Posted on 04/02/2006 2:54:42 PM PDT by Tim Long
WASHINGTON - Potential presidential candidate John McCain says he longer considers evangelist Jerry Falwell to be one of the "agents of intolerance" that he criticized during a previous White House run.
The Republican senator from Arizona will be the commencement speaker in May at Liberty University, the Lynchburg, Va., institution that Falwell founded in 1971.
"We agreed to disagree on certain issues, and we agreed to move forward," McCain said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
In 2000, as he sought the Republican nomination that eventually went to George W. Bush, McCain said: "Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right."
On Sunday, McCain said that Christian conservatives have a major role to play in the Republican Party, but added, "I don't have to agree with everything they stand for."
And they don't have to vote for you.
...In fact, I agree with almost nothing they stand for. After I get those chumps to help me get elected, I'll groin kick them into the middle of next week, heh, heh.
If McCain thought it would help him to blast Falwell, he'd do that instead.
McCain will sell out whatever it takes to be president. This guy scares me.
McCain is realizing he needs to kiss a lot of booty to get the GOP nomination. I wonder if he can make up with National Right to Life.
Well it wouldnt be smart to go to Liberty and Jerry to piss off.
The GOP will never endorse this freakin' jackass. He may be able to fool a lot of dumb Americans but I'm sure most Republicans see him for what he really is....a freaking RINO. W handed him his ass royally back in the Republican primaries of 2000 and he has held a childish grudge ever since.
.....so much for 'straight talk'...transparently phony
Politicians get it backwards. It is they who must win our votes, not we who are to yeild to them. Falwell can support whomever he pleases, but just because I largely agree with his theology does not mean that I will support his political picks. Sorry McCain! Won't work on me.
On Sunday, McCain said that Christian conservatives have a major role to play in the Republican Party, but added, "I don't have to agree with everything they stand for."
Is there any Christian point of view he does agree with?
McCain's campaign fell apart when he attacked the Christian right. He has never recovered. Religiously speaking, Falwell is right to forgive. But that does not translate into an obligation to give poltiical support.
McCain will sell out whatever it takes to be president.
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Without a doubt. He already has -- by trashing our First Amendment rights with so-called "election reform"...that just took away your rights. McCain, like the rest of the pols in Washington, care only about their personal empowerment. The Clintons, Bonnie and Clyde, set the example of "do anything to anyone" for power. McCain, pandering to his real audience, the liberal MSM, is doing just that.
Oh, I wouldn't be to sure of that.......
That will be the day I change to Independant because I will have lost faith in my party's ability to lead.
How kind of McCain (sarcasm) and how timely.
"And they don't have to vote for you."
Agreed. Let's work to see that someone else gets the nomination.
Sí, y muchos más hacen también.
That's why I call the guy MeCain McVain!
I'm a little perplexed at this. He has a right to speak, but it wouldn't be on my dime.
I really can't imagine why Jerry would give this snake a platform.
It makes me very uncomfortable to see that Falwell invited him to speak at Liberty. He and Robertson always manage to get in bed with whoever the Republican nominee is going to be.
McCain will take the opportunity at the commencement to overtly stick it to Falwell.
Years ago a group in Oregon made the mistake of not only inviting him to speak at their annual event but actually paying a substantial fee, only to have him ambush everyone there and openly accuse them of being bigated and intolerant....from their own podium....on their own dime. It was a truly a hoot and the media just ate it up for weeks.
Senator McCain is an honorable gentleman, wise public servant, statesman and presidential caliber. Had he been in charge since 2000 we wouldn't be suffering the FUBAR in Iraq we now labor under with the White House Gang that can't get it right. They ran off the only guy, Colin Powell, who had his stuff together and knew that the emperor was without the proverbial clothes while leaving a tyrant incapable of rational thought processes in charge of DOD.
A President McCain would have staffed the Iraq operation with sufficient forces and would not have violated one of the basic tenets of victory in warfare, the disbanding of the organized armed force of the vanquished nation resulting in the creation of a political vacuum. Military policy dictated in a fit of pique is no better than one suggested by a box of Cracker Jacks.
I wouldn't trust McCain as far as I could throw him.
The Iraq Army dissolved on the battlefield. What was left stripped themselves, picked up civilian clothes and went home. But of course had they know it was President McCain, they would not have done that.
I don't know about ya'all, but if McCain is nominated by the Republicans, I'm voting for someone else.
Me either. It just goes to show you have deeply helps McCain's convictions run. If he is willing to ditch them this early I ca't help but wonder what else he is willing to do for votes.
McCain will never make it out of the primaries in the southern states, never.
What planet are you living on? McCain and Powell... two RINOs if there ever were any.
I think I feel a zot coming on... Someone get me a tissue.
Now that is the most laughable post I've seen in quite some time....
Thanks for the chuckle.....
Now why in the world would Falwell have McCain in to do an address if it wasn't a signal that McCain is his man? It appears these guys have broke bread and smoked their peace pipes.
If McCain does become the darling of the values voters leadership, then the leaders of the values voters leaders have some splainin to do.
