Does Republican presidential candidate John McCain secretly want to wage a religious war against Muslims?
I know, I know: it sounds like a crazy question. It sure seemed crazy when it first popped into my head about six months ago. That’s when I discovered that McCain was making a big deal out of the endorsement of Ohio televangelist Rod Parsley. McCain had even called Parsley a “spiritual guide.”
Parsley, whose World Harvest Church in Columbus has a 400-person staff, had said this about America and Islam:
I cannot tell you how important it is that we understand the true nature of Islam, that we see it for what it really is. In fact, I will tell you this: I do not believe our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand our historical conflict with Islam. I know this statement sounds extreme, but I do not shrink from its implications. The fact is that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed, and I believe September 11, 2001 was a generational call to arms that we can no longer ignore.
Of course, it would be quite hypocritical for me to assume that John McCain shares the views of his “spiritual guide” Rod Parsley about the relationship between America and Islam. After all, I certainly don’t believe that Barack Obama shares all the views of his ex-pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the ex-Marine and divinity school graduate who famously said those three horrible words, “God Damn America.” And to be fair, McCain has since buckled under pressure from the media and has rejected Parsley’s support.
Setting aside the issue of fairness, it’s just hard to believe that McCain sees Islam itself as the enemy of America. It’s hard to believe that a man smart enough to be a Republican nominee for President of the United States could even consider holding such a delusional, self-destructive view of the world. And it’s hard to believe the Republican Party – which is, after all, the party of Dwight Eisenhower, James Baker and George Bush Sr. – could nominate someone who would believe things about America that wouldn’t even pass the laugh test with the vast majority of the nation’s fifth grade social studies teachers.
On the other hand, John “Straight Talk” McCain wouldn’t call Parsley a “spiritual guide” if he didn’t have at least some rough understanding of what Parsley thinks of America, right? (Although anyone following McCain’s campaign in recent weeks would have to assume the straight-talking McCain died a few years ago. Did you hear McCain said he’d balance the federal budget by the end of his first term in office? Don’t worry: this blog will still be here when you’re done rolling on the floor in laughter.)
Anyway, McCain’s endorsement of Parsley bothered me, but I was ultimately willing to let the question drop. I figured the chances were slim that McCain thinks of the “War on Terror” as a Christian war on Islam.
But the issue surfaced again today while I was listening to a podcast version of The Rachel Maddow Show, which airs daily on Air America radio. The great Ms. Maddow played an excerpt from a recording she’d obtained, a recording of an interview with retired U.S. Air Force Colonel George E. “Bud” Day. I’ll say up front I think Day is an impressive man and I sincerely believe he deserves our respect, just as McCain deserves our respect for his service and sacrifice in the military. According to Wikipedia, Day won the Congressional Medal of Honor, and is “often cited as being the most decorated U.S. serive member since General Douglas MacArthur.”
But there’s no sugar-coating it: Day’s politics are disgusting. In 2004 he was a member of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, the organization that launched the famous “swift boat” smears attacking 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry’s military record, calling Kerry “the Benedict Arnold of 1971.” The McCain campaign describes Day as an “old friend” of McCain’s, and used Day as a campaign surrogate to rebut retired General Wesley Clark’s recent remark that getting shot down in a fighter plane isn’t a qualification to be president.
Here is what Bud Day had to say recently in a conference call with reporters arranged by the Republican Party of Florida:
People forget out in the press, out in the public, that we are at war. Right now, we don’t have any choice. The Muslims have said either we kneel, or they’re going to kill us. … I don’t intend to kneel and I don’t advocate to anybody that we kneel and John doesn’t advocate to anybody that we kneel.
Once again, McCain is comfortable associating himself with people who want to kill Muslims. So I’m just wondering: Is that what McCain thinks? Does McCain think “the Muslims” are our enemy? It sounds crazy, but it might just explain his ideas about foreign policy, which seem more focused on “winning” wars with Muslims and provoking wars with Muslims than on keeping Americans safe.
I try to imagine how I’d feel if I were a hard-working, law abiding, tax-paying Muslim, and I heard that McCain’s old friends and spiritual guides were telling people we need to kill Muslims. I figure I’d be pretty nervous.
At some point I’m sure McCain will tell us what he really thinks about how to keep America safe, and then I’m sure the American Muslims will be relieved. I’ll be relieved.
I’m waiting…
The same wikipedia article cites that Day and McCain were POWs together. I would think that bonding experience (for want of a better term) creates a stronger bond than political expediency.
Comment by John — July 23, 2008 @ 7:44 am
In a sense, McCain’s continual factual errors bother me more than his attitudes toward Islam. If McCain wanted to wage a secret war on Islam, but refrained from saying so, then you could at least rely on his minimal rationality. He would have a definite agenda.
But in confusing so many different groups together, and seeming not to know who is who, or which countries border other countries, you get the sense that he may as president lash out almost at random. Or lash out against those countries his closest trusted advisers tell him to.
Comment by Lee — July 23, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
I’m not asking McCain to abandon his personal friendship with Bud Day. But when the McCain campaign sends Day out to talk to reporters — and when the Florida Republican Party puts Day on the phone with reporters — it’s for political reasons. The idea that the “war on terror” is a war on Islam needs to be condemned loudly and publicly by anyone who wants access to the entire nuclear arsenal of this country. The idea that “the Muslims” want to kill us is extremely dangerous precisely because there are so many Americans who already take that idea seriously, and support attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, etc, for that very reason.
I agree that McCain’s continual factual errors are extremely disturbing. If we can’t count on McCain to grasp the basic historical and geographical facts of the world, we should at least have some sense of how he views the world in general. But all he says about it is that he considers our struggle against “Islamic extremism” to be the “transcendental” challenge of our time. Why are we so quick to dismiss the idea that he thinks all Muslims are the enemy? After all, there’s got to be something going on inside that maverick mind of his, right?
Comment by Ian — July 24, 2008 @ 12:30 am