you," Donohue tells Radar, adding that the comment was "part of the theatrics of entertainment—this wasn't PBS, after all."

  On Wednesday's South Park, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone parodied the Catholic League's Bill Donohue as a power-hungry Catholic Church official who overthrows Pope Benedict and jails Jesus for going against the Church. On last night's Scarborough Country, Donohue reacted to the show in a very surprising way given his track record of over-exaggerated outrage and violent rhetoric.

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"Maybe I do come across too tough on TV. I thought it was hilarious and our staff thought it was hilarious. I said, listen, I said I have no defense except I'm gonna go with it." 

Donohue's official statement can be found here. His "I have no defense" reaction speaks to the sheer genius of South Park. Anyone who watched the show knows they hit him hard for sometimes acting un-Christian, but the moral of the episode was one with which he couldn't have possibly disagreed. In case you missed it, check the ComedyCentral schedule here. It'll be rerun tonight through Monday.

Jeff Gatlain, a Catholic priest in KY, goes public in his criticisms of Bill Donohue on C&L. I asked for someone in the Catholic community to speak out against his violent hate speech after his attacks of "Cavallaro" on Anderson Cooper last week and Jeff came forward. That's a big step for him to take.

"As a Christian, a Catholic Priest, I stand in opposition to any and all hateful speech used by anyone, especially when they do so in the name of Jesus. I do not believe that one can claim to be a disciple of Jesus and at the same time deride, mock, insult, or threaten violence against another person. Mr. Donohue clearly makes hateful remarks as well as violent comments towards Mr. Cavallaro and as such he insults God, his fellow Catholics and humanity for that point.

Proclaiming the Salvation of Jesus means that we are to refrain from such vile speech. One cannot preach the love of Jesus while cursing one's neighbor. The two cannot co-exist. To continually use hateful, crude, violent language is indicative of what dwells within one's heart. Mr. Donohue speaks only for himself and not the Catholic Church."

Would that quote be okay? I am a pretty low key person and I strive to be a force of unity and healing in the parishes I serve. I just do not want to become yet another screaming voice like Mr. Donohue.

Jeff started a blog of his own...Thank you for speaking out...

     Donohue is a typical right wing bully. I have to figure that many Catholics are offended as I am by this man and I wish they would come out and say it. All he does is name call and spew hatred and violence as he searches for ways to silence people---in this case telling Cosmo that he's lucky he doesn't cut off his head. And his offense? A chocolate Jesus. Cosmo Cavallaro calls him out on Anderson Cooper. Digby show us art at the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. Will Donahue protest Michelangelo? I've seen " The David," and I was in awe of its beauty. Feministe has more...

C. CAVALLARO: You go to the Catholic Church, and you're going to see statues from Michelangelo that are nude. Are you going to clothe them for the Holy Week

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DONAHUE: Oh, no, let me tell you something. You're -- you're lucky I'm not as mean, because you might lose more than your head.

COOPER: Cosimo, did you want people to eat this? Was that part of this?

C. CAVALLARO: No.

Did you hear what this gentleman is saying, that I would lose my head?

Digby: But until the Catholic Church steps up and says that this screaming nutcase Bill Donohue and his band of freaks don't speak for them, I'm going to have to assume that the Catholic Church agrees with his lunatic ravings.---So it must be the medium. The fact that it is sculpted in chocolate is so offensive to Donohue's thugs that they are issuing death threats to those who display such alleged blasphemy. I don't exactly understand why that would be....read on 

UPDATE: Pastor Dan discusses it. The Mahablog says: Et tu, Michelle?

(Full transcript below the fold) 

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  Jon Stewart weighs in on James Cameron's new documentary where he purports to have found the tomb of Christ. And what would a debate on Christianity be without the ever so Christ-like Bill Donohue?

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"So a member of the Hollywood elite questioning the very foundation of Christianity. I can't imagine anyone's gonna be upset about that..."  [cue Donohue]

 First runner-up? I respectfully disagree, Keith.

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"Vulgar trash-talking bigotry can transcend race, religion, creed or color."

 Columbia Spectator 

DONOHUE: Look, just hold on here. You had your time. Look, the kid's a phony and here's why. I dealt with him earlier today on an MSNBC show, and I said we could hypothesize that there'd be a Columbia University ping-pong team made of Asians, and somebody goes out there and says "All gooks go home." So I -- I asked him about my gook joke. And guess what? Andy's -- Andy's sense of humor just collapsed. He found that offensive. You see what you are? You're a phony. You're a typical Ivy League little brat who thinks it's OK to dump on Catholics, but you don't like my gook joke. Now, what's wrong with a gook joke?

DONOHUE: Yes, like the gook joke!

(CROSSTALK)

DONAHUE: ... "like an altar boy."

DONOHUE: What about the gook jokes? I want to know, why don't you have a sense of humor about gook jokes?

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Lindsay at Majikthise picked up this nice little bit of hypocritical hackery (from a conservative? Gasp!) from the BowTie Boy:

Right wing TV host Tucker Carlson claims that presumptive presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama(D-IL) isn't a real Christian because he goes to a Black church.

Obama belongs to the "Unashamedly black and Unapologetically Christian" Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.

And what, might you ask, is so un-Christian about Trinity United Church of Christ? Tucker is tut-tuting because Trinity United espouses a 12-point Black Value System.

[..]Just try to reconcile Carlson's attitude towards Obama's religion with his crocodile tears for religious tolerance in this interview with Catholic League president Bill Donohue (who calls the Edwards bloggers anti-Catholic brats).

Read full post here

 The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue comments on Mark Foley's claim that he was molested by a priest:

“As for the alleged abuse, it’s time to ask some tough questions. First, there is a huge difference between being groped and being raped, so which was it Mr. Foley? Second, why didn’t you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?”

Media Matters: CNN, MSNBC aired Donohue's criticism of Edwards bloggers without noting his bigotry

 He's one to talk about language. I'm a Catholic and am embarrased by this man. Will the media continue to give him a platform? Digby:

The question is, will they work with a man who went on the radio and said:

"Just imagine if a white guy is performing oral sex on a statue of Martin Luther King with an erection. Do you need to see it to know it's ugly?" and  "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, okay?  And I'm not afraid to say it. ... Hollywood likes anal sex. "

• Racial bigotry, bizarre and vulgar sexual images, anti-semitism and anal sex all in two little quotes. He's quite the fine representative for conservatives all over the nation....read on

While MSNBC is getting a lot of heat for considering adding Tucker Carlson to their stable and rightly so; Pat Buchanan has turned Scarborough Country into a hoot. It's like the 700 Club on steroids. Every night there is usually a debate on how secularists are taking the Christ out of Christmas!

It was inevitable to see different faiths start to attack each other and the other night was a classic.

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WILLIAM DONAHUE, PRESIDENT, CATHOLIC LEAGUE and RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH faced off:

RABBI SHMULEY BOTEACH:...Having said that, the problem that I have with people like Bill Donahue, Pat, is that they take trivial issues, like a creche. One creche may have been manhandled by some teenager, when the-and the pope also even said yesterday that the problem with Christmas is, we need more trees. We need more trees? The pope is a tiny island of faith in a completely secular continent. You can land airplanes in churches today, they are so empty. We have the main depiction of women in America as prostitutes. We have kids taking drugs, teenage sexuality. And we are talking about that Macy‘s doesnt Merry Christmas in its department stores? Come on, Bill Donahue. Catholicism doesn‘t have priests these days.Talk about something substantive for God‘s sake.

DONAHUE: No, I will not allow you, the demagogue, to define the debate.

I will define the debate the way I want to. And if I want to talk about creches that have been vandalized, I will treat it seriously, just as I would synagogues that have been vandalized. For you to make light of nativity scenes that have been vandalized, a rash of 40 across the country, is not the voice of sanity. It‘s the voice of insanity.

This vicious, phoney 'debate' is a national embarrassment to believers and secularists alike.

h/t Outside the Beltway

William Donohue, Catholic League:

"Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. 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 [Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ]. It's about Jesus Christ, and it's about truth. It's about the messiah. Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common."

Ziaspace Video not currently availableWe couldn't find the clip until now.

It is a telling indictment of the bigotry that masquerades for religious values! If you've seen The Passion of the Christ, then you would see no redeeming values contained in the movie at all! Unless of course torture is one of them!

So said Bill Donohue on Scarborough Country last night.

Dr Dean Hamer, an American molecular geneticist has concluded that a person's capacity to believe in God is linked to brain chemicals. Religious belief is determined by a person's genetic make-up. This study has some religious fundamentalists freaking out!

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Bill Donohue couldn't help himself immediately turn the discussion into an abortion issue:

Bill: Gays were all of a sudden worrying if ahh..people would start aborting kids..if they found out that the DNA suggested that the kid might be gay. God forbid that we run out of little gay kids. So all of a sudden they became pro-life.  Here we have a situation where some of the atheists; they may want to have abort the kids if they thought in fact there was some type of religious inclined gene. God forbid if they have a kid who believes in God.

Is this bigotry the normal behavior of most religious spokesman today in George Bush's United States? Do these beliefs permeate Christian values?

In all my years going to church and speaking with priests, these beliefs never entered into the realm of discussion.