Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Dogs and Fleas

Glenn Greenwald has done yeoman work in exposing anti-Catholic bigot Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement of John McCain and the latter’s refusal to disavow the endorsement. I agree that McCain should reject Hagee’s endorsement. You lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. Which is why I thought Ron Paul should reject the endorsement he got from white supremacists and Mike Huckabee shouldn’t hang out with Christian Reconstructionists. Indeed, I don’t think Greenwald goes far enough. Today, he opines:

Neither presidential candidates nor anyone else should be held responsible for the views of those who support them, unless the candidate seeks out that support and/or expressly welcomes it.

At the risk of stretching the metaphor past the breaking point,you can get fleas from dogs whether you chose to lie down with them or they chose to lie down with you. There are some endorsements that ought to be disavowed whether the politico sought them out or not.

Of course, it’s a moot point in this case.  Greenwald claims that:

McCain has [sought Hagee’s endorsement]—repeatedly. He was introduced by Hagee at a South Carolina campaign event last year, an event proudly displayed on McCain’s campaign website. McCain expressed how “honored” and “pleased” he was over Hagee’s endorsement multiple times yesterday. And just this afternoon, McCain issued yet another pro-Hagee statement when asked about Hagee’s repellent history....

If so, this is even worse than McCain’s about face on Bob Jones University. It’s extremely disappointing.