Come on John, just tell us what you don't agree with, or are you afraid of distancing the GOP base even more.
"Senator McCain is an honorable gentleman, wise public servant, statesman and presidential caliber. Had he been in charge since 2000 we wouldn't be suffering the FUBAR in Iraq we now labor under with the White House Gang that can't get it right. They ran off the only guy, Colin Powell, who had his stuff together and knew that the emperor was without the proverbial clothes while leaving a tyrant incapable of rational thought processes in charge of DOD.
A President McCain would have staffed the Iraq operation with sufficient forces and would not have violated one of the basic tenets of victory in warfare, the disbanding of the organized armed force of the vanquished nation resulting in the creation of a political vacuum. Military policy dictated in a fit of pique is no better than one suggested by a box of Cracker Jacks."
Yesterday was April Fools Day. You're a little late.
"It makes me very uncomfortable to see that Falwell invited him to speak at Liberty"
Agreed. I have no idea what Falwell could be considering other than possibly using this to show he holds no grudges against McCain. But this seems to be a little extreme and could cery easily blow up in Jerry's face if McCain were to lose track and slip into default mode during the commencement. I just hope this isn't taken by many evangelicals as some sort of endorsement.
I sure hope you're right. If he gets the nomination, I might not vote.
Worse yet, I hope it doesn't turn into an endorsement. With umpteen candidates all vying for the nomination, if all of us who are conservative, including the evangelicals, are not on the same page and behind one candidate, there is no telling who could be the nominee. My fear is that Falwell and Robertson want to be "kingmakers" and will get behind McCain because they don't think any one of the conservatives can get enough votes and they will choose McCain over Guiliani. As far as I'm concerned, both of them are poison, and neither are acceptable, no matter what they might promise.
What a nut.
Far to many conservatives remember this guys words. He's got no chance of winning the primary. None whatsoever.
The press made this guy out to be the GOPs dream candidate back in '00. And the only spot he ever polled well was in New England and Iowa.
GOP voters do not vote the way they do because of the press. They vote the way they do inspite of what the press says. So any plans McCain has for the press reports to help him in the primary are misplaced.
Yawn. McCain who?
But they take a lead from religious leaders. If Falwell is the tip of the iceburg and if Dobson falls in line as well as Richard Land, Al Mohler and some other notables........hold on.
Wow, that's a mouth full. I once thought Colin Powell had the tools to be a latter day George Marshall. I no longer think so. I don't see him as a giant in formulating policy etc. He strikes me as a guy to implement policy, and perhaps good at that. He did a good job in Pakistan, though, during the Afghanistan battle.
I seriously doubt Senator McCain will ever get the opportunity to prove what a fine President he would have been. I have often wondered where his moral and ethical center of gravity is. He has managed to insult the base of the Republican Party at just about every turn. That is a great deal of ground to make up. He seems to worry a great deal whether the editorial staff of the NYT considers him Presidential timber. Anyway, it doesn't matter at this point. There are others that are building the foundation so when the time comes to start the race, McCain will find he can't muster the popularity to survive the primary process.
As for Iraq, I'm pretty sure the big picture there was painted in the White House. After that I am willing to bet the nuts and bolts, levers, buttons and switches were assembled at the Pentagon. Over all I think they have done a pretty good job.
The plan seems to be to change the dynamic in the entire region. If the good guys succeed at that in Iraq and Afghanistan, a whole new world commences. Some folks think the Iraqi are subhuman that neither deserve nor are capable of self rule and the rule of law. I guess we will see.
If it fails, I'd like to see it fail for some reason than that Democrats, the press and other liberals want it to fail.
Does this mean he is embracing Farrakhan?
Before his untimely death, Colonel David Hackworth had the failures we've experienced pegged and unambiguously predicted. The fault lies right at the feet of the worst SecDef we've had the poor luck to have in charge since 1968. From the infamous and idiotic quote during the immediate post fight looting that: "Democracy and freedom are sometimes messy...." God, what a moron! To the inflexibility of reacting to reality and failing to see the obvious, Rumsfeld might have been able to CEO some industry but he earned a big, fat zero in how to fight a 360 degree insurgency. Like most war managers who've never heard the whiz of rounds coming your way, he's doing only what he learned in class, namely, fighting the last war while not having a clue as to the current one. And we all know from observation what happens to a guy in uniform who dissents from what Rumsfeld wants to do, even if it's dumb as a stalk of celery; he gets retired.
McCain would have put up with that incompetent and his equally bumbling crowd for approximately 30 seconds and sent them back to the farm and replacing them with knowledgeable civilian war/insurgency fight managers and planners.
Someone’s laughing, Lord, . . .
You need to read military strategy from a source other than the New York Times.
I'd hate it myself, but I would probably have to hold my nose and vote for him. But it won't happen. :)
While admittedly a little self-serving, I did spend approximately 17 of my 30 years in active service dealing with strategic planning and in analysis of likely strategy of real (Soviet Bloc) as well as potential enemies of the US. It's fair game to disagree with conclusions, but your terse remarks would have more credibility if they were founded in something more than knee-jerk party line and relentless anathema to NYT.
